Opinion: The re-staking 'gold rush' fades, profits of top Ethereum protocols shrink significantly

BlockBeats news, September 29 — As restaking yields continue to decline and smart contract risks rise, ether.fi, Ethereum's leading liquid restaking protocol, is gradually exiting the restaking business and pivoting to a crypto "neobank" model.

Data shows that as of September 8, the restaking sector managed approximately $10.02 billion in assets but generated only about $99,977 in fees over the past week; by comparison, liquid staking managed approximately $51.87 billion in assets and generated about $27.35 million in fees. On a per-dollar-of-assets basis, ordinary staking generates roughly 53 times more fees than restaking.

ether.fi CEO Mike Silagadze said restaking no longer offers "meaningful yield opportunities" while exposing users to additional risks, prompting the company's decision to exit. As of August, less than 1% of ether.fi's assets were still being restaked through EigenLayer, and the company expects to completely sever the related structural connections by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, the five major liquid restaking protocols — Renzo, Kelp, Swell, Puffer Finance, and Bedrock — collectively generated approximately $953,000 in gross profit in the second quarter of 2026, a marked decline from $2.18 million in the previous three quarters. ether.fi has shifted its business focus to crypto neobanking, including crypto payment cards, lending markets, yield vaults, and tokenized stocks and metals, among other products.