Critics decry the airdrop’s linear allocation, preliminary lack of transferability, and geoblocked claims platform.
The primary section of EigenLayer’s extremely anticipated airdrop has garnered criticism from many inside the venture’s ecosystem.
Critics emphasised that EIGEN tokens are initially non-transferable, which means that holders will be unable to promote their tokens. EigenLayer additionally copped flak for excluding liquid restaking protocols from the drop, excluding customers from seven main jurisdictions together with america and Canada, and its linear allocation of tokens.
Based on the Eigen Basis’s Monday announcement, 15% of EIGEN’s 1.67 billion token provide is earmarked for its neighborhood. Factors holders from the primary season of its airdrop marketing campaign will obtain 5% of EIGEN’s provide.
EigenLayer ranks because the second-largest decentralized finance protocol with a complete worth locked at $15.7 billion, based on information from DefilLama exhibits. The protocol was based in 2021 by Sreeram Kannan, a former information science professor on the College of Washington, however didn’t start accepting deposits till June 2023.
EigenLayer pioneered “restaking” on Ethereum, which permits stakers to earn extra yields by safe third-party actively validated providers (AVSs) whereas persevering with to validate Ethereum. Stakers safe Proof of Stake blockchains by working a node to validate transactions and supply ETH as collateral that may be slashed ought to they misbehave.
EIGEN allocations
Since its mainnet launch final July, EigenLayer awarded factors to customers to restakers primarily based on the dimensions of deposits and the way lengthy they participated in restaking. EigenLayer is predicated on a linear distribution system, which means eligible wallets obtain EIGEN proportionally to the factors they maintain. For instance, a pockets holding 100 Eigen factors will obtain 100 EIGEN.
EigenLayer additionally put aside roughly 1% of the Season 1 tokens to ensure that every restaker will get not less than 10 EIGEN.
The Eigen Basis mentioned it selected the linear distribution strategy to stop Sybil assaults, the place a person may use a number of addresses and bots to say a disproportionately massive share of the airdrop.
Nevertheless, many customers are sad with their token allocations.
“Truthfully the linear strategy is f*cking silly,” an X consumer mentioned, “Principally makes 1000-2000 Eigen stakers pleased on the expense of 100k who will get peanuts.”
“Linear allocation for small consumer is horrible,” sentosa0053 posted in EigenLayer’s Discord.
Different customers took exception with tokens initially being untransferable till an unspecified future date regardless of EIGEN claims going dwell on March 10.
The Eigen Basis defended its determination by way of tweet, stating the delay permits time to make sure key options together with “funds and slashing parameters” are operating easily earlier than EIGEN tokens develop into freely transferable.
Excluded customers
Pendle, a yield tokenization protocol that facilitated leveraged Eigen factors farming by way of liquid staking tokens (LRTs), was excluded from the EigenLayer’s preliminary airdrop section.
Pendle’s TVL has just lately ballooned to greater than $4 billion, thanks partially to rampant LRT farming, with many customers anticipating to obtain hefty EIGEN allocations.
“Let me get this straight. Pendle is liable for a considerable amount of deposits to EigenLayer due to the factors meta…however $EIGEN goes to rug Pendle customers for season 1?” tweeted crypto_condom, a standard web3 analyst.
Nevertheless, with EigenLayer’s first airdrop Season distributing tokens to eligible wallets over a number of “phases, ”TN Lee, Pendle’s co-founder and CEO, informed The Defiant he expects Pendle customers will obtain EIGEN at a later date.
“Whereas some customers could not obtain tokens within the preliminary section, they might nonetheless be eligible for tokens later in the identical season,” he mentioned.
Geographic restrictions imply customers from sure international locations, together with the U.S., Canada, China, and Russia, are barred from claiming EIGEN tokens. The basis’s efforts to implement these restrictions by stopping VPN customers from accessing its claims portal regardless of having accepted deposits from those self same customers was additionally met with discontent.
“Accepting stake from these international locations and never rewarding them isn’t proper,” tweeted Aylo, a crypto researcher with 100,000 followers, “They took a really actual threat for nothing.”
Customers additionally pushed again towards the tokens allotted to EigenLayer’s buyers vesting instantly, which means they will be capable to start promoting their EIGEN from the second the tokens develop into transferable.
55% of EIGEN’s provide can be earmarked for its staff and buyers. As such, some neighborhood members consider the airdrop was designed to profit insiders.
