EigenLayer, a cutting-edge security marketplace connecting restakers, operators and builders, offers an array of advantages that can empower ETH holders, including enhanced scalability, heightened security, and the potential for increased rewards, all while actively contributing to the decentralization of the network. This innovative solution offers a unique perspective on maximizing the benefits of Ethereum staking and network participation. 

This guide is for ETH holders that custody their ETH with Fireblocks and want to natively restake through EigenLayer. Restaking ETH on EigenLayer allows ETH holders to earn restaking points from early on.

ETH Native Restaking

If you are already staking ETH with Figment and wish to restake through EigenLayer, you will first have to exit your existing validators. Since the Shapella upgrade, all Figment validators have been provisioned with 0x01 withdrawal addresses. It is not possible to repoint existing 0x01 withdrawal credentials to an EigenPod address, which is a prerequisite for ETH restaking through EigenLayer. 

It’s worth noting that less than 3% of the active validators have the ability to repoint their withdrawal credentials to an EigenPod address, given that these validators still happen to have 0x00 addresses (which permit repointing).

To exit your active validators, you can either click the Unstake button within the Fireblocks UI (in the case of those validators having been initially provisioned and staked from within your Fireblocks workspace) or alternatively click the Unstake button in your Figment account. Please refer to the Figment dashboard network values to get the most up-to-date withdrawal period which your validators will need to go through for the eventual withdrawal.

As a prerequisite, please whitelist the Holesky (testnet) and/or Ethereum aggregator contracts in your Fireblocks workspace.

Follow the below instructions to natively restake ETH held within Fireblocks today.  

Steps:

Navigate to the vault where your ETH or Holesky ETH is located and connect to that vault.

Once connected, your Fireblocks vault address should be correctly displayed in the Figment UI as shown below.

The next step is to deploy the EigenPod. This transaction costs 0 ETH plus a transaction fee. This EigenPod is where all consensus layer rewards will accrue and principally staked ETH will end up once the validator is exited. Balance can be claimed by the EigenPod owner. Clicking on Deploy EigenPod will trigger a contract call for the creation of your EigenPod that will pop up as a message to sign and approve within your Fireblocks workspace. Note: a wallet address or vault can only have one EigenPod associated with it. If an EigenPod has already been created for the linked wallet address or vault, Figment automatically displays this previously generated address.

Approve incoming Create EigenPod transaction in your Fireblocks workspace following the rules set in the dedicated TAP.

Once the approval is complete in Fireblocks you should see the address of the newly created EigenPod in your Figment app. As noted above, there is a 1:1 relationship between a Fireblocks vault and its EigenPod. Meaning that next time you seek to restake more ETH from within the same vault, Figment will recognize its mapping (i.e., to the EigenPod) and you won’t need to deploy it again.

Slide the bar to determine the amount of ETH you want to stake. Before proceeding to the next step, click on More Options to verify the Fee Recipient address is correctly set to your Fireblocks vault. It should be set to your vault address by default. If not, please change accordingly and save. Consensus Layer rewards accrue at the EigenPod address itself whereas Execution layer rewards will accrue at the Fee Recipient address and do not need to be claimed—these are instead automatically swept. Do not set the Fee Recipient address to the EigenPod address – the Fee Recipient must be your Fireblocks vault address managed and controlled by you. Click Continue to restake with Figment.

Review the staking operation summary and confirm Stake.

Figment initiates the deposit transaction which needs to be approved within your Fireblocks workspace.

Confirm the staking transaction in Fireblocks.

Upon approval you will get a notification your validators have been successfully provisioned, those will also be displayed in your Figment dashboard as “Activating” validators and will need to go through the activation queue. Once the validators become active, you will get another email notification from Figment. The status will also be accordingly reflected in the status within the Figment dashboard.

You have now successfully restaked your ETH and will start earning staking points! Note: restaking points only accrue with mainnet ETH and not Holesky testnet ETH.
In the future, upon the successful native restaking of your ETH, you will have the option to delegate your restaked balance to the Figment operator and earn EigenDA fees. These are currently in testnet and not live on mainnet. Please refer to the EigenLayer docs for further details.

If you want to exit your EigenPod-linked Figment validator, you can do so through the Unstake button within the Figment dashboard and wait for the validator to withdraw (status will be updated in the validator dashboard within your Figment account). Once the validator has gone through the exit queue, the staked ETH will go to the EigenPod, from where you can then Unstake. For security reasons, all funds unstaked from EigenLayer Mainnet go through a 7-day escrow period before being able to be withdrawn. Thus after the unstake operation is initiated, you must wait 7 days before being able to withdraw your assets. Please find more details about the full principal withdrawal and partial withdrawals in the EigenLayer docs as outlined here.

The information herein is being provided to you for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to be, nor should it be relied upon as, legal, business, tax or investment advice. Figment undertakes no obligation to update the information herein.

The information herein is being provided to you for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to be, nor should it be relied upon as, legal, business, tax or investment advice. Figment undertakes no obligation to update the information herein.