Espresso Systems and EigenLayer Announce Ecosystem Partnership
The organizations will collaborate to bring restaking to the Espresso Network.
We are excited to announce our collaboration with EigenLayer to integrate restaking into the Espresso Network, a coordination layer for rollups that provides a shared source of truth on transaction ordering and data availability. This partnership signifies our joint commitment to implement restaking on future Espresso testnets, and ultimately leverage restaking to help secure the Espresso Network when it lands on mainnet.
Why Restaking?
Restaking is a new primitive introduced by EigenLayer to the Ethereum ecosystem that enables users to stake their already-staked ETH to help secure other networks.
By pooling Ethereum’s economic security, EigenLayer extends the L1’s robust security (i.e., provides access to its decentralized validator set) to projects like the Espresso Network that need to maintain their own decentralized proof-of-stake (PoS) networks, optimizing node usage and enhancing capital efficiency. EigenLayer calls the projects that leverage restaking for enhanced security Actively Validated Services (AVS).
Restaking maximizes economic security by allowing the Espresso Network to tap Ethereum’s existing validators to restake their ETH to operate nodes within our network in return for rewards. Restaking is also a perfect match for HotShot, the Espresso Network’s underlying consensus protocol, which scales to thousands of nodes with optimistic responsiveness.
In designing the Espresso Network, we seek to ensure our architecture correctly balances decentralization, security, and incentive alignment. We believe enabling restaking on the Espresso Network will align the network closely with Ethereum and more quickly bootstrap strong economic security through EigenLayer’s pooled security model.
Aligning Economic Incentives with L1 Validators
As we’ve written before, we view re-staking as an important method for aligning incentives between L1 validators and the L2 ecosystems they increasingly underpin, which is also a goal of ours, especially when it comes to rollups that choose to maintain centralized sequencers.
When rollups operate their own centralized sequencer, that sequencer is likely to capture nearly all of the rollup value (e.g., fees, MEV, etc.), leaving none for the L1 validators. This dynamic could create a security vulnerability if L1 validators could be bribed to fork the rollup smart contract state, profiting more from such actions than from honest management of the rollup contract.
Decentralizing a rollup’s sequencer can mitigate this concern, and can be achieved via the Espresso Marketplace, which along with the Espresso Network comprise the Espresso protocol. The Espresso Marketplace enables rollups to sell or auction off block-building rights, with right of first refusal going to the L1 validator selected to propose the current block on Ethereum, thus aligning incentives for rollups and L1 validators.
More to Come…
We’ll continue to work through different design choices with EigenLayer with the goal of bringing restaking to the Espresso Network. We will be regularly sharing updates around this work and recommend that you follow us on our social channels to stay up-to-date on our progress.
About EigenLayer
EigenLayer is a protocol that introduces restaking, revolutionizing the way stakers can secure and participate in multiple protocols within the Ethereum ecosystem and beyond. EigenLayer, led by EigenLabs, has garnered significant support, raising approximately $65 million in funding. Backed by notable investors including a16z, Blockchain Capital, Polychain Capital, and Coinbase Ventures, EigenLayer is at the forefront of leveraging Ethereum’s staked capital base to empower developers, validators, and stakers. Through EigenLayer, participants can optimize capital efficiency, enhance network security, and unlock groundbreaking possibilities in diverse blockchain ecosystems.
About Espresso Systems
Espresso Systems is the developer of Espresso, which enables interoperability and decentralization for rollups in the Ethereum ecosystem and beyond. Espresso Systems has raised over $30mm from backers, including Electric Capital, Greylock Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Polychain Capital.
