An ongoing airdrop conducted by Ethereum restaking protocol EigenLayer is causing controversy due to its restrictive qualifications for claiming rewards. This has led to criticism from project founders and users in the crypto ecosystem.
Leandro Schlottchauer, co-founder and CEO of smart contract developer Kuyen Labs, stated that the era of life-changing airdrops is likely over. He believes that no airdrop or incentive can satisfy all community members.
Mohak Agarwal, CEO and founder of liquid-staking protocol Claystack, criticized EigenLayer’s decision to surprise users with the airdrop, stating that this approach often leads to disappointment. He also mentioned that projects often offer additional tokens to appease disappointed users, but this is not a sustainable long-term solution.
EigenLayer, the second-largest DeFi protocol with $15.67 billion in total value locked, announced its airdrop plans on April 29. Only 5% of the initial token supply would be allocated to early users, and users from 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, China, and Russia, would not be eligible to claim tokens.
The announcement received widespread condemnation from the community. Users expressed their dissatisfaction with excluding certain countries and argued that these users took a risk without receiving any rewards. In response to this feedback, EigenLayer developers announced that they would airdrop an additional 28 million tokens to 280,000 wallets.
Recent airdrops in the crypto ecosystem have often failed to maintain their initial traction. For example, the token value of Wormhole, a cross-chain messaging platform, dropped by over 50% since its airdrop. Similarly, the native token of Starknet, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, lost 43% of its value since its airdrop.
Airdrops have been frequently targeted by farm accounts and Sybil accounts, leading to the allocation of tokens to unqualified accounts. This damages a project’s reputation, inflates token supply, and may result in price manipulation.
While some users criticize EigenLayer’s restrictive airdrop, others view it as a generous gesture.