EigenLayer, an Ethereum restaking protocol, has responded to community dissatisfaction by increasing its EIGEN token airdrop by about 28 million tokens.
This adjustment will benefit over 280,000 wallet owners who have engaged with the platform before April 29, including claimants of the initial airdrop.
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Initially, the protocol announced that it would allocate 15% of the total supply of EIGEN tokens to the community.
However, following negative feedback about this amount, EigenLayer decided to increase the token allocation—Season 1 claimants are now guaranteed a minimum of 110 EIGEN, with Season 2 participants receiving at least 100 EIGEN, as EigenLayer elaborated in a blog post.
Users also complained about the inability to transfer or sell the tokens until a later, unspecified date. EigenLayer addressed this concern, emphasizing that this restriction ensures the full operational readiness of key protocol features before they become transferable.
Looking ahead, EigenLayer said that once transferability is enabled, private investors and team members will face a one-year lock-up period, followed by a gradual release of 4% per month over three years. This ensures regular users can transfer their tokens well before core contributors, aligning with the protocol's goal to prioritize community interests.
The airdrop was also criticized for its strict geo-blocking and anti-VPN measures, which excluded users from 30 countries, notably the US, Canada, China, and Russia.
In response to this issue, EigenLayer promised to look into including users who had previously interacted with the testnet but were excluded from the initial airdrop phases.
We are aware that certain testnet users were omitted from claims eligibility. Missed testnet user allocations will be updated as part of Phase 2 of Season 1.
Management has committed to providing further updates in the coming weeks.
Although the EIGEN tokens are not yet in circulation, their perpetual futures are trading at $9.7 in the derivatives market at the time of writing. This sets the total potential market value of the new airdrop at around $271 million, though this valuation could change significantly before the tokens are officially distributed on May 10.
EigenLayer's enhanced airdrop plan aims to rectify initial oversights and signifies a shift towards more inclusive and community-focused token distribution practices.
Still, such issues with the airdrop have caused some community members to believe that EigenLayer may soon be challenged by other Ethereum restaking protocols, such as Karak, which has recently secured $48 million in Series A funding.
