Glossary
AVS
Actively Validated Service: any system (bridge, oracle, DA layer, sequencer) that uses restaked stake — via EigenLayer or similar — as its economic security.
An AVS is anything that pays for security via restaking instead of issuing its own staking token. The AVS publishes the rules its restaked operators must follow, and the restaking protocol enforces slashing when those rules are broken.
Early AVSs include EigenDA (data availability), AltLayer (rollup infrastructure), Hyperlane (interop), and Lagrange (ZK coprocessor). Each pays restakers in its own token or in ETH, in exchange for the slashable security that backs its honesty guarantees.