Glossary
Key terms and definitions used across EigenWatch.
Core Concepts
Allocation The act of an operator committing a portion of their stake to secure a specific AVS. Allocations are managed through the magnitude system. See Allocations & Magnitude.
AVS (Actively Validated Service) A service built on EigenLayer that requires its own set of validators. AVSs define their own validation rules and slashing conditions. Operators opt into AVSs and allocate stake to secure them.
Delegation The process of a restaker choosing an operator and staking their capital with them. Delegators share in both the rewards and risks of the operator's activities.
Operator An entity registered on EigenLayer that runs validation services for one or more AVSs. Operators receive delegated stake from restakers and can be slashed if they violate AVS rules.
Operator Set A specific grouping of operators within an AVS, often organized by task type. Operator sets can have their own commission rates and allocation requirements.
Restaker (Delegator) An Ethereum staker who delegates their capital to an EigenLayer operator, earning additional yield in exchange for additional risk exposure.
Risk Score EigenWatch's composite metric (0--100) that evaluates an operator's overall reliability. Higher scores indicate lower risk. Built from Performance, Economic, and Network pillars. See Risk Scoring.
Slashing The permanent forfeiture of part or all of an operator's staked capital due to violating rules set by an AVS. Slashing affects both the operator and their delegators.
Risk & Scoring Terms
Coefficient of Variation (CV) A measure of volatility --- the standard deviation divided by the mean. Used in the Performance Score to assess delegation stability. Lower CV = more stable.
Commission Stability A component of the Economic Score that measures how frequently an operator changes their commission rates. Frequent changes are penalized. See Economic Score.
Concentration Risk The risk that comes from overexposure to a single entity --- whether a single large delegator, a single AVS, or a single strategy. Measured using the HHI index.
Confidence Score A separate 0--100 metric that indicates how reliable an operator's Risk Score is. Based on operational tenure, delegator count, and activity recency. Not a measure of operator quality --- it measures data quality. See Confidence Score.
Economic Score One of three Risk Score pillars (35% weight). Evaluates delegation concentration, commission behavior, TVS growth, utilization, and AVS diversification. See Economic Score.
HHI (Herfindahl-Hirschman Index) A measure of concentration. Ranges from 0 (perfectly distributed) to 1 (completely concentrated in one entity). Used to assess both delegator and AVS concentration.
Network Score One of three Risk Score pillars (15% weight). Evaluates the operator's TVS relative to the network and delegation distribution quality. See Network Score.
Performance Score One of three Risk Score pillars (50% weight). Evaluates slashing history, delegation stability, and operational tenure. See Performance Score.
Utilization Rate The percentage of an operator's available capacity (max magnitude) that is currently allocated to AVSs. High utilization (above 70%) indicates limited buffer. See Allocations & Magnitude.
EigenLayer Terms
Allocation Manager The EigenLayer smart contract that manages operator allocations to AVS operator sets, including magnitude tracking.
Basis Points (Bips) The unit for measuring commission rates. 10,000 bips = 100%. An operator with a 1,000 bip commission takes 10% of rewards. See Commissions Explained.
Beacon Chain Ethereum's proof-of-stake consensus layer. EigenLayer's BeaconChainETH strategy represents native ETH staked on the beacon chain.
Delegation Manager The EigenLayer smart contract that manages the delegation relationship between restakers and operators.
EigenLayer The protocol that enables restaking --- the reuse of staked capital across multiple validation services (AVSs) beyond Ethereum consensus.
Encumbered Magnitude The portion of an operator's max magnitude currently committed to AVS allocations. Always less than or equal to max magnitude.
Max Magnitude An operator's total available capacity for a given strategy, starting at 100%. Only decreases when the operator is slashed --- never increases.
Rewards Coordinator The EigenLayer smart contract that handles reward distribution, including commission splits between operators and delegators.
Strategy An EigenLayer contract that accepts a specific token type (e.g., stETH, WETH). Delegators deposit tokens into strategies, which issue shares representing their stake.
Data Terms
Active Status An operator is considered active if they have had on-chain activity within the last 30 days. Inactive operators may have stale risk data.
Exchange Rate
The conversion factor between strategy shares and underlying tokens, fetched from the strategy contract's sharesToUnderlying function. Updated hourly.
Last Updated The timestamp of when an operator's data (risk score, TVS, etc.) was last recalculated.
Proxy Pricing A fallback pricing method for derivative tokens (like stETH) that uses the base token's price multiplied by an adjustment factor.
Shares The unit of accounting within an EigenLayer strategy. When you delegate tokens, you receive shares proportional to your deposit. Share values fluctuate with the exchange rate.
TVS (Total Value Secured) The total USD value of assets delegated to an operator across all strategies. Calculated from on-chain shares, exchange rates, and token prices. See TVS Calculation.
External References
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