Author's NoteThis analysis was written by Omar Espejel (@espejelomar), Lead Axolotl for Restake.Watch and Senior Technical Ecosystem for Starknet Foundation. It represents an open discussion with the ecosystem, and we continue to work with teams to refine these metrics as they provide feedback. Any mistakes are mine alone and not a reflection of others' contributions. This is a living document. If you spot inaccuracies or have suggestions for improvement, please reach out. The restaking ecosystem evolves rapidly, and community input remains essential for robust risk assessment. Introduction Our goal is to see if restaking truly fortifies security or if it risks causing the ecosystem to falter under the weight of new complexities. We’ll investigate: Governance Bribery & Centralization: Can the protocol’s governance be subverted? Exposure Concentration: Does a single operator or AVS hold disproportionate sway? Contagion (Systemic) Risk: Could one AVS failure cascade elsewhere?

Table of Contents 1. Introduction: The Big Picture 2. What are STARKs? 3. Why STARKs for Bitcoin? 4. The Technical Details: How STARKs Work on Bitcoin 4.1. OP_CAT: The Unsung Hero of Bitcoin Scaling

...Pandora's box has been opened, and there's no going back... Disclaimer: This guide is built on the shoulders of experts who have carefully explained the restaking ecosystem. I thank all my colleagues who provided feedback on this text, particularly (but not only) Chuy García. Any errors are mine. Restaking is here. It's new, it's complex, and it's changing Ethereum. Sriram Kannan and his team at Eigen Layer created restaking. It lets Ethereum stakers secure other networks too. Jessy Cheng calls it "inevitably coming true" [5].