Overview of Active Validation Services in the EigenLayer Ecosystem

EigenLayer is an innovative technical protocol built on Ethereum that introduces the concept of re-staking. As of June 5, 2024, over 5.309 million ETH have been re-staked on this protocol. Both ETH holders and holders of related liquid staking tokens (LST) can participate in re-staking to earn additional rewards.

For developers, EigenLayer offers the opportunity to launch new Active Validator Services (AVS) by leveraging the existing Ethereum validator set and staked ETH. This significantly reduces the complexity of building new protocols on Ethereum, eliminating the need to build secure infrastructure and PoS networks from scratch.

Introduction to Address Verification Service (AVS)

AVS refers to systems that require self-owned distributed verification semantics for validation, such as sidechains, data availability layers, virtual machines, Web3 Keeper networks, bridges, threshold encryption schemes, and trusted execution environments. Each AVS is equipped with a set of smart contracts.

AVS Project in the EigenLayer Ecosystem

On April 9, 2024, EigenLayer launched the operator and AVS module on the mainnet. As of June 5, 2024, the official announcement revealed 13 AVS projects that have gone live and 8 new AVS projects based on Rollup. Below is a brief introduction to some of the projects:

Main AVS Project

1. EigenDA: The first AVS project on EigenLayer, developed by EigenLabs, has launched on the mainnet in the second quarter of 2024.

2. Aethos: A decentralized strategy engine for custom trading rules, utilizing off-chain computation and achieving cryptoeconomic consensus through EigenLayer.

3. AltLayer: A decentralized Rollup protocol that uses EigenDA to achieve data availability.

4. Blockless: An infrastructure platform for launching, integrating, and protecting network-neutral applications.

5. Drosera Network: A protocol for creating automated monitoring systems for decentralized applications.

6. Espresso: A Layer2 connection sharing sorting tool designed to enhance the interoperability and security of Rollups.

7. Ethos: A secure coordination layer that provides support for Cosmos by leveraging the economic security of staked ETH.

8. Hyperlane: The first modular blockchain stack interoperability layer with open permissions and shared use.

9. Lagrange: A decentralized proof network that launched the ZK Coprocessor and State Committees based on zero-knowledge proofs.

10. Near: A cross-chain interoperability protocol with features such as built-in account abstraction.

11. Omni: An interoperability protocol based on Ethereum for low-latency communication between Rollups.

12. Silence Laboratories: Build a verification library and software toolkit based on multiparty secure computation.

13. Witness Chain: Transforms the physical attributes of the DePIN network into verifiable digital proof.

Restaked Rollup project

Restaked Rollup is a new category of EigenLayer AVS that combines multiple services into a single Rollup service. Users can simultaneously earn restaking rewards and access multiple service functionalities. Major projects include:

1. Caldera: A Rollup deployment platform that uses EigenDA as data storage.

2. Celo: Provides a technical framework and modular features for decentralized application development.

3. Cyber: Focused on becoming the social layer of web3 applications, supporting social graph protocols.

4. LayerN: Aims to create a high-performance, freely usable virtual machine execution environment.

5. Mantle: A modular blockchain network developed by BitDAO.

6. Movement: The M1 and M2 networks use the Move programming language.

7. Polymer Labs: A protocol that combines the Optimism stack and Cosmos SDK functionalities.

8. Versatus: The world's first Stateless Rollup, supporting decentralized application development.

These projects showcase the diversity and innovation of the EigenLayer ecosystem, making significant contributions to the scalability and functionality of Ethereum.