ether.fi launched in 2023 as the first major liquid restaking protocol, giving users a simple way to restake their ETH through EigenLayer while receiving a liquid token (eETH) they could use across DeFi. The founder, Mike Silagadze, had previously built a successful Canadian fintech company and brought operational expertise uncommon in DeFi. ether.fi grew rapidly to become the largest liquid restaking protocol, accumulating over $6 billion in TVL by mid-2024.
The eETH token solved a critical UX problem. Restaking directly through EigenLayer required technical knowledge, active management of AVS selection, and locked capital. ether.fi abstracted all of this: deposit ETH, receive eETH, use eETH across DeFi, earn staking + restaking + points rewards simultaneously. For retail users, it was the path of least resistance to capture the restaking meta.
The ETHFI token airdropped in March 2024, rewarding early depositors with one of the more generous DeFi airdrops of the cycle. ether.fi continued expanding with a Cash product (a crypto debit card), an “Operation Solo Staker” program encouraging decentralized validator operations, and integration across major DeFi protocols. eETH became accepted as collateral on Aave, Morpho, and other lending platforms, embedding it deeply in DeFi’s liquidity stack.
ether.fi’s risk is the same as all liquid restaking: layers of smart contract risk stacked on top of each other. Users holding eETH are exposed to Ethereum staking risk, EigenLayer smart contract risk, ether.fi smart contract risk, and whatever DeFi protocol they deposit eETH into. Each layer compounds the probability of something going wrong. So far nothing has, but the system hasn’t been stress-tested by a real crisis.
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