Tron founder Justin Sun recently made a significant move by deploying a portion of his Ether holdings after accumulating 173,800 ETH last month, just before the token surged past $4,000.

According to data from Etherscan on March 13, Sun’s address deposited 120,000 ETH, valued at approximately $480 million, into the liquid restaking protocol Ether.fi. Sun reportedly acquired these Ethereum (ETH) coins, now worth $693 million, for an average price of $2,869 per token between February 8 and February 25.

Ether.fi, along with other liquid restaking platforms, utilizes Ethereum’s proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism to secure various blockchains and protocols operating on the second-largest decentralized network in the crypto space.

Justin Sun’s move is part of a growing trend inspired by Ethereum’s native staking model following its transition to PoS, which replaced miners with stakers as essential network contributors. Platforms like Ether.fi offer users access to additional yield and rewards, sometimes in the form of points or airdropped tokens.

These protocols leverage EigenLayer, the original restaking platform, to generate extra staking yield. While some users and advocates have expressed concerns about the risks associated with restaking platforms and Ethereum’s mainnet, the liquid restaking ecosystem has experienced significant growth within a short period.

As per DefiLlama, users have deposited over $6.8 billion in total value locked (TVL) within the sector, with Ether.fi leading the way with $2.9 billion in TVL, approximately double the size of its closest competitor, Puffer Finance.

This surge in the liquid restaking sector signifies a new era for Ethereum validators and underscores the increasing popularity of PoS-based protocols in the cryptocurrency space.

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