EigenLayer Plans Additional Airdrop of 28 Million EIGEN Tokens Following Backlash
EigenLayer, the restaking protocol, has decided to distribute an extra 100 EIGEN tokens to 280,000 qualifying wallet addresses after receiving criticism for its initial airdrop. The company had initially announced on April 29th that it would allocate 15% of its total supply to the community, but some users found certain provisions of the airdrop program to be too restrictive. In response to the backlash, EigenLayer announced on May 2nd that users who had interacted with the protocol before April 29th would receive an additional airdrop, including the original claimants.
In a blog post, EigenLayer clarified that the first wave of claimants, known as “season 1” claimants, would receive a minimum of 110 EIGEN tokens. However, the second wave of claimants, known as “season 2” claimants, who had interacted with the protocol between March 15th and April 29th, would receive a minimum of 100 EIGEN tokens. The decision to set the April 29th cut-off point was made to prevent industry-grade Sybil farms from exploiting the protocol and influencing or disrupting the community.
The criticism of EigenLayer’s initial airdrop program stemmed from users feeling excluded from the program. The program, called “stakedrop,” allowed users to stake the airdropped tokens to secure data availability store (EigenDA) and future Actively Validated Services (AVAs). The backlash mainly revolved around EIGEN’s nontransferable token structure, the smaller-than-expected 15% community allocation, and the strict geo-blocking and anti-VPN measures implemented by EigenLayer, which barred users from 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, China, and Russia, from participating in the airdrop.
EigenLayer acknowledged the concerns raised by users and stated that it would work on including more of its test net users who may have been excluded from the airdrop. The tokens were originally set to be claimable on May 10th, but they will remain non-transferable until a later undisclosed date. This measure has been put in place to ensure that key features, such as payments and slashing parameters, are well-established before EIGEN becomes transferable among users. Private investors and team members will be subject to a one-year lock-up period after the token becomes transferable.
The tokenomic structure of EigenLayer has also raised concerns among the community. Only 45% of the total token supply is distributed to the community, with 15% being made accessible through airdrops. This has led to minimal returns for users who have staked their Ethereum in EigenLayer. However, EigenLayer has clarified that this intentional design reflects the strength of their community, which has attracted investments and contributed to EigenLayer’s current position.
Despite the tokens not yet being in circulation, EIGEN perpetual futures contracts are already trading for $10 on the derivatives market, according to Aevo data. This places the latest airdrop at a valuation of $280 million. The price of EIGEN tokens may change significantly before the official distribution event on May 10th.