The development team behind Ether.fi has eliminated the restaking feature from weETH, transferring it to a new liquidity token, weETHs, based on the Symbiotic platform.
We've officially taken all restaking exposure away from weETH
weETH is now a pure liquid staking token (LST)
All restaking has moved to weETHs, our liquid restaking token powered by @symbioticfi
One asset for staking. One for restaking. No bundled risk. pic.twitter.com/WHDGP5XkQc
— ether.fi (@ether_fi) August 6, 2026
The team has completely removed all restaking exposure from weETH. Following this change, the asset is now designated solely for traditional liquid staking.
According to Ether.fi, this separation simplifies the decision-making process between basic staking and the additional option of restaking, each carrying distinct risk and yield profiles.
Previously, holders of weETH enjoyed both staking and restaking exposure simultaneously. Restaking enabled the use of the same coin across various services, allowing for additional rewards from locking, but it also increased the risk of penalties and potential loss of part of the deposit.
As reported by DefiLlama, as of this writing, the total value locked in Ether.fi amounts to approximately $3.55 billion.
Source: DefiLlama.This decision by Ether.fi may be tied to a broader conversation regarding staking rewards within the Ethereum network. Earlier in August, a group of blockchain researchers and developers proposed altering the network's emission policy by burning a portion of the consensus rewards for validators.
EIP-8363 suggests that as the proportion of ETH in staking increases, the network will burn a greater share of the rewards earned by validators for attestations, block proposals, and participation in the sync committee.
Ether.fi's founder, Mike Silagadze, criticized this initiative, arguing that it would negatively impact small stakers and products built around coin-locking rewards.
It is worth noting that in June, Ethereum Research proposed allowing validators to redirect up to 10% of staking rewards to fund the ecosystem. Concerns regarding this included potential cartelization of validators, conflicts of interest between operators and ETH holders, as well as excessive issuance.