Key Information on the Initial EIGEN Supply

Introduction to EIGEN in EigenLayer

EIGEN is a fundamental component of the EigenLayer ecosystem, enhancing cryptoeconomic security by extending beyond Ethereum through the restaking of ETH. While restaking enables ETH holders to secure additional decentralized protocols, EIGEN complements this by addressing intersubjectively verifiable faults, thereby facilitating a wider range of decentralized services.

For more detailed information about EIGEN, please refer to the project's white paper published by Eigen Labs, Inc., available here.

The Total Initial Supply of EIGEN:

The initial supply of EIGEN at launch is 1,673,646,668.28466, a number that symbolically encodes "1. Open Innovation" on a classic telephone keypad.

This number is the total initial EIGEN supply, which excludes inflationary issuances.

The Allocations of the Initial Supply of EIGEN:

Unlock Schedule for Early Contributors and Investors:

Following the removal of the EIGEN contract’s transfer restrictions (“EIGEN Unlock”), early contributors, investors, and Eigen Foundation service providers will have their tokens locked for a period of 1 year. On the 1 year anniversary of the EIGEN Unlock, 4% of each above recipient’s EIGEN will unlock, and an additional 4% will unlock each month thereafter.

Breakdown of the Community’s 45% of the Initial EIGEN Supply:

Stakedrops: 15% of the total initial EIGEN supply is set aside for stakedrops. Over time, the total EIGEN available from this category will be approximately 251,047,000 tokens. About 186,582,000 EIGEN were made claimable across Seasons 1 and 2 stakedrops. As of September 30, 2024, approximately 158,774,855 EIGEN have already been claimed. Unclaimed EIGEN will be reallocated to future community programs.

Community Initiatives: 15% of the total initial EIGEN supply will be allocated to users, developers, and community contributors through initiatives like incentive programs and grants. While these EIGEN are part of the Available Supply*, they are not part of the Circulating Supply*. EIGEN in the Available Supply may be allocated over longer periods of time, possibly with vesting and/or lock-up conditions. This approach allows for flexibility in supporting community initiatives as needs arise.

R&D and Ecosystem Growth: 15% of the total initial EIGEN supply is dedicated to supporting ecosystem development, research initiatives, and Eigen Foundation operational expenses. While these EIGEN are part of the Available Supply*, they are not part of the Circulating Supply*. EIGEN in the Available Supply may be allocated over longer periods of time, possibly with vesting and/or lock-up conditions. The Eigen Foundation will make these allocations, with the objective of growing the EigenLayer ecosystem for the benefit of the entire community. This will extend over a multi-year timeframe, ensuring ongoing support for ecosystem growth and innovation, and aligning with the network's evolving needs.

The Eigen Foundation will release periodic reports that update the community on how many EIGEN from the Available Supply have become part of the Circulating Supply.

These descriptions exclude inflation, which is discussed in the following section.

*Circulating supply is the amount of EIGEN in general circulation that has no known restrictions on transfer.

*Available supply is the amount of EIGEN tokens that are (a) part of the circulating supply, or (b) are subject to some governance to determine the pace at which they are allocated. This includes all Community Initiatives and R&D Ecosystem Growth Funding described above.

Credits to Optimism for our adaptations of OP’s definitions of circulating and available supply.

Programmatic Rewards and Inflation:

EIGEN initially has a fixed annual inflation rate of 4% of the total initial EIGEN supply. Inflationary EIGEN will start by being distributed as described in Programmatic Incentives v1. These inflationary issuances are codified in the protocol and will persist unless adjusted through future community governance. For more details, see the programmatic incentives FAQ.

EigenLayer started with the goal to build a new four-sided network that starts with connecting restakers of crypto assets to decentralized node operators. Together, they secure and run valuable AVS protocols that serve a growing network of consumers, such as rollups and end-users.

Future adjustments via community governance may aim to balance and optimize growth across all of the four sides of EigenLayer’s four-sided network.

Minting in the bEIGEN Contract:

The bEIGEN contract was upgraded on September 28, 2024 in anticipation of the launch of Programmatic Incentives v1 for stakers and operators. This upgrade provided limited inflationary minting rights in the bEIGEN contract in order to permit protocolized issuance of EIGEN rewards for eligible claims since August 15, 2024 (announced as part of Programmatic Incentives v1).

At the end of each claims period, going forward, the protocol will continue to mint EIGEN based on the fixed 4% annual inflation rate tied to the total initial EIGEN supply.