The total value locked on EigenLayer has surpassed the $20 billion threshold. The re-staking protocol kickstarted 2024 with a locked-up balance of $1.34 billion. Within a handful of months, it has registered a multi-fold leap.
The rise in the price of Ethereum and the incoming inflows - in conjunction - have helped push the TVL to a new peak. After the team revealed its token airdrop plan, it did face criticism from the community, and that triggered some outflows as well. However, it didn’t take much time for funds to start re-entering into the ecosystem. EigenLayer and its data availability layer - EigenDA - went live on the Ethereum mainnet in April.
Restakers can delegate their entire stake to their preferred operator, who in turn, can take a call on whether to run an actively validated service [AVS] on the protocol.
To break it down, EigenLayer allows new PoS projects to check the security box by connecting them to a wider trust network. This removes the burden off projects’ shoulders of coming up with something native. Several AVSs - right from oracle networks and DA platforms, to consensus protocols - can reap the benefit of EigenLayer’s security.
Flows on the protocol registered one of its largest spikes on 31 May. Close to $600 million worth funds were deposited on a single day. Since then, the deposits have been mellow. Data also showed that 16.15% of all the staked Ether has been restaked.
In other EigenLayer-related news, two Ethereum Foundation researchers recently unveiled their ties with the restaking protocol. Dankrad Feist and Justin Drake have become advisors to EigenLayer. Both of them have clarified that they do not represent the Ethereum Foundation and have taken up these positions personally.
