A Complete Guide to EigenLayer's Restaking Ecosystem

A new narrative has taken Ethereum by storm: restaking.

Restaking is a brand new primitive that enables stakers to earn additional rewards, staking providers to offer additional validation services and builders to utilize the crypto-economic security of Ethereum.

Leading the restaking revolution is EigenLayer, a restaking protocol that launched to mainnet in April 2024. EigenLayer’s run up has been nothing short of spectacular. In just a few months, they rose to become the second largest protocol on Ethereum, with $13b+ worth of assets under management.

But what actually is EigenLayer and what makes it significant? In this article, we explore the restaking ecosystem and take a closer look at how EigenLayer is poised to usher in a new era of innovation and network expansion for Ethereum.

What is EigenLayer?

EigenLayer is a restaking protocol that lets developers build decentralized applications that utilize the trust guarantees and security of Ethereum.

At its core, EigenLayer is a series of smart contracts that natively interact with the Ethereum staking contract.

Before EigenLayer, developers looking to build on top of Ethereum would need to consider a native token for the validators’ reward incentives and bootstrap their own trust network from scratch.

By having ready access to the stake and the operator network underlying Ethereum, developers can focus their efforts on building specialized decentralized services such as bridges, sequencers, oracles, and data availability layers. These new services built on EigenLayer are referred to as an AVS (Actively Validated Service).

A number of new AVSs are gearing up for launch, now that EigenLayer mainnet is live. In this article we explore all of the different AVSs building on EigenLayer, how they fit within EigenLayer’s restaking ecosystem and what value they bring. Before exploring the different AVS that are set to launch on EigenLayer, let’s take a step back.

Starting from the ground up, here’s an overview of each layer within EigenLayer’s Restaking Ecosystem…

EigenLayer’s Restaking Ecosystem

Consensus & Execution Layers

Ethereum is a global distributed network secured by 980k active validators. Node operators run special software, known as "clients", which implement the Ethereum PoS protocol.

There are two types of clients in Ethereum: Execution Clients and Consensus Clients. Execution Clients process Ethereum transactions and maintain the state of the network, while Consensus Clients ensure consensus through a PoS algorithm, syncing the Ethereum state.

EigenLayer

EgienLayer is a protocol that enables developers to bootstrap new proof of stake (PoS) systems, utilizing the crypto economic security of Ethereum (as described above). 

AVSs

Actively Validated Services (AVS) can be seen as the decentralized apps built on EigenLayer. Staking Providers on the EigenLayer network can choose to opt in or out of running services for AVSs, in return for restaked rewards.

Operators 

The trust for staking delegation is not built into the EigenLayer protocol itself, this is instead provided by Operators (also known as Staking Providers) who run validators on the Ethereum network.

Operators can “opt-in” to provide validation services for AVSs and take on additional slashing conditions. The more AVS

Non-native & Native Restaking

There are two ways that investors can contribute their staked ETH or LSTs to EigenLayer, to earn additional rewards.

1. Non-native Restaking

Liquid Staking Token (LST) holders can restake their LSTs by transferring them into the EigenLayer smart contracts.

2. Native Restaking

Similar to running a validator on Ethereum, Native Restaking requires a minimum of 32 ETH. The main difference being, node operators must point their withdrawal credentials to their own “EigenPod”. An EigenPod is a personalized smart contract that is designed to facilitate staking deposits and withdrawals on the BeaconChain.

To restaking natively on EigenLayer, users can choose to set up and run their own validator and EigenPod.  In this instance, the restaker would act as an operator (as per above) and delegate to themselves.

Otherwise, users can choose to restake their tokens with a professional restaking provider that runs a public validator. In this case, the technical overhead is abstracted away from the user, but they forfeit their ability to choose which AVSs to provide validations services for.

LRTfi

In a similar vein to LSTfi (which are DeFi protocols built using LSTs as a primary source of collateral), LRTfi protocols include LRTs as an underlying source of collateral to power DeFi.

The AVS Landscape

AVSs are helping to unlock innovation at the infrastructure layer. Similar to how SaaS applications are widely used in the web2 world, we could see a similar trend with protocols using AVSs in web3.

The types of AVSs that can be on EigenLayer are endless - examples include sidechains, data availability layers, new virtual machines, keeper networks, oracle networks, bridges and countless other services that haven’t even been considered yet. 

Below are some of the AVSs that are already building on EigenLayer and are set to launch following the mainnet. 

EigenDA

EigenDA is a data availability layer made by the EigenLabs team. EigenDA stores rollup transactions until their computed state is finalized on the rollup bridge.

As EigenLabs’ flagship AVS, EigenDA already has a host of rollup solutions building on top of it, including Caldera, Celo, Mantle, Versatus and more.

eOracle

eOracle is the first “Ethereum-native” oracle designed to equip decentralized application developers with native security and real-world connectivity.

eOracle introduces a transparent, on-chain architecture that leverages an established, globally diverse network of Ethereum validators and the largest pool of stake capital. This system acts as an interoperable layer, aligning with the security guarantees and programmability of native smart contracts.

AltLayer

AltLayer is a decentralized interlayer for rollups; using EigenLayer for fast finality, and EigenDA for data availability. Altlayer provides a novel framework that aims to bring restaking to all major rollup stacks in order to provide several useful auxiliary services to app-specific rollups.

WitnessChain

WitnessChain is building a unified economy for DePINs, to share value, bootstrap infrastructure and get access to better financial instruments.

The first project released by WitnessChain is their Rollup Watchtower Network, to actively validate Rollup state commitments and serve as the first line of defense for rollups.

Brevis

Brevis is a highly efficient ZK coprocessor that empowers smart contracts to read from the full historical on-chain data from all supported blockchains and run customizable computations in a completely trust-free way.

Lagrange

Lagrange provides a proving system that is deployed as a zk coprocessor. Lagrange allows dApps on Ethereum and other EVM compatible chains, to handle big computation asynchronously, in a decentralized manner.

Aligned Layer

Aligned Layer are extending Ethereum's Zero Knowledge capabilities by building the first universal verification layer. Aligned Layer receives proofs from different proof systems, verifies them, sends the final result to Ethereum and posts the data into a DA layer.

Drosera

Drosera is an automation protocol that simplifies the process of creating monitoring systems for decentralized applications. It provides a framework for creating and executing automated responses to events on the Ethereum network, enabling developers to create more robust and secure applications.

OpenDB

OpenDB is a blockchain co-processor with an open and interoperable database layer utilizing Ethereum security through Eigenlayer AVS aimed at pioneering the next generation Web3 query infrastructure.

Othentic

The Othentic Stack is a self-deploy infrastructure to spin up distributed systems with shared security, with a mission to facilitate the creation of novel computing services.

Leveraging a library of production-ready components, AVS developers can focus on their core service, minimize engineering overheads, and abstract away low-level implementations and error-prone infrastructure details. 

Espresso Systems

Espresso is designed to offer rollups a means of achieving credible neutrality, enhanced interoperability, & long-term alignment with Ethereum. Espresso offers a shared sequencing marketplace and finality gadget connecting layer-2 scaling solutions.

PolyhedraZK

Polyhedra Network designs and develops scalable and efficient zero-knowledge proof protocols for large-scale ZKP systems with distributed computing networks.

Gasp

Gasp is a cross-chain swap protocol that supports transfers between Ethereum L2s such as Arbitrum and Optimism.

Caldera

Cladera is a modular blockchain platform, enabling developers to deploy a rollup with EigenDA in one click.

Ethos

Ethos is a security coordination layer that enables Cosmos chains to easily bootstrap a validator network, leveraging the economic security of restaked ETH.

Aethos

Aethos enables developers to set unique transaction-specific policies for smart contracts while retaining ownership through a trust-minimized decentralized network. 

Anzen Protocol

Anzen manages economic incentives for AVS, ensuring security is adequately funded. It adjusts operator rewards to balance security needs & sustainability.

Blockless

Blockless provides a standardized networking framework for applications built on EigenLayer, with our security parameters minimizing unintended slashing.

Radius

Radius is a shared sequencing layer designed to eliminate harmful MEV and censorship while creating economic value for rollups.

Supermeta Restaking

Supermeta Restaking functions as a ZK Validator Coordination Layer, enabling trust minimized restaking through Decentralized Operators known as SuperOperators, which are supported by a cluster of decentralized validators. In addition to providing anti-slashing protection, delegating to SuperOperators empowers the delegators to influence the AVS choices made by the SuperOperator through governance.

Omni Network

Omni is a low latency interoperability network that connects all Ethereum rollups securely through the use of restaking.

AVS Delegation Commitments from LRTs

A number of Liquid Restaking Protocols have already announced strategic partnerships with AVSs to secure their protocol.  

Lagrange has already secured $500M worth of restaked ETH from both Ether.fi and Puffer. Brevis are also set to receive a delegation $500M worth of restaked ETH from Ether.fi, while Swell has pledged $500M of restaked ETH to WitnessChain.

With more commitments likely in the works, this signals the very beginning of a flourishing AVS ecosystem backed with large amounts of economic security.

Other Restaking Protocols

EigenLayer isn't the only protocol building a staking solution for shared economic security.

Karak is building a universal restaking layer powered by the entire crypto economy, not just limited to Ethereum. Much like EigenLayer, Karak enables protocols to tap into robust and secure trust networks, making the process of bootstrapping security more scalable, accessible, and affordable.

Exocore is also building an alternative approach to EigenLayer. It introduces the concept of omnichain restaking with a novel design that combines single-chain and cross-chain restaking within a specialized, modular, layer-1 protocol.

Finally, Composable Finance is building a restaking layer between Solana and IBC. 

The Future of Restaking on EigenLayer

The launch of EigenLayer sparks a new era of innovation and expansion within the Ethereum ecosystem. Developers can now access Ethereum's security by building an AVS, allowing them to focus on building specialized decentralized protocols without the burden of creating a trust network from scratch.

EigenLayer already boasts a vibrant ecosystem of AVSs. From data availability solutions like EigenDA to interoperability networks like Omni, each AVS represents a unique contribution to Ethereum's ecosystem, unlocking a new pathway for decentralized applications to scale.

Over the coming months, expect to see a whole host of AVSs launching on EigenLayer. This is just the beginning.