Cryptocurrencies
Crypto’s Billion-Dollar ‘Restaking’ Bet Comes With Some Layered Risks
- Restaking of Ether has become the latest big thing in DeFi
- Some protocols are offering returns of around 30% to restake
DeFi has been the frontier of crypto since developers sought to create a marketplace without banks or other intermediaries.
Photographer: Jack Taylor/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Decentralized finance is proving once again that it remains the wild west of crypto.
Speculators have poured almost $2 billion worth of Ether and derivative versions of the token into an experimental protocol that aims to make it easier for blockchain developers to set up a project on a bet they’ll be rewarded with outsized returns once it goes live. On top of that, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies have been deposited on DeFi platforms such as Pendle Finance that are offering returns of 30% or more on expectations that incentive payouts from the platforms will be even higher.