Recently, someone asked me again whether LST/re-staking is "free profit" or "fancy multi-layered"… My own understanding is pretty simple: there are two main sources of profit—one is the native staking inflation/fees, and the other is lending the same security to more protocols. Protocols are willing to offer incentives and share fees, so it looks more attractive. The risks are roughly two types: the chain's own penalties or node misbehavior, plus the pitfalls of these intermediary protocols' contracts, liquidation runs, and liquidity drying up when you can't sell. Anyway, it's all "nothing happens normally, but when trouble strikes, the chain reaction follows." I later realized the easiest thing to overlook is the correlation: everyone uses the same set of LSTs for collateral, so when there's a disturbance, everyone hits the brakes together. Even with high returns, it can't withstand slippage and emotional swings. By the way, the fuss over NFT royalties is quite similar—creators want to earn more, markets want to sell better. Basically, they're all sharing the same cake, and when liquidity tightens, they start to dislike each other. My approach is to try small investments, dividing into several plots, not reinvesting all the profits, and leaving some "escape routes."