EigenLayer
EigenLayer is an Ethereum-based smart contract protocol that enables restaking, allowing Ethereum validators and liquid staking token holders to extend their staked collateral to secure additional decentralized services called Actively Validated Services, earning additional rewards in exchange for accepting additional slashing conditions.
Launched by Eigen Labs and deployed on Ethereum mainnet in 2023, EigenLayer introduced a new primitive to the blockchain security landscape: the ability to reuse already-committed validator stake as programmable trust for new protocols without requiring those protocols to bootstrap their own native token security.
At the protocol level, EigenLayer consists of two main components. The first is the restaking module, which accepts deposits of native staked Ether or LSTs (such as stETH, rETH, and cbETH) from Ethereum validators and delegators. The second is the Actively Validated Service (AVS) framework, which defines how new middleware protocols can register with EigenLayer, specify their slashing conditions, and receive security guarantees from the restaker pool.
AVSs built on EigenLayer span a broad range of infrastructure categories. EigenDA, developed by Eigen Labs itself, is a data availability service. Other AVSs include oracle networks, threshold cryptography services, interoperability bridges, and decentralized sequencers. Each AVS defines its own performance requirements and reward structure, and restakers choose which AVSs to opt into based on their risk-reward preferences.
EigenLayer also introduced operators — professional node-running entities that manage validator duties on behalf of restakers who delegate their stakes — and a trust delegation model where restakers can either run their own AVS-specific software or delegate the operational burden to operators they deem trustworthy.
The protocol raised significant venture capital, including a $100 million Series B round in 2023, and by early 2024 had attracted over $10 billion in total value locked, making it one of the largest DeFi protocols by deposits. The EIGEN governance token launched via an airdrop in 2024.
In the U.S. context, EigenLayer faces the same unresolved regulatory questions as other staking-adjacent protocols. The question of whether AVS rewards constitute income from a securities-related activity, and whether AVS tokens could themselves be classified as investment contracts, remains open. Eigen Labs has engaged extensively with legal counsel on these questions, and U.S. participants should consult qualified tax professionals regarding the treatment of restaking rewards.