Restaking protocol EigenLayer’s slashing testnet went live on Dec. 20, with a mainnet launch pending approval of EigenLayer Improvement Protocol-002 (ELIP-002).

The potential slashing upgrade will introduce Unique Stake Allocation for node operators and Operator Sets for Actively Validated Services (AVS) on EigenLayer.

EigenLayer’s Actively Validated Services are projects that leverage the security of the Ethereum layer-1 network to validate offchain services.

More specifically, staked Ether ( stETH ) on the Ethereum L1 acts as staking collateral across blockchain ecosystems without unstaking the asset on the L1.

Unique Stake Allocation lets restaking operators, which are the restaking validators on EigenLayer, minimize slashing risks by designating portions of their staked funds as a “Unique Stake” subject to slashing from only one AVS. This protects the staked capital from unrelated tasks or Actively Validated Services.

Operator Sets give Actively Validated Services the option to organize operators into groups, assign tasks, and define the parameters for slashing.

Slashing promotes trust in blockchain ecosystems by penalizing validators or restaking operators by taking a portion of their staked funds for errors, service failures, or dishonest behavior.

These slashing penalties are intended to ensure that validators maintain onchain integrity for the networks they serve.

EigenLayer restaking protocol's slashing testnet now live image 0

An illustration of an Operator delegating unique stakes. Source: ELIP-002 GitHub

Related: Eigen Foundation commits 1% of EIGEN supply to ETH Protocol Guild

EigenLayer’s AVS community grows

RedStone became the first major oracle provider to establish an AVS on EigelLayer . The data validation service launched on EigenLayer in testnet mode with plans to grow the network over time.

RPC node provider Infura also announced plans to launch as an AVS on EigenLayer as part of an expansion of its Decentralized Infrastructure Network (DIN).

Infura’s DIN is a decentralized marketplace for APIs for Web3 developers.

In a Dec. 6 blog post, EigenLayer announced it was upgrading restaking rewards . The upgrades, launching in January 2025, give Actively Validated Services the option of distributing rewards to operators based on performance.

EigenLayer is currently focused on onboarding Actively Validated Services and consumer crypto applications to the restaking protocol.

EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan recently told Cointelegraph that consumer-facing applications were the final piece of EigenLayer's 4-part market , which included node operators, Acrively Validated Services, and asset restakers.

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