EigenLayer Launches Claims For Second Phase Of Season 1 Airdrop

EigenLayer, the pioneering Ethereum restaking protocol, has launched the second phase of claims for its airdrop.

Announced on June 19, users who interacted with liquid restaking token (LRT) protocols including Kelp, Pendle, and Equilibrium prior to March 15 can claim tokens until September 7. EigenLayer noted that user token allocations were determined by LRT protocols.

“The Eigen Foundation reserved allocations for each LRT protocol based on interactions with EigenLayer,” the project tweeted. “Specific allocations were determined by each LRT with respect to its end users.”

EigenLayer added that it analyzed users for possible sybil attacks before finalizing its phase 2 allocations. Claims also remain live for Phase 1 of EIGEN’s stakedrop.

EigenLayer is the second largest DeFi protocol by total value locked (TVL) with $19 billion. The protocol allows users to earn additional yields on top of Ethereum staking rewards by delegating staked assets to simultaneously secure third-party actively validated services (AVSs) while continuing to validate Ethereum.

EigenLayer announced it would launch claims for its long-awaited airdrop in May, with one-third of the 15% of Eigen’s supply earmarked for Season 1 points holders. However, many community members pushed back against the terms of the airdrop, decrying the token’s lack of transferability, use of geo-blocking and VPN restrictions, and argued that smaller users’ allocations were insufficient

The project capitulated, allocating an additional 100 EIGEN for each of the more than 280,000 wallets eligible for the drop, meaning Season 1 will distribute 6.7% of the token’s supply to early adopters.

Claims went live on May 11, allowing tokenholders to stake and delegate their EIGEN. EigenLayer hinted that the tokens will unlock sometime around September.

The project describes EIGEN as a “universal intersubjective work token” that supports AVSs by incentivizing honest behavior and penalizing malicious actions through “intersubjective forking.”

EigenLayer noted that Season 2 of its points campaign is currently live, adding that it will reveal Season 2 token distribution details “in the coming weeks.”

Shots fired in restaking wars

EigenLayer enjoyed a monopolistic position of dominance over the restaking sector until recently.

On June 11, Symbiotic, a rival Ethereum restaking protocol, launched operations. The protocol quickly found support from Mellow, and LRT provider, and Lido, the leading liquid staking and DeFi protocol by TVL.

The launch of Symbiotic and Mellow came roughly one month after Lido had announced plans for the “Lido Alliance,” a collaborative cooperative designed to foster a restaking ecosystem around its liquid staking token, stETH. Lido announced Mellow as an alliance member one day after its launch, with Symbiotic tagging its initial TVL ceiling of $245 million two days after going live.

On June 17, Ethena, the project behind the booming yield-bearing stablecoin, USDe, also announced plans to cultivate a native restaking ecosystem leveraging Symbiotic from June 26. Half of airdropped ENA tokens must be used for Symbiotic restaking, ENA staking, or deposited to Pendle moving forward.