EigenLayer to cough up around 28M more EIGEN after airdrop backlash

As a seasoned crypto investor with a keen interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, I’m always on the lookout for promising new initiatives that could potentially yield significant returns. The recent news about Ethereum staking protocol EigenLayer and its second airdrop has certainly piqued my curiosity.


Approximately 28 million additional EIGEN tokens from the Ethereum staking protocol EigenLayer are being distributed through an airdrop to over 280,000 different wallets – following closely on the heels of their initial airdrop announcement.

On Monday, EigenLayer revealed that it intended to set aside 15% of its entire supply for the community. However, certain users expressed concerns over what they perceived as limiting conditions in the project’s airdrop program.

The Eigen Foundation announced on May 2 that they will distribute extra EIGEN tokens via airdrop to the wallets of users who engaged with their protocol prior to April 29. This includes those who had previously claimed the initial airdrop.

In a new blog article, the Eigenprotocol team announced that participants from the initial season, claiming between January 1st and March 14, are guaranteed a minimum reward of 110 EIGEN tokens. For those who engaged with the protocol during Season 2, which spanned from March 15 to April 29, a minimum reward of 100 EIGEN tokens is promised.

EigenLayer to cough up around 28M more EIGEN after airdrop backlash

Although the EIGEN token hasn’t been launched in the market yet, data from Aevo indicates that perpetual futures contracts for this token are being traded at $10 on derivatives markets. This implies that the upcoming airdrop could potentially be valued at approximately $280 million based on these current contract prices.

As a crypto investor, I understand that the value of EIGEN tokens could experience considerable fluctuations between now and the scheduled distribution event on May 10.

EigenLayer to cough up around 28M more EIGEN after airdrop backlash

Individuals who missed out on the initial airdrop expressed their disappointment and criticized the staking protocol following the announcement of its “stakedrops” program on April 30.

Critics primarily targeted EIGEN’s nontransferable token structure and the limited 15% community allocation in their criticisms. Additionally, they raised concerns over EIGEN’s strict geo-blocking and anti-VPN policies that prevented users from at least 30 countries, such as the United States, Canada, China, and Russia, from obtaining EIGEN tokens.

“EigenLayer announced its intention to incorporate more testnet users who might have been overlooked in the airdrop distribution.”

In the upcoming phase of Season 1, referred to as Phase 2, EigenLayer will make adjustments for missed testnet user allocations. Further information about these changes will be shared in the near future.

The Eigen Foundation initially declared that users could secure their allotted tokens starting May 10. However, a restriction was imposed, preventing the tokens from being transferred or traded until a future, unspecified date.

To clarify, EigenLayer implemented this control with the objective that essential aspects such as payment functionalities and slashing parameters would be securely set up prior to enabling the transferability of EIGEN among various users.

In their latest blog update, EigenLayer clarified more about the non-transferable nature of EIGEN tokens without specifying a particular date for when they will become transferable to the public.

As a researcher, I’ve come across information stating that once the token becomes transferable to the community, both private investors and team members will be required to adhere to a full one-year restriction on transfers.

Following that, the unlocking process will commence at a rate of 4% per month. Three years from the time of transfer, this process will be complete. This arrangement guarantees that regular users of the protocol will gain transfer privileges prior to the core contributors.

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2024-05-03 08:59