To participate in EigenLayer restaking, funds usually go through fiat on-ramping at a centralized exchange first, then get withdrawn to a self-custody wallet. You can complete account opening and KYC from the Binance Official Site or the Official Binance App; if your Apple device can't install it directly, see the iOS Install Guide. EigenLayer restaking takes ETH that's already staked on the Ethereum mainnet (or an LST like stETH) and "re-lends" it to other services that need security guarantees, known as AVS, while earning additional yield on top. In short: the same ETH secures Ethereum and other networks at the same time, with rewards coming from AVS service fees plus EIGEN token incentives. But restaking introduces a new risk — slashing. If an AVS runs into trouble, the restaked ETH can be slashed.
Native Ethereum PoS staking: a user stakes 32 ETH to run a validator, participates in consensus, and earns roughly 3.4% APY. Rule violations get slashed, up to a maximum of 1 ETH.
Restaking: taking already-staked ETH (or an LST like stETH) and "re-lending" it to other protocols known as AVS (Actively Validated Services). An AVS uses the staked capital secured through EigenLayer as its security guarantee, and in exchange promises stakers additional rewards.
EigenLayer pioneered this mechanism. It was built by a team led by Professor Sreeram Kannan and launched on mainnet in April 2023. As of April 2026, EigenLayer's TVL is about $15 billion, and its restaking rate across all Ethereum LSTs is roughly 10-12%.
An AVS is a downstream protocol that accepts security guarantees from EigenLayer. The main categories today include:
Data availability layers: EigenDA is EigenLayer's own DA service, offering low-cost data storage for Layer 2s. Competitors include Celestia and Avail.
Oracle networks: oracle services built on EigenLayer (such as Eoracle) claim to be more cost-efficient than Chainlink.
Cross-chain bridges: bridges like Omni Network and Polymer rely on EigenLayer's security guarantees.
Rollup service layers: shared sequencers like Espresso and Astria.
MEV infrastructure: Mantle Network, Manta Pacific, and others.
Layer 1 bootstrapping: new chains use EigenLayer's security guarantee to bootstrap a validator network in their early days.
According to EigenLayer's official figures for April 2026, about 35 AVS have launched, with roughly another 20 in the process of launching. Each AVS sets its own reward rules, slashing conditions, and operator requirements.
There are several ways users can get involved in restaking:
Path one: native restaking
Suited to users already running an Ethereum validator. You point the validator's withdrawal credentials to the EigenLayer contract; the validator keeps doing Ethereum consensus work while also being counted as restaked capital by EigenLayer.
Path two: LST restaking
Deposit an LST such as Lido's stETH, Rocket Pool's rETH, or Mantle's mETH directly into EigenLayer. EigenLayer accepts multiple LSTs, each with its own independent deposit cap.
Path three: through an LRT protocol
The most popular route. LRT (Liquid Restaking Token) protocols like EtherFi, Renzo, Kelp DAO, and Puffer automatically restake a user's deposited ETH into EigenLayer, minting an LRT token (eETH, ezETH, rsETH, pufETH, etc.) as a liquidity receipt.
| LRT protocol | TVL | Token | Notable feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| EtherFi | $7.6B | eETH | Largest LRT, runs its own nodes |
| Renzo | $3.2B | ezETH | Multi-chain support (Arbitrum, etc.) |
| Kelp DAO | $1.8B | rsETH | Basket of multiple LSTs |
| Puffer | $1.2B | pufETH | Anti-slashing design |
| Swell | $0.8B | rswETH | Early mover |
| Eigenpie | $0.5B | mLRT series | A separate LRT for each LST |
LRT users effectively take on 4 layers of risk: the Ethereum consensus layer, the LST protocol (Lido, etc.), the EigenLayer protocol, and the LRT protocol itself. This multi-layer stack boosts yield, but also adds complexity.
According to EigenLayer's own analysis, total restaking APR is made up of:
LRT total APR = base Ethereum staking + AVS service fees + EIGEN incentives + LRT token incentives + points (early stage)
The specific numbers (April 2026 data):
| Reward component | APR contribution | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base Ethereum staking | 3.4% | From Lido stETH and similar |
| AVS service-fee share | 0.5-2% | Real fees paid by AVS |
| EIGEN token incentives | 1-3% | Tokens issued by EigenLayer |
| LRT protocol token incentives | 1-5% | The LRT's own token |
| Early points (concluded) | ~0% for most projects | Core incentive in 2024 |
| Blended APR | roughly 5-12% | Current level for major LRTs |
A few things worth noting:
Early points were the original draw. During EigenLayer's first-season airdrop in 2024, EIGEN tokens were distributed based on accumulated points, and early users' effective yield — once you converted points to value — ran as high as 30-80% annualized. This "points mining" phase cooled dramatically in 2025-2026, but it's still the main motivation for some participants.
AVS service fees keep growing. In the early days, most AVS relied on EIGEN incentives to attract validators, and real service fees were minimal. As EigenDA and other AVS commercialize faster, their share of service fees has climbed steadily through 2026, and is projected to reach 1.5-2.5% by 2027.
The "restaking premium" has a ceiling. In theory, if each AVS pays 1% in fees, sharing one pool of capital across 10 AVS should net 10% — but in practice, every additional AVS adds another slice of slashing risk, so stacking them has diminishing returns.
EIGEN is EigenLayer's protocol token, announced in May 2024 and opened for transfers in October 2024. Total supply is 1.67 billion, allocated as follows:
| Recipient | Share | Vesting |
|---|---|---|
| Team and investors | 29.5% | 4-year linear |
| Season 1 airdrop | 5% | Claimable immediately |
| Future airdrops | 10% | Released over multiple seasons |
| Protocol ecosystem | 15% | Determined by governance |
| Active Validated Service incentives | 15% | Distributed over multiple years |
| Foundation | 25.5% | Determined by governance |
According to CoinGecko's April 2026 data, EIGEN's circulating supply is about 400 million tokens (24% of total supply), trading around $1.20, with a market cap of roughly $500 million and a fully diluted valuation of roughly $2 billion. After the first airdrop, the price fell from $5.20 to $0.95 before rebounding to $1.20 — a fairly typical trajectory for a "high FDV, long unlock schedule" token.
EIGEN's distinctive mechanism is its "dual-token" design — alongside base EIGEN, there's also bEIGEN (payable) and sEIGEN (slashable). An AVS can specify which flavor of EIGEN it accepts as incentives or as stake, giving this design a finer-grained approach to risk management.
Slashing is the most contentious part of restaking. The basic logic:
Slashing risk graded by AVS type:
| AVS type | Slashing condition | Historical slashing events |
|---|---|---|
| EigenDA | Data unavailability | 0 (as of April 2026) |
| Shared sequencers | Double sequencing | 0 |
| Bridge protocols | Faulty verification | 0 |
| Layer 1 bootstrapping | Consensus violation | 0 |
As of April 2026, no AVS on EigenLayer has ever triggered a slashing event, mainly because:
That doesn't mean the risk isn't real, though. LRT protocols say so explicitly in their docs:
In a worst-case scenario, an AVS slashing event could cause a user's LRT position to lose 5-50% of its value. We reduce single-point risk by spreading across multiple AVS, but it cannot be eliminated entirely.
According to DefiLlama's April 2026 data, a detailed comparison of the leading LRTs:
| Protocol | TVL | Net APR | LRT/ETH discount | DeFi integration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EtherFi (eETH) | $7.6B | 5.8% | -0.2% | Aave, Pendle, Curve, Morpho |
| Renzo (ezETH) | $3.2B | 5.5% | -0.4% | Pendle, Balancer, broad multi-chain |
| Kelp DAO (rsETH) | $1.8B | 5.6% | -0.5% | Pendle, Aave |
| Puffer (pufETH) | $1.2B | 5.2% | -0.3% | Pendle, Curve |
| Swell (rswETH) | $0.8B | 5.0% | -0.6% | Limited |
EtherFi is currently the largest LRT, combining native ETH staking, AVS restaking, and ETHFI token incentives, with the most complete DeFi ecosystem integration. Renzo has the broadest multi-chain coverage, with versions live on Arbitrum, BNB Chain, and more.
On April 24, 2024, ezETH went through its first major depeg event — after Renzo announced its tokenomics and vesting schedule, the market worried about unlock-driven selling pressure, and ezETH/ETH briefly fell to 0.85 ETH (-15%) on Curve. That triggered roughly $60 million in cascading liquidations.
After the event, the protocol team took steps including:
As of April 2026, ezETH has stayed steadily between -0.5% and +0.2% relative to ETH, with no further large depegs. But the event is a reminder to every LRT user: "even though an LRT is nominally pegged 1:1 to ETH, a market liquidity crisis can significantly widen the discount."
LRTs can be deployed further in DeFi to stack additional yield:
LRT/ETH LP: providing LRT/ETH liquidity on Curve typically yields 4-8% APR, but carries depeg-driven impermanent loss risk.
LRT collateralized lending: collateralize an LRT on Aave V3, Morpho, or Spark to borrow ETH, then loop the position to amplify leverage. Aave V3 accepts weETH (EtherFi's wrapped version) as collateral, with up to 90% LTV in E-Mode.
Pendle PT/YT: splits an LRT into principal (PT) and future yield (YT). PT offers roughly 4-7% fixed APR, while YT is a high-leverage yield bet.
LRT/LRT arbitrage: relative price gaps between different LRTs create arbitrage opportunities, and professional trading desks rebalance across multiple LRT protocols at high frequency.
Combined, these strategies can push total annualized yield to 10-20%, but every additional layer adds risk. During the April 2024 ezETH depeg, leveraged LRT positions were the hardest hit.
Q: Is restaking really "risk-free extra yield"?
No. Multiple risks stack on top of each other: Ethereum consensus slashing (very small), LST protocol risk, EigenLayer protocol risk, AVS slashing risk (moderate), LRT protocol risk, smart contract risk, and depeg risk. No single layer is large, but added together they're not something to ignore.
Q: Will slashing actually happen?
The likelihood is expected to rise over the next 1-2 years. Most AVS today are still in a bootstrapping phase, so real-world behavior that would trigger slashing conditions is rare. As commercialization deepens, the number of AVS grows, and competition among professional operators intensifies, slashing events are expected to start showing up.
Q: Is EIGEN worth buying right now?
EIGEN's FDV is high ($2 billion) while its circulating market cap is low ($500 million), meaning significant unlock pressure ahead. The current price of $1.20 is near the low end of its range, but there's still short-term unlock pressure. Whether it's worth investing in depends on your view of EigenLayer's long-term ecosystem.
Q: Which LRT protocol is the safest?
EtherFi has the largest TVL and the most mature ecosystem right now, making it relatively the safest. Puffer has built an "anti-slashing" design (isolating positions per AVS) that's theoretically safer but has a smaller TVL. Newer protocols (like Eigenpie) carry more risk.
Q: What's the minimum amount to participate in restaking?
LRT protocols have no minimum in theory — you could deposit as little as 0.01 ETH. But Ethereum mainnet gas fees make small amounts impractical, so a minimum of around 0.5 ETH is recommended. ezETH, rsETH, and similar tokens on Layer 2 have much cheaper gas.
Q: When is EigenLayer's second-season airdrop?
The EigenLayer team hasn't publicly committed to a second-season airdrop. Right now incentives are mainly distributed through "quarterly EIGEN releases" to stakers and AVS operators. There have been a few smaller airdrops or snapshots through 2025-2026, but at a much smaller scale than season one.
Q: Do I owe tax on restaking?
It varies by country. The U.S. IRS treats LRT yield as taxable income at the market price when received; EIGEN airdrops are counted as income at the market price at the time of claiming; mainland China bans crypto trading, so related earnings have no legal protection.
Q: Which pays more — restaking or native staking?
Restaking's nominal yield is higher (5-12% vs 3.4%), but it comes with extra risk. If you're comfortable taking on slashing and contract risk, restaking is the better deal; if you want something steadier, plain Lido stETH is the safer fit.
Q: What's new in EigenLayer V2?
V2 launched officially in mid-2025, with major new features including Operator Sets (compartmentalizing slashing scope), programmable payments (letting AVS define custom reward rules), and a Slashing API (standardizing the slashing process). These upgrades make it easier and more flexible for AVS to integrate.
Q: Could an LRT protocol run off with the funds?
The major LRT protocols (EtherFi, Renzo, Kelp, Puffer) are backed by well-known VCs and have open-source, audited code, making that outcome extremely unlikely. But smaller LRT protocols carry more risk — it's best to stick to protocols with TVL above $500 million.
EigenLayer's official dashboard, DefiLlama, CoinGecko, official documentation from various LRT protocols (EtherFi, Renzo, Kelp DAO, Puffer), Etherscan, and Dune Analytics (LRT data analysis).