Restaking Explained: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Matters in Crypto

When you stake crypto, you lock up your coins to help secure a blockchain and earn rewards in return. But restaking, the practice of reusing already-staked assets to generate additional yields across multiple protocols takes that idea further. Instead of letting your staked ETH or ATOM sit idle after earning base rewards, restaking lets you deploy that same collateral to earn extra income—like lending it to a liquid staking derivative, a decentralized oracle, or a new proof-of-stake chain. It’s not just stacking rewards; it’s stacking use.

Restaking isn’t magic—it’s mechanics. Think of it like renting out your apartment twice: once to a long-term tenant (your original staking reward), and again to a short-term Airbnb guest (the extra yield from a DeFi protocol). Projects like EigenLayer made this popular by letting users restake ETH to secure additional services on Ethereum, like decentralized data feeds or bridge security. This means your staked ETH isn’t just helping Ethereum—it’s helping other chains and apps too. That’s why DeFi, a system of open financial apps built on blockchain is so tightly tied to restaking. The more protocols that rely on shared security, the more value gets unlocked from the same underlying assets. And with yield farming, the practice of earning rewards by providing liquidity or staking in DeFi protocols becoming saturated, restaking is one of the few ways left to squeeze higher returns without taking on new risk.

But it’s not all upside. Restaking increases your exposure. If a protocol you’ve restaked with gets hacked or fails, you could lose your original staked assets—not just the extra rewards. That’s why it’s mostly used by experienced users who understand how slashing works, what protocols are audited, and which ones are just hype. You’re not just trusting one chain anymore—you’re trusting a web of interconnected services. That’s why the best restaking strategies focus on well-established networks like Ethereum, and avoid obscure new chains with no track record.

Right now, restaking is mostly for ETH, ATOM, and a few other major tokens. But as more blockchains adopt shared security models, it could become standard—like how staking became normal after Ethereum’s Merge. You’ll see it in tools that auto-allocate your staked assets, in dashboards that show your total restaked value, and in new tokens designed specifically to reward restakers. The goal isn’t just to earn more—it’s to make your crypto work harder without locking up more money.

Below, you’ll find real-world breakdowns of how restaking connects to DeFi platforms, what tokens benefit most from it, and which projects are actually delivering value—not just promises. Whether you’re earning from staking already or just curious how the system works, these guides cut through the noise and show you what’s real.