Overview of the EigenLayer Ecosystem and Its Active Validation Service Projects

EigenLayer is a technological protocol created on Ethereum that introduces the concept of restaking. As of June 5, 2024, over 5.309 million ETH have been restaked within this protocol. ETH holders and holders of related liquid staked tokens (LSTs) can restake their assets on EigenLayer to earn additional asset rewards.

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

The founder of EigenLayer describes it as "a verifiable cloud in the crypto space," with its core technology being Active Verification Service (AVS). AVS refers to systems that require their own distributed verification semantics for validation, such as sidechains, data availability layers, virtual machines, etc. Each AVS has its own set of smart contracts.

On April 9, 2024, EigenLayer launched the operator and AVS modules on the mainnet. As of June 5, 2024, the official website has announced 13 AVS projects that are live and 8 new AVS projects based on Rollup.

Main AVS Projects

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

2. Aethos: Decentralized strategy engine for customizing trading rules.

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

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

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

6. Espresso: A shared ordering tool that connects Layer 2, aimed at enhancing the interoperability of Rollups.

7. Ethos: A security coordination layer that supports Cosmos.

8. Hyperlane: An interoperability layer for building modular blockchain stacks.

9. Lagrange: A decentralized network of validators that has launched a zero-knowledge proof-based protocol.

10. Near: A blockchain platform with built-in account abstraction and cross-chain interoperability.

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 multi-party secure computation.

13. Witness Chain: Converts the physical attributes of the DePIN network into verifiable digital proofs.

Restaked Rollup Project

Restaked Rollup is a new category of active validation service by EigenLayer, which consolidates multiple services into a single Rollup service. Users can earn restaking rewards while using multiple service features.

1. AltLayer: Decentralized Rollup protocol.

2. Caldera: A Rollup deployment platform using EigenDA as the data storage layer.

3. Celo: Provides a technical framework and modular functionality for decentralized application development.

4. Cyber: Focused on becoming a modular Layer2 network for the social layer of web3 applications.

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

6. Mantle: A modular blockchain network developed by BitDAO, offering Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible scaling solutions.

7. Movement: Developed a modular blockchain network M1 and M2 using the Move programming language.

8. Polymer Labs: Combines the settlement capabilities of the Optimism stack with the interoperability features of the Cosmos SDK.

9. Versatus: The world's first Stateless Rollup, supporting the development of decentralized applications.

These projects showcase the diversity and innovation of the EigenLayer ecosystem, bringing new possibilities and development directions to the Ethereum ecosystem.