Recently, I’ve been looking into the yield sources from LST and re-staking. Put simply, there are basically three parts: the underlying interest from staking itself, the fluctuating items like MEV/tips, and re-staking that takes the “security” and sub-leases it again to collect rent. It sounds pretty great—when I see a bunch of APRs stacked up, my brain starts fantasizing about retiring... but in reality, every extra layer is another layer of pitfalls involving counterparties, penalties, and smart contracts. Especially with that kind of cross-protocol linked penalties in re-staking—what I’m most afraid of isn’t losing money slowly; it’s getting abruptly cut off.

There’s also a small side note: I’ve noticed that the labels provided by some on-chain data tools are sometimes really “lagging,” and can even end up misleading you. That can make you think the risks are diversified, when they’re actually concentrated in the same set of addresses or the same custody arrangement. Anyway, I now care more about whether the cash flow is explainable—whether I can handle extreme situations. If the returns are a bit lower, I’m willing to slow down for now. That’s it for now.