Ether.fi exits restaking as yields shrink and crypto neobank revenue rises
ether.fi (ETHFI)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
tradersunion.com reports that Ether.fi is winding down its remaining link to EigenLayer as restaking yields fade and risk concerns grow. The company removed restaking from weETH in August, turning it into a standard liquid staking token while users must opt into a separate Symbiotic token for restaking. Chief executive Mike Silagadze stated that meaningful restaking yields have disappeared while stakers still perceive added risk, making an exit the sensible option.
Restaking secured about $10 billion but generated just $99,977 in fees over a recent week, whereas liquid staking with $51.87 billion secured generated $27.35 million. The incentive to stay weakened after deposit-subsidy points programs faded through 2025 and slashing went live in April 2025. Excluding Ether.fi, Renzo, Kelp, Swell, Puffer Finance and Bedrock posted combined gross profit of $953,350 in the second quarter of 2026, down from $2.18 million three quarters earlier.
A Kelp bridge exploit in April minted 116,500 rsETH worth roughly $293 million, pushing Aave to revise collateral standards in May. Ether.fi is now broadening its model to include a card, borrowing market, and tokenized assets, with card revenue rising from 17% in January to 46% in July. Despite this, DefiLlama figures show gross profit falling 47% from $18.71 million in the third quarter of 2025 to $9.99 million in the second quarter of 2026.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for ETHFI, measured when this story was written up on 28 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
ETHFI is currently trading at $0.7211 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 45.0%, indicating a slight bearish tilt over the full day. However, shorter-term data shows a shift toward buying, with the 1-hour buy ratio at 44.5% and the 4-hour ratio rising to 51.5%. The 4-hour volume delta is positive at +$42,641, suggesting that recent trades are favoring buyers, whereas the 24-hour delta is negative at -$671,633. This divergence implies that buying pressure is building in the immediate term despite the daily average remaining net negative. The CVD for the 24-hour close is -$33,975, confirming that sellers have dominated the broader session.
The latest daily buy ratio of 52.2% sits at the 84th percentile of the last 323 days, against a median of 49.5% - stronger buying than most days.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for ETHFI, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 50.0%, making today’s 45.0% reading 5.0 percentage points lower than the weekly norm. Volume has been elevated at 1.10x the average, with a total 8-day volume delta of -$766,138. This indicates that while trading activity is higher than usual, the coin has experienced more net selling pressure than its weekly average. Only 2 of the last 7 days saw net buying, suggesting that today’s slight recovery in the 4-hour window is a deviation from a generally weak weekly trend.