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The second phase of EigenLayer’s EIGEN Token Airdrop becomes operational
The second phase of EigenLayer’s EIGEN token airdrop is now live, expanding the protocol’s total token distribution to 113 million.
The second phase of EigenLayer’s EIGEN token airdrop is now live
Posted June 19, 2024 at 1:30pm EST.
Ethereum restake protocol EigenLayer has initiated the second phase of its EIGEN token airdrop, expanding its total token distribution to nearly 113 million EIGEN tokens, or 6.75% of EigenLayer’s total supply.
Learn more: What is EigenLayer? A guide to the decentralized ETH restake protocol
This is the second and final phase of EigenLayer’s first season of air launches. It has become common for crypto protocols to conduct “seasons” of launches where they give out tokens in multiple rounds to maximize community engagement and reward loyal users. By spreading out token distribution across multiple phases, protocols can sustain interest and incentivize ongoing participation from the community, while also identifying and rewarding true long-term supporters. Plans are already in the works for a second season, according to a blog post from the Eigen Foundation.
According to the Eigen Foundation, during the first phase, the EigenLayer community delegated over 88% of the claimed tokens. The second phase is aimed at users who interacted with DeFi and Liquid Restoring Token (LRT) protocols such as Kelp, EtherFi, Pendle and Equilibrium before March 15th. These users can now claim their EIGEN tokens through the official claim site until September 7th.
Each LRT project involved has specific allocations based on user interactions with the EigenLayer protocol. All participants in the first season, including those in the second phase, will receive a bonus of 100 EIGEN if they have not already received it in the first phase.
The EIGEN token aims to improve the security and functionality of various digital services using a unique staking mechanism known as “intersubjective forking”. This mechanism allows the token to protect Actively Validated Services (AVS) from failures that are not easily demonstrable on-chain but observable by honest participants.
EIGEN cannot yet be sold on the market, as it is a “non-transferable” token. The Eigen Foundation is expected to enable the sale later this year. On AEVO, a trading platform that allows the trading of yet-to-launch tokens, EIGEN is trading at $4.40.
Watch this podcast to learn more about the EIGEN token:
EigenLayer is already looking ahead to season two with next season’s distribution details to be released in the coming weeks.