Restaking Economics: Who Actually Benefits?

EigenLayer's restaking model has attracted over $15 billion in TVL at its peak, making it one of the fastest-growing protocols in Ethereum history. The core innovation, allowing ETH stakers to simultaneously secure additional networks without capital duplication, is genuinely novel. The economic question is more complex: who actually captures the value generated by this security marketplace, and what happens when incentive structures shift from inflationary token emissions to real fee revenue?

The implications extend beyond the immediate data. What we’re seeing is a fundamental shift in how capital formation works in crypto markets, one that rewards participants who combine on-chain transparency with traditional macro frameworks. The convergence of these two analytical traditions is producing insights unavailable through either lens alone.

The practical question isn’t whether this dynamic exists, but how to position around it systematically. We’ll continue tracking these developments in future issues.