The restaking narrative is heating up — what began as a mechanism to enhance Ethereum’s security and yield potential is now expanding far beyond its original ecosystem. While Ethereum remains the epicenter of liquid staking and re-staking innovation, new projects across Bitcoin, Solana, NEAR, Polkadot, and other chains are pioneering their own versions of re-staking, unlocking fresh opportunities for capital efficiency, cross-chain security, and decentralized trust.
At its core, restaking allows users to take assets already secured through staking — such as Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) like stETH or rsETH — and re-delegate them to additional protocols that offer extra layers of utility and rewards. This evolution has given rise to Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs): derivative tokens that represent not just staked ETH, but re-staked value across multiple trust layers.
But restaking isn’t exclusive to Ethereum anymore.
Projects on non-Ethereum blockchains are now adopting similar models, enabling native assets like BTC, SOL, or NEAR to generate yield across multiple networks while contributing to broader consensus security. Let’s explore some of the most promising restaking initiatives emerging outside the Ethereum ecosystem.
🔗 What Is Restaking? A Quick Refresher
Before diving into specific projects, it’s important to clarify the concept:
- Staking: Locking up native crypto assets (e.g., ETH) to support network security and earn rewards.
- Liquid Staking: Receiving a tokenized version (like stETH) representing your staked asset — usable in DeFi while still earning staking yield.
- Restaking: Taking that liquid staked token and securing additional protocols with it — effectively “stacking” trust and yield.
👉 Discover how restaking unlocks next-level yield strategies across chains
This layered approach increases capital efficiency and enables protocols to bootstrap security using existing stake. Now, this model is being adapted beyond ETH.
Babylon: Bringing Bitcoin Into the Restaking Era
One of the most groundbreaking developments in non-Ethereum restaking is Babylon, a protocol that enables Bitcoin holders to directly participate in PoS chain security without wrapping or bridging BTC.
Backed by major investors including Polychain Capital, Hack VC, and OKX Ventures, Babylon raised $18 million in December and has already integrated 39 chains on its testnet.
How It Works:
- Users stake their unmodified Bitcoin (BTC) directly into Babylon’s protocol.
- These BTC stakes are used to secure external PoS blockchains via cryptographic commitments.
- Babylon introduces a BTC timestamping protocol, anchoring events from other chains onto Bitcoin’s immutable ledger — borrowing Bitcoin’s unmatched security for timestamp integrity.
Unlike traditional staking, Babylon doesn’t require smart contracts on Bitcoin. Instead, it uses innovative scripting techniques and consensus design to enable remote validation.
This means:
- No need for wrapped BTC
- No custodial risk
- No bridge vulnerabilities
By allowing Bitcoin — the most secure and decentralized blockchain — to act as a source of economic security for other networks, Babylon transforms BTC from a passive store of value into an active, productive asset.
With plans to launch its mainnet before Bitcoin’s next halving (dependent on audit results), Babylon could unlock yield potential for over 21 million BTC currently sitting idle.
LiNEAR: Restaking on NEAR Protocol
On the NEAR ecosystem, LiNEAR stands out as a leading liquid restaking solution. It introduces a multi-tiered token model designed to maximize both yield and governance participation.
Key Tokens:
- **$LiNEAR**: Received when users stake $NEAR; usable across NEAR and Aurora DeFi.
- $bLiNEAR: A liquidity-restaked token representing re-staked NEAR; can be used in lending, liquidity pools, or further yield strategies.
- $LNR: The upcoming governance token, set to be distributed via airdrop to early adopters.
A standout feature of $bLiNEAR is its fast redemption — users can convert back to $NEAR quickly, avoiding long unbonding periods typical in other ecosystems.
Moreover, $LNR enables holders to govern fee structures, delegation policies, and treasury management, creating a self-sustaining economic loop.
👉 Learn how liquid restaking enhances capital efficiency across emerging L1s
LiNEAR isn't alone — Octopus Network also supports NEAR restaking through its Ottochain application chain. While it offers additional rewards in $OCT tokens, it lacks LRT functionality, meaning staked NEAR cannot be reused in DeFi.
Picasso: Enabling Solana’s First Cross-Chain Restaking
Solana has seen explosive growth in liquid staking — with platforms like Marinade and Jito dominating — but until now, true restaking was missing.
Enter Picasso Network, which leverages Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) to bring restaking capabilities to Solana via its new Restaking Vault initiative.
The Process:
- Connect Solana to IBC-enabled ecosystems (like Polkadot and Cosmos).
- Allow users to deposit LSTs such as mSOL or jSOL into a secure vault.
- Re-delegate these tokens to validate external chains or earn additional yield.
With only about 8% of SOL currently unstaked, there's massive room for growth in both liquid staking and restaking adoption.
Given Solana’s high-performance infrastructure and growing DeFi activity, Picasso could catalyze a wave of cross-chain capital flows — especially if Ethereum’s LRT momentum spills over.
Layerless: Omnichain Restaking with EigenLayer & LayerZero
Layerless is building the first omnichain liquid restaking protocol powered by EigenLayer and LayerZero, aiming to create truly interoperable restaked assets.
It introduces Omnichain Restaked Tokens (ORTs) — ERC-20-compatible tokens that represent a user’s share in EigenLayer restaking but are usable across multiple chains via LayerZero’s OFT standard.
For example:
- Deposit stETH into EigenLayer → receive ORT
- Use ORT on Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, zkSync, etc., without wrapping or bridging
This eliminates fragmentation and enables seamless DeFi composability across L2s and appchains.
Layerless is expected to launch its testnet in Q1 2025, positioning itself at the forefront of the cross-chain restaking movement.
Polygon 2.0: “Enshrined” Restaking with POL
Polygon is taking a unique architectural approach with "enshrined restaking" — a native protocol-level implementation rather than a third-party add-on.
With the transition from MATIC to POL, Polygon introduces a new class of asset: the hyper-productive token.
Features of POL:
- Validators can stake once and secure multiple chains within the Polygon ecosystem.
- They can perform various roles: block validation, ZK proof generation, data availability committee membership.
- Earn rewards from multiple streams: protocol emissions, transaction fees, and chain-specific incentives.
This model maximizes validator utility while minimizing capital duplication — all without introducing external smart contract risks.
Migration from MATIC to POL will occur via an upgrade contract, with ample time (up to 4+ years) for users to transition.
✅ FAQ: Your Restaking Questions Answered
Q: Is restaking only possible on Ethereum?
A: No. While Ethereum pioneered restaking via EigenLayer, projects like Babylon (Bitcoin), LiNEAR (NEAR), Picasso (Solana), and Polygon 2.0 are bringing restaking to other ecosystems.
Q: Are LRTs safe? What are the risks?
A: LRTs introduce smart contract, slashing, and counterparty risks. Always assess protocol audits, decentralization level, and insurance mechanisms before participating.
Q: Can I use restaked assets in DeFi?
A: Yes — one of the key benefits of LRTs like bLiNEAR or ORT is their composability in lending markets, liquidity pools, and yield strategies.
Q: Does restaking increase network security?
A: When properly implemented, yes. Restaking allows protocols to inherit economic security from large pools of staked capital — enhancing resilience against attacks.
Q: Will Bitcoin ever have native smart contracts for better restaking support?
A: Not currently. However, protocols like Babylon work around this limitation using cryptographic innovations that don’t require on-chain computation on Bitcoin itself.
Q: How do I get started with restaking?
A: Start by liquid-staking your assets (e.g., mint stETH), then explore EigenLayer or cross-chain platforms like Layerless. Always research project fundamentals first.
👉 Start exploring restaking opportunities with secure access to top-tier crypto platforms
As the restaking landscape matures, we’re witnessing a fundamental shift: blockchains are no longer isolated systems competing for stake. Instead, they’re becoming interconnected layers sharing security, liquidity, and trust.
Whether through Bitcoin-powered validation (Babylon), omnichain tokens (Layerless), or hyper-productive assets (POL), the future of restaking is multi-chain — and just getting started.