Glossary · A
AVS (Actively Validated Service)
A service that borrows cryptoeconomic security from restakers — typically via EigenLayer — instead of bootstrapping its own validator set. AVSs can include data availability layers, oracles, bridges, or sequencers. Operators run AVS software; restakers opt in and accept additional slashing conditions. AVS design is central to the 2024–2026 restaking narrative. Also searched as: actively validated services, EigenLayer AVS.
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How AVS works in practice
An AVS is a service secured by restaked capital rather than its own token — oracles, bridges, data availability, sequencing. It is the demand side of restaking: the thing paying for the security.
Worked example
A new bridge launches as an AVS instead of recruiting its own validators. Restaked ETH secures it from day one, and the bridge pays fees to the operators and stakers backing it.
Figures are illustrative and chosen to be checkable, not live market data.
The mistake that costs people money
Each AVS sets its own slashing conditions, and they vary in quality and in how well they have been tested. Restakers are underwriting risks defined by third parties, which is a meaningfully different proposition from staking on Ethereum alone.
AVS: common questions
- What is AVS?
- A service that borrows cryptoeconomic security from restakers — typically via EigenLayer — instead of bootstrapping its own validator set. AVSs can include data availability layers, oracles, bridges, or sequencers. Operators run AVS software; restakers opt in and accept additional slashing conditions. AVS design is central to the 2024–2026 restaking narrative. Also searched as: actively validated services, EigenLayer AVS.
- How does AVS work in practice?
- An AVS is a service secured by restaked capital rather than its own token — oracles, bridges, data availability, sequencing. It is the demand side of restaking: the thing paying for the security.
- Can you give an example of AVS?
- A new bridge launches as an AVS instead of recruiting its own validators. Restaked ETH secures it from day one, and the bridge pays fees to the operators and stakers backing it.
- What do people get wrong about AVS?
- Each AVS sets its own slashing conditions, and they vary in quality and in how well they have been tested. Restakers are underwriting risks defined by third parties, which is a meaningfully different proposition from staking on Ethereum alone.
- Where can I learn more about AVS?
- Our full guide, What Is Restaking / EigenLayer?, covers AVS in depth with worked scenarios and the risks involved. This glossary entry is the short definition.