- EigenLayer releases whitepaper of EIGEN, the ecosystem’s “Universal Intersubjective Work Token.”
- The team confirms that the 120-day claim window will open on May 10.
- Over 50 regions, including the US, Canada, and China, are listed as ‘prohibited jurisdictions’ ineligible for token claims.
Ethereum-based restaking protocol EigenLayer unveiled the 43-paged whitepaper of its upcoming token EIGEN on Monday, confirming the airdrop and introducing the new mechanisms — “intersubjective” forking and staking.
Launching EIGEN token’s prime purpose is to uphold the ecosystem’s Actively Validated Services (AVSs) security. Significantly, the unique and complex mechanisms are aimed to tackle the “intersubjective” faults — “behaviors that cannot be objectively identified onchain.”
Eigen Foundation, the non-profit organization behind EigenLayer highlighted, “Use cases include transaction ordering, databases, prediction markets, storage services, oracles, artificial intelligence, and more.”
Quick Overview on Token Allocation
The team schedules token airdrops and allocations of the initial 1.67 billion EIGEN supply through two seasons featuring stakedrops, community activities, and ecosystem development. Notably, only 5% of the initial supply is allocated to restakers for the two phases of Season 1 — Phase 1 (4.54%) and Phase 2 (0.46%). At the same time, 10% is allocated for the stakedrops in upcoming seasons.
As per the official blog, users who staked directly through EigenLayer or via liquid restaking tokens (LRTs) are eligible participants. Their staking snapshots recorded before March 15 stand as the primary criterion.
On May 10, the token claim window will go live and users can access it for 120 days till September 2024. The claimed tokens would not be transferrable, confirms the team.
Concerns and Criticisms Revolve Around EIGEN
Restrictive token claims and the non-transferrable nature of EIGEN during season 1 are subject to varied feedback and criticisms. Eigen Foundation has listed 50 countries including the US, Canada, China, and Russia as “prohibited jurisdictions.” Users from these nations are banned from claiming EIGEN tokens. The protocol also restricts the usage of VPNs.
Moreover, the blog also highlights the unlock schedules. The first year enables no token unlocks whereas in the subsequent years, 4% of the total tokens would be unlocked every month. Furthermore, the team also unveiled its plan to convert EIGEN into an inflationary asset in the future.
According to DefiLlama, the TVL of EigenLayer hit its peak of $16.3 billion on Monday. Currently, at the time of writing, it stood at $15.79 billion. Following Lido, the Ethereum restaking protocol ranks as the second largest TVL holder in the DeFi ecosystem.
