Why Restaking Struggles With Sustainable Product-Market Fit

[madmax]

Beyond risk, restaking faces questions about where its yields actually come from. Unlike lending or staking tied to real network activity, restaking rewards are often driven by token emissions, venture-funded incentives or speculative fees rather than productive economic use.

Critics compare the model to rehypothecation in traditional finance, where value is recycled rather than created. This makes restaking fragile, especially when incentives are short-term and risks fall unevenly on validators.

As DeFi matures, analysts say sustainable yield models will need to prioritize transparent incentives and verifiable onchain activity. Without that shift, restaking may struggle to achieve lasting product-market fit.

[etfs]

restaking sounds sexy until you realize it’s basically leveraged risk on already staked eth