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The long-anticipated EIGEN token is making headlines with the Eigen Foundation’s recent whitepaper release. The token’s launch is poised to reshape the EigenLayer ecosystem, complementing Ethereum’s restaking process. The Eigen Foundation will oversee the token’s management, while a significant portion of the token’s total supply has been earmarked for the community.
Here, we dive into the details of this groundbreaking token and what it means for the future of decentralized innovation.
Introducing the EIGEN Token – Key Structural Features
The EIGEN token has been designed with a unique structure that complements Ethereum restaking while offering new features to address specific challenges.
According to the Eigen Foundation, the token “represents a new coordination mechanism that accelerates EigenLayer and Ethereum toward a shared mission of maximizing open innovation.” This innovative design aims to support “intersubjective” faults, those errors or misbehaviour that cannot be objectively identified on-chain but would be recognized by most observers.
Intersubjective Forking –
One of the key features of the EIGEN token is “intersubjective forking.”
Intersubjective forking is a mechanism that allows the token to be forked without affecting Ethereum mainnet consensus. The Eigen Foundation explains it: “If there is a perceived intersubjective fault, a fork can be proposed, and users opt into the version they view as valid.” This unique mechanism offers a new way to handle disagreements within the EigenLayer ecosystem.
Token Supply and Allocation –
The initial circulating supply of EIGEN is set at 1.67 billion tokens.
The foundation has allocated a total of 45% of the token’s supply to the community. This community allocation is further divided into several categories, including “Ecosystem development – 15%, Airdrops for stakers – 15%, Community initiatives – 15%.”
The rest of the token supply is divided among private investors and the EigenLayer team, with “29.5% to its private investors and more than 1 in 4 tokens to EigenLayer’s team.” These allocations are designed to foster community participation and support the growth of the EigenLayer ecosystem.
The EIGEN Stakedrop –
The Eigen Foundation has introduced a unique concept called a “stakedrop,” which allocates EIGEN tokens to restakers based on a snapshot taken on March 15, 2024.
Season 1 of the stakedrop “retroactively allocates 5% of the initial EIGEN supply to restakers.” This initial stakedrop will unfold in two phases, with Phase 1 distributing 90% of the allocation and Phase 2 covering the remaining 10%.
The Eigen Foundation also mentions that “EIGEN can be staked to AVSs to provide cryptoeconomic security for intersubjective faults, while ETH will continue to be staked to provide a deep pool of cryptoeconomic security for objective faults.”
This dual staking model provides flexibility and broadens the range of services and applications that can be built on the EigenLayer platform.
Important Note – Aevo has already launched the pre-market trading of EIGEN, and at the time of reporting, the token was priced at 10.27 USD.
In short…
The EIGEN token’s launch can be a game-changer and potentially the best-performing token with its new innovative designs such as intersubjective forking and a unique stakedrop mechanism. As the Eigen Foundation continues to roll out the EIGEN token, the crypto community eagerly anticipates the impact it will have on the ecosystem’s growth and innovation.