Recently, someone asked again where the "profits" from LST/re-staking come from. My current understanding is quite straightforward: part of it is the normal interest from underlying staking, and the other part is actually renting out the "security/risk of malicious behavior" for a second time. The protocol is willing to pay for the endorsement, so you get a share. It sounds very attractive, but the risks are very real: it's not just price volatility, but also contract issues, penalty mechanisms, liquidity crashes. When things go wrong, you might think you're earning interest, but you're actually paying an insurance premium.

Moreover, recently the community has been arguing about privacy coins and compliance with coin mixing, and I actually think it's quite similar to re-staking: the boundaries are blurry, and ultimately, those who bear the uncertainty are often the last in line. To put it simply, higher-yield products always have someone behind them passing on the "unquantifiable risks."

What I’ve learned isn’t techniques, but rather to first ask clearly: who am I really earning money from, and who am I standing in for?