EigenLayer unveils EIGEN token with an airdrop set for May 10

Restaking
protocol
EigenLayer

revealed
its
EIGEN
token
today,
which
will
be
airdropped
to
users
who
staked
Ether
(ETH)
in
its
layer
until
March
15.
Users
who
staked
Ether
(ETH)
in
EigenLayer
can
start
claiming
their
tokens
on
May
10,
with
5%
of
EIGEN’s
supply
destined
for
this
first
‘stakedrop’,
as
labeled
by
Eigen
Foundation,
the
new
entity
dedicated
to
accelerating
the
growth
of
the
EigenLayer
ecosystem.

According
to
the
announcement,
EIGEN
will
serve
as
a
universal
intersubjective
work
token,
which
brings
the
concept
of
‘social
consensus’
to
the
on-chain
economy.
This
new
kind
of
consensus
can
be
used
when
a
failure
can’t
be
mathematically
proved,
and
participation
in
the
validation
system
happens
by
staking
the
EIGEN
token.

Meanwhile,
users
can
still
restake
ETH
on
EigenLayer,
which
in
turn
will
offer
the
validation
power
to
secure
Actively
Validated
Services
(AVS).
The
AVS
are
on-chain
services
that,
instead
of
investing
in
their
own
set
of
validators,
can
use
the
staked
ETH
power
through
EigenLayer
to
establish
security.

Bruno
Moniz,
blockchain
engineer
at
Brazilian
digital
bank
Inter,

shared
on
X
that
social
consensus
makes
innovation
viable
on
services
such
as
oracles,
data
availability
layers,
and
integration
of
artificial
intelligence
on
smart
contracts.

“While
ETH
is
used
to
prove
objectively
proven
failures,
EIGEN
can
be
used
to
prove
failures
that
require
social
consensus.
Together,
they
make
the
base
for
‘verifiable
and
open
common
digital
goods’.”
Moreover,
as
it
happens
with
Ether
staking,
validators
can
also
have
their
EIGEN
slashed
if
a
harmful
move
by
them
is
detected.

At
first,
EIGEN
tokens
won’t
be
transferable,
and
the
only
action
available
for
users
will
be
staking
their
holdings.
Despite
distributing
just
5%
of
EIGEN’s
supply
on
the
first
stakedrop,
the
total
revealed
by
Eigen
Foundation
is
15%,
meaning
that
an
extra
10%
is
set
to
be
given
to
the
community
in
future
campaigns.