Key terms

• AVS: AVS are short for Actively Validated Services. Each AVS is secured by restakers and run by operators on EigenLayer.

• Coprocessors: Systems that extend the smart contract environment of the blockchain by offloading and performing specialized compute.

• Cryptoeconomic security: Relies on economic stakes, typically in the form of cryptocurrencies, to secure distributed systems

• Faucet (backed by Proof of Machinehood): Website or application that distributes small amount of testnet tokens to users simply by attesting their device.

• Hardware root-of-trust: Verifies a hierarchical chain of certificates to check if signature is signed by the root of trust (usually the hardware manufacturer).

• Private RPC relay: Secure enclaves as a RPC proxy between clients and RPC providers. Guarantees that no metadata is stored by the relay nor communicated to providers.

• Proof of Machinehood: Verifiable attestation delineating the authenticity of a machine.

• Remote attestation: A fundamental concept when it comes to TEE systems to verify its authenticity and prove that it's trustworthy.

• Trusted Execution Environment (TEEs): Isolated memory zones within hardware that ensure integrity of computation and protects privacy. System administrators or operating hosts cannot tamper or inspect data processed within the enclave.

If you're new to Intel SGX and TEEs, get started with our 3-part ELI5 introductory series.

• TEE AVS: TEE-based services on EigenLayer that combines hardware root-of-trust and cryptoeconomic security for execution integrity, rapid deployment, and significantly lower computational costs.