EigenLayer AVS Mainnet Launch
EigenLayer Mainnet Launch Expands Ecosystem with Additional AVSs
The EigenLayer ecosystem takes another leap forward with the launch of Stage 3 on mainnet! Following the launch of EigenDA as the first AVS on EigenLayer, this stage introduces a powerful group of AVSs – AltLayer’s MACH restaked rollups with Xterio being the first restaked rollup showcase, Brevis’ Coprocessor, Eoracle's Ethereum native oracle, Lagrange’s State Committee, Witness Chain’s DePIN Coordination Layer – now live and ready to be delegated and run by EigenLayer stakers and operators.
What are AVSs:
AVSs are actively validated services - middleware, services, chains, networks, and PoS systems - secured by EigenLayer restakers and run by EigenLayer operators.
To build an AVS: https://docs.eigenlayer.xyz/eigenlayer/avs-guides/avs-developer-guide
Meet the new category-expanding AVSs:
Stage 3 empowers developers to unlock exciting new functionalities through a diverse range of AVSs:
Rollup Acceleration: Lagrange, MACH AVS, and Witness Chain’s Watchtower specifically cater to rollup needs. Lagrange’s State Committee offers secure light client functionality which facilitates faster and more secure communication between optimistic rollups and other blockchains. MACH AVS revolutionizes rollup finality by achieving blazing-fast block confirmation speeds (under 10 seconds), significantly improving the user experience on Ethereum. Witness Chain’s Watchtower enables incentive-compatible and crypto-economically-secure Proof-of-Diligence (PoD) to make sure watchtowers are working on the happy path for optimistic rollups. This empowers bridges and exchanges operating on rollups to function with enhanced smoothness and security.
Real-World Data Integration: Eoracle, the first Ethereum-native oracle network built on EigenLayer, similarly serves a broad range of blockchain applications. It provides a modular and programmable solution for integrating real-world data directly into applications. This empowers developers to create innovative use cases that leverage the power of decentralized applications with the critical insights gleaned from the real world.
Coprocessors: Where rollups offer cheaper and faster execution than Ethereum L1 while retaining state, coprocessors shine by acting as the stateless counterpart that offers cheap/fast compute. This class of compute is quickly gaining adoption across the space where the compute input is fully specified onchain (imagine needing to compute over some history of the chain) and the state change (the compute) also occurs onchain. EigenLayer enables cryptoeconimcally-bonded coprocessors to exist such that with a large enough economic bond on execution, others are permissionlessly allowed to secure compensation for erroneous computation. This of course requires fraud proofs for slashing similar to optimistic systems. Brevis is at the forefront of launching this category on EigenLayer.
Below we highlight some of the specifics of how each of these AVSs function.
AltLayer’s MACH AVS
AltLayer MACH is a fast finality AVS for OP rollups. It leverages EigenLayer’s restaking mechanism to build a decentralized network that validates OP Mainnet rollups. Block validation is done by verifying that a new rollup state is indeed the result of applying the state transition function on an ordered set of transactions proposed by the sequencer and a previously valid rollup state. When an invalid block is detected, MACH operators will raise an alert, and if enough operators agree on the alert, then it can be pushed upstream to interested clients such as dApps. Upon receiving the alert, a client (that subscribes to MACH's services) can act upon it to ensure that the invalid state update is rejected as early as possible.
Unlike Ethereum, which takes about 12 minutes to finalize transactions, or the OP Mainnet sequencer that gives soft-confirmations that lack economic backing, MACH which is built as an overlay network on top of Ethereum can give soft-confirmations with economic backing via restaking.
As a fast finality AVS, MACH offers the following core services to end users on OP rollups:
- Faster confirmation for rollup transactions,
- Crypto-economic security to detect any malicious network participants,
- Decentralized validation of rollup states.
Users, dApps and other services can avail MACH’s services through an RPC endpoint that reports if a certain rollup block is considered final. This RPC endpoint can be integrated into any dApp running on OP rollups and would allow for faster and more reliable transaction confirmations. By tapping into the economic guarantees provided by MACH, dApps can safely update the contract state in the UIs and frontends allowing them to offer a better and more reliable UX.
MACH will also be helpful for exchanges, bridges, light-weight explorers and other ancillary services that need streamed access to rollup states and blocks to seamlessly offer their products and services. By tapping into MACH, these providers can offer a faster service to the end users. For example, an exchange or a liquidity-based bridge may not need to wait for 7 days to allow a customer to withdraw their assets from OP rollups to Ethereum.
Become an AltLayer (MACH) Operator: Fill out the Intake Form.
Brevis’ ZK Coprocessor
Brevis is a smart Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Coprocessor that empowers smart contracts to read from and utilize the full historical on-chain data from any chain, and run customizable computations in a completely trust-free way. Brevis enables exciting new use cases such as data-driven DeFi, trust-free Active Liquidity Management solutions, autonomous intent framework, ZK Reputation, dApp UX personalization, ZK Bridge and more.
Initially, Brevis operated only a "pure-ZK" model, wherein ZK proofs are always generated upfront and verified on-chain before coprocessing results can be used. While the pure-ZK model provides simplicity and a trustless framework, many dApps seek a more flexible solution that can be cost-effective across different scenarios based on the value and time sensitivity of a request, while still ensuring security through robust ZK guarantees.
To meet this demand, Brevis introduced the coChain AVS powered by EigenLayer’s restaking quorums, marking the beginning of a novel ZK Coprocessor architecture that combines the strengths of crypto-economic security and ZK fraud proof. Upon receiving a request, the Brevis coChain first produces crypto-economically secured coprocessing "proposals", which are open to "challenges" through ZK fraud proofs. In the majority of cases where challenges are not initiated, the results can be used directly in smart contracts without incurring steep costs associated with ZK proof generation and verification. Beyond significant cost savings, the introduction of the coChain AVS also supports essential features like proof of non-existence and proof of completeness, which were difficult to attain in a pure-ZK framework.
Become a Brevis Operator: Fill out the Intake Form.
Eoracle
Addressing one of the largest markets in the blockchain industry, eoracle stands as the Actively Validated Oracle network. Designed as a modular and programmable data layer, eoracle is backed by restaked ETH and the decentralized network of Ethereum validators.
This approach revolutionizes the oracle space by extending Ethereum's core principles: permissionless participation, decentralized ownership and cryptoeconomic security to establish the next generation oracle network via a credibly neutral marketplace for data and computation across all Ethereum rollups.
Become an Eoracle Operator: Fill out the Intake Form.
Lagrange State Committees
Lagrange Labs has been continually testing the Lagrange State Committee light client with EigenLayer and its ecosystem, and it’s exciting to see them be among the first to launch as a Zero Knowledge (ZK) AVS on EigenLayer mainnet. Lagrange State Committees are launching with a decentralized network of 15+ operators that are each independently secured by natively restaked ETH delegations from major liquid restaking (LRT) protocols in the space.
The Lagrange’s State Committee network is a ZK light client for optimistic rollups that settles on Ethereum, powered by Lagrange’s ZK Coprocessor. By combining Lagrange State Committees with EigenLayer, we are creating a zone of shared security that any interoperability protocol or dApp can leverage, without incurring high operational overhead. Compared to other cross-chain interoperability solutions, such as permissioned validation or bonded staking/slashing, which come with issues related to risk stacking, low latency and price volatility, State Committees and restaking through EigenLayer offer an optimal balance of robust shared security, trust minimization and decentralization along with cost efficiency.
How Lagrange State Committees Work
Each Lagrange State Committee consists of a group of client nodes that have restaked on Ethereum via EigenLayer. Each Lagrange State Committee node independently attests to the finality of the state of an optimistic rollup once the transactions are finalized on a Data Availability (DA) layer. Lagrange’s ZK Coprocessor can then be used to generate a ZK state proof, which applications can treat as the source of truth for the state of the given optimistic rollup. While inspired by Ethereum’s Sync Committee, a Lagrange State Committee is not limited by the number of nodes, so it offers super-linear security by dynamically scaling the number of nodes verifying the state of an optimistic rollup as capital grows. They are also chain-agnostic, so can be added onto existing interoperability protocols as an additional layer of security.
The Lagrange and EigenLayer integration is particularly impactful, as operators are faced with reduced opportunity costs due to the restaked collateral, interoperability protocols have access to greater economic security, and dApp users experience lower fees and stronger security guarantees compared to if a cross-chain interoperability protocol were to rely on other security mechanisms or build their own.
State Committee + Other ZK Building Blocks
Lagrange State Committees are fueled by various building blocks within Lagrange’s tech stack. For example, Lagrange’s Reckle Trees and ZK Coprocessor are used for efficient aggregation of public key (APK) proofs, which encourages AVS participation by keeping computational costs of verifying attestations from committee nodes low. This is also how Lagrange is able to support super-linear economic security, whereby an economic attack on the protocol requires collusion of the entire large set of nodes, as opposed to a smaller subset.
State Committees can also be further combined with Lagrange’s ZK Coprocessor and Verifiable Database to achieve efficient, scalable and inexpensive computations of on-chain data via an off-chain verifiable database. As an example, a multi-chain lending application developer could leverage Lagrange’s ZK Coprocessor plus the State Committee light client to efficiently and cheaply calculate the total amount of collateral deposited by a user across different chains. Other ways cross-chain interoperability protocols can leverage Lagrange’s ZK building blocks can be found here.
To learn more about Lagrange’s State Committees and other ZK solutions, check out this Lagrange blog.
Become a Lagrange Operator: Fill out the Intake Form.
Witness Chain’s DEPIN Coordination Layer AVS
Witness Chain is the coordination layer to unify DePIN economies. EigenLayer infrastructure can now be utilized to achieve consensus on physical state - evolving DePINs to a new era.
Witness Chain’s DePIN Coordination Layer unlocks a shared economy of integrated physical assets - enabling new economic instruments to be built on top of DePINs.
Foundational proof systems, including Proof-of-Location and Proof-of-Bandwidth, introduce decentralized verification to essential attributes of physical networks.
The DePIN Coordination Layer enables:
- additional security with access to dual-staking
- platform for DApp builders to build DeFi for physical assets
- discoverability and composability with other DePINs
The Rollup Watchtower Network is now live as Witness Chain’s in-house DePIN. This network is the first line of defense for rollups, ensuring that operators actively validate transactions on a Rollup and detect any fraudulent execution. This network implements the Proof-of-Diligence (PoD) protocol, which requires watchtowers to continuously provide proof that they have verified L2 assertions and get rewarded for the same. Proof of Diligence protocol includes a carefully-designed incentive mechanism that is provably secure when watchtowers are rational actors, under a mild rational independence assumption. Learn more about the specifics of this protocol in official docs and in the PoD research paper.
Witness Chain has a vibrant ecosystem of 20+ DePINs and rollups that will benefit from validation of their state. This validation is provided by robust crypto-economic security by a strong ecosystem of EL Operators.
Become a Witness Chain Operator: Fill out the Intake Form.
Xterio’s MACH AVS
Similar to AltLayer MACH, Xterio MACH is a fast finality AVS that serves the Xterio rollup – a gaming tailored OP Stack rollup. Xterio MACH is therefore an instance of an AVS set up for an app-specific rollup. Xterio’s MACH AVS will validate rollup blocks produced by the Xterio chain and serve as its fast finality layer.
For context, Xterio is a leading Web3 game publisher and platform with five AAA games and over 45 gaming partners. Xterio has amassed a gaming community of over two million users worldwide and has developed the most successful gaming NFT launchpad.
Become a Xterio Operator: Fill out the Intake Form.
Going Forward
Phased rollout of AVSs
While these projects and the community are excited to kick off this open innovation journey and unlock new possibilities, they are doing so progressively and with caution. As such, they have chosen to initially work more closely with a select group of operators they are onboarding to retain high confidence in their services charting new territory. As these services stabilize, each team will look to expand their operator set with the aim of the final stage being completely open for anyone to participate. In the interest of safety we'll get there progressively - but the end goal is always permissionless innovation.
A Growing Ecosystem
The introduction of these AVSs signifies a crucial step forward in fostering a vibrant and innovative EigenLayer ecosystem. By offering a diverse range of solutions, Stage 3 empowers developers to build a wider array of blockchain applications. As the ecosystem matures, we encourage developers to ideate on the use cases for restaking alongside operator partners in a proactive and iterative onboarding process to push the boundaries of permissionless open innovation.
The Future of EigenLayer
We have exciting plans for the future of EigenLayer, and we're actively working on introducing even more groundbreaking features and AVSs.
Build Infinite Sum Games
As we embark on this exciting new chapter with the EigenLayer Mainnet, we look forward to your continued involvement and feedback. Together, we will maximize open innovation. Join us in this infinite sum game!
Visit the links below to learn more about and follow each project.
AltLayer/Xterio: Altlayer site, Altlayer X, Xterio site, Xterio X, overview, operator onboarding doc, repo, operator intake form
Brevis: site, X, overview, operator onboarding doc, repo, operator intake form
Eoracle: site, X, overview, operator onboarding doc, contracts, cli, and join Telegram to be an Eoracle operator
Lagrange: site, X, overview, operator onboarding doc, contracts, operator intake form
Witness Chain: site, X, overview, operator onboarding doc, repo, architecture, and join Discord to be a Witness Chain operator