Changing Tides: Restaking Takes Center Stage In Ethereum (ETH) Staking Landscape

Lately, the Ethereum staking market has gone through major changes, leading investors to reconsider their choices and alter the way this industry operates.

Based on the findings of Tom Wan, an on-chain data analyst and strategist at 21Shares, there’s been a significant shift in how Ethereum is being staked. Instead of the traditional staking method, restaking has emerged as a favored choice.

Ethereum Restaking Landscape

On social media platform X, where Wan regularly posts, there’s been an noticeable uptick in the number of Ethereum (ETH) deposits being made for staking. This trend started around 2024, with only 10% of deposits coming from restaking back then. However, it has since grown significantly and now accounts for approximately 60%.

Staking Ethereum (ETH) can be done in two main methods: directly through Ethereum or by employing a Liquid Staking Token (LST). By putting their ETH up for staking, users gain access to extra features called Active Validated Services (AVS), which bring about further reward gains.

EigenLayer ranks as a major contender in the Ethereum staking scene, standing as the second largest Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platform in terms of usage on the Ethereum network.

EigenLayer reached an important achievement by launching its Data Availability Actively Validated Service (AVS) named EigenDA, on the mainnet. In simpler terms, they successfully introduced this service to ensure data accessibility and reliability in their main network.

Based on a study by Kairos, this event signifies the start of a fresh phase in restaking, with liquid restaking tokens (LRTs) taking the lead as the preferred method for restakers to transact.

Around 73% of all deposits made on EigenLayer currently utilize liquid restaking tokens. According to the report, the amount of these token deposits has seen a remarkable surge, increasing more than 13,800-fold in under four months. This represents a significant jump from around $71.74 million on December 1, 2023, to an impressive $10 billion on April 9, 2024. The report underscores the burgeoning trust in EigenLayer’s restaking strategy and its impact on Ethereum’s staking environment.

In simpler terms, Wan explains that the increase in popularity of alternative liquid staking protocols has led to less control for Lido (LDO) as the go-to staking solution for Solana (SOL), Ethereum, and Terra (LUNC).

In contrast, Etherfi has become the second-largest user for staking withdrawal of stETH, with a total of 108,000 units withdrawn during the first quarter of 2024. This pattern underscores the growing preference for liquid restaking protocols, enabling stakers to access and make use of their locked assets while continuing to receive rewards.

Ether.fi Set To Surpass Binance In ETH Staking

According to Wan’s data, the influence of centralized exchanges (CEXs) over Ethereum staking has decreased noticeably since 2024. Specifically, their stake in the Ethereum market has shrunk from 29.7% to 25.8%, representing a substantial drop of approximately 4 percentage points or 3.7%.

According to recent research, Kiln Finance has overtaken Binance as the third-largest Ethereum staking platform. Ether.fi is also on the rise and is predicted to surpass Binance soon in this category.

Simply put, these advancements represent a significant change in how Ethereum staking is approached, as new methods like re-staking are becoming popular and up-and-coming decentralized platforms such as EigenLayer and Ether.fi are starting to challenge the leading staking solutions.

Changing Tides: Restaking Takes Center Stage In Ethereum (ETH) Staking Landscape

At present, Ethereum’s price is $3,500. The coin has displayed a sideways trend in the last 24 hours, showing little change from its previous value.

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2024-04-11 07:52