Restaking uses assets already involved in staking, or tokens representing them, to support additional services beyond their original blockchain validation role. Participants accept extra security conditions in pursuit of additional rewards. It is different from simply reinvesting staking rewards or lending a liquid staking token to another user.
Extending security commitments
In systems such as EigenLayer, restakers can delegate supported assets to operators that run service software. Operators make commitments to particular services, with allocated stake potentially exposed to those services' slashing rules. Such services can include data availability or other verification infrastructure.
Native restaking and liquid-token restaking use different deposit and withdrawal arrangements. The available assets, allocation rules, and reward programs depend on the implementation. Sharing economic collateral does not automatically give every service all of Ethereum's security guarantees.
More rewards mean more conditions
Additional rewards may vary or fail to cover costs and losses. Restakers must account for the original staking exposure plus service-specific penalties, operator behavior, contract weaknesses, and withdrawal delays. Delegation does not remove these risks.
Liquid restaking products can issue another transferable receipt, adding token pricing and redemption dependencies. Assessing restaking therefore requires identifying which services can penalize which stake, and under what conditions.