Shared Security
Web3 / mining staking
A model in which the economic security of one established blockchain network is extended to secure additional protocols, eliminating the need for each new network to independently bootstrap its own validator set and staking capital. Traditional proof-of-stake networks must attract sufficient staked value to make attacks economically irrational, which is extremely difficult in a new protocol's early stages when its native token has low market value. Shared security allows validators or stakers on an established network to opt in to also validate or secure secondary protocols, extending their original stake as a slashable guarantee against misbehavior on those protocols. This model was pioneered by EigenLayer on Ethereum through restaking, allowing ETH stakers to pledge their stake to Actively Validated Services (AVS) that pay fees in exchange for economic security. Symbiotic later emerged as a competing shared security marketplace with a more modular, asset-agnostic architecture, and Babylon extended a similar model to Bitcoin. Example: EigenLayer launched its mainnet in 2024 and attracted over $15 billion in restaked ETH by mid-2025, making it one of the largest DeFi protocols by TVL. Early AVS adopters included EigenDA (a data availability layer), Hyperlane (cross-chain messaging), and AltLayer (rollup-as-a-service), each renting Ethereum's economic security rather than building their own. Why it matters for Web3: Shared security fundamentally changes the economics of launching new crypto protocols. It allows new networks to access credible, expensive-to-attack security from day one by leasing it from an established base rather than bootstrapping it organically. This lowers the barrier for protocol innovation but concentrates security dependencies, creating systemic risks if the base layer's restaking ecosystem grows too interconnected.
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