Coinbase Cloud and Google Cloud have joined the EigenLayer restaking protocol as operators

What’s new? The team of the EigenLayer restaking protocol launched the mainnet on April 9, after which a number of major companies joined as operators. These include the cloud divisions of crypto exchange Coinbase, technology corporation Google, Hong Kong-based crypto exchange operator HashKey, and German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom.

Material by The Block

What else is known? Back in 2022, Google launched payment for cloud services with cryptocurrency in cooperation with Coinbase, at the same time Google Cloud became a partner of BNB Chain and NEAR. Since 2023, the cloud platform has partnered with blockchains Tezos, Polygon,and Solana, as well as the decentralized exchange PancakeSwap, at which time it added data on 11 blockchains to its repository, including Ethereum, Avalanche, Optimism, and TRON.

Late last year, Google Cloud joined gaming blockchain XPLA as a validator. XPLA is run on the EVM-enabled Tendermint protocol by Korean game publisher Com2uS. The Walking Dead: All-Stars, Summoner’s War: Chronicles, and Ace Fishing: Crew games are featured on the network.

HashKey Cloud, as part of the HashKey Group, has been providing validator node deployment services for more than 80 public blockchains since 2018, Deutsche Telekom subsidiary MMS is a validator for the Ethereum, Polygon, and Fetch.ai networks.

By participating in the EigenLayer protocol, operators provide services to other applications and process their transactions in exchange for rewards. This additional layer of security builds on the already staked ETH blocked in the Ethereum mainnet. The operators do not provide validation services.

EigenLayer operators allow users to delegate their assets, whether native ETH or derivative tokens. This allows stakers to utilize assets across multiple blockchain applications while their ETH remains staked on the Ethereum network.

According to DeFiLlama, the total value locked (TVL) of EigenLayer has grown by 1133% since the beginning of the year to $13,565 billion. In February, the project raised $100 million from venture capital fund a16z.

In early February, Blockaid warned of a new way to attack EigenLayer users. Hackers introduced a new form of transaction processing using the queueWithdrawal mechanism: a user who signs such a transaction approves the withdrawal of staking rewards to an address chosen by the attacker.