LogoLogo
  • Imua
    • About
  • Manifesto
    • The Problems
    • The Principles
  • Architecture
    • Imua Design Principles
    • Imua Network
    • Imua Modules
    • Client Chain Bridges
      • Trustless Verification of Client Chain State
      • Handling Race Conditions between Imua and Client Chains
    • Client Chain Contracts
  • Concepts
    • Ecosystem
      • Re/stakers
      • Operators
      • Services (AVS)
        • Service Integration with Imua
        • Service Committee
        • Service Integration Details
    • restaked Proof-of-Stake (rPOS)
    • Multi-Token Restaking
    • Multi-Chain Restaking with Trustless Bridging
    • Voting Power
    • Price Oracle
    • Flexible Integration with AVS
    • Tribe Staking
  • Governance
  • Risk Management
    • Risk Analysis
      • Risk Modeling
      • Risk Parameters
      • Crypto-Economic Risk
      • Unintended Slashing
      • Black Swan Events
    • Risk Mitigation
      • Smart Contract Simplicity
      • Audits
      • Slashing Prevention
      • Slashing Vetos
      • Insurance Pools
      • Circuit Breakers
  • Components
    • Testnet
    • Oracle Module
      • Reaching Consensus on Asset Prices
      • Penalty
      • Implementation Detail
    • Smart Contracts
    • Explorer
    • Registry
  • Validator Setup
    • Prerequisites
    • Node Install
    • Compiling Binary from Source
    • Oracle Price Feeder
    • Running the Node
    • Snapshot
    • Register Option 1 (Bootstrap)
    • Register Option 2 (Post Network Launch)
    • Deposit Tokens
    • Delegating Tokens
    • Confirm Election Status
    • Faucets
    • Managing The Validator
    • Security Best Practices
    • Risks & Mitigation
    • Participation in Governance
    • FAQs & Resources
    • Testnet v7 to v8 upgrade
  • Testnet Upgrade to v1.1.1
  • AVS Setup
    • AVS Overview
    • Prerequisites
    • Building the AVS in Imua
    • Hello-World-AVS Example
    • Becoming AVS Operator
    • AVS Register and Deploy
    • AVS Task Example
    • Enhanced and Automated Edition of hello-avs integration guide&example
  • Whitepaper (2023)
    • .pdf
  • FAQ
    • What problems is Imua solving?
    • What are the main design trade-offs that had to be made with an omnichain design?
    • Does the omnichain design imply added trust assumptions (relative to a single-chain design)?
    • What concurrency-related challenges would you face with a different design?
    • How does Imua integrate with new chains?
    • Do specific chains prove unique challenges w.r.t. integration?
    • How is the cross-chain communication is achieved?
    • What are the known attack / censorship vectors here, if any?
    • Are the restaked tokens being pooled in a centralized account?
    • Who will run the validators in the Imua network?
    • Is Imua an AVS?
    • How does Imua address the risks of overloading L1 social consensus?
    • Does the Imua queuing system raise concerns around latency?
    • What are the main benefits of an omnichain design?
Powered by GitBook
On this page
  1. Concepts

Tribe Staking

PreviousFlexible Integration with AVSNextGovernance

Last updated 15 days ago

Imua is the universal protocol for shared security allowing AVSs to gain additional security by leasing re/staked tokens. For AVSs with their own native tokens for staking, they have to pay additional rewards to borrow the external tokens for enhanced security. Imua introduces "Tribe Staking", a novel concept that enables AVSs to form a collective tribe. Within this tribe, AVSs pool the security of each member’s natively staked tokens, which then serves to protect every participating AVS.

Let’s assume there’s an expected annual return for staked tokens, such as 3%. A yield lower than this percentage will likely cause re/stakers to exit, and eventually, the yield for the remaining re/stakers would approach this 3%. This percentage is then treated as the expected cost for shared security. For staked tokens, the expected yield might be lower, given that the token already accrues yield from the original staking instrument and re/staking offers an additional yield on top of that existing yield.

Nonetheless, to attract additional re/staked tokens from external re/stakers, an AVS must pay additional rewards to compensate for the increased security cost. For instance, if an AVS with a re/staked security budget of $50 million wishes to increase its re/staked security budget to $250 million for enhanced security, it would need to substantially boost its rewards to lure in the additional re/staking tokens. Expecting an AVS to suddenly have extra capital to purchase a significantly elevated level of security seems unrealistic unless it resorts to inflating its reward tokens significantly.

In light of this practical challenge with re/staking, Imua introduces Tribe Staking. Tribe Staking allows multiple AVSs to form a tribe and benefit from the combined shared security of all members without incurring substantially increased costs. For instance, in a tribe comprised of two AVSs, the native staking token from each AVS can be used for re/staking in the other AVS.

Consider a tribe formed of two actively validated services, AVS1 and AVS2, each having their respective native staking tokens, $AVS1 and $AVS2. An operator with $1 million $AVS1 already staked in AVS1 can simultaneously opt into AVS2, and the $1 million $AVS1 would be automatically restaked onto AVS2, and vice versa. This way, all tokens from the two AVSs can be used to provide security for each of the AVSs.

Operators staking for an AVS within tribe staking will likely eventually opt into all other AVSs in the same union due to competitive pressures. Those operators only staking in one AVS within the tribe won’t maximize their capital utilization, as the same token could be re/staked to another AVS, yielding additional rewards. Such operators will feel compelled to opt into all other AVSs when they observe other operators doing so and providing more rewards to their delegators. Ultimately, the market equilibrium should see all operators opting into every AVS within the same tribe, fully optimizing capital utilization and security for the AVSs.

Through tribe staking, the security of the AVSs grows as more AVSs join the tribe. This fosters a genuine “pooled security” effect where AVSs become more robust by supporting each other without having to pay for external security.

Comparison between AVSs staking individually and AVSs staking within a tribe. AVSs staking in a tribe enjoy higher crypto-economic security by utilizing other AVSs natively staked tokens.