Staking is a real yield on assets you would hold anyway; restaking stacks extra, correlated risk for extra yield. The yield is always the price of a risk.
Staking earns yield for helping secure a proof-of-stake network; restaking reuses that staked capital to secure additional services for extra yield - and extra risk. The yield is real, but it is never free: it carries slashing, lock-up, and smart-contract risk, and restaking layers correlated risk on top.
The governing principle: the yield is the price of a risk, paid to you in advance.
Native staking pays you for locking tokens to help secure a network, and on a major Layer-1 that is a reasonable yield on an asset you already believe in. Liquid staking tokens let you stay liquid while staking, at the cost of added smart-contract and peg risk.
Restaking goes further, reusing staked capital to secure extra services for extra reward - which also means extra, correlated slashing and smart-contract exposure. The yield rises because the risk does.
| Segment | Risk profile |
|---|---|
| Native staking of a major L1 | Lowest added risk; slashing and lock-up apply |
| Liquid staking via a blue-chip LST | Moderate; smart-contract and peg risk |
| Restaking | Higher; correlated, compounding risk |
| Exotic restaking yields | Highest; stacked smart-contract exposure |
| Point | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Staking yield is real | A genuine reward for securing the network. |
| It is not free | Slashing, lock-ups, and smart-contract risk apply. |
| LSTs add risk | Liquidity comes with peg and contract exposure. |
| Restaking compounds risk | Extra yield, extra correlated exposure. |
| Yield prices risk | The highest yield is the highest risk. |
Staking is one of the more reasonable ways to earn in crypto, with one important condition: you are staking an asset you would hold anyway. Native staking on a major Layer-1 is a real yield for a real service - securing the network - and the main risks, slashing and lock-up, are knowable.
Restaking is where the discipline matters. Reusing staked capital to secure additional services pays more because it risks more, and the exposures are correlated - a bad event can hit several layers at once. The yield went up because the risk did, every time.
My take: stake assets you already believe in, understand slashing and unbonding, vet any liquid staking token carefully, and treat each additional restaking layer as an additional, correlated way to lose principal.
The scanner frames staking and restaking yields against their real risks - slashing, peg, and smart-contract exposure - and the Vault tracks the underlying assets over time.
Staking is a legitimate way to earn yield on a proof-of-stake asset you would hold anyway, with native staking on a major Layer-1 carrying the lowest added risk. It is not free money, though - slashing, lock-ups, and (for liquid staking and restaking) smart-contract risk apply, and higher yields reflect higher risk.
Staking locks tokens to help secure a single proof-of-stake network in exchange for rewards, while restaking reuses that staked capital to secure additional services for extra yield. Restaking adds extra, correlated slashing and smart-contract risk, so the higher reward comes with meaningfully higher risk.
Slashing is a penalty in proof-of-stake networks where part of a validator’s staked tokens is forfeited for faults such as downtime or misbehavior. It means staking can put principal at risk, not just rewards, which is why understanding a network’s slashing conditions is important before staking.
Liquid staking tokens (LSTs) let you stay liquid while staking, but they add smart-contract risk and can trade below their peg under stress. Blue-chip LSTs with strong backing and track records are lower risk, but they are not risk-free, and their peg and contract security should be assessed.
That depends on whether the extra yield compensates for the extra, correlated risk - restaking stacks additional slashing and smart-contract exposure, so a single adverse event can hit multiple layers. It can be reasonable for those who understand and size the risk, but chasing the highest restaking yield blindly is dangerous.