EigenLayer Emerges as the 4th Largest Protocol in the Crypto Market with Almost $7 Billion in TVL

EigenLayer Becomes Fourth-Largest Protocol in DeFi Space, Surpassing JustLend

The restaking protocol EigenLayer has emerged as a major player in the cryptocurrency world, overtaking lending protocol JustLend to become the fourth-largest protocol by total value locked (TVL).

On February 15, EigenLayer’s TVL reached $6.99 billion, marking a 5.73% increase. This surge in TVL represents a 47.95% increase in the past week and a staggering 307% increase in the past month, according to DefiLlama data.

The rise in EigenLayer’s TVL can be attributed to a recent announcement where the protocol removed its staking cap, aiming to encourage organic growth. During this “re-staking” period, EigenLayer’s TVL skyrocketed by 181% from $2.15 billion on February 5 to $6.05 billion on February 10. While a new staking cap has been implemented, the project plans to permanently remove this limit in the future.

Restaking protocols, such as EigenLayer, allow validators and stakers to stake liquid staking derivative coins, like Lido’s stETH and RocketPool’s rETH, to secure and validate other networks. These assets can also be utilized in other decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to earn additional yield.

The Growing Popularity of Restaking Protocols in the Crypto World

The current leader in the crypto world is liquid staking, with a total value locked (TVL) of $42.69 billion. However, restaking protocols are quickly gaining ground and currently hold the sixth place with a combined TVL of $6.99 billion, according to DefiLlama data.

In the 30 days leading up to February 9th, one out of every four Ethereum validators have chosen EigenPod as their withdrawal credentials, as reported by Brianna Montgomery, the strategy lead at EigenLayer.

The interest in staking protocols has been on the rise since January, especially after EigenLayer reached a TVL of $1 billion on December 28th. As of February 15th, there are 108,574 depositors on the protocol, with EigenLayer holding a total of over 1.52 million Ether tokens, according to Dune data.

EigenLayer has plans to launch its mainnet for operators soon, allowing investors to operate a staking node. Additionally, the protocol is preparing to launch EigenDA, a decentralized data availability service built on Ethereum, according to a February 9th announcement on X.