How to Integrate EIP-7002: Smart Contract-Controlled Staking Withdrawals

Table of Contents

1. Why Staking Needed an Upgrade?

2. The Smart Contract Era of ETH Withdrawals

3. How to Integrate EIP-7002 Step by Step

   • Step 1: Project Bootstrap (Foundry)
   • Step 2: Core Contracts (WithdrawalManager + Mocks)
   • Step 3: Foundry Tests (Simulating Beacon Withdrawals)
   • Step 4: Deployment Script
   • Step 5: Integrations (Lido, EigenLayer, Gnosis Safe)

4. Real-World Use Cases of EIP-7002

5. Best Practices for EIP-7002 Contracts

   • Security Considerations
   • Gas & Timing Considerations
   • TL;DR

6. About Us

7. FAQ

Why Staking Needed an Upgrade?

Ethereum’s staking withdrawals before Pectra were restrictive:

• Validators could only set their withdrawal credential to an Externally Owned Account (EOA).
• Funds would flow to a plain wallet address, with no automation, routing, or programmability.
• If a staker wanted to restake ETH, delegate to a pool, or direct funds into DeFi, it required manual intervention.

This rigidity slowed down restaking adoption, added operational friction, and limited innovation in validator services.

EIP-7002, introduced in the Pectra upgrade, solves this by allowing validator withdrawals to target smart contract addresses. This makes withdrawals programmable, enabling automated restaking, revenue distribution, and DAO-level staking flows.

The Smart Contract Era of ETH Withdrawals

EIP-7002 allows a validator to set their withdrawal credentials to a smart contract instead of just an EOA.

When withdrawals (either partial or full) occur, ETH is sent directly into that contract, which can then execute custom logic:

• Automated Restaking → Instantly redeposit ETH into EigenLayer or similar protocols.
• Pooling & Revenue Sharing → Distribute ETH to multiple stakeholders (e.g., a validator DAO).
• Treasury Management → Route ETH into lending, liquidity, or hedging strategies.
• Access Controls → Protect funds via multisig, timelocks, or upgradeable modules.

This transforms validator rewards from static flows into programmable assets.

How to Integrate EIP-7002 Step by Step

Step 1: Project Bootstrap (Foundry)

forge init eip7002-withdrawal
cd eip7002-withdrawal

Update foundry.toml to lock compiler version:

[default]
solc_version = "0.8.20"

Create project folders:

mkdir -p src src/mocks script test

Step 2: Core Contracts (WithdrawalManager + Mocks)

WithdrawalManager.sol

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.20;

interface ILido {
    function submit(address referral) external payable returns (uint256);
}

interface IRestake {
    function restakeFor(address beneficiary) external payable returns (bool);
}

contract WithdrawalManager {
    address public owner;
    address public treasury;
    ILido public lido;
    IRestake public restake;
    bool private _locked;
    uint256 public pendingBalance;

    event Received(address indexed sender, uint256 amount);
    event Forwarded(address indexed to, uint256 amount);
    event Restaked(uint256 amount);
    event DepositedToLido(uint256 amount, uint256 shares);
    event PendingQueued(uint256 amount);
    event ProcessedPending(address indexed by, uint256 amount);

    modifier onlyOwner() {
        require(msg.sender == owner, "owner only");
        _;
    }

    modifier noReentrant() {
        require(!_locked, "reentrant");
        _locked = true;
        _;
        _locked = false;
    }

    constructor(address _treasury, address _lido, address _restake) {
        owner = msg.sender;
        treasury = _treasury;
        lido = ILido(_lido);
        restake = IRestake(_restake);
    }

    receive() external payable {
        emit Received(msg.sender, msg.value);
        _immediateStrategy(msg.value);
    }

    function _immediateStrategy(uint256 amount) internal noReentrant {
        if (amount == 0) return;
        uint256 half = amount / 2;

        (bool okTreasury, ) = treasury.call{value: half}("");
        if (okTreasury) emit Forwarded(treasury, half);
        else { pendingBalance += half; emit PendingQueued(half); }

        try restake.restakeFor{value: amount - half}(owner) returns (bool success) {
            if (success) emit Restaked(amount - half);
            else { pendingBalance += (amount - half); emit PendingQueued(amount - half); }
        } catch {
            pendingBalance += (amount - half);
            emit PendingQueued(amount - half);
        }
    }

    function processPending(uint256 amount) external onlyOwner noReentrant {
        require(amount > 0 && amount <= pendingBalance && amount <= address(this).balance, "invalid amount");
        pendingBalance -= amount;

        uint256 half = amount / 2;
        (bool okTreasury, ) = treasury.call{value: half}("");
        if (okTreasury) emit Forwarded(treasury, half);
        else pendingBalance += half;

        try restake.restakeFor{value: amount - half}(owner) returns (bool success) {
            if (success) emit Restaked(amount - half);
            else pendingBalance += (amount - half);
        } catch {
            pendingBalance += (amount - half);
        }

        emit ProcessedPending(msg.sender, amount);
    }

    function setTreasury(address t) external onlyOwner { treasury = t; }
    function setLido(address l) external onlyOwner { lido = ILido(l); }
    function setRestake(address r) external onlyOwner { restake = IRestake(r); }
    function transferOwnership(address newOwner) external onlyOwner { owner = newOwner; }

    function emergencyWithdraw(address payable to) external onlyOwner noReentrant {
        uint256 bal = address(this).balance;
        require(bal > 0, "no balance");
        (bool ok, ) = to.call{value: bal}("");
        require(ok, "withdraw failed");
    }
}

Mocks

src/mocks/MockRestake.sol

pragma solidity ^0.8.20;

contract MockRestake {
    event RestakedFor(address indexed beneficiary, uint256 amount);
    receive() external payable {}
    function restakeFor(address beneficiary) external payable returns (bool) {
        emit RestakedFor(beneficiary, msg.value);
        return true;
    }
}

src/mocks/MockTreasury.sol

pragma solidity ^0.8.20;

contract MockTreasury {
    receive() external payable {}
}

Step 3: Foundry Tests (Simulating Beacon Withdrawals)

test/WithdrawalManager.t.sol

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.20;

import "forge-std/Test.sol";
import "../src/WithdrawalManager.sol";
import "../src/mocks/MockRestake.sol";
import "../src/mocks/MockTreasury.sol";

contract WithdrawalManagerTest is Test {
    WithdrawalManager manager;
    MockRestake restake;
    MockTreasury treasury;

    function setUp() public {
        restake = new MockRestake();
        treasury = new MockTreasury();
        manager = new WithdrawalManager(address(treasury), address(0), address(restake));
    }

    function testImmediateForwardAndRestake() public {
        uint256 sendAmt = 1 ether;
        uint256 beforeTreasury = address(treasury).balance;
        uint256 beforeRestake = address(restake).balance;

        (bool ok,) = address(manager).call{value: sendAmt}("");
        require(ok);

        assertEq(address(treasury).balance, beforeTreasury + (sendAmt / 2));
        assertEq(address(restake).balance, beforeRestake + (sendAmt / 2));
    }
}

Run tests:

forge test -vv

Step 4: Deployment Script

script/Deploy.s.sol

pragma solidity ^0.8.20;
import "forge-std/Script.sol";
import "../src/WithdrawalManager.sol";

contract Deploy is Script {
    function run() external {
        address treasury = vm.envAddress("TREASURY");
        address lido = vm.envAddress("LIDO");
        address restake = vm.envAddress("RESTAKE");

        vm.startBroadcast(vm.envUint("PRIVATE_KEY"));
        new WithdrawalManager(treasury, lido, restake);
        vm.stopBroadcast();
    }
}

Deploy:

export RPC_URL="https://rpc.testnet.example"
export PRIVATE_KEY="0x..."
export TREASURY="0xYourTreasury"
export LIDO="0xLidoAddress"
export RESTAKE="0xRestakeAddress"

forge script script/Deploy.s.sol:Deploy --rpc-url $RPC_URL --broadcast

Step 5: Integrations (Lido, EigenLayer, Gnosis Safe)

• Lido: Use lido.submit{value: ...}(address(this)) to mint stETH.
• EigenLayer: Replace IRestake with EigenLayer’s restaking API (restakeFor, delegateTo, etc.).
• Gnosis Safe: Forward ETH directly with safe.call{value: amount}("") to route funds into multisig-controlled treasuries.

[!WARNING] Disclaimer: The following code examples are for illustrative purposes only and have not been audited. Do not deploy them directly in production.

Real-World Use Cases of EIP-7002

EIP-7002 turns passive rewards into programmable flows. Key patterns:

• Auto-Restake Loops – Rewards auto-route into EigenLayer / LST minting for compounding yield.
• Validator-as-a-Service Splits – Contracts trustlessly split flow between operator, delegators, treasury.
• DAO Treasury Streaming – ETH lands directly in governed treasuries: restake, diversify, or fund ops.
• DeFi Pipelines – Immediate conversion to stETH / rETH, LP provisioning, or lending collateral.
• Safety Buffers – Slice a % to insurance / slashing reserves creating self-healing economics.

Bottom line: EIP-7002 = autonomous validator economies tightly integrated with restaking + DeFi.

Best Practices for EIP-7002 Contracts

Security Considerations

• Keep logic minimal in withdrawal contracts.
• Use try/catch for all external integrations.

Gas & Timing Considerations

• Withdrawals are protocol-driven you don’t pay gas directly.
• But failed executions can cause ETH to get stuck → always have a pending queue + manual processing fallback.

TL;DR

1. Set validator withdrawal credentials to your WithdrawalManager.
2. Contract receives ETH automatically from consensus layer.
3. Forward funds into DAO treasuries, Lido, EigenLayer, or multisigs.
4. Keep contracts minimal + audited.
5. Use fallback safety (queue pattern) to avoid loss.

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