Ether.fi is separating restaking risk from its flagship liquid staking token, converting weETH into a plain liquid-staking product with no EigenLayer exposure and routing restaking activity into a new token, weETHs, built on the rival Symbiotic protocol. The protocol's current EigenLayer exposure has already fallen below 1% of its holdings, and ether.fi plans to remove its EigenPod validator credentials entirely by the fourth quarter of 2026, completing a full exit.
The change gives users a clearer choice than the bundled version offered previously: hold weETH for straightforward staking yield with restaking risk stripped out, or opt into weETHs to keep earning restaking rewards along with the added risk that comes with them.
A Shrinking Business Behind the Move
The restructuring comes as ether.fi's total staking assets have fallen sharply, down to roughly $3.3 billion from an all-time high of $12.43 billion in August 2025 — a decline that reflects both a broader pullback in restaking activity across the sector and waning enthusiasm for the yield-stacking model that made EigenLayer's shared-security pitch popular in 2024 and 2025.
Related: ETH Whales Buy $152M as Whale Sentiment Index Hits 66
EigenLayer Still Dominates, For Now
EigenLayer still holds around $15 billion in restaked ETH and roughly 94% of the overall restaking market, dwarfing Symbiotic's 5.5% share and Karak's 0.6%. Ether.fi's decision to build its new restaking product on Symbiotic rather than stay exclusively on EigenLayer signals growing appetite among large liquid-restaking providers to diversify away from a single dominant platform, even as that platform continues to hold the overwhelming majority of restaked capital.
