EigenLayer’s TVL Grows $1.5B In One Day After Raising LST Pool Limits

The total value locked in EigenLayer, the pioneering Ethereum restaking protocol, rocketed by 70% in one day after the project temporarily removed its pool limits.

EigenLayer removed the caps on its liquid staking token (LST) pools for the first time on Feb. 5, prompting users to inject $1.5B worth of into the protocol over roughly 13 hours, according to DeFi Llama. EigenLayer now boasts a total value locked (TVL) of nearly $3.7B, positioning it as the DeFi sector’s sixth-largest protocol.

The protocol’s LST pools will remain uncapped until 3 PM EST on Feb. 9. However, users can also natively restake using ETH without limit at any time.

EigenLayer inches toward permissionless LST access

EigenLayer was the first protocol to introduce restaking, which allows users to simultaneously earn Ethereum staking rewards while also securing third-party Actively Validated Services (AVSs) to generate additional yield.

EigenLayer said its decision to temporarily remove its LST limits helps to pave the way for the protocol’s future decentralization. While native restaking has remained uncapped since launch, EigenLayer has progressively increased its LST pool limits while onboarding new liquid staking tokens in recent months.

In a Feb. 5 blog post, the team said it plans to begin permanently removing the caps of individual LST tokens moving forward, paving the way for LST holders to enjoy unrestrained access to the protocol.

EigenLayer also introduced support for three new LSTs on Feb. 5, bringing the total number of liquid staking tokens supported to 12.

Despite the broad selection of LSTs supported by the protocol, Lido’s stETH token accounts for 50.5% of EigenLayer’s LST deposits, according to Dune Analytics. Swell’s swETH ranks second with 16.3%, followed by Stader’s ETHx with 8.1%, and Mantle’s mETH with 6.2%.

Liquid restaking grows

EigenLayer’s growth has also given rise to the new sector of liquid restaking protocols (LRT) — projects leveraging native restaking to offer tokenholders yield from both Ethereum staking and EigenLayer staking.

LRTs have rocketed to a $2B TVL, up from just $101M on Dec. 20. The sector is led by pioneering LRT protocol EtherFI with $763M, the freshly-launched Puffer Finance, and Kelp DAO with $315.5M.