EigenLayer, the prominent Ethereum restaking protocol, has unveiled its plans for the launch of a native token, EIGEN, and an accompanying airdrop distribution to its ecosystem participants. The independent non-profit Eigen Foundation will oversee the token’s rollout, scheduled for next month.
TLDR
- EigenLayer, an Ethereum restaking protocol, is launching a native token called EIGEN with a total supply of 1.67 billion tokens.
- 15% of the total supply (250 million tokens) will be airdropped to users who have staked on the EigenLayer platform, in multiple “seasons.”
- The first season, starting on May 10th, will distribute 5% of the total supply (83 million tokens) based on a snapshot taken on March 15th.
- EigenLayer is also introducing a new “inter-subjective forking” mechanism to address subjective faults and malicious behaviors not easily detectable on-chain.
- There are geographical restrictions, with users from certain countries like the US being blocked from participating in the airdrop due to sanctions and risk assessments.
The EIGEN token will debut with a total supply of 1.67 billion tokens, with 45% of this supply, or 750 million tokens, designated for distribution to the EigenLayer community. This allocation is further subdivided into three categories: stakedrops (15%), community initiatives (15%), and ecosystem development (15%).
The stakedrop, a term derived from the staking activities on the EigenLayer platform, will see 15% of the total supply, or 250 million EIGEN tokens, being airdropped to users who have participated in staking on the protocol. This distribution will occur across multiple “seasons,” with the first season commencing on May 10th.
During the first season, EigenLayer will distribute 5% of the total supply, or 83 million EIGEN tokens, based on a snapshot of staking activities taken on March 15th, 2024.
Eligible users will be able to claim 90% of this allocation immediately on May 10th, with a claim window of 120 days. The remaining 10% will be claimable in a second phase of the first season, which will take place a month later.
The distribution calculation for the first season will be linear, taking into account factors such as the amount of Ether (ETH) staked, the duration of the stake, and whether users engaged in “native restaking,” which will receive an additional reward boost.
Today the @eigenfoundation introduces EIGEN, based on research by @eigen_labs, alongside a Season 1 Stakedrop.
EIGEN is the Universal Intersubjective Work Token, complementing ETH as the Universal Objective Work Token in EigenLayer.
See the full Eigen Foundation announcement: https://t.co/ZxswOiwWyR
— EigenLayer (@eigenlayer) April 29, 2024
While the EIGEN tokens will be non-transferable at launch to foster community participation and consensus around governance, users will be able to stake their airdropped tokens to secure EigenLayer’s data availability solution, EigenDA, and potentially other future “AVSs” (actively validated services).
In conjunction with the token launch, EigenLayer is introducing a new crypto-economic security concept called “inter-subjective forking.” This mechanism is designed to address “intersubjective faults,” which are malicious behaviors that may evade instant on-chain detection, such as data withholding in oracles built on top of EigenLayer.
The inter-subjective forking system will complement EigenLayer’s existing plan to penalize ETH restakers for objectively identifiable on-chain misbehavior through slashing.
By separating the two mechanisms, EigenLayer aims to remove the need to unduly burden Ethereum validators with subjective fault detection and resolution.
It’s worth noting that EigenLayer has implemented geographical restrictions for the EIGEN airdrop. Users from regions under international sanctions or deemed high-risk, including the United States, Canada, China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela, will be blocked from participating due to IP address and VPN detection controls.
Since its launch in June 2023, EigenLayer has seen substantial adoption, with over $15.7 billion worth of ETH staked on its protocol, according to data from DefiLlama.
The project’s success can be attributed to its innovative approach to Ethereum staking, allowing users to “re-stake” their staked ETH across multiple blockchains and actively validated services.
