What Is Restaking?

Restaking is the practice of taking tokens you've already committed to a staking protocol and staking them again in a second protocol to earn additional rewards on top of your original staking returns. Instead of choosing between staking in Protocol A or Protocol B, you stake in A, then use those staked tokens as collateral or deposit them into B's restaking system to earn from both simultaneously.

The most prominent example is Eigenlayer on Ethereum, which lets you restake your ETH or liquid staking tokens (like stETH from Lido) to secure AVS (Actively Validated Services) and earn extra rewards. If you stake 10 ETH to get stETH through Lido, you can then deposit that stETH into Eigenlayer to earn additional yield while still earning Lido's base staking rewards.

Why Restaking Matters for Airdrop Farming

Restaking protocols have become aggressive airdrop farmers' playgrounds because they reward early adopters and high capital deployment. Eigenlayer distributed a massive retroactive airdrop to users who had restaked, and the protocol actively incentivizes TVL growth through rewards and points programs. By restaking, you're positioning yourself in a protocol explicitly designed to distribute tokens to participants. This creates a compounding opportunity: earn base staking rewards, earn restaking rewards, and catch the eventual airdrop allocation.

The Farming Strategy

Airdrop farmers use restaking to multiply their exposure with the same capital. Deposit ETH into a liquid staking protocol, then immediately restake the receipt token into Eigenlayer or Jito (which runs restaking for Solana validators). You're now earning 3-4 reward streams from a single ETH deposit, and you're accumulating points or position history in multiple protocols simultaneously. This maximizes your eligibility for future airdrops while capturing immediate yield.

The catch: restaking introduces additional smart contract risk. Your tokens are locked in two protocols instead of one. If either has a vulnerability or exploit, your funds are at risk. Always audit the protocols you're restaking into and never restake more than you can afford to lose.