Opinion by: Amitej Gajjala, co-founder and CEO of Kernel DAO
The restaking narrative has moved fast — from side conversations in validator circles to the forefront of DeFi infrastructure discussions.
It’s not hard to see why. DefiLlama states that major liquid restaking protocols now hold over $12 billion in total value locked (TVL), with dozens of middleware services aligning their security with Ethereum’s economic base layer. What started as an idea to increase capital efficiency for validators has evolved into a serious attempt to redefine how security is provisioned across decentralized systems.
While restaking is gaining momentum among crypto-native participants, institutions — the kind with multi-year horizons and regulatory constraints — still keep DeFi at arm’s length.
Not because the rewards aren’t attractive. Risk is still poorly understood, isolated and mitigated.
Restaking can change that.
Adding friction — where it’s needed most
Restaking isn’t about reducing risk to zero; it’s about introducing