Comparative analysis of Symbiotic, Karak, and EigenLayer: Which one has the advantage?
Original author: Poopman, crypto KOL
Original translation: Alex Liu, Foresight News
If you are interested in Restaking or AVS (Active Verification Service), this article will make a simple comparison between Eigenlayer, Symbioticfi and Karak, and introduce related concepts, which should be helpful to you.
What is AVS and re-staking?
AVS stands for Active Verification Service, which basically describes any network that needs its own verification system (e.g., oracle, DA, cross-chain bridge, etc.).
In this article, AVS can be understood as a project that uses re-stake services.
Conceptually, restaking is a way to “re-use” staked ETH for additional validation/services to earn more staking rewards without unstaking.
Restaking generally comes in two forms:
· Native restaking
· LST/ERC20/LP restaking
Through restaking, restakers and validators can secure thousands of new services by pooling security.
This helps reduce costs and helps new trust networks get the security guarantees they need to get off the ground.
Among these restaking protocols, @eigenlayer (EL) was the first to launch.
EigenLayer
Key Architecture
At a high level, @eigenlayer (EL) consists of 4 main parts:
· Stakers
· Operators
· AVS contracts (e.g., token pools, designated slashers)
· Core contracts (e.g., delegate managers, slashing managers)
These parties work together to allow stakers to delegate assets and validators to register as operators in EigenLayer.
AVS on EL can also customize their own system's quorum and slashing conditions.
Restaking
EL supports both native restaking and liquidity restaking.
Of its ~$15 billion TVL (Total Value Locked):
· 68% of assets are native ETH
· 32% are LST (Liquid Staking Token).
EL has ~160,000 restakers, but only ~1,500 operators, with 67.6% (~$10.3 billion) of assets delegated to operators.
AVS on EigenLayer
EL provides high flexibility for AVS to design itself, they can decide:
· Quorum of stakers (e.g. 70% ETH stakers + 30% AVS token stakers)
· Slashing conditions
· Fee model (payable in AVS tokens/ETH, etc.)
· Operator requirements
and their own AVS contracts…
The role of EigenLayer?
EL controls:
· Delegation Managers
· Strategy Managers
· Slasher Managers
Validators who wish to become EL operators must register with EL.
Strategy Managers are responsible for restaking participant balance accounting and work with delegation managers to execute.
Slashing
Each AVS has its own slashing conditions.
If operators act maliciously or violate EL’s commitment, they will be slashed by slashers, each of which has its own slashing logic.
If an operator chooses to participate with 2 AVS, they must agree to the slashing conditions of both AVS.
Veto Slashing Committee (VSC)
In the case of a "wrongful slashing", the EL has a VSC that can reverse the slashing result.
The EL itself does not act as a standards committee, but allows AVS and stakeholders to establish their preferred VSC, creating a market for VSCs tailored for different solutions.
Summary
In short, EL offers:
· Native + LST staking
· Asset delegation (ETH assets + EIGEN)
· AVS can design its own terms with high flexibility
· Veto Slashing Committee (VSC)
· Online operators (about 1500 as of now)
Symbiotic
@symbioticfi positions itself as the "DeFi hub" for re-staking by supporting staking of assets such as ENA and sUSDe.
Currently, 74.3% of its TVL is wstETH, 5.45% is sUSDe, and the rest is made up of various LSTs.
There is no native re-staking yet, but it may be supported soon.
Symbiotic ERC20
Unlike EL, @symbioticfi mints corresponding ERC20 tokens to represent deposits.
Once the collateral is deposited, the assets are sent to the "vault", which then delegates them to the corresponding "operator".
AVS on Symbiotic
In Symbiotic, AVS contracts/token pools are called "Vaults".
Vault is a contract established by AVS, which AVS uses for accounting, commissioned design, etc.
AVS can customize the staker and operator reward process by plugging in external contracts.
Vault
Similar to EL, Vault can be customized, for example, there can be a Vault with multiple operators, etc.
A significant difference between Vault and EL is the existence of immutable pre-configured vaults that are deployed with pre-configured rules to "lock" the settings and avoid the risks of upgradeable contracts.
Resolvers
Resolvers are roughly equivalent to EL's veto committee.
Resolvers can veto slashing when an erroneous penalty occurs.
In @symbioticfi, vaults can request multiple resolvers to cover staked assets or integrate with dispute resolution solutions such as @UMAprotocol.
Summary
In short, Symbotic offers:
· Accepts LST + ERC20 + stablecoin collateral
· Receives receipt tokens when ERC20 is minted
· No native re-staking or delegation yet
· Vault with custom terms
· Multi-resolver architecture with more design flexibility
Karak
Karak uses a system called DSS, similar to AVS.
Of all the re-staking protocols, @Karak_Network accepts the most diverse staking assets, including LST, stable, ERC20 and even LP tokens.
Staking assets can be deposited through multiple chains such as ARB, Mantle, BSC, etc.
Staking assets
Of Karak's ~$800 million TVL, the majority of deposits are in LST, and most of them are on the ETH chain.
Meanwhile, ~7% of assets are deposited through K2, an L2 chain developed by the Karak team and secured by DSS.
DSS on Karak
So far, Karak V1 provides a platform for these participants:
Vault + Regulator
Asset Entrusted Regulator
In terms of architecture, karak provides a Turnkey SDK + K2 sandbox to make development easier.
More information is needed for further analysis.
Comparison
Intuitively, the pledged assets are the most obvious difference.
· Eigenlayer
EL offers native ETH re-staking and EigenPods, which has received ETH accounting for 68% of its TVL and has successfully attracted about 1,500 operators.
They are also quick to accept LST and ERC20 tokens.
· Symbiotic
Became a "DeFi hub" by partnering with @ethena_labs and accepted sUSDe and ENA first.
· Karak
Stands out for its multi-chain staking deposits, allowing re-staking across different chains and creating an LRT economy on top of it.
Architecturally, they are also very similar.
The flow is usually from Stakeholders -> Core Contracts -> Delegates -> Operators etc.
It’s just that Symbiotic allows multi-arbitration resolvers, while Eigenlayer doesn’t specify this, but it’s also possible.
Reward System
In EL, operators who choose to opt in receive a 10% commission from AVS services, and the rest goes to delegated assets.
On the other hand, Symbiotic and Karak may offer flexible options, allowing AVS to design their own payment structures.
Slashing
AVS/DSS are very flexible, they can customize slashing conditions, operator requirements, staker quorum, etc.
EL+Sym have resolvers+veto committees to support and recover from erroneous slashing.
Karak has not yet announced the relevant mechanism.
Finally, tokens
So far, only EL has launched the token EIGEN, and requires stakers to delegate tokens to the same operator as re-staking (but they are non-transferable).
Speculation on SYM and KARAK is the key incentive that drives and drives their TVL.
Conclusion
Of these protocols, it is clear that @eigenlayer offers a more mature solution, as well as the most robust economic security + ecosystem.
AVS, which wants to get security in the early stages, will build on EL as it has a $15 billion pool of funds and 1,500 operators ready to join + a first-class team.
On the other hand, @symbioticfi and @Karak_Network are still in very early stages and still have a lot of room to grow. Retail investors or investors seeking income opportunities outside of ETH/multi-chain assets may choose Karak and Symbiotic.
Conclusion
Overall, AVS and re-staking technology remove the burden of building a base layer trust network.
Now, the project can focus on developing new features and better decentralization.
Restaking is not only an innovation, but also a new era for ETH.
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Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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