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Definitions

Actively Validated Services (AVSes)​

A project or protocol that needs distributed validation and acquires said validation via restaking. Examples of AVSes are middleware services, layer 2 networks, bridges, data layers, and dApps.

Cross-Domain Maximal Extractible Value (MEV)​

The maximum value that can be captured from arbitrage transactions executed in a specified order across multiple domains. See: Maximal Extractible Value.

Cryptoeconomic Security​

A model for securing a network via economic incentives and cryptography.

Generalized Restaking​

A mechanism for restaking an asset from a starting location on any chain, such that the cryptoeconomic security provided can be used by Actively Validated Services on any other chain. See: Actively Validated Services, Cryptoeconomic Security, and Restaking.

Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) Protocol​

A cross-chain messaging protocol for trust-minimized communication between different blockchains; website here.

Light Clients​

Lightweight, trustless mechanisms for verifying the state of the counterparty blockchain; these are essential for IBC communication.

Maximal Extractible Value (MEV)​

The maximal value extractable between one or more blocks, given any arbitrary re-ordering, insertion or censorship of pending or existing transactions (as defined by Obadia et al., 2021).

Multichain-Agnostic Normalized Trust-Minimized Intent Settlement (Mantis)​

A vertically integrated, optimized intents settlement framework with expression, execution, and settlement.

Operators​

Entities responsible for executing off-chain software logic restaked from an AVS. See: Actively Validated Services.

Restaking​

A new primitive in crypto-economic security that enables the rehypothecation of a token on the consensus layer.

Sync Committee​

A committee of 512 validators that is randomly selected every sync committee period (~1 day). While a validator is part of the currently active sync committee, they are expected to continually sign the block header that is the new head of the chain at each slot.