Ethereum restaking protocol EigenLayer has become the fourth-largest protocol by total value locked (TVL), surpassing cryptocurrency lending protocol JustLend.

EigenLayer’s TVL rose 5.73% to $6.99 billion on Feb. 15. The restaking protocol’s TVL is up 47.95% in the past seven days and 307% over the past month, according to data from DefiLlama.

10 largest DeFi protocols by TVL. Source: DefiLlama

EigenLayer’s TVL started rising on Feb. 5 after the protocol temporarily removed its staking cap aiming to incentivize organic growth, according to an official announcement. During this restaking window, EigenLayer’s TVL rose over 181% to $6.05 billion on Feb. 10 from just $2.15 billion on Feb. 5. While a new staking cap was applied, the project plans to permanently remove this limit in the future.

Restaking protocols like EigenLayer enable validators and stakers to restake liquid staking derivative tokens like Lido Staked ETH and RocketPool’s rETH to secure and validate other networks. These assets can also be deployed in other decentralized finance (DeFI) protocols to earn additional yield.

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While liquid staking is currently the largest protocol category with $42.69 billion in TVL, restaking protocols are in sixth place with $6.99 billion in combined TVL, according to DefiLlama.

One out of every four Ethereum validators have set their withdrawal credentials to EigenPod in the 30 days leading up to Feb. 9, according to an X post by Brianna Montgomery, the strategy lead at EigenLayer.

Overview of Ethereum validators. Source: Brianna Montgomery/X

Interest in staking protocols started surging in January, shortly after EigenLayer surpassed $1 billion in TVL on Dec. 28, 2023. There are a total of 108,574 depositors on the protocol as of Feb. 15, according to data from Dune. EigenLayer currently holds a total of over 1.52 million Ether tokens.

EigenLayer plans to launch its mainnet for operators soon, allowing investors to operate a staking node. The protocol is also preparing to launch EigenDA, a decentralized data availability service built on Ethereum, according to a Feb. 9 announcement on X.

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