Glossary OS

Plain meaning

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The dominant restaking protocol on Ethereum that allows stakers to opt in to securing additional services (Actively Validated Services or AVSs) by restaking their ETH or liquid staking tokens. EigenLayer creates a shared security marketplace where smaller protocols can bootstrap validator sets. With over $18 billion TVL and 85%+ market share by 2025, EigenLayer underpins critical infrastructure including EigenDA, oracle networks, and bridges.

Mental model

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Think of it as a market mechanic used to price, route, or move capital through liquidity apps.

Technical context

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AMMs, routing, liquidity, lending, and trading infrastructure.

Why builders care

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EigenLayer (eigenlayer)
Category: DeFi
Definition: The dominant restaking protocol on Ethereum that allows stakers to opt in to securing additional services (Actively Validated Services or AVSs) by restaking their ETH or liquid staking tokens. EigenLayer creates a shared security marketplace where smaller protocols can bootstrap validator sets. With over $18 billion TVL and 85%+ market share by 2025, EigenLayer underpins critical infrastructure including EigenDA, oracle networks, and bridges.
Related: Restaking, Liquid Staking

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Concept graph

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Branch

Restaking

A mechanism where staked SOL or LSTs are used as economic security for additional protocols beyond Solana consensus. Restaking protocols (e.g., Solayer, Jito Restaking) allow stakers to opt-in to securing bridges, oracles, or rollups while earning additional yield. Slashing risk extends to these secondary protocols.

Stake

Open term

Branch

Liquid Staking

A mechanism where staked SOL is represented by a transferable token (LST) that accrues staking rewards while remaining usable in DeFi. Instead of locking SOL with a validator, users deposit into a liquid staking pool and receive tokens like mSOL (Marinade), jitoSOL (Jito), or bSOL (BlazeStake). LSTs typically appreciate against SOL at the staking APY.

Marinade Finance JitoSOL

Open term

Next concepts to explore

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DeFi

Restaking

A mechanism where staked SOL or LSTs are used as economic security for additional protocols beyond Solana consensus. Restaking protocols (e.g., Solayer, Jito Restaking) allow stakers to opt-in to securing bridges, oracles, or rollups while earning additional yield. Slashing risk extends to these secondary protocols.

Open term

DeFi

Liquid Staking

A mechanism where staked SOL is represented by a transferable token (LST) that accrues staking rewards while remaining usable in DeFi. Instead of locking SOL with a validator, users deposit into a liquid staking pool and receive tokens like mSOL (Marinade), jitoSOL (Jito), or bSOL (BlazeStake). LSTs typically appreciate against SOL at the staking APY.

Open term

DeFi

EMA Price (Oracle)

The exponential moving average price published by Pyth alongside the spot price for each feed. EMA price smooths out short-term price spikes and is more resistant to manipulation than the instantaneous price. Lending protocols often use EMA prices for liquidation calculations to prevent unnecessary liquidations from brief price wicks. The EMA window is typically configured for several minutes of price history.

Open term

DeFi

Dynamic Fee

A trading fee that automatically adjusts based on real-time market conditions such as volatility, volume, or liquidity depth. During high-volatility periods, dynamic fees increase to compensate LPs for greater impermanent loss risk; during calm markets, fees decrease to attract more trading volume. Meteora's DLMM pools pioneered dynamic fees on Solana, using a formula that factors in bin-crossing frequency.

Open term

Related terms

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DeFirestaking

Restaking

A mechanism where staked SOL or LSTs are used as economic security for additional protocols beyond Solana consensus. Restaking protocols (e.g., Solayer, Jito Restaking) allow stakers to opt-in to securing bridges, oracles, or rollups while earning additional yield. Slashing risk extends to these secondary protocols.

Open term

DeFiliquid-staking

Liquid Staking

A mechanism where staked SOL is represented by a transferable token (LST) that accrues staking rewards while remaining usable in DeFi. Instead of locking SOL with a validator, users deposit into a liquid staking pool and receive tokens like mSOL (Marinade), jitoSOL (Jito), or bSOL (BlazeStake). LSTs typically appreciate against SOL at the staking APY.

Open term

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DeFi

AMM (Automated Market Maker)

A protocol that enables token swaps using algorithmic pricing against pooled liquidity instead of matching individual buyers and sellers. AMMs use mathematical formulas (typically constant product x*y=k) to determine prices based on the ratio of tokens in a liquidity pool. On Solana, major AMMs include Raydium, Orca, and Meteora.

Open term

DeFi

CLMM (Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker)

An AMM design where liquidity providers concentrate their capital within specific price ranges instead of across the full 0-to-infinity range. CLMMs dramatically improve capital efficiency—LPs earn more fees per dollar deposited within their active range. If the price moves outside the range, the position becomes inactive. Orca Whirlpools and Raydium CLMM are leading implementations on Solana.

Open term

DeFi

Liquidity Pool

A smart-contract-held reserve of two or more tokens that enables trading via an AMM. Users deposit token pairs in specified ratios to become liquidity providers and earn trading fees. Pools are identified by their token pair and fee tier. Pool depth (total value locked) determines price impact for trades.

Open term

DeFi

LP Token

A token issued to liquidity providers representing their proportional share of a pool's reserves and accrued fees. LP tokens can be burned to withdraw the underlying assets. The value of LP tokens changes as the pool's token ratios shift and fees accumulate. LP tokens are often stakeable in yield farming programs for additional rewards.

Open term