EigenCloud (prev. EigenLayer) (EIGEN)USD

EigenCloud, formerly known as EigenLayer, is an Ethereum-based restaking protocol that lets staked ETH and liquid staking tokens secure external services called Actively Validated Services, including rollups, oracles, and data-availability layers. Sreeram Kannan, a former University of Washington professor who led the UW Blockchain Lab, founded the project in 2021. The EIGEN token was introduced in 2024, with claims for the first stakedrop opening on 10 May 2024 and broader mainnet activation targeted around 30 September 2024. The design splits work between two mechanisms: ETH restaking handles faults that can be enforced on-chain, while EIGEN backs disputes that observers can agree on but that cannot be proven on-chain, allowing slashing for certain services. EIGEN is staked to secure Actively Validated Services such as EigenDA and to participate in governance and coordination, rather than functioning as a general-purpose gas token. The protocol exists so that middleware and infrastructure services can reuse existing Ethereum staking capital for cryptoeconomic security instead of bootstrapping independent validator sets. EIGEN launched with a total supply of approximately 1.673 billion tokens and has no fixed maximum supply. Ongoing emissions make it effectively uncapped.