Eigenlayer, a blockchain network that uses staked Ether (ETH) as its native coin, has released a white paper introducing its new token, EIGEN. The token is designed for apps that rely on intersubjective agreement, such as prediction markets, storage services, and gaming virtual machines. However, the upcoming airdrop will exclude several jurisdictions, including the United States and Canada.
Unlike other protocols that use separate tokens, Eigenlayer allows users to “restake” their Ether from Ethereum and earn additional staking rewards by validating transactions on both networks. This approach is considered more secure as Eigenlayer inherits the security of Ethereum, eliminating the need to build trust from scratch.
According to the white paper, staked Ether will continue to be used for on-chain verifiable data consensus, such as validating transactions. However, there is data that cannot be verified on-chain but can be easily verified by real individuals. Eigenlayer refers to these statements as “high concordance with intersubjectively attributable faults.” The EIGEN token aims to form consensus around such statements.
The EIGEN token builds upon Augur’s REP token, which was created for intersubjective agreements in prediction markets. However, EIGEN intends to be a universal intersubjective agreement token with applications beyond prediction markets. It can be isolated from decentralized finance (DeFi) apps when it forks, measure the cost of social consensus, and compensate users for lost EIGEN tokens.
Eigenlayer envisions the EIGEN token as a “universal work token” for tasks that are not objectively attributable. It can be used in various applications, including prediction markets, storage services, cloud microservices, gaming virtual machines, order-matching engines for exchanges, databases, AI training, and more.
5% of the EIGEN total supply has already been allocated to current users who have restaked ETH through the network. Additional tokens will be distributed to participants in “Season 2,” which is currently ongoing. However, the airdrop excludes the United States, Canada, and several African and Asian countries.
There have been speculations that Eigenlayer may be preparing to airdrop the new token to users, supported by a reported link to a “claims” webpage set up by the Eigenlayer team. However, the webpage is inaccessible from U.S. IP addresses and VPN server addresses located in Europe.
There are concerns about a potential “yield crisis” for Eigenlayer, as the value of assets locked on its platform is growing faster than what is necessary to secure the network. Restaking on Eigenlayer is one of the main drivers of new assets in the DeFi ecosystem.
Please note that this article has been updated to clarify the percentage of EIGEN supply allocated to users in Season 1.