where we introduced Celestia. Today, we will share another solution that provides scalable data availability for Rollups: EigenLayer. Let's first take a look at the comparison.
EigenLayer is a set of smart contracts built on Ethereum that allows Ethereum consensus layer stakers (ETH) to choose to validate new software modules built within the Ethereum ecosystem. It is a "re-staking" protocol that enables ETH stakers to secure different networks and services such as data availability layers, sequencers, bridges, or other services built on Ethereum.
The goal of EigenLayer is to create a decentralized trust market by distributing Ethereum’s trust (capital + validator set) to anyone who is interested. This allows developers to focus on infrastructure-level innovation without the burden of creating a new network. Stakers can earn rewards by helping operate and secure various networks and services built on Ethereum, such as data availability layers, decentralized sequencers, and bridges.
We can compare the differences between EigenLayer and Celestia:
: EigenLayer is a set of smart contracts on Ethereum, so it inherits the same finality time as Ethereum, which is approximately 12-15 minutes. This means that the finality time for any data that needs to be forwarded to the Rollup contract to prove data availability is also 12-15 minutes. On the other hand, Celestia's consensus protocol uses Tendermint, which has single-slot finality, meaning that once a block passes through Celestia's consensus, it is finalized, and the finality time is basically as fast as the block time (15 seconds).
: EigenLayer currently has no official plans around data availability sampling (DAS), but there are hints that DAS may become an option for EigenLayer light clients in the future. Prior to this, verifying the data availability of the EigenLayer chain requires a full node. In contrast, Celestia will perform data availability sampling, so its light nodes will have trust-minimized security.
: For EigenLayer, unless there is DAS (Data Availability Sampling), light clients (if supported) will rely on the honesty of the majority of staked nodes. However, Celestia and Avail will both perform data availability sampling, so their light nodes will have trust-minimized security.
: Both EigenLayer and Celestia use a validity proof scheme to ensure that blocks are encoded correctly. Each time a block is generated, validators must create a commitment to the data, and nodes use KZG proofs to verify—ensuring that the block encoding is correct.
EigenLayer introduces a method called re-staking.
This method allows networks and services to be secured by staked ETH rather than their own tokens. This mechanism is designed to address the issue of decentralized security. ReStaking functionality is a set of smart contracts where ETH stakers can reuse their locked-up ETH to extend the security of other protocols. Ethereum validators have the option to provide new services, offering them additional benefits. For this, they must download and operate any necessary software. These services may impose conditions that could result in the loss of staked ETH if validators act dishonestly. This ensures that validators behave honestly since their stake is at risk.
In addition to the advantages of the re-staking protocol, EigenLayer's advantages are mainly reflected in the following aspects:
: EigenLayer offers cheaper and higher bandwidth compared to the Ethereum mainnet, which is very useful for applications that require massive data availability.
：The introduction of EigenLayer should increase the interoperability of the Ethereum protocol, thereby accelerating innovation.
：EigenLayer leverages the stakers of Ethereum's consensus layer as validators, thus providing a high degree of decentralization and security, avoiding the trust risks associated with centralized service providers or proprietary tokens.
：With EigenLayer, developers can fully utilize the security of Ethereum without having to invest in the cost of running their own security systems.
: When leveraging Ethereum's security, the protocol simultaneously controls underlying mechanisms such as the consensus mechanism and penalty conditions. This will allow the protocol to control the elements they wish to prioritize, whether it be decentralization, scalability, or any other factor.
: EigenLayer already has 10 supported modules with 55,670.57 ETH re-staked. These modules include EigenDA, The Graph, Chainlink, tBTC, API3, Gravity Bridge, Threshold ECDSA, iExec, and more. These modules cover various types such as data availability layers, oracle networks, bridges, threshold encryption schemes, trusted execution environments, among others, showcasing EigenLayer's wide applicability and compatibility.
As quoted from their whitepaper: EigenLayer ushers in a new era of permissionless innovation where innovators do not need to build their own trust networks to implement new distributed validation modules but can rely on ETH Re-Stakers for security and decentralization provided through EigenLayer.