For decentralized applications to achieve mainstream web3 adoption, innovative infrastructure and intuitive developer tooling are essential. Ava Protocol founder Chris Li recently joined Nader Dabit, director of developer relations at Eigen Labs, on the Infinite Layers podcast to discuss how he and his team are meeting these goals. The conversation explored how Ava Protocol’s event-driven execution framework, powered by EigenLayer, addresses core automation challenges in web3 development.
Chris described Ava Protocol as focused on “vertical scaling,” making blockchain transactions more functional and accessible.
“90 percent of the improvements we’re doing to web3 today are horizontal scaling, meaning lower gas fees, faster transactions, more transactions,” he explained, acknowledging the growth of layer 2 solutions. “Instead of horizontal scaling, we want vertical scaling, meaning that the transactions can be more powerful without any coding.”
Web3’s Automation Layer
Ava Protocol is an EigenLayer AVS (Actively Validated Service) based on a proprietary event-driven execution model that monitors onchain and off-chain activity and triggers smart contract interactions when predefined conditions are met. It enables both developers and users to create complex transaction flows without writing code or managing infrastructure.
Drawing a parallel to web2 tools, Nader likened Ava Protocol to Zapier’s automated workflows for web apps, noting how they both serve technical and nontechnical users. “The nontechnical people might be just Slack users,” he said. “And then you have the developer-focused side of that who might build an application that receives a webhook and does some automation or some action.”
Chris agreed, pointing out Ava Protocol’s two-pronged approach of giving developers modular tools to build custom solutions on one side, and offering regular users ready-made templates on the other. The protocol provides “Lego blocks” for devs, as he put it, while end-users can use “a built Lego toy” to set up automations with a single click.
Central to Ava Protocol's design is its implementation of account abstraction through smart wallets, which enable automated actions while maintaining user control. Our granular permissions model allows users to maintain precise control over automated actions.
“One EOA wallet, your MetaMask wallet, or even Coinbase wallet can create as many smart wallets as possible,” Chris noted, adding that each smart wallet can control specific actions or scheduled payments. Ava Protocol will be launching its smart wallet user interface within weeks.
While discussing the protocol’s architecture, Nader offered a perspective on the infrastructure-application divide.
“When we hear a lot of people complain about the current state of the blockchain ecosystem… it’s often this discussion that pits applications against infrastructure founders,” he observed. “But to me, the true unlock is when you build an application that relies on a unique piece of infrastructure, and those two things put together actually bring you a differentiating product to market. And I think that what you all have here is essentially an example of that.”
Building on EigenLayer
EigenLayer is a restaking protocol that enables developers to build decentralized services by leveraging Ethereum's validator network, with support for off-chain computation, storage, and unique validation methods. This architecture allows AVSs to innovate without the overhead of bootstrapping their own trust networks. For Ava Protocol, this means delivering automated transaction capabilities with the flexibility and modularity needed to scale onchain workflows.
“When I saw the EigenLayer approach… I was like, this is the future,” Chris said, explaining why he chose to build an AVS. If EigenLayer can allow you to pay less gas and have more powerful transactions on Ethereum mainnet, he went on, then your assets can stay on the layer 1. “You don't have to have this fragmentation of your liquidity across multiple chains.”
Chris highlighted the impressive traction Ava Protocol has already seen with EigenLayer, noting that it currently has more than $3.5 billion worth of “restaking ETH backing through the EigenLayer operators.” The team is now focused on two key priorities: streamlining DevOps for dapp developers, ensuring their projects launch quickly and meet KPIs, while preparing the imminent release of Ava Protocol’s customizable smart wallet interface.
Chris noted challenges that early-stage AVS developers face, including infrastructure maturity: “We didn’t have a very good shared infrastructure to bootstrap, so it took us three and a half months to build the AVS backend. But as EigenLayer infrastructure matures, this cost could drop by 70 percent, accelerating launch times for new AVS teams.”
What’s Next
Ava Protocol’s flexibility makes it a valuable tool for web3 teams looking to innovate quickly and efficiently. Nader described it as “the perfect product to integrate, to build out like differentiating solutions if you’re building a dapp,” highlighting its potential for hackathons and rapid prototyping.
Future developments include enhanced MEV protection features and exploring collaborations with other AVSs. The shared operator model offers a unique advantage: operators running compatible software across multiple services create opportunities for cross-service innovation. “I think it's a great synergy to work with other AVSs to bring those new functionalities directly into our AVS because we share the service operators,” Chris said.
Developers eager to explore Ava Protocol can join its Discord community and review the documentation for resources and support. “If you're a developer, feel free to ask any questions,” Chris encouraged. “We can show you the code example of our SDK.” He also previewed the upcoming studio interface, which will allow users to create custom strategies and DevOps workflows.
With EigenLayer’s pooled security and a focus on user-friendly design, Ava Protocol streamlines blockchain automation for developers while broadening accessibility for everyday users — supporting the growth of more versatile and efficient dapps and onchain platforms.
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