# Ethos
### Ethos
This documentation contains the technical details of the various components of the Ethos ecosystem.
# Overview
### Overview
#### What is Ethos?
Ethos is a security coordination layer that enables sovereign blockchains to easily bootstrap a validator network, leveraging the economic security of restaked ETH.
Ethereum stakers can restake their ETH on EigenLayer by delegating their tokens to operators who support Ethos. These operators allocate the delegated stake to an elected set of Guardians, who validate the Ethos Layer 1 chain (called “Guardian chain”). Through the mechanism we call Opt-In Shared Security, these Guardians can co-validate or delegate to secure any combination of L1 chains, extending the security of restaked ETH beyond the Ethereum ecosystem.
The Ethos ecosystem comprises 3 layers:
1. **The AVS contract** deployed on EigenLayer that enables secure delegation of restaked ETH to Ethos Guardians
2. **The Guardian chain** that uses the restaked ETH to co-validate or delegate to other L1s
3. **Ethos-powered chains** that leverage the Guardians to easily bootstrap a decentralized trust network and/or increase their economic security.
#### Why Build with Ethos?
With Ethos, anyone building a sovereign L1 can quickly bootstrap a trust network and/or augment their economic security by leveraging restaked ETH. Moreover, stakers on Ethereum can earn additional rewards from these L1 chains by restaking their ETH on EigenLayer and delegating it to Ethos operators.
# Key Terms
* **Co-validation:** The process of Ethos Guardians opting in to operate the nodes and software for L1 chains looking to bootstrap a trust layer.
* **Guardian:** Guardians are validators on the Ethos L1 (“Guardian chain”).
* **Operators:** An Operator is an Ethereum validator, who registers in EigenLayer, and opts in to supporting additional services like Ethos. Operators allow stakers to delegate restaked ETH to them, and then allocate their delegated amount to the Guardians.
* **Restaking:** A method where ETH stakers restake their ETH by pointing their withdrawal credentials to the EigenLayer contracts.
# Ethos AVS
### Ethos AVS
#### AVS Contract
The AVS smart contract is deployed on EigenLayer and facilitates the interaction between Ethereum stakers, Ethos operators, and Guardians. It serves as a source of truth for the amount of capital allocated to Ethos operators, enabling secure and transparent delegation between the Ethereum ecosystem and L1s built on Ethos. The contract defines the parameters of operation, such as the rewards and the rules of slashing.
# Operator Guide
### Operator Guide
An Operator is an entity that runs the Ethos AVS contract on top of EigenLayer. Operators register in EigenLayer, opt into supporting Ethos, and then allow stakers to delegate restaked ETH to them. The operators allocate their delegated amount to Ethos L1 Guardians.
# 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.
# Guardian Chain
### Guardian Chain
The Guardian chain is an L1 blockchain that acts as a security coordination layer, enabling other sovereign L1s to leverage the economic security of restaked ETH. The nodes in the Guardian chain are a set of ‘Guardians’ who leverage the restaked ETH allocated to them by the Ethos operators, to extend security to other chains and provide further services.
# Guardians and Proof-of-Authority
### Guardians and Proof-of-Authority
Ethos will initially launch with a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) consensus mechanism, with plans to transition to Proof-of-Stake in the future. Through PoA, Ethos elects network validators based on their identity or reputation rather than their staked amount. Their identity is formally vetted by the network, with the ability to cross-check the information in the public domain. These validators, called Guardians, are responsible for validating the Guardian chain and securing the network.
Ethos operators on EigenLayer delegate their stake to Guardians based on their performance and reputation (note that in some cases the operator and the guardian might be the same entity). Through Ethos's Opt-In Shared Security mechanism, these Guardians opt into taking additional responsibility, securing (co-validating) multiple L1 chains. This process extends the security of restaked ETH beyond the Ethereum ecosystem.
# Oracle Vote Extensions
### Oracle Vote Extensions
Through Cosmos SDK v0.50, we can leverage the power of ABCI++ and Vote Extensions. Vote Extensions force validators to come to a consensus on some arbitrary data before every block is produced. Each validator can vote if the data is accurate, and if a quorum is reached it is published at the beginning of the block. In Ethos, we use this for Guardians to come to consensus on stake updates that happen on the Ethos AVS, thereby bridging data from Ethereum to the Guardian Chain. When Ethereum stakers delegate more ETH to Ethos operators on EigenLayer, or when operators reallocate their delegated stake, these changes are reflected on the Guardian chain through vote extensions.
Once the stake updates are recorded on the Guardian chain, they can then be propagated across all sovereign chains that are co-validated by the Ethos Guardians. This ensures that the security provided by the restaked ETH is accurately represented and updated across the entire network of Ethos-powered L1 chains.
The Ethos vote extension modules can also be installed on a stand-alone chain to enable various forms of proposer commitments — expanding the functionality of your chain.
# Integration Options
### Integration Options
There are two mechanisms through which sovereign L1s can leverage the validator set of the Guardian chain:
1. Co-Validation
2. Delegated Security
# Co-Validation
Co-Validation or “Opt-in Replicated Security” is a concept that allows an L1 chain to "replicate" the security of another blockchain. The validator set of an existing, established blockchain (like the Guardian chain) can opt-in to securing another smaller, newer blockchain, and earn additional rewards in the form of native token emissions from the new chain. This approach allows new blockchains to bootstrap their security by leveraging the established trust and security mechanisms of another blockchain without needing to build their validator community from scratch.
# Dual Staking
Dual Staking enables blockchains to utilize both their native tokens and restaked ETH to enhance their chain security. This model is especially useful for chains with an existing staking layer based on their native asset, as they can augment this layer with restaked ETH.
**Process Outline:**
1. **Operator Commitment:** EigenLayer operators commit a specified amount of restaked ETH to validators on the native chain.
2. **Guardian Chain Transfer:** The Guardian Chain aggregates this commitment and relays it via IBC to the native chain.
3. **Oracle Conversion:** The native chain employs a price oracle to determine the equivalent value of the restaked ETH in native assets, applying discounts or multipliers as required.
4. **Power Mixing:** The native chain then combines the voting power of native staking with delegated ETH and configures its validator set based on the mix.
# Integrating Ethos to an L1 Chain
### Integrating Ethos to an L1 Chain
Ethos boosts shared security arrangements in blockchains to the next level by allowing **any** L1 chain to consume the security of the largest stake pool in crypto: The Ethereum network.
# Get in touch with the team
### Get in touch with the team