Deep Dive
1. ELIP-12 Incentives Overhaul (18 December 2025)
Overview: This proposal aims to make EIGEN token emissions more efficient by rewarding services that actually secure the network and generate fees. It creates a tighter link between usage, security, and token value.
The update, known as ELIP-12, establishes an Incentives Committee to steer EIGEN rewards. A key change is a proposed 20% fee on AVS (Actively Validated Service) rewards that are subsidized by EIGEN incentives, with 100% of EigenCloud's net fees being routed to a contract that could fund EIGEN buybacks. This shifts rewards toward "productive stake" that is actively securing services.
What this means: This is bullish for EIGEN because it creates a direct mechanism for the token's value to grow from platform usage. It incentivizes developers to build useful, fee-generating apps on EigenCloud, which should lead to more demand for EIGEN staking and potentially reduce sell pressure from idle token holders.
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2. Multi-Chain Verification Launch (24 July 2025)
Overview: This technical expansion allows EigenCloud's core verification and security services to operate on Layer 2 blockchains, starting with Base. It lets developers build verifiable apps on faster, cheaper networks without sacrificing Ethereum-grade trust.
The update enables AVSs to configure and deploy to L2s in hours. Operator sets and stake weights sync daily across chains, providing the same security interface everywhere. This solves a previous limitation where verification was confined to Ethereum L1.
What this means: This is bullish for EigenCloud because it significantly broadens the platform's potential user base and use cases. Developers on popular L2s can now easily build complex, verifiable applications, making the platform more accessible and useful, which should drive adoption.
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Overview: This was the foundational launch of EigenCloud as a unified "verifiable cloud" platform, moving beyond EigenLayer's original restaking protocol. It integrated key primitives—EigenDA (data), EigenCompute (execution), and EigenVerify (disputes)—into a single developer-facing product.
Powered by a new $70 million investment from a16z, the platform allows developers to "rent trust" secured by staked ETH and EIGEN. It aims to close the gap between what developers want to build onchain and the limitations of smart contracts alone.
What this means: This was a major, bullish pivot for the project, transforming it from a single-protocol into a comprehensive infrastructure platform. It opened the door for entirely new application categories, like verifiable AI agents, which could massively increase the utility and demand for the entire Eigen ecosystem.
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Conclusion
EigenCloud's trajectory shows a clear evolution from a restaking protocol to a full-stack, verifiable cloud platform, with recent updates fine-tuning its economic model and expanding its multi-chain reach. How will the proposed fee-based incentives in ELIP-12 impact the growth of its AVS ecosystem in 2026?