EigenLayer Unveils Programmatic Incentives v1 to Reward Stakers and Operators

The
Eigen
Foundation
has
announced
the
release
of
Programmatic
Incentives
v1,
a
new
feature
within
the
EigenLayer
protocol
designed
to
distribute
EIGEN
token
rewards
to
stakers
and
operators.
This
initiative
aims
to
incentivize
active
participation
in
supporting
AVSs
(Advanced
Validation
Systems),
according
to
EigenLayer
Blog.

Programmatic
Incentives
v1
Overview

The
Programmatic
Incentives
v1
will
provide
weekly
rewards
of
newly-minted
EIGEN
tokens
to
qualifying
stakers
and
their
delegated
operators.
These
incentives
will
be
retroactive
from
August
15,
2024,
and
will
be
claimable
weekly
starting
in
October
2024.
In
its
first
year,
the
program
is
set
to
distribute
approximately
66,945,866
EIGEN,
which
represents
4%
of
the
token’s
initial
supply
of
around
1,673,646,668
tokens.

Distribution
Mechanics

Initially,
the
distribution
will
be
configured
as
follows:

• Linearly
  Distributed:
  Around
  1,287,420
  EIGEN
  will
  be
  distributed
  weekly
  to
  stakers
  and
  operators,
  starting
  August
  15,
  2024.
• Proportional
  to
  Stake:
  EIGEN
  will
  be
  distributed
  based
  on
  the
  amount
  of
  delegated
  stake.
• Fixed
  Operator
  Commission:
  10%
  of
  the
  weekly
  distributions
  (~128,742
  EIGEN)
  will
  go
  to
  operators
  with
  delegations,
  and
  the
  remaining
  90%
  (~1,158,678
  EIGEN)
  will
  be
  allocated
  to
  stakers.
  These
  percentages
  are
  subject
  to
  change
  in
  future
  updates.

Eligibility
and
Claiming

To
qualify
for
Programmatic
Incentives,
operators
must
be
registered
to
at
least
one
AVS,
and
stakers
must
delegate
to
a
registered
operator.
The
first
rewards
will
be
visible
in
the
EigenLayer
dApp
as ‘Lifetime
Earned
Rewards’
starting
October
1,
2024,
and
can
be
claimed
from
October
8,
2024,
onward.
Accrued
rewards
will
not
expire
and
can
be
claimed
at
any
time.

Direct
stakers
and
operators
can
claim
their
rewards
via
the
EigenLayer
dApp,
CLI,
or
directly
through
smart
contracts.
LRT
Stakers
will
accumulate
rewards
through
the
LRT
protocol,
and
users
should
refer
to
their
respective
LRT
protocols
for
details
on
managing
these
rewards.

Future
Updates

The
configuration
of
the
Programmatic
Incentives
will
adapt
over
time
to
better
meet
the
ecosystem’s
needs.
Future
updates
under
consideration
include:

• 
  Rewards
  Boost:
  Distributing
  EIGEN
  proportional
  to
  rewards
  distributed
  by
  each
  AVS.
• 
  Rewards
  Floor:
  Allocating
  a
  small
  portion
  of
  rewards
  to
  AVSs
  not
  yet
  distributing
  rewards.
• Variable
  Operator
  Commissions:
  Introducing
  flexible
  commission
  rates
  to
  foster
  an
  operator
  marketplace.

Significance
of
Programmatic
Incentives
v1

This
release
signifies
a
major
milestone
for
EigenLayer
and
the
restaking
ecosystem.
By
transitioning
from
retroactive
incentives
to
continuous
liquid
rewards,
EigenLayer
aims
to
create
a
market
for
price
discovery
of
shared
security.
The
predictable
rewards
will
provide
a
credible
commitment
to
stakers
and
operators,
subsidize
the
restaking
marketplace,
and
strengthen
incentive
alignment
by
encouraging
positive
actor
participation.

A
follow-up
blog
post
with
more
technical
details,
claiming
guidelines,
and
supporting
documentation
will
be
published
upon
the
mainnet
release
of
Programmatic
Incentives
v1.

For
more
information,
visit
the

EigenLayer
Blog.

Image
source:
Shutterstock