This repo contains the EigenLayer core contracts, which enable restaking of liquid staking tokens (LSTs) and beacon chain ETH to secure new services, called AVSs (actively validated services). For more info on AVSs, check out the EigenLayer middleware contracts here.
This document provides an overview of system components, contracts, and user roles. Further documentation on the major system contracts can be found in /core.
| File | Type | Proxy |
|---|---|---|
EigenPodManager.sol |
Singleton | Transparent proxy |
EigenPod.sol |
Instanced, deployed per-user | Beacon proxy |
DelayedWithdrawalRouter.sol |
Singleton | Transparent proxy |
succinctlabs/EigenLayerBeaconOracle.sol |
Singleton | UUPS proxy |
These contracts work together to enable native ETH restaking:
- Users deploy
EigenPodsvia theEigenPodManager, which contain beacon chain state proof logic used to verify a validator's withdrawal credentials, balance, and exit. AnEigenPod'smain role is to serve as the withdrawal address for one or more of a user's validators. - The
EigenPodManagerhandlesEigenPodcreation and accounting+interactions between users with restaked native ETH and theDelegationManager. - The
DelayedWithdrawalRouterimposes a 7-day delay on completing partial beacon chain withdrawals from anEigenPod. This is primarily to add a stopgap against a hack being able to instantly withdraw funds (note that all withdrawals from EigenLayer -- other than partial withdrawals earned by validators -- are initiated via theDelegationManager). - The
EigenLayerBeaconOracleprovides beacon chain block roots for use in various proofs. The oracle is supplied by Succinct's Telepathy protocol (docs link).
See full documentation in /core/EigenPodManager.md.
| File | Type | Proxy |
|---|---|---|
StrategyManager.sol |
Singleton | Transparent proxy |
StrategyBaseTVLLimits.sol |
One instance per supported LST | Transparent proxy |
These contracts work together to enable restaking for LSTs:
- The
StrategyManageracts as the entry and exit point for LSTs in EigenLayer. It handles deposits into LST-specific strategies, and manages accounting+interactions between users with restaked LSTs and theDelegationManager. StrategyBaseTVLLimitsis deployed as multiple separate instances, one for each supported LST. When a user deposits into a strategy through theStrategyManager, this contract receives the tokens and awards the user with a proportional quantity of shares in the strategy. When a user withdraws, the strategy contract sends the LSTs back to the user.
See full documentation in /core/StrategyManager.md.
| File | Type | Proxy |
|---|---|---|
DelegationManager.sol |
Singleton | Transparent proxy |
The DelegationManager sits between the EigenPodManager and StrategyManager to manage delegation and undelegation of Stakers to Operators. Its primary features are to allow Operators to register as Operators (registerAsOperator), to keep track of shares being delegated to Operators across different strategies, and to manage withdrawals on behalf of the EigenPodManager and StrategyManager.
See full documentation in /core/DelegationManager.md.
| File | Type | Proxy |
|---|---|---|
AVSDirectory.sol |
Singleton | Transparent proxy |
The AVSDirectory handles interactions between AVSs and the EigenLayer core contracts. Once registered as an Operator in EigenLayer core (via the DelegationManager), Operators can register with one or more AVSs (via the AVS's contracts) to begin providing services to them offchain. As a part of registering with an AVS, the AVS will record this registration in the core contracts by calling into the AVSDirectory.
See full documentation in /core/AVSDirectory.md.
For more information on AVS contracts, see the middleware repo.
| File | Type | Proxy |
|---|---|---|
Slasher.sol |
- | - |
🚧 The Slasher contract is under active development and its interface expected to change. We recommend writing slashing logic without integrating with the Slasher at this point in time. Although the Slasher is deployed, it will remain completely paused/unusable during M2. No contracts interact with it, and its design is not finalized. 🚧
To see an example of the user flows described in this section, check out our integration tests: /src/test/integration.
A Staker is any party who has assets deposited (or "restaked") into EigenLayer. Currently, these assets can be:
- Native beacon chain ETH (via the EigenPodManager)
- Liquid staking tokens (via the StrategyManager): cbETH, rETH, stETH, ankrETH, OETH, osETH, swETH, wBETH
Stakers can restake any combination of these: a Staker may hold ALL of these assets, or only one of them.
Flows:
- Stakers deposit assets into EigenLayer via either the StrategyManager (for LSTs) or EigenPodManager (for beacon chain ETH)
- Stakers withdraw assets via the DelegationManager, no matter what assets they're withdrawing
- Stakers delegate to an Operator via the DelegationManager
Unimplemented as of M2:
- Stakers earn yield by delegating to an Operator as the Operator provides services to an AVS
- Stakers are at risk of being slashed if the Operator misbehaves
An Operator is a user who helps run the software built on top of EigenLayer (AVSs). Operators register in EigenLayer and allow Stakers to delegate to them, then opt in to provide various services built on top of EigenLayer. Operators may themselves be Stakers; these are not mutually exclusive.
Flows:
- User can register as an Operator via the DelegationManager
- Operators can deposit and withdraw assets just like Stakers can
- Operators can opt in to providing services for an AVS using that AVS's middleware contracts. See the EigenLayer middleware repo for more details.
Unimplemented as of M2:
- Operators earn fees as part of the services they provide
- Operators may be slashed by the services they register with (if they misbehave)
Depositing into EigenLayer varies depending on whether the Staker is depositing Native ETH or LSTs:
Undelegating from an Operator automatically queues a withdrawal that needs to go through the DelegationManager's withdrawal delay. Stakers that want to withdraw can choose to undelegate, or can simply call queueWithdrawals directly.
This flow is mostly useful if a Staker wants to change which Operator they are delegated to. The Staker first needs to undelegate (see above). At this point, they can delegate to a different Operator. However, the new Operator will only be awarded shares once the Staker completes their queued withdrawal "as shares":
Completing a queued withdrawal as tokens is roughly the same for both native ETH and LSTs.
However, note that before a withdrawal can be completed, native ETH stakers will need to perform additional steps, detailed in the "Withdrawal Processing" diagrams below.
If a Staker wants to fully withdraw from the beacon chain, they need to perform these additional steps before their withdrawal is completable:
If a Staker wants to withdraw consensus rewards from the beacon chain, they do NOT go through the DelegationManager. This is the only withdrawal type that is not initiated in the DelegationManager:
