EigenCloud vs Ethena

EigenLayer is a restaking marketplace on Ethereum that lets ETH validators and LST holders opt‑in to provide crypto‑economic security to external ‘Actively Validated Services’ (AVSs). Participants earn additional yield by subjecting their stake to slashing conditions defined by each module, creating a shared‑security layer similar to Polkadot’s parachains. Mainnet restaking went live in April 2024, and over 4 million ETH had been opt‑in restaked by Q2 2025.

USDe is Ethena’s synthetic dollar backed by delta‑neutral ETH perpetual hedge positions rather than off‑chain treasuries. The collateral basket auto‑rebalances between spot ETH, LSTs and short perps so the net delta remains near zero, turning staking rewards and funding rates into protocol revenue. USDe launched on Ethereum in January 2024 and surpassed $2 billion supply within five months, with deep secondary liquidity on Curve and Bybit.