San Francisco, Calif. Tuesday, April 16, 2024 – Restaking protocol EigenLayer, boasting over $13 billion in user deposits, partially launched on the Ethereum blockchain’s mainnet on April 9, 2024.
However, some key features remain unavailable.
“Not long ago, EigenLayer was just an idea. Restaking launched on Ethereum mainnet in June 2023. In the ensuing months, we’ve been deeply inspired by the crypto community’s enthusiasm for the EigenLayer vision. Today, over 4.1 million ETH are restaked on EigenLayer,” EigenLayer said in its Blog Post.1
“In the past few weeks, 70% of all new Ethereum validators restaked to EigenLayer. The LRT ecosystem is booming. The EigenLayer and EigenDA Goerli and Holesky testnets have been successful, with hundreds of active operators and dozens of onboarded rollups. We’ve heard you loud and clear: you want EigenLayer!,” it said.
EigenLayer allows users to stake their Ethereum (ETH) to secure the network and earn rewards. Unlike traditional staking, EigenLayer utilizes a “pooled security” model, where staked ETH from multiple users contributes to the network’s security, potentially enhancing efficiency.
“Importantly, this mainnet launch does not include: (1) in-protocol payments from AVSs to operators; and (2) slashing. We are allowing the EigenLayer marketplace to develop and stabilize before introducing in-protocol payments and slashing to mainnet later this year,” EigenLayer said in its Blog Post.
While the core functionality of staking is live, features like in-protocol payments from validating services to operators and a mechanism for slashing validators who misbehave are still under development and expected to be rolled out later in 2024.
Despite the partial launch, EigenLayer has already garnered significant user interest, evidenced by the substantial amount of deposited funds. However, investors should be aware of the limited functionality and ongoing development nature of the protocol.
According to DefiLlama EigenLayer has a total value locked of $13.33 billion.2
- blog.eigenlayer.xyz: https://www.blog.eigenlayer.xyz/mainnet-launch-eigenlayer-eigenda/[↩]
- cointelegraph.com: https://cointelegraph.com/news/eigenlayer-restaking-launch-ethereum-mainnet-missing-key-features[↩]
