Kelp tokenizes EigenLayer points, KEP trades at $21 million valuation

Liquid restaking protocol Kelp has opened claims for the KEP token, allowing users to access a tokenized version of EigenLayer reward points.

Kelp, so far, has 156 million KEP tokens — of which 10 million of these tokens have been claimed by users, Kelp data shows. This gives these tokens a diluted market cap of $21 million at a price of $0.14 per token.

This development occurs within the context of growing interest in liquid restaking, where the total value locked across leading platforms has surpassed $4 billion. Kelp itself has secured total deposits of more than $600 million.

Understanding restaking and liquid restaking

EigenLayer’s strategy involves leveraging ETH’s economic security by accepting native ETH — which can be directly restaked by Ethereum validators — and liquid staked ETH, or liquid staking protocols. This can then be used to secure other protocols, though this feature is yet to go live. This is referred to as restaking.

Meanwhile, the idea behind liquid restaking offered by Kelp (and others such as EtherFi and Renzo) is that it allows ETH holders — holding either native or sometimes LST tokens — to invest and restake on Eigen without losing access to the underlying capital. (Hence the term “liquid.”)

Users of EigenLayer earn points for their ether deposits, which are said to increase their odds of receiving a token from EigenLayer. Users of liquid restaking keep their capital liquid while also retaining their Eigen points.

Kelp has converted these points into a token, opening up its separate on-chain market and a brand new cryptocurrency niche. Other avenues for trading points exist, like Whales Market and Pendle, but they have yet to convert points into tokens.