The EigenLayer protocol is known to be one of the first markets for decentralised trust. It is a growing platform that has also recently launched on testnet phase 1 a few days ago. This new launch is supposed to be completely free and was even mentioned by ConsenSys.

ConsenSys is a very renowned entity in the industry, hence any mention by it must not be taken lightly. EigenLayer as a platform has a lot of potential that you mustn’t just sit on. They have raised impressive funding rounds that highlight the fact that this project has a bunch of merit.

By interacting with EigenLayer you can also stand a chance of winning an airdrop when one is launched.

In this article, we will take you through everything you need to know about the protocol and how you can become eligible for a potential airdrop.

What is EigenLayer?

EigenLayer is an Ethereum based protocol that is designed to provide users with the powers of staking. Staking essentially is a new entity in the space of crypto-economic security that facilitates individuals with the ability to resuing their ETH token on the consensus layer.

If you have been staking for a while, you are aware that ETH staking can be done in multiple ways and on several platforms. However, those who use native mechanisms to stake ETH to do so using a liquid staking token (LST), can in fact harbour the services and benefits of EigenLayer.

These users can utilise the platform’s smart contracts for restaking purposes and as a result, will be able to expand the associated security to other projects and applications as well. This extension of security to other entities on the network will also give the users of EigenLayer an opportunity to earn more rewards.

According to the official docs,

“Anyone building a new decentralized service for Ethereum must bootstrap a new trust network to secure their system, fragmenting security. EigenLayer solves this problem by enabling any service, regardless of its composition (e.g. EVM-compatibility), to tap into the pooled security of Ethereum’s stakers, creating an environment for permissionless innovation and free-market governance.”

In order to learn more about the platform you can go through the whitepaper provided by them.

When users employ the staking benefits offered by EigenLayer, they also get access to several advantages, like providing pooled security. Additionally, the staking mechanism also aids in imparting service security which diminishes the funding costs significantly for the stakers. As a result, we can also see a growing level of trust guarantees.

Team behind EigenLayer

The EigenLayer has been built and launched by a unit of exceptional minds. Their team works remotely but is mostly established out of Seattle, Washington. The credit for founding EigenLayer goes to Sreeram Kannan, who also acts as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the platform. Kannan has a lot of expertise in the field especially as he was serving as a professor at the University of Washington, and was also the Head of the UW Blockchain Lab. The other prominent members of the team include:

Robert Raynor (Engineering)
Soubhik Deb (Engineering)
Vyas Krishnan (Product)
Bowen Xue (Engineering)
Jeffrey Commons (Engineering)
Gautham Anant (Engineering)
Siddhartha (Engineering)
Calvin Liu (CSO)
Daniel Mancia (Engineering)
Chris Dury (COO)
Sam Laferriere (Engineering)
Chris Moller (Engineering)
Sid Sanyal (VP Of Engineering)
Liz Vortman (Recruiting Director)
Matheus Pereira (Engineering)
Wellington Barbosa (Engineering)
Brianna Montgomery (Strategy Lead)

How much did EigenLayer raise and from which VCs?

The EigenLayer platform has the great advantage of being supported and backed by some of the most respected names in the industry. In the last month of March 2023, they managed to raise a huge capital in the Series A funding round of around 50 million US dollars. This entire round was primarily led by the folks at Blockchain Capital. In fact prior to this, in August 2022, EigenLabs had also raised funds of around 14.5 million dollars in the seed round led by Polychain Capital and Ethereal Ventures.

This brought their total raised funding to around 64 million US dollars. Some of the other investors of the company include

Electric Capital
Hack VC
Finality Capital Partners
Coinbase Ventures
Ambush Capital
Figment Capital
cFund
Breyer Capital
Mirana
Dao5
Darma Capital
Bixin Ventures
Robot Ventures
Frontiers Capital
Lemniscap
Protagonist

EigenLayer Potential Airdrop

As of the time of writing this article, there has been given no information on launching a token or holding a potential airdrop. However, Sreeram Kannan very recently gave an interview on a Bankless podcast where he discussed how Eigen runs on internal governance devnet and their roadmap of onboarding of first protocols. Through this interaction, we suspect that it is very likely that the EigenLayer project might launch its token, eventually. With this launch, we are also bound to have an airdrop.

On 7th April 2023, EigenLayer announced the launch of the testnet for the first stage of the EigenLayer protocol. While the entire launch is supposed to occur in three phases, we can interact with the current launch of the Stage 1 testnet that is built on the Ethereum Goerli network.

You can read about the Testnet in a detail through their blog post on The EigenLayer Stage 1 Testnet

The following steps are a detailed guide on how you can interact with the testnet. We have also covered every step including the basics f wallet configuration so that you have no trouble in engaging with EigenLayer testnet.

Step 1: Setting up your wallet

If you don’t already have an EVM wallet, you must first download it. In this guide we will be using the meta mask wallet. Download the wallet by clicking on this link and setting up an account https://metamask.io/download/
Next, visit the Chainlist website by clicking on https://chainid.network/
On the top right corner select connect wallet and choose the wallet you would wish to link
Approve all the pop ups and signature requests so that your wallet gets connected
Now In the search bar type Goerli, and then click on Add Chain under the first result. Again Approve all the pop up notifications from your wallet in order to enter this chain also to your wallet
This step is required only if you do not have your wallet configured to have the Goerli network in it.

Step 2: Request some test ETH funds

Visit the official website of the Mine Goerli Faucet through this link: https://goerli-faucet.pk910.de/
Copy your Ethereum address or ENS name from your wallet and paste it into the search bar
Click on Start Mining
Approve the pop ups from your wallet and you would have received the funds

Alternatively, you can also use the Alchemy Faucet, enter your ETH address and request some funds

Step 3: Convert Goerli ETH to rETH 

Visit the official website of the RocketPool staking through this link: https://testnet.rocketpool.net/ 
Enter the desired amount of ETH you wish to convert to rETH under the stake ETH option. 
Click on Stake
Approve the pop ups from your wallet and you would have converted the funds

I know while doing this step and the next, you may face issues with less availibility of gETH, for which I have given a solution. So keep reading.

Step 4: Convert Goerli ETH to stETH 

Open your chosen wallet option
Click on Send
Paste: 0x1643E812aE58766192Cf7D2Cf9567dF2C37e9B7F
On MetaMask click “I Understand”
Enter the required amount of funds & confirm the transaction
Approve the pop ups from your wallet and you would have converted the funds

Step 5: Connect Wallet to the platform

Visit the official website of the EigenLayer platform here https://www.eigenlayer.xyz/ 
Scroll down and click on Restake now 
On the top right corner click on Connect Wallet to link your preferred wallet to the testnet. You can choose from either the Meta Mask wallet or Wallet Connect.
Click on the wallet of your choice. Click on Approve once you have read all the terms and conditions. After that authorize the pop ups from your wallet and switch the network

Step 6: Restake rETH on Rocket Pool Ether using EigenLayer 

Visit the official website of the EigenLayer platform here https://www.eigenlayer.xyz/ 
Scroll down and click on Restake now 
Click on Rocket Pool Ether
Select Deposit
Enter the amount you wish to restake 
Click on Next and authorize all the pop ups from your wallet

Step 7: Restake stETH on Rocket Pool Ether using EigenLayer 

Visit the official website of the EigenLayer platform here https://www.eigenlayer.xyz/ 
Scroll down and click on Restake now 
Click on Lido Staked Ether
Select Deposit
Enter the amount you wish to restake 
Click on Next and authorize all the pop ups from your wallet

How to get gETH in 1 Day?

Getting gETH is becoming tougher everyday. I used to collect free gETH everyday, but it is time consuming. If you need to gETH, you can skip collecting 0.02ETH per day and get yourself 8-9gETH for just 0.0001ETH (2-3USD).

To do that, headover to: Testnetbridge.com

Have some ETH in your Arbitrum blockchain.

SWAP ETH for gETH

You can also do that via Ethereum chain, but it will cost you huge gas fee, which I think you can avoid easily through Arbitrum chain.

If you do not have ETH on Arbitrum, you can do so by using a bridge or directly send via exchanges like Binance.

I am personally bullish on Eigenlayer, and I strongly feel you should not miss the airdrop.

Also Read

How to get SUI airdrop?: Ultimate Step by Step Updated Guide (April 2023)
Goal3 Airdrop Guide: How to participate in upcoming $Goal3 Airdrop? (Confirmed)
CyberConnect Airdrop Guide – Binance Backed Tokenless Crypto Project

To conclude:

In summary, we can say that EigenLayer is definitely on its way to grow into a popular and profitable protocol. It offers several unique features that set it apart from its competitors. It is always advisable to become a part of a project early on, and by interacting with this testnet you can do just that. 

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Filed under: News - @ April 11, 2023 2:29 pm