> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ethosstake.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ethosstake.com/ethos/ethos-avs/operator-incentives-rewards-slashing.md).

# Operator Incentives (Rewards / Slashing)

### Operator Incentives (Rewards / Slashing)

Operators are incentivized through a portion of the rewards earned by the Guardians they allocate to. The operators then distribute these rewards proportionately to the delegators (ETH restakers) after deducting their commission.

Ethos leverages the cryptoeconomic security of restaked ETH through various slashing mechanisms, which levy a high cost of corruption. Operators are subjected to slashing rules as defined in the Ethos AVS contract. If any operator behaves maliciously, their stake can be slashed by the EigenLayer protocol. Restakers who delegate stake to operators accept the risk of their stake being slashed if the operators behave maliciously.


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