Original author: dt
The Ethereum ecosystem, which has been weak for a long time, is finally about to usher in a new wave of narrative. In addition to the Cancun upgrade (DenCun upgrade) that has benefited many L2s, the trend of re-staking has become Ethereum with the opening of EigenLayer at the end of last year to increase the LST mortgage amount. The focus of the Ethereum ecosystem, EigenLayer has attracted more than 500,000 $ETH in just one month. TVL has exceeded 1 billion US dollars and now reaches 1.4 billion US dollars. It is currently the 12th king-level project in Ethereum TVL, and the first to use EigenLayer for verification The AVS of the service - EigenDA is also about to be launched. The narrative of the DA service has also become a topic of market attention with the skyrocketing of Celestias token $TIA. EigenLayer not only takes care of itself, but also brings a new track Liquid Restaking Defi (LRD) / Liquid Restaking Token (LRT) Liquidity re-pledge service, as the name suggests, LRDs project is to release the LST (stETH, swETH, ETHx) liquidity stored in EigenLayer, and help users release liquidity by issuing mortgage certificate tokens (LRT) sex, forming a new round of token nesting dolls.
Today Dr. DODO will take you to understand which projects in the Liquid Restaking service are worthy of your participation. This article will focus on four projects whose products have been launched but have not issued coins.
What is Restaking?
As early as half a year ago, Dr. DODO introduced EigenLayer and its concept of Restaking to you. Simply put, it is to provide you with an additional layer of income from the Ethereum pledged in POS.
After understanding EigenLayer, let’s explain the derivative projects under the Restaking narrative. By citing the diagram of Delphi Digital, you can have a good understanding of the four types of Restaking:
LSD Restaking: Deposit the LST (stETH, swETH, etc.) you get after depositing into the LSD protocol into EigenLayer and then stake it.
Liquid-LSD Restaking: Through LRD protocols such as KelpDAO, LST is entrusted to the LRD protocol and deposited into EigenLayer and then pledged by the protocol, and the user receives the mortgage certificate token Liquid Restaking Token (LRT).
Native Restaking: Native restaking means that pledgers operating native nodes can also provide ETH to EigenLayer for re-staking.
Liquid Native Restaking: Native liquid restaking refers to projects such as etherf.fi or Puffer Finance that provide small-amount ETH node services. The ETH in the node is provided to EigenLayer for re-staking.
KelpDAO
KelpDAO is a Restaking ecological project made by the LSD project Stader Lab. As mentioned above, it belongs to the Liquid-LSD Restaking type. It is currently open to deposit Lidos stETH and Staders ETHx, two LST tokens. However, due to the current EigenLayer LST The quota is full, so deposits are currently suspended. In addition, the official has also made it clear that users who deposit into KeplDAO will be able to receive EigenLayer point rewards. The current protocol TVL exceeds 160 M, making it the project with the highest TVL in the LRT field.
Source: kelpdao.xyz/restake
Renzo
Renzo is different from KelpDAO but is a Liquid Native Restaking type product. This means that deposits can still be made without being restricted by the EigenLayer LST deposit limit. However, it should be noted that the ETH deposited in Renzo is currently not open for redemption. The mortgage certificate is ezETH. It is also impossible to transfer short-term locked positions. The same team as KelpDAO also stated that users will be able to obtain EigenLayer points. However, the current team background or financing information has not been disclosed. Early projects need to pay attention to risks.
Source: https://www.renzoprotocol.com/#what-is-renzo
Swell
Swell Network is a long-established LSD protocol. This time it also officially announced that it will enter the field of Liquid Restaking. It is also a Liquid Native Restaking type product and will not be subject to the EigenLayer LST quota limit. Since Swell’s unissued coins are expected to be airdropped, Its LST token swETH is favored by many airdrop hunters and is currently the second largest pledged asset in EigenLayer.
Source: Binance Research https://public.bnbstatic.com/static/files/research/monthly-market-insights-2024-01
Currently, only part of the LSD product is open for staking. Deposit ETH to get swETH tokens, while Liquid Native Restaking product is not yet open for staking ETH to get rswETH.
Source：https://x.com/swellnetworkio/status/1743204726777450672?s=20
ether.fi
ether.fi is the same as the above two projects. It is also a Liquid Native Restaking type product. It has received US$5.3 million in seed round financing participated by BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes. Unlike LIDO, ether.fi adopts a decentralized , a non-custodial way to realize the pledge of ETH, and announced the provision of re-pledge services. Since it is a native ETH re-pledge, it is not affected by the EigenLayer LST limit and can still be deposited, and its mortgage certificate token eETH (wrapped token weETH ) is also one of the few liquid LRT mortgage certificate tokens currently.
Source: https://www.ether.fi/
Authors opinion
The author believes that after the official launch of the Bitcoin spot ETF in 2024 Q1, the Ethereum ecosystem is expected to rebound, and the three major narratives will be the main theme of the Ethereum ecosystem. The first is the Ethereum second-layer ecology that is directly beneficial to the Cancun upgrade, and the second The second is the EigenLayer re-staking ecosystem introduced today, and the third is the Web3 application project (games, payments, etc.) for Mass Adoption. The Liquid Restaking project introduced today is the most cost-effective way to participate in the EigenLayer re-staking track. You must deposit ETH into the relevant agreement to participate in One Fish, Eat More.
In addition to the four projects introduced above, there are currently many others that are in preparation. For example, Puffer Finance, which Dr. DODO also introduced previously, also recently announced that it will participate in re-staking, but since its product has not yet been launched, it is not included in this article. I won’t go into too much introduction, but you can also always pay attention to other projects on this track and participate moderately with controllable risks. You may be able to make profits when waiting for the relevant protocol to issue coins.
