Restaking

Restaking lets ETH stakers reuse staked ETH as security for protocols beyond Ethereum. Normally, staked ETH secures Ethereum and earns staking rewards. Restaking, pioneered by EigenLayer, lets the same stake also secure oracles, data availability layers, bridges, or new chains, each paying extra rewards. One collateral base then backs several systems at once.

Each extra protocol you opt into pays you to extend your slashable guarantee. Misbehave in any of those systems and the stake can be slashed. Rewards and slash risk both rise. New protocols get to borrow Ethereum's validator set instead of recruiting their own. EigenLayer has attracted tens of billions in restaked ETH, among the fastest capital inflows in Ethereum's history.

Restaking, pioneered by EigenLayer, allows the same staked ETH to simultaneously secure other services like oracle networks, data availability layers, bridges, or new blockchains, earning additional rewards from each. This process hypothecates a single collateral base across multiple distributed systems simultaneously. This is the risk: restaking amplifies both rewards and slashing exposure.

The benefit to new protocols is that they can bootstrap cryptoeconomic security by tapping into Ethereum's existing validator set, rather than needing to attract their own independent validators. EigenLayer's docs describe restaking as opting staked ETH (or liquid staking tokens) into extra slashing rules for new services, in exchange for extra fees.