EigenLayer’s EIGEN Token Begins Trading Valued at $7.16B

Coinspeaker
EigenLayer’s EIGEN Token Begins Trading Valued at $7.16B

EigenLayer, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol known for its unique restaking approach, has officially launched its native token EIGEN EIGEN $4.13 24h volatility: 2.9% Market cap: $772.28 M Vol. 24h: $452.16 M . The token began trading on several centralized exchanges, including Binance and MEXC, on Tuesday, October 1.

The debut price for EIGEN was set at $3.90, with an initial fully diluted valuation of $6.51 billion. Since then, the token’s value has surged, rising over 11% to $4.12, driving its fully diluted valuation to $7.16 billion.

EIGEN currently has a market capitalization of $769 million, placing it at 88th among the largest cryptocurrencies. Over the past 24 hours, the token has seen trading volumes of $413 million, indicating strong market interest as it solidifies its presence in the crypto ecosystem.

EigenLayer’s tokenomics strategy has been inclusive, with 1.67 billion EIGEN tokens entering the market, including 86 million that were airdropped to users earlier this year. This airdrop strategy aims to incentivize users who have been actively participating in the EigenLayer ecosystem, reinforcing their commitment to the network’s success.

Unlike many governance tokens in the crypto space, EigenLayer has positioned EIGEN as a “Universal Intersubjective Work Token”. According to a blog post from EigenLayer, this innovative concept aims to address challenges around universality, isolation, metering, and compensation. The token will rely on social consensus and forking mechanisms to execute digital tasks efficiently, creating a more dynamic and adaptable system for decentralized technology.

On October 1, EigenLayer took to X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate the token’s release, stating:

 “The unlocking of the EIGEN token opens up new possibilities for open innovation, shared security, and participation across the network.”

The platform also highlighted its intention for developers to build Actively Validated Services (AVSs) using EIGEN staking, a key utility of the token. Stakers play an important role in securing these services while helping to diversify use cases across the decentralized finance space.

Since its official debut on the Ethereum mainnet on April 9, EigenLayer has experienced some turbulence, including a drop in total value locked (TVL) from $20 billion in June to $10 billion by September.

The protocol faced scrutiny in August, following allegations that Eigen Labs, the organization behind EigenLayer, accepted sizable token payouts from projects like Renzo, AltLayer, and ether.fi. This sparked concerns over potential ethical missteps in its airdrop policy.

Currently, EigenLayer boasts a TVL of $12.05 billion, according to the data by DeFiLlama.

What’s Next?

As per the announcement, EigenLayer is planning to introduce “Programmatic Incentives” designed to reward stakers and operators who support Actively Validated Services (AVSs).

The protocol is also preparing to launch new AVSs with “intersubjective slashing”, adding enhanced security measures to its network. The DeFi protocol stated that “the unlocking of EIGEN is more than a milestone – it’s a call to action. Join us in building, scaling, and innovating the future of decentralized technology”.next

EigenLayer’s EIGEN Token Begins Trading Valued at $7.16B