EigenLayer, a liquid restaking platform, has received $4.3 billion in fresh inflows over the last 10 days, making it the sixth largest protocol in decentralized finance (DeFi).According to a recent blog post, EigenLayer decided to “invite organic demand” by removing its staking cap on February 5. This was the reason for the increase in inflows.After the opportunity for liquid restaking ended on February 10th, rising asset prices are responsible for the additional $600 million increase in TVL.
A further $2.7 billion worth of staked ether {{stETH}} is present on the protocol, totaling 469,870 wrapped ether {{WETH}} tokens valued at $1.9 billion, according to data from DefiLlama.With the entire amount of capital locked on DeFi protocols standing at $71.2 billion, which is the highest point since June 2022 and nearly double the total during October’s low of $36.8 billion, EigenLayer’s total value locked (TVL) is rising in tandem with a broader increase across the enterprise.
Restaking has been a big factor in the surge; in the last 30 days, the capital on the liquid trading platform ether.fi has climbed by 406% to $1.19 billion, and in the last week alone, Puffer Finance has seen a 79% increase in capital.According to DefiLlama, TVL across liquid restaking protocols, including EigenLayer, is now $10 billion; in December, it was only $350 million.
Restaking is a way to increase the yield on Ethereum (ETH) that has previously been “staked” on the main Ethereum network.At the moment, Lido ether staking allows investors to earn a 3.7% annual income.Such investors can “restake” their ether with EigenLayer in order to receive more profits.The “proof of stake” blockchain used by Ethereum is further secured by staking.