The Year of Matryoshka: Over $3.6 Billion in Ethereum Restaking
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The Year of Matryoshka: Over $3.6 Billion in Ethereum Restaking
Restaking accounts for only about 5.2% of the total Beacon Chain stake.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: Noc, West
According to Dune data, the total amount of ETH staked on the Ethereum Beacon Chain has exceeded 29.42 million ETH, accounting for 24.53% of Ethereum's total supply. Since Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade, net inflows into staking have reached 9.5513 million ETH, indicating that native Ethereum staking is rapidly expanding.
The market now appears unsatisfied with risk-free staking yields from primary markets alone. Restaking protocols are emerging like mushrooms after rain, with major staking platforms entering the space and launching their own restaking solutions.
Are they all eyeing the Ethereum in ordinary users’ wallets? A rough estimate shows that leading restaking protocols have already created nearly 20 types of Ethereum derivatives (XXXETH/ETHXXX). This article reviews six major restaking protocols and their treasuries. Without deduplication, at least $3.526 billion worth of yield-generating Ethereum derivative assets are currently circulating—accounting for approximately 5.2% of the total Beacon Chain staked volume. The "matryoshka" effect is well underway.
EigenLayer
EigenLayer is a restaking protocol built on Ethereum, aiming to provide Ethereum-level security for the future cryptographic economy of Ethereum. It allows users to re-stake native ETH, LSD-ETH, and LP tokens via EigenLayer smart contracts to earn validation rewards. Third-party projects can thus benefit from Ethereum’s mainnet security while generating additional yield, creating a win-win scenario.
On August 1, 2022, EigenLabs, the developer behind EigenLayer, raised $14.5 million in seed funding led jointly by Polychain Capital and Ethereal Ventures.
On March 29, 2023, EigenLabs secured $50 million in Series A funding led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from Electric Capital, Polychain Capital, Hack VC, Finality Capital Partners, Coinbase Ventures, and IOSG Ventures.
TVL: $2.045 billion
According to Defillama, EigenLayer’s current total TVL stands at $2.045 billion. The top three ETH and derivative assets in its treasury are WETH (45.23%), STETH (22.22%), and SWETH (13.34%).
ether.fi
ether.fi is a non-custodial liquid staking platform that launched its liquid staking token eETH on mainnet on November 12, 2023. Users who stake ETH on ether.fi receive the protocol’s LST (eETH), which can be used across the DeFi ecosystem to generate additional yield—including restaking on EigenLayer. Throughout this process, users retain control over their private keys while delegating validator operations to node operators. Each validator generated through the protocol will be represented as an NFT. Ethereum stakers depositing at least 32 ETH will hold an NFT representing the economic interest in the validator.
ether.fi has released its roadmap for the first half of 2024. The team plans to launch its Token Generation Event (TGE) in April, with key milestones including releasing a DAO framework in February and publishing tokenomics documentation in March. Additionally, mainnet v3 is scheduled for release in early Q2.
On February 28, 2023, ether.fi raised $5.3 million in funding co-led by North Island Ventures, Chapter One, and Node Capital, with participation from Arthur Hayes, founder of BitMex, among others.
TVL: $509 million
According to Defillama, ether.fi’s current TVL has reached $509 million, reflecting a monthly growth rate of 367%. Its treasury currently holds 220,000 WETH.
Swell Network
Swell Network is an Ethereum liquid restaking protocol. Users can earn Pearls by staking swETH or providing liquidity, which can later be redeemed for SWELL tokens during the Token Generation Event. A total of 50 million SWELL (5%) will be distributed. On January 30, Swell launched rswETH (Restaked Swell Ether), allowing users to earn Pearls, EigenLayer points, and future restaking rewards. rswETH provides unrestricted access to EigenLayer restaking, usable across DeFi while continuing to accrue restaking yields.
On March 14, 2022, Swell Network raised $3.75 million in seed funding led by Framework Ventures, with participation from IOSG Ventures, Apollo Capital, Maven11, and angel investors including Mark Cuban, Kain Warwick (co-founder of Synthetix), Jordan Momtazi, Fernando Martinelli (founder of Balancer), Ryan Sean Adams, David Hoffman (co-founder of Bankless), Loong Wang (co-founder of Ren Protocol), and Suji Yan (founder of Mask Network).
TVL: $451 million
According to Defillama, Swell Network’s current TVL is $451 million, with 191,070 swETH and 1,475 rswETH held in its treasury.
Kelp DAO
Kelp DAO is a restaking project under Stader Lab, a multi-chain LSD platform, offering an LRT (Liquid Restaked Token) solution based on EigenLayer using rsETH.
Users staking with Kelp DAO earn Kelp Points. The protocol’s treasury also stakes ETH on EigenLayer, sharing accumulated points with the community. On December 19, 2023, just six days after launch, Kelp DAO attracted approximately 38,000 ETH in deposits.
On October 7, 2021, Stader Labs announced a $4 million seed round led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, True Ventures, Jump Capital, Proof Group, Hypersphere, and others.
On January 20, 2022, Stader Labs completed a $12.5 million private sale at a $450 million valuation. The round was led by Three Arrows Capital, with follow-on investments from Blockchain.com, Accomplice, DACM, GoldenTree Asset Management, Accel, Amber, 4RC, Figment, and several angel investors.
TVL: $255 million
According to Defillama, Kelp DAO’s current total TVL is $255 million. The treasury holds three Ethereum derivatives: 68,360 ETHx (63.02%), 35,230 STETH (31.78%), and 538 SFRXETH (5.2%).
Renzo
Renzo is a liquid restaking protocol currently operating on EigenLayer’s mainnet. At its core is ezETH, a Liquid Restaking Token (LRT). Users can mint ezETH by depositing ETH or LSTs into Renzo. ezETH can then be used in other DeFi protocols to earn compound returns. Renzo abstracts away all technical complexity for end users, enabling low-barrier participation in the EigenLayer restaking ecosystem. As a native restaking product, it offers full capital efficiency without being subject to EigenLayer’s LST deposit caps.
On January 15, Renzo, a liquid restaking protocol within the EigenLayer ecosystem, announced a $3 million seed round led by Maven11, with participation from SevenX Ventures, Figment Capital, IOSG, and others.
TVL: $155 million
According to Defillama, Renzo’s current TVL is $155 million—a monthly increase of 1368%. The treasury holds 67,109 ezETH.
Eigenpie
EigenLayer is a restaking protocol built on Ethereum that enables users to re-stake native ETH, LSD-ETH, and LP tokens via EigenLayer smart contracts to earn validation rewards. Eigenpie, a joint initiative by decentralized liquidity aggregation protocol Magpie and EigenLayer, leverages EigenLayer’s smart contract technology to offer LRT services. Users can earn passive income from both Ethereum staking and EigenLayer restaking without lock-up periods.
Isolated Liquid Restaking (ILR) tokens are restaking receipts issued by Eigenpie. These can only be minted by depositing specific LSTs—not a basket of different LSTs. Users deposit their LSTs into Eigenpie to receive an LRT version of that specific asset. The ILR tokens received retain the original name of the deposited LST but are prefixed with an “m”.
The native token of Eigenpie is EGP, with a total supply of 10 million. Distribution includes IDO (40%), community incentives (35%), Magpie Treasury (15%), and early supporter airdrops (10%). EGP will be introduced via a fair launch with no involvement from VCs or private sales. The team has formally waived their allocation, redirecting 15% of EGP tokens to the Magpie Treasury.
On September 8, 2022, Magpie Protocol announced a $3 million seed round involving Jump Crypto, ArkStream Capital, Sandeep Nailwal, GSR Markets, Parafi Capital, Republic Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Serafund, Faculty Group, MH Ventures, D1 Ventures, and Apollo Capital.
TVL: $111 million
According to Defillama, Eigenpie’s current total TVL is $111 million. The top three Ethereum derivatives in its treasury are STETH (50.73%), WBETH (14.75%), and METH (14.62%).
[Disclaimer] The market involves risks, and investment should be made with caution. This article does not constitute investment advice. Readers should consider whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions expressed herein are suitable for their individual circumstances. Investment decisions based on this information are made at the user’s own risk.
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