EigenLayer mainnet goes live
On March 19, 2025, EigenLayer officially launched its mainnet, introducing the world to restaking — a new way for Ethereum stakers to secure more than just the Ethereum network. By allowing users to “re-use” their staked ETH, EigenLayer unlocks a new layer of utility and capital efficiency in the Ethereum ecosystem.
The launch opens the door for $12 billion worth of staked ETH to secure additional decentralized services, or “Actively Validated Services” (AVSs), including bridges, oracles, data layers, and more.
Restaking is a novel concept where users can take ETH already staked on Ethereum and “restake” it to secure other protocols — earning additional rewards while helping secure emerging Web3 infrastructure.
EigenLayer acts as a middleware security layer, sitting between Ethereum and new decentralized services. Instead of spinning up their own validator networks, these services can now tap into Ethereum’s validator base — dramatically improving decentralization and reducing setup costs.
There are two restaking options:
Liquid restaking: Using tokens like Lido’s stETH or Rocket Pool’s rETH
Native restaking: For solo stakers who want to opt in directly
Stakers delegate their ETH (or liquid-staked ETH) to EigenLayer smart contracts, which in turn secure AVSs. In return, they earn restaking rewards — similar to staking yields, but from multiple sources.
EigenLayer has been one of the most hyped projects in Ethereum’s recent history. Over 500 teams are already building or planning to build AVSs secured by EigenLayer, including decentralized oracles, bridges, AI inference layers, and modular data availability layers.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has praised restaking as a promising innovation — though he has also urged caution to avoid creating systemic risks if restaking becomes too dominant.
Because restaking introduces new forms of economic risk, EigenLayer includes slashing mechanisms — meaning if a validator misbehaves while securing an AVS, their staked ETH can be partially or fully slashed. This ensures validators remain honest across all services they support.
EigenLayer’s team has also rolled out strict governance and onboarding processes for AVSs to minimize early-stage risk.
With EigenLayer’s mainnet launch, Ethereum’s staking model enters a new phase — one where capital can be reused to secure multiple services, supercharging security and efficiency across the ecosystem.
EigenLayer is poised to become the backbone for a new generation of decentralized infrastructure, creating opportunities for stakers, developers, and protocols alike. As restaking becomes the norm, Ethereum’s role as the trust layer of Web3 just got a major upgrade.
