A Brief Analysis of the Current State of the Restaking Industry and Potential Future Developments
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
A Brief Analysis of the Current State of the Restaking Industry and Potential Future Developments
The anticipated launch of Eigenlayer's token will clearly cool down the FOMO-driven points race.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Haotian
Recently, a series of factors—such as the落地of @eigenlayer's airdrop expectations, @RenzoProtocol underperforming post-launch, and fading FOMO around other Restaking projects—have undoubtedly cooled down the Restaking sector. How should we view the current state of the Restaking industry and potential future shifts? Here are a few quick thoughts:
1) The Restaking sector has indeed gone through an extended period of irrational exuberance—from point farming to high market expectations placed on ETHFI, Renzo, Puffer, Swell, etc. The space fell into a "locking liquidity" spectacle focused on争夺native ETH and LST tokens, as if whoever could attract and lock more assets would inherently generate greater future value—and thus command a higher market valuation?
In my view, this value assessment standard is completely off-base. It overlooks a fundamental truth: locking LST tokens or similar assets does not create incremental value. Value only begins to emerge when the underlying AVS (Actively Validated Services) network achieves real-world adoption and generates actual returns. Under irrational market sentiment, attention and expectations have shifted away from AVS application deployment, replacing genuine utility with traffic- and asset-grabbing tactics that cannot be sustainably supported.
2) Eigenlayer’s rushed token launch, along with its introduction of the “intersubjective” paradigm, strikes me as a move specifically designed to “cool down the flames.” If the Restaking points-and-Lego frenzy continues to spiral out of control, the pressure on Eigenlayer would grow exponentially. Any minor fluctuation in Eigenlayer’s future development could then trigger a chain reaction across the entire restaking ecosystem.
The realization of Eigenlayer’s token launch will clearly dampen the FOMO-driven points race, redirecting market focus toward the core growth driver of restaking: the network effects and real utility of AVS.
3) AVS (Actively Validated Services), in simple terms, involves selecting a subset of validators from Ethereum’s tens of thousands of nodes and enhancing their hardware, software, and technical service capabilities. These validators can then, while maintaining their original Ethereum consensus duties, extend their services to support the security of other systems such as Rollups—and earn additional rewards in return. (Think of it as abstracting certain “mining pools” from a large base of individual “miners” and expanding their business scope.)
AVS networks can be seen as strengthening “middleware” services within Ethereum’s foundational infrastructure layer. By enabling groups of nodes to jointly offer packaged and commoditized services—such as decentralized sequencers or decentralized oracles—the potential applications are substantial, provided these AVS-managed nodes operate within Ethereum’s broader consensus framework.
To put it more plainly: previously, such middleware networks required external consensus mechanisms to function. Now, Ethereum’s base-layer infrastructure itself can natively provide these services—backed by Ethereum’s security consensus. The enhanced AVS node model represents a promising direction for expanding Ethereum’s functional capabilities. However, the key lies in actually enhancing node service capabilities and achieving real-world deployment and monetization of AVS services—not in the derivative aspects of staking, restaking, or points wars.
4) In fact, the AVS-style node enhancement model is already evident beyond Ethereum’s network. For example: @MarlinProtocol leverages distributed node upgrades to offer rented computing power for AI model training; similarly, @FlareNetworks enhances its off-chain distributed oracle nodes, enabling them to directly integrate with EVM networks and on-chain ecosystems, thereby pioneering an “Oracle-as-a-Service” narrative. (More detailed analysis to follow when time permits.)
By upgrading these previously behind-the-scenes infrastructure operators, new avenues for business expansion emerge for the host blockchain.
Looking back, Eigenlayer initially introduced restaking solely to secure its EigenDA (its first AVS). But unexpectedly, it opened a “Pandora’s box”: on the negative side, without proper guidance and control, the false prosperity of restaking could exacerbate latent liquidity risks within Ethereum. On the positive side, viewed through the lens of AVS node capability enhancement, restaking truly injects fresh narratives and expansive possibilities into the blockchain ecosystem.
This—rather than token speculation or points farming—is the real future of the restaking space. Nothing else.
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
Haotian | CryptoInsight
