Author: Weilin, PANews
Recently, Poopman@poopmandefi, an enthusiast in the field of re-staking, AVS and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), posted on the X platform to explain the concepts of re-staking and AVS, and compared the three projects EigenLayer, Symbiotic and Karak in graphic form.
PANews compiled the original post. In this article, we will popularize and discuss what AVS and re-staking are, the core architecture of EigenLayer, Symbiotic and Karak, the comparative advantages of these three projects, and the final conclusion.
What is AVS and re-staking?
AVS stands for Actively Validated Service. This term basically describes any network that needs to verify its own system (e.g., oracle, data availability DA, bridge, etc.). For the purpose of this article, AVS can be understood as a project that uses the re-staking service.
Conceptually, re-staking is a way to âre-useâ already staked ETH for additional validation/service, earning more rewards without having to unstake it.
Re-staking usually takes two forms:
Native Re-staking
LST / ERC20 / LP re-staking
By restaking, restakers and validators can leverage pooled security to secure thousands of new services.
This helps reduce the costs and improve the security guarantees needed to launch new trust networks. EigenLayer (EL) is the first project to achieve this.
OwnLayer
In general, EigenLayer (EL) consists of four main components:
Stakers
Operators
AVS contracts (e.g., token pools, designated slashers)
Core EigenLayer contracts (e.g., delegation manager, slashing manager)
These parties work together to allow stakers to delegate assets on EigenLayer and validators to register as operators.
AVS on EigenLayer can also customize the quorum and slashing conditions of its system.
EigenLayer supports native re-staking and liquidity re-staking. Of the approximately $15 billion in total locked value (TVL):
68% of assets are native ETH
32% is LST
Currently, EL has approximately 161,000 re-stakers, but approximately 67.6% (approximately $10.3 billion) of assets are entrusted to only 1,500 operators.
AVS on EigenLayer
EL provides AVS with a high degree of flexibility, allowing them to design their own:
Quorum of stakers (e.g. 70% ETH re-stakers + 30% $AVS stakers)
Forfeiture conditions
Fee model (can be paid with $AVS, $ETH, etc.)
Operator requirements
And more customization options in the respective AVS contracts...
Role of EigenLayer
EL controls the following:
Delegated Manager
Strategy Manager
Confiscation Manager
Validators who wish to become EL operators must register through EL.
The strategy manager is responsible for calculating the balance of the re-stakeholders and works with the delegation manager to perform related operations.
In terms of slashing, each AVS has its own slashing conditions. If an operator behaves maliciously or breaks a promise on EL, they will be slashed by the slasher, and each slasher has its own slashing logic.
If an operator chooses to join two AVSs, they must agree to the slashing conditions of both AVSs.
Regarding the Veto Committee (VSC). In the case of a "wrongful slashing", EL has a VSC that can revoke the slashing result.
Unlike the Standards Committee, the EL allows AVS and stakers to set up their own preferred VSCs, thereby creating a customized VSC market for different solutions.
In short, EL provides:
Native + LST re-staking
Asset delegation (including ETH assets and $EIGEN)
High flexibility to design your own terms for AVS
Veto Committee
Active operators (currently about 1.5K)
SymbioticÂ
Symbiotic positions itself as a âDeFi hubâ for re-staking by adding $ENA and $sUSDe to its staking basket.
Currently, 74.3% of TVL is wstETH, 5.45% is sUSDe, and the rest is various LSTs.
There is no native re-staking yet, but it may be launched soon.
About Symbiotic ERC20. Unlike EL, Symbiotic will mint a corresponding ERC20 token to represent your deposit.
Once the collateral is deposited, the assets are sent to the âvaultâ and then delegated to the corresponding âoperatorâ.
About AVS on Symbiotic. In Symbiotic, AVS contracts/token pools are called "Vaults".
Vaults are contracts set up by AVS, which uses Vaults for account settlement, commission design, and other operations.
AVS can plug in external contracts to customize the reward process for stakers and operators.
As for Symbioticâs vaults, similar to EL, Vaults can be customized, such as multi-operator Vaults, etc.
One significant difference from EL is that vaults are immutable, pre-configured vaults that are deployed with pre-configured rules to "lock down" settings and avoid the risks of using upgradeable contracts.
Resolvers are similar to the veto committee in EL. When an erroneous slashing occurs, the resolver can veto the slashing.
In Symbiotic, a vault can request multiple resolvers to cover collateral or integrate dispute resolution solutions such as UMA Protocol.
In short, Symbiotic provides:
Accept LST + ERC20 + stablecoin as collateral
Minting ERC20 Receipt Tokens
There is currently no native re-staking and no delegation.
A vault with its own terms
Multiple solvers for greater flexibility in design
Karak
Karak uses a system called DSS, which is similar to AVS.
Karak accepts the most diverse collateral, including LST, stablecoins, ERC20 and even LP tokens. Collateral can be deposited through multiple chains, such as ARB, Mantle, BSC, etc.
Pawn:
Of Karakâs ~$800 million in total locked value, the majority of deposits are still in LST, with the majority remaining on the ETH chain.
At the same time, about 7% of the assets are deposited through K2, the Layer2 network developed by the Karak team and protected by DSS.
DSS on Karak:
So far, Karak V1 provides the following platforms:
Vault + Supervisor
Entrusted Supervisor
In terms of architecture, Karak provides a Turnkey-like SDK and K2 sandbox to simplify development work.
However, further analysis requires more information.
Comparison of three projects
Intuitively, collateral is the most obvious differentiating factor.
Eigenlayer EL provides native ETH re-staking and EigenPods, and the ETH it obtains accounts for 68% of the total locked value, and has successfully launched 1,500 operators.
They will also soon be accepting LST and ERC20 tokens.
Symbiotic, in partnership with ethena labs, first accepted sUSDe and $ENA and positioned itself as a âDeFi hubâ.
Karak stands out for its multi-chain collateral deposits, allowing âre-stakingâ to occur on different chains and creating an LRT economy on top of it.
However, in terms of architecture, they are all very similar.
The general process is from pledger -> core contract -> delegation -> operator and so on.
However, Symbiotic allows for multiple quorum solvers, which Eigenlayer has not yet specified, but may also enable.
Second, the reward system
In EL, operators who opt in receive a 10% commission from AVS services, with the rest going to the delegated assets.
On the other hand, Symbiotic and Karak may offer flexible options that allow AVS to design their own payment structures.
Third, confiscation
AVS/DSS are highly flexible and can customize their slashing conditions, operator requirements, staker quorum, etc.
EL and Symbiotic have Solvers + Veto Committees to support and reverse erroneous slashing actions.
Karak has not yet released relevant information.
Finally, tokens. So far, only EL has launched a token, $EIGEN, which requires stakers to delegate to the same operator that they re-stake (but they are non-transferable, haha).
Speculation on $Sym and $Karak is a key motivating factor for them to attract TVL.
Final Conclusion
Clearly, EigenLayer offers a more mature solution, as well as the strongest economic security and ecosystem.
AVS that want to start security will build on EL as it has a $150M pool of capital, 1.5K operators ready to opt-in, and a great team.
On the other hand, Symbiotic and Karak Network are still in the early stages. Therefore, there is still a lot of room for development.
Retail investors or investors seeking yield opportunities beyond ETH assets/multi-chain may choose Karak and Symbiotic.
Overall, AVS and re-staking technology removes the burden of building a foundational trust network.
Now, the project can focus on developing new features and better decentralization.
To me, restaking is more than just an innovation, itâs a new era for Ethereum.
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