EigenLayer Introduces Permissionless Token Support

EigenLayer, the largest restaking platform by total value locked (TVL), is introducing permissionless token listing, which will enable any ERC-20 token to be implemented as a restakable asset.

Increasing the variety of assets that can be used in EigenLayer may recruit a larger number of validators that can now provide security elsewhere in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) through restaking.

Once the staking app is updated, restakers will be able to deposit and delegate those ERC-20 tokens to operators.

EigenLayer is the second-largest protocol in DeFi by TVL, with $12.6 billion held in its smart contracts. The restaking platform launched with gated access in June of 2023, and recently raised $100 million in a Series B led by Andressen Horowitz

The upgrade is live on testnet, and its mainnet deployment is scheduled for next week. EigenLayer expects to add user-interface support for restakers on its web app later in Q3.

EigenLayer laid out the vision for permissionless token support in a blog post, citing expanded crypto-economic security, customized security profiles, and actively validated service (AVS) token utility as the drivers behind the upgrade.

The upgrade will allow for new Strategies, which are smart contracts that define which tokens are eligible to be restaked on EigenLayer. Users will be able to launch these new Strategies, allowing for the tokens they are created around to be used in quorums by AVSs.