EigenLayer Announces Additional Airdrop for Users, Targeting September 30 as Token Transfer Date

Following considerable community feedback, EigenLayer project has finally made adjustments to its tokenomics.

EigenLayer Announces Additional Airdrop for Users, Targeting September 30 as Token Transfer Date. Image: Bankless

On the morning of May 3, Eigen Foundation - the community management organization for EigenLayer and the EIGEN token - released significant updates to the project's tokenomics in response to recent waves of criticism.

As previously reported by Coin68, EigenLayer announced its initial plans for the EIGEN token airdrop event on April 29. However, the project's tokenomics quickly faced strong opposition from the community. Of particular note was the condition that although eligible users could start claiming tokens from May 10, the tokens would initially be non-transferrable without a specific timeline for transfer.

Furthermore, many were disgruntled with EigenLayer's allocation of a relatively "meager" airdrop portion to investors, while nearly 50% of the total supply was allocated to the project and funds, alongside unclear vesting periods and the introduction of "ambiguous" concepts outlined in EigenLayer's whitepaper.

Under pressure from the community, Eigen Foundation decided to compromise and implement changes aimed at appeasing stakeholders.

Specifically, according to the latest announcement, EigenLayer will make the following adjustments to its tokenomics:

• An additional airdrop of 100 EIGEN tokens for over 280,000 users who interacted with the project prior to April 29, 2024. With EIGEN's current trading price around $10 per token, this translates to an additional $1,000 airdrop per user.
• Vesting periods for the project team and investors clarified to be locked for one year, with 4% unlocking monthly over the following two years from the date when EIGEN tokens become transferable, rather than from the Token Generation Event (TGE) as previously stated.
• The date for allowing EIGEN token transfers is slated for September 30, 2024, once EigenLayer has fully deployed its features and achieved the necessary decentralization.
• Users contributing to the testnet will be eligible for airdrops in Phase 2, instead of receiving no rewards as previously indicated.

Eigen Foundation acknowledges that inadequate communication with the community led to unnecessary misunderstandings and hopes that these adjustments demonstrate the project's commitment to viewing users as pivotal to EigenLayer's success.

Previously, another highly anticipated project during its token release, Starknet, also had to adjust its tokenomics following community criticism of unfairness towards airdrop participants, as reported by Coin68 in February 2024.