In recent months, the Ethereum staking landscape has witnessed significant transformations, prompting a shift in investor preferences and reshaping the sector’s dynamics. 

According to on-chain data researcher and strategist at 21Shares, Tom Wan, key metrics indicate a notable change in the approach towards Ethereum staking, with restaking gaining prominence as a preferred method.

Wan’s observations, shared on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), highlight a steady increase in ETH staking deposits from restaking, rising from 10% to 60% since 2024. 

Restaking can be accomplished in two primary ways: through ETH natively restaked or by utilizing a liquid staking token (LST). By staking their ETH, users secure additional applications known as Actively Validated Services (AVS), which yield additional staking rewards.

A significant player in the staking landscape is EigenLayer, which has emerged as the second-largest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol on the Ethereum network. 

EigenLayer has achieved a significant milestone with the release of EigenDA, its data availability Actively Validated Service (AVS), on the mainnet. 

According to a research report by Kairos, this launch marks the beginning of a new era in restaking, where liquid restaking tokens (LRTs) will become the dominant way for restakers to do business. 

Currently, 73% of all deposits on EigenLayer are made through liquid restaking tokens. The report highlights that the growth rate of LRT deposits has been significant, increasing by over 13,800% in less than four months, from approximately $71.74 million on December 1, 2023, to $10 billion on April 9, 2024, demonstrating the growing confidence in EigenLayer’s approach to restaking and contributing to the shifting tides in Ethereum’s staking landscape. 

According to Wan, the rise of liquid restaking protocols has also contributed to a decline in the dominance of Lido (LDO), a staking service solution for Solana (SOL), Ethereum, and Terra (LUNC). 

On the other hand, Etherfi has emerged as the second-largest stETH withdrawer, with 108,000 stETH withdrawn through the first quarter of 2024. This trend exemplifies the increasing popularity of liquid restaking protocols, allowing stakers to withdraw and actively utilize their staked assets while still earning rewards.

Data provided by Wan also shows a decline in the dominance of centralized exchanges (CEXs) in ETH staking. Since 2024, CEXs have seen their share of staking decline from 29.7% to 25.8%, a significant drop of 3.7%. 

As a result, the decentralized staking provider Kiln Finance has surpassed Binance and become the third-largest entity in terms of ETH staking. With Ether.fi poised to follow suit, it is expected to surpass Binance’s position shortly, according to the researcher. 

In short, these developments signify a paradigm shift in the Ethereum staking landscape, with re-staking methodologies gaining traction and decentralized protocols like EigenLayer and Ether.fi challenging the dominance of established players. 

As of this writing, ETH’s price stands at $3,500. It has been exhibiting a sideways trading pattern over the past 24 hours, remaining relatively stable compared to yesterday.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

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