EigenLayer,
a
“restaking”
service
for
Ethereum
that
has
already
racked
up
$12
billion
in
user
deposits,
announced
today
that
it
is
officially
launching
to
the
blockchain’s
mainnet.
The
launch
comes
alongside
the
release
of
EigenDA,
a
data-availability
(DA)
service
from
the
team
behind
EigenLayer.
Even
before
EigenLayer
launched,
it
had
already
become
one
of
the
most
popular
destinations
for
crypto
inflows
–
a
hot
ticket
partly
because
of
its
highly
touted
innovation
of
pooled
security,
a
technology
that
could
fundamentally
reshape
the
industry
landscape
by
extending
Etheruem’s
security
apparatus
to
other
crypto
protocols.
Eigen
Labs,
the
development
firm
behind
EigenLayer,
announced
the
launch
on
Tuesday
on
EigenLayer’s
X
account.
EigenLayer’s
pitch
is
that
it
lets
upstart
blockchain
protocols
borrow
Ethereum’s
security
–
allowing
users
to
take
ETH
they’ve
staked
with
Ethereum,
and
then
“restake”
it
with
a
much
larger
pool
of
ETH
from
other
users
in
exchange
for
extra
interest.
That
restaked
ETH
is
used
to
collectively
secure
auxiliary
networks,
called
actively
validated
services
(AVSs),
which
can
be
anything
from
blockchain
bridges
to
exchanges
or
oracles.
EigenDA,
the
first
AVS
to
launch,
is
built
by
Eigen
Labs
as
a
way
to
help
other
blockchain
protocols
store
transaction
data
and
other
information.
It
will
compete
with
similar
protocols,
like
Celestia,
that
have
quickly
become
critical
pieces
of
blockchain
infrastructure
as
the
industry
has
expanded.
EigenLayer’s
initial
launch
will
have
a
restricted
feature
set
for
now,
and
Eigen
Labs
CEO
Sreeram
Kannan
referred
to
the
protocol’s
first
release
as
a
“beta”
version
in
a
conversation
with
CoinDesk
last
week.
Notably,
AVSs
outside
of
Eigen
Labs’
EigenDA
will
be
able
to
“register”
with
the
protocol,
but
they
will
not
be
able
to
deploy
in
full
just
yet.
Additionally,
“this
mainnet
launch
does
not
include:
(1)
in-protocol
payments
from
AVSs
to
operators;
and
(2)
slashing,”
EigenLayer
said
in
its
X
thread.
“Slashing”
refers
to
the
method
that
EigenLayer
will
use
to
keep
AVS
operators
honest:
The
protocol
will
rely
on
a
proof-of-stake
system
similar
to
Ethereum’s,
where
AVS
operators
(also
called
validators)
are
at
risk
of
having
their
stake
revoked
if
they
act
maliciously.
EigenLayer
will
ultimately
pay
out
interest
to
restakers,
but
that
function,
too,
will
remain
in
progress
until
Eigen
Labs
works
out
kinks
with
its
“in-protocol
payments”
system.
“We
are
allowing
the
EigenLayer
marketplace
to
develop
and
stabilize
before
introducing
in-protocol
payments
and
slashing
to
mainnet
later
this
year,”
EigenLayer
said
in
the
thread.
Eigen
Labs
raised
$100M
last
year
from
Andreessen
Horowitz
(a16z),
and
the
project’s
points
system
–
a
loyalty
score
that
users
expect
might
be
attached
to
a
future
token
airdrop
–
has
helped
fuel
billions
of
dollars
worth
of
deposits
into
the
protocol.
EigenLayer’s
rise
has
also
birthed
a
cottage
industry
of
“liquid
restaking”
protocols
like
Ether.fi
and
Puffer,
which
funnel
money
into
EigenLayer
on
behalf
of
users,
and
offer
their
own
points
systems
as
an
incentive
for
depositing
with
them.
UPDATE
(Apr.
9,
18:26
UTC):
Adds
information
throughout.
UPDATE
(Apr.
9,
18:41
UTC):
Adds
information
throughout.