The controversial airdrop conducted by Ethereum restaking protocol EigenLayer continues to spark debate within the crypto community. Project founders and users are expressing their opinions on the restrictive qualifications for claiming rewards.
Leandro Schlottchauer, co-founder and CEO of smart contract developer Kuyen Labs, stated that the era of life-changing airdrops is likely over. He emphasized that no airdrop or incentive can satisfy all community members. Mohak Agarwal, CEO and founder of liquid-staking protocol Claystack, criticized EigenLayer’s surprise announcement of the airdrop, stating that this approach often leads to disappointment.
EigenLayer, the second-largest decentralized finance protocol with $15.67 billion in total value locked, revealed its airdrop plans in a surprise blog post on April 29. The announcement stated that only 5% of the initial token supply would be allocated to early users, with the rest distributed in subsequent seasons. Additionally, users from 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, China, and Russia, would not be eligible to claim EIGEN tokens.
The announcement faced widespread criticism from the community, with users expressing their discontent over excluding participants from certain countries. In response, EigenLayer announced that they would airdrop an additional 28 million EIGEN tokens to 280,000 wallets.
Recent airdrops in the crypto ecosystem have failed to sustain their initial traction. For example, Wormhole, a cross-chain messaging platform, experienced a surge in valuation after its airdrop but has since lost more than 50% of its value. The native token of Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Starknet, STRK, has also lost 43% of its value since its February airdrop.
Airdrops have become a target for farm accounts and Sybil accounts, resulting in the allocation of tokens to unqualified accounts. This practice damages a project’s reputation, inflates token supply, and may lead to price manipulation.
Overall, EigenLayer’s airdrop has generated controversy due to its restrictive qualifications, and other recent airdrops have faced challenges in maintaining their initial success.