EigenLayer eyes open consumer adoption post EIGEN, says the founder

EigenLayer is giving priority to EigenLayer after the launch of the native token of the reprocessing protocol on October 1, founder Sreeram Khanna in an interview with Cointelegraph.

EigenLayer will initially target applications in crypto-native segments such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and gaming before expanding beyond Web3, Kannan said.

“We're going to start with an inside-out approach, focusing on high-end consumer apps like DeFi and gaming, but once we get a little bigger and gain critical mass, we'll go outside and start targeting broader consumer markets,” Kannan said.

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EigenLayer's four-sided marketplace

As Ethereum's largest recirculation protocol, EigenLayer leverages dozens of third-party protocols — dubbed Active Verified Services (AVSs) — to hold roughly $11 billion in recirculated collateral, Defilama said.

“It's a four-sided marketplace, but consumers are the side we haven't quite gotten to yet,” Kannan said.

“For this type of platform to be successful, you need all four sides,” Kannan added, referring to researchers, node operators, AVSS and consumer applications.

EIGEN's opening in 2024 is one of the most anticipated and has put pressure on EigenLayer to increase the amount of protocol revenue from AVSS, which will in part go to EIGEN's stakeholders.

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“The only way [restaking] Repository networks only make sense in the long term if they find customers and those customers directly or indirectly pay for the services these other repositories provide, Mike Silagaze, CEO of liquid repositories protocol Ether.fi, said in August.

The EIGEN token currently trades at $3.50, giving it a fully consolidated market capitalization of nearly $5.8 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

EigenDA as “beach”

EigenLayer's own AVS, EigenDA, is intended to serve as a “shoreline” for onboarding consumer applications to EigenLayer's broader AVS ecosystem, Canaan said.

“When users adopt Eigenda, they start using other EigenLayer AVSs,” Kannan says.

EigenDA focuses on data availability, which is one of Web3's fastest growing and most competitive market segments. Rivals include Celestia and Avail.

Other EigenLayer AVSs include ARPA Network and eOracle, which offer random number generation and programmable data oracles, respectively.

“Typically, AVs are things like bridges, oracles, or AI infrastructure,” Kanaan said.

“Our superpower is starting with EigenDA, which is built to handle this mass of results.”

RELATED: EigenLayer's EIGEN Cracks Top 100 Market Level in First Trading

Programmatic incentives of EIGEN

EigenLayer plans to attract restockers with a programmatic incentive program that the protocol announced on September 17.

The program will reward 4% of the token's total supply in EIGEN releases to repeaters.

“It's designed to launch this multi-faceted marketplace,” Kanan said.

“Stakers earn program rewards based on how many AVS they serve, and AVSs pay stakeholders and operators. The more AVSs pay, the more value is assigned.”

Rescheduling involves taking an already staked token – escrow with a validator in exchange for a reward – and using other protocols to secure it at the same time.

The EIGEN token is designed to protect protocols against a broad set of vulnerabilities, using existing proof-of-stake tokens such as Ether (ETH), according to EigenLayer.

Example use cases include validating off-chain data or holding protocols accountable for complex governance decisions.

Eventually, Kannan envisions embedding a multi-signature wallet that will replace EIGEN as the primary means of maintaining Web3 protocols and smart contracts.

“Many contracts today are based on multisigs, which are far from decentralized,” Kannan said.

“At the end of the day, users are not getting the trust that blockchain should provide,” Kanan added. “We have to go further.”

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