Ethereum ‘re-staking’ protocol EigenLayer launches on testnet

by Jeremy

A brand new protocol that permits Ethereum validators and stakers to “re-stake” their belongings onto different rising networks has simply launched on testnet.

The mainnet launch of the EigenLayer protocol will not be anticipated till Q3 nonetheless, and testing shall be phased in three levels to onboard numerous members into the ecosystem. The primary stage is utilizing Ethereum’s Goerli testing community.

The venture has some critical backing and introduced $50 million in a Collection A funding spherical in late March led by crypto enterprise agency Blockchain Capital, together with Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Electrical Capital, and Finality Capital Accomplice.

EigenLayer goals to change into a decentralized market for Ethereum node operators and validators to earn charges on extra providers. It permits them to restake belongings they acquired in alternate for staking Ether on platforms similar to Lido (stETH) and RocketPool (rETH). The belongings might be reused to validate and safe different networks similar to side-chains or non-EVM blockchains.

In keeping with the whitepaper, EigenLayer additionally has plans to allow restaking for ETH withdrawn from the beacon chain following the Shapella improve.

“Ethereum validators can set their beacon chain withdrawal credentials to the EigenLayer sensible contracts, and opt-in to new modules constructed on EigenLayer.”

The protocol goals to deal with points with validator financial incentives. EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan stated that facilitating the shifting and re-staking of ETH onto different networks, would incentivize validators and stakers with extra yields, and permit smaller networks to develop securely.

In late March, Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin stated “The Eigen Labs staff is on the forefront of among the most enjoyable work occurring in Ethereum.”

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“Eigenlayer is a brand new paradigm for fostering protocol-centric innovation by means of a programmatic, decentralized belief market,” he added. Excessive reward, however it’s price noting that Lubin’s Ethereal Ventures fund has invested in EigenLayer.

There are at the moment 17.9 million ETH staked on the Beacon Chain in response to the Ultrasound.Cash tracker. At present costs, that is valued at round $33.6 billion which is greater than all the market capitalization of USDC. It represents nearly 15% of all the Ethereum provide.

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