EigenLayer’s Stage 2 Mainnet

On April 9th, 2024, EigenLayer successfully rolled out Stage 2 of its Mainnet Launch, marking a significant advancement for the Ethereum restaking ecosystem.

This follows Stage 1, implemented in June 2023, which enabled restakers to invest their capital into EigenLayer in return for “points”. Up to this point in Stage 1, EigenLayer has seen 3.8 million ETH restaked within its protocol, positioning it as the market’s second-largest protocol.

The second stage introduces an upgrade to the EigenLayer web application, incorporating a discovery page for AVSs (Actively Validated Services) and operators. Additionally, it debuted EigenDA, the inaugural AVS by the EigenLabs team. This stage allows operators to support EigenDA and future AVSs by maintaining the necessary infrastructure. Restakers are now able to allocate their funds to their chosen node operator, enhancing the economic security of the AVSs through their (re)staking collateral. 

With this release, a dynamic ecosystem of Actively Validated Services (AVSs) is set to thrive on the EigenLayer mainnet, among which Brevis, Eoracle, Alt Layer, Lagrange, and Witness Chain. Bware Labs have officially joined as Operators for all the AVS above, including EigenDA. Here’s how to be among the first restakers actively securing this new ecosystem of AVSs, by restaking with our Operator!

How to Restake on EigenLayer

For native restaking, you need to follow these steps:

• Upgrade your EigenPod – any EigenPod established prior to April 8th requires an upgrade to activate the delegation functionality.
• Restake – confirm ETH Beacon deposits. Your EigenPod must verify that you have made validator deposits.
• Choose an operator – select your operator for validating AVSs. (Note, you will not transfer any tokens to the operator; instead, you’re delegating the authority to validate AVSs on your behalf).

Upgrading Your EigenPod

1. Head over to https://app.eigenlayer.xyz/  and connect your self-custodial wallet. If you work with a Ledger, connect it to MetaMask.
2. Go to the “Restake” tab, then the “Beacon Ether section”, or simply follow this link https://app.eigenlayer.xyz/restake/ETH
3. If you’ve created your EigenPod before April 8th, you will have to click on “Upgrade EigenPod”
   1. At this step you will receive a warning pop–up. Do not fret. This pertains to the necessity of maintaining distinct addresses for Ethereum validators’ rewards: consensus rewards are directed to the EigenPod, while execution rewards (MEV) must be sent to a different address to avoid loss. This is due to MEV builders frequently dispatching MEV via straightforward transactions, and since EigenPod does not support incoming transactions, these attempts will not succeed. Consequently, all Bware Labs ETH stakers utilize separate addresses for their execution and consensus rewards. 

Simply click “Continue”.

4. Enable restaking on the EigenPod and wait for the 4 hour upgrade time.

Restaking

The following step is to to click on “Restake.” This is mandatory for confirming ETH Beacon deposits through the Beacon chain oracle. It creates Merkle proofs for each validator and forwards them to the EigenPod. 

1. Since one transaction can handle 25 proofs, you’ll need to sign a separate transaction for every 25 validators. New transactions will automatically be generated for you to sign as soon as the previous one is completed.
   1. VERY IMPORTANT: Ensure that before signing you are making the transaction to YOUR OWN EigenPod
2. Once all transactions are finalized, your restaked balance will transition from the ‘awaiting restake’ section to ‘Beacon Chain restaked.’

Choosing Your Operator

1. Head over to the “Operator” Tab, search for Bware Labs or follow this link: https://app.eigenlayer.xyz/operator/0x89d60c9bcd5e6879e1f9440917b75502df8ae020 

2. Check the operator address. It should be: 0x89d60C9BCd5E6879e1F9440917B75502dF8AE020
3. Click on Delegate and double-check that you are interacting with the EigenLayer smart contract 0x39053D51B77DC0d36036Fc1fCc8Cb819df8Ef37A and then sign!
   • a. You won’t send any tokens to the operator but delegate them the right to validate AVSes on your behalf.

That’s it! You’re now part of the securers behind EigenLayer’s AVSes! Congrats! Start restaking today with the Bware Labs Operator!