A year after revolutionising Ethereum’s staking model, EigenLayer has introduced slashing, a long-awaited feature that brings accountability and security to its $7 billion restaking protocol. This move marks the completion of its original vision and aims to silence critics who questioned its lack of enforcement mechanisms.

Restaking’s Missing Piece Arrives

EigenLayer enables Ethereum users to restake their ETH—once staked on Ethereum—across multiple services for increased rewards. While the concept gained massive traction, the protocol lacked a vital safeguard: slashing.

Slashing is a mechanism that penalises malicious or dishonest actors by seizing their staked assets. Its absence sparked doubts over EigenLayer’s reliability, especially given its role in securing 39 Actively Validated Services (AVSs).

On April 17, EigenLayer officially rolled out slashing, allowing AVSs to opt-in and set their own slashing conditions.

How Slashing Strengthens Security

Operators in EigenLayer are third-party infrastructure providers that manage user deposits and help run AVSs. Now, if these operators behave maliciously and are proven guilty via on-chain contracts, they can be slashed—losing part or all of their staked funds.

Slashing brings a layer of accountability to restaking. As EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan explained, this move ensures that operators are properly incentivised to act in the network’s best interest.

A Safer Design with No Leverage Risk

Early designs of EigenLayer raised concerns over “leverage,” where restaked assets could unintentionally expose the Ethereum ecosystem to cascading risks. The redesigned slashing system, tested since December 2024, eliminates this vulnerability.

Operators now have isolated exposure to individual AVSs, preventing faults in one service from affecting others. Each AVS can uniquely identify its “slashable” stake, ensuring no double-counting and no systemic risk.

Setting a New Standard for Proof-of-Stake

While many proof-of-stake systems, like Solana, still operate without slashing, EigenLayer faced more criticism due to its vocal commitment to the feature. Now, with its slashing feature live, the protocol sets a new benchmark for restaking accountability.

“We’ve delivered the full promise,” said Kannan. With safeguards in place, EigenLayer is poised to scale securely, offering both rewards and resilience to Ethereum’s growing decentralised ecosystem.