How to Track Fund Flows in the EigenLayer AVS Ecosystem

On-Chain

20 July 2026

To track fund flows in the AVS ecosystem, focus on three layers: first, how much capital AVSs have obtained from which Stakers (TVL and delegation relationships); second, where those funds are flowing to Operators and Stakers through reward mechanisms (rewards distribution); third, potential points of capital loss (slashing risk). In practice, use the Dune API to pull Operator<>AVS mapping relationships, use EigenLayer Sidecar to pull reward data, and monitor the impact of the Redistribution mechanism on fund reallocation.

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1. Understanding the Three-Layer Structure of AVS Fund Flows

What to do: First, clarify the fund flow path in EigenLayer—you're not tracking transfers from one wallet to another, but changes in fund attribution under three mechanisms: delegation, rewards, and slashing.

How to do it: EigenLayer's AVS ecosystem has three core roles:

Staker: Delegates ETH/LST to Operators, providing capital
Operator: Runs AVS node infrastructure, receives delegation and performs tasks
AVS: A service requiring active validation (e.g., oracle, bridge, rollup sequencer), assigns tasks to Operators and pays rewards

Three-layer logic of fund flows:

Delegation layer: Stakers delegate assets to Operators, who then "allocate" these assets to specific AVS Operator Sets. This is the first step of capital entering the AVS ecosystem.
Reward layer: AVSs distribute rewards to Operators and Stakers, with new reward snapshots going live on mainnet weekly.
Slashing layer: If an Operator fails to complete tasks correctly, an AVS can slash the Unique Stake allocated to that AVS—slashed funds may be burned or redistributed to designated recipients (Redistribution).

Completion criteria: Be able to draw the delegation path "Staker → Operator → AVS" and understand that Rewards and Slashing are two directions of capital outflow.

A detail that is easily overlooked: funds are not directly "sent to the AVS"; they are locked in the protocol through delegation and allocation mechanisms. The AVS itself does not hold custody of funds; it only has the authority to trigger slashing or issue rewards based on Operator performance.

2. Using Dune API to Track Operator-AVS Delegation Relationships

What to do: Pull mapping data between Operators and AVSs to understand who capital is delegated to and which AVSs are being protected.

How to do it: Community-built open-source tools based on Dune API can directly track these relationships:

InsightOps plugin: Uses Dune API to track AVS and Operator TVL, metadata (name, logo, Twitter, website), and the association between Operators and AVSs.
EigenLayer AVS Node Performance Tracker: A TypeScript open-source project that leverages the Dune AVS API to fetch real-time Operator↔AVS mapping data and provides node performance metrics (uptime, response time, node health).

Operation:

Visit the project homepage or GitHub repository.
Through its API or front-end dashboard, view:
- Which Operators are serving which AVSs
- Total delegated TVL per AVS
- Operator running status

Completion criteria: Be able to identify 2–3 popular AVSs (e.g., EigenDA, oracle networks) and see their corresponding Operator list and TVL data.

Prerequisites: Basic understanding of EigenLayer concepts. If you are unclear about terms like "Operator", "AVS", "Operator Set", it is recommended to check the key terminology in EigenLayer's official documentation.

The Dune API can pull real-time Operator↔AVS mapping data, but note whether the project's Dune API dependency is continuously maintained.

3. Using EigenLayer Sidecar to Pull Reward Distribution Data

What to do: Track the actual flow of Rewards—who received AVS rewards, how much, and in what token.

How to do it: EigenLayer provides the Sidecar—an open-source, permissionless indexer that offers real-time access to protocol reward data.

Specific steps to obtain reward data:

Install and start EigenLayer Sidecar (refer to Sidecar documentation)
List Distribution Roots:
```
grpcurl -plaintext -d '{ }' localhost:7100 eigenlayer.sidecar.v1.rewards.Rewards/ListDistributionRoots
```
The returned rootIndex and rewardsCalculationEnd identify the snapshot of a specific reward cycle.

Pull reward details using rootIndex:

grpcurl -plaintext --max-msg-sz 2147483647 -d '{ "rootIndex": 217 }' localhost:7100 eigenlayer.sidecar.v1.rewards.Rewards/GetRewardsForDistributionRoot

The returned JSON contains each earner address, token address, and amount.

Data interpretation: earner can be an Operator address or a Staker address, token could be ETH, LST, or EIGEN. The cumulative amount (cumulative_amount) includes both claimed and unclaimed rewards.

Completion criteria: Successfully pull reward data for one Distribution Root and parse the cumulative reward amount for a specified address.

Common failure reasons:

Outdated S3 data source: EigenLayer has officially announced that after July 16, 2026, reward snapshot data in public S3 buckets will no longer be updated. If you are still pulling data from the old S3 URL, you will get stale information. You must migrate to Sidecar.
Ignoring the weekly frequency of Rewards: New reward snapshots on mainnet are published weekly, not in real time. Pay attention to the time range when tracking.

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4. Assessing the Impact of the Redistribution Mechanism on Fund Flows

What to do: Understand where slashed funds go after slashing—this could be a "hidden channel" of capital outflow.

How to do it: EigenLayer launched Redistribution in June 2025:

Before: Slashed funds were directly burned, permanently removed from circulation.
Now (optional): AVSs can redistribute slashed funds to designated recipients instead of burning them.

Key restrictions:

The first phase supports redistribution of non-ETH assets (LST, EIGEN, USDC, AVS tokens)
Native ETH and EIGEN are not yet supported for Redistribution—slashed native ETH will remain permanently locked in EigenPod contracts
AVSs can independently set the recipient of slashed funds (e.g., insurance pool, compensation fund)

Completion criteria: Be able to determine whether the AVS you are tracking has enabled the Redistribution mechanism, and identify if the recipient address of slashed funds affects fund flows.

Risk reminders:

Redistribution is optional: Not all AVSs will enable it. When tracking fund flows, check the AVS's specific documentation on how slashed funds are handled.
Slashing risk directly impacts fund flows: If you are tracking funds delegated by a Staker to an Operator, once the Operator is slashed, that portion of funds (especially native ETH) may be permanently lost, not flowing to any "recipient".

How to confirm you have mastered the tracking method?

Use Dune API or EigenLayer AVS Node Performance Tracker to find any AVS's Operator list and TVL data, then use EigenLayer Sidecar to pull the reward details for that AVS's most recent Distribution Root. If you can locate "which Operator received how many rewards, from which AVS", you have successfully run through the basic tracking chain. Next step: Continuously monitor the delegation TVL changes of the AVS you follow and the Operator's slashing records to determine whether capital is flowing into or out of that AVS ecosystem.