Author: Viktor Bunin, Coinbase protocol expert; Translator: Jinse Finance xiaozou
Congratulations to the EigenLayer team on the official launch of EigenCloud! From multiple perspectives, this can be regarded as the holy grail of the perfect integration of on-chain and off-chain computing paradigms. This article will specifically explore its core significance, let’s take a closer look.
1**, Core Issue: The crypto world is verifiable but has not achieved full programmability**
The core capability of blockchain lies in verifying and ensuring the correctness of computations, but this capability only applies to on-chain information. Once off-chain data is involved, the trust model fails, requiring reliance on oracles to bring extremely limited information on-chain. Although this model can support certain applications like stablecoins, DeFi, and NFTs, it becomes inadequate in complex scenarios that require interfacing with the real world—these scenarios often necessitate invoking standard libraries, initiating API requests, and other typical "Web2" development operations.
2**, Solution: Build Verifiable Cloud to Enhance Cryptographic Programmability**
EigenCloud allows developers to migrate rich application logic to verifiable off-chain containers, retaining only the most basic consensus enforcement logic on-chain while leaving non-verifiable infrastructure like front-end in the existing public cloud. Token logic always resides on-chain, while application logic is primarily transferred off-chain (while maintaining verifiability).
3**、EigenCloud Application Scenarios and Value Examples**
TrustworthyAPICall -- API requests for isolated Web2 data can now directly trigger on-chain token logic. Users can prove any Web2 data characteristics in their private login information, thus breaking the Web2 data silo and achieving a seamless migration of users to the blockchain.
AutonomousAIAgent -- Relying on the original production rights characteristics of blockchain and the programmable capabilities of EigenCloud, fully on-chain AI agents can act without human authorization: they can hold assets, enter into contracts, incur debts, and even create DAOs.
Enterprise Compliance Assurance -- Combining familiar cloud tools with blockchain-level audit trails to provide enterprises with a verifiable, low-friction path for compliance and settlement.
4**、EigenVerify and EigenCompute will be launched in 2025 to support **EigenCloud
EigenVerify ensures the correctness verification of the computation process, while EigenCompute encapsulates the entire EigenLayer ecosystem into a developer-friendly toolkit.
**Containerized Deployment to EigenCompute: **Developers create containers that house application logic for extending the token logic of any blockchain. This container is then deployed to EigenCompute, a platform that simplifies the matching process between suitable stakers and operational nodes.
EigenLayerensures computational security: Computational tasks are executed by the EigenLayer operator node set and are secured by a portion of the capital specifically allocated by stakers for this application. The computation results, accompanied by a signature certificate, will be transmitted to the target blockchain. On-chain contracts can choose to immediately call these results with unique economic security or wait until the challenge period ends to obtain higher security (similar to optimistic rollups).
EigenDA** achieves data availability:** Computes data records to the Data Availability layer (DA), and any observing node can independently verify the computation process through EigenDA.
EigenVerify****Challenge Verification: If a challenge is initiated, the original computation will be validated through the EigenVerify service—this service is specifically designed to re-execute the computation for verification purposes. If the initial node group is determined to be malicious nodes, their staked assets will be slashed and allocated to the application party.
Token Fork ProtectionEigenDAandEigenVerify: **If the majority of EIGEN stakers protecting EigenDA or EigenVerify engage in malicious behavior leading to process contamination, the EIGEN token will trigger a fork. This action will confiscate the staked assets of malicious stakers and operational nodes, ensuring system integrity without solely relying on the credibility of the majority committee. Anyone can initiate a fork by destroying a specific proportion of the native EIGEN tokens and will receive a larger quantity of EIGEN tokens after the fork as a reward, thereby ensuring sufficient incentives for triggering forks.
Application**/**Chain Fork to Enhance Security: Applications, services, or chains built on EigenCloud can choose to pre-commit and sync fork with EIGEN tokens. This ensures that on the correctly forked chain, the results of applications and services always remain in a complete state.
6**, Conclusion**
It is important to emphasize that this is not a brand new concept. Many projects have attempted different versions of similar solutions for its application, but none have gained widespread adoption. The fundamental reason is that users still need to maintain absolute trust in application developers. EigenCloud is the first attempt to provide this functionality as a service, and there is currently over $12 billion in staked capital providing security for the protocol.
Verifiable computation is needed now more than ever: it will drive the on-chain global assets and provide immutable assurances to users, regulators, and partners. Congratulations again to the EigenLayer team on this achievement, looking forward to the mainnet launch!
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Led by a16z with 70 million USD, understand what EigenCloud is in one article.
Author: Viktor Bunin, Coinbase protocol expert; Translator: Jinse Finance xiaozou
Congratulations to the EigenLayer team on the official launch of EigenCloud! From multiple perspectives, this can be regarded as the holy grail of the perfect integration of on-chain and off-chain computing paradigms. This article will specifically explore its core significance, let’s take a closer look.
1**, Core Issue: The crypto world is verifiable but has not achieved full programmability**
The core capability of blockchain lies in verifying and ensuring the correctness of computations, but this capability only applies to on-chain information. Once off-chain data is involved, the trust model fails, requiring reliance on oracles to bring extremely limited information on-chain. Although this model can support certain applications like stablecoins, DeFi, and NFTs, it becomes inadequate in complex scenarios that require interfacing with the real world—these scenarios often necessitate invoking standard libraries, initiating API requests, and other typical "Web2" development operations.
2**, Solution: Build Verifiable Cloud to Enhance Cryptographic Programmability**
EigenCloud allows developers to migrate rich application logic to verifiable off-chain containers, retaining only the most basic consensus enforcement logic on-chain while leaving non-verifiable infrastructure like front-end in the existing public cloud. Token logic always resides on-chain, while application logic is primarily transferred off-chain (while maintaining verifiability).
3**、EigenCloud Application Scenarios and Value Examples**
Trustworthy API Call -- API requests for isolated Web2 data can now directly trigger on-chain token logic. Users can prove any Web2 data characteristics in their private login information, thus breaking the Web2 data silo and achieving a seamless migration of users to the blockchain.
AutonomousAIAgent -- Relying on the original production rights characteristics of blockchain and the programmable capabilities of EigenCloud, fully on-chain AI agents can act without human authorization: they can hold assets, enter into contracts, incur debts, and even create DAOs.
Enterprise Compliance Assurance -- Combining familiar cloud tools with blockchain-level audit trails to provide enterprises with a verifiable, low-friction path for compliance and settlement.
4**、EigenVerify and EigenCompute will be launched in 2025 to support **EigenCloud
EigenVerify ensures the correctness verification of the computation process, while EigenCompute encapsulates the entire EigenLayer ecosystem into a developer-friendly toolkit.
5**、Cooperative Operation Mechanism Gradually Analyzed**
**Containerized Deployment to EigenCompute: **Developers create containers that house application logic for extending the token logic of any blockchain. This container is then deployed to EigenCompute, a platform that simplifies the matching process between suitable stakers and operational nodes.
EigenLayer ensures computational security: Computational tasks are executed by the EigenLayer operator node set and are secured by a portion of the capital specifically allocated by stakers for this application. The computation results, accompanied by a signature certificate, will be transmitted to the target blockchain. On-chain contracts can choose to immediately call these results with unique economic security or wait until the challenge period ends to obtain higher security (similar to optimistic rollups).
EigenDA** achieves data availability:** Computes data records to the Data Availability layer (DA), and any observing node can independently verify the computation process through EigenDA.
EigenVerify****Challenge Verification: If a challenge is initiated, the original computation will be validated through the EigenVerify service—this service is specifically designed to re-execute the computation for verification purposes. If the initial node group is determined to be malicious nodes, their staked assets will be slashed and allocated to the application party.
Token Fork Protection EigenDA and EigenVerify: **If the majority of EIGEN stakers protecting EigenDA or EigenVerify engage in malicious behavior leading to process contamination, the EIGEN token will trigger a fork. This action will confiscate the staked assets of malicious stakers and operational nodes, ensuring system integrity without solely relying on the credibility of the majority committee. Anyone can initiate a fork by destroying a specific proportion of the native EIGEN tokens and will receive a larger quantity of EIGEN tokens after the fork as a reward, thereby ensuring sufficient incentives for triggering forks.
Application**/**Chain Fork to Enhance Security: Applications, services, or chains built on EigenCloud can choose to pre-commit and sync fork with EIGEN tokens. This ensures that on the correctly forked chain, the results of applications and services always remain in a complete state.
6**, Conclusion**
It is important to emphasize that this is not a brand new concept. Many projects have attempted different versions of similar solutions for its application, but none have gained widespread adoption. The fundamental reason is that users still need to maintain absolute trust in application developers. EigenCloud is the first attempt to provide this functionality as a service, and there is currently over $12 billion in staked capital providing security for the protocol.
Verifiable computation is needed now more than ever: it will drive the on-chain global assets and provide immutable assurances to users, regulators, and partners. Congratulations again to the EigenLayer team on this achievement, looking forward to the mainnet launch!