The Defiant

Together with

GM Defiers!

EigenLayer unveiled its long-awaited airdrop, with claims set to go live on May 10. However, the drop is garnering significant pushback from EigenLayer’s community, with users taking exception to token allocations, a geo-blocked claims website, and EIGEN launching as a non-transferable token.

In Ethereum news, court documents from Consensys’ lawsuit against the SEC reveal the regulator began investigating whether Ethereum is a security back in March 2023, the Ethereum Foundation is exploring how AI can bolster the security of Layer 2 networks, and developers propose Ordinals-inspired token mining to reward solo stakers.

Plus, digital asset markets continue to pull back, Yuga Labs restores IP rights for Moonbirds holders, and Roger Ver’s new book claims Bitcoin was “hijacked” during the battle of Bitcoin’s block size.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

EigenLayer unveils plans for token drop
Community decries EIGEN airdrop terms
SEC started investigating ETH in March 2023
Ethereum looks to AI for rollup security
‘Heroglyphs’ aim to incentivize solo stakers
Crypto markets suffer losses
Moonbirds surge after IP rights restored
Roger Ver says small blockers co-opted Bitcoin

🙏Sponsored

Reserve Protocol’s Permissionless Stablecoin Design Hub

📈 Markets in the last 24 hrs:

Ticker	Value	24h
Bitcoin	$63,9251.42	%
Ethereum	$3,217	-1.29 %
Gold	1st Future$2,345 0.45	%
S&P 500	5116.17 0.32	%
Arch Web	32.09	-0.28 %
Learn more about Arch Indices ,[object Object]		%

🎬 WATCH

Check out our podcast with Stani Kulechov, the founder of Aave, to learn more about his journey in web3. Plus, check out our explainer looking at the burgeoning Runes ecosystem on Bitcoin.

THANKING OUR NEWSLETTER SPONSORS

| NEWSLETTER CONTINUES BELOW |

Stellar empowers builders to unlock human and economic potential. Explore the new Stellar smart contract platform, Soroban, designed for scale and sensibility.

🪂EigenLayer to Drop Token on May 1

EigenLayer announced its long-awaited airdrop, with 5% of the token’s supply going to Season 1 points holders. 15% of EIGEN’s supply is earmarked for the project’s community in total, while 55% will go to the EigenLayer team and investors.

💥EIGEN Airdrop Elicits Pushback From EigenLayer Community

EigenLayer’s airdrop is copping criticism from the project’s community. Detractors highlight that EIGEN will not be transferable at launch, the project’s decision to geoblock its claims platform without doing the same for its deposit interface, and linear token allocations.

🔎Consensys Court Docs Reveal SEC Investigation Into ETH Started In March 2023

A court filing in Consensys’ lawsuit against the SEC revealed that the regulator began investigating whether ETH is a security back in March 2023. The revelation is significant as the SEC approved Ether futures ETFs roughly six months later, suggesting the agency did not determine Ether comprises a security.

🤖Ethereum Foundation Wants To Use AI to De-Risk ETH Ecosystem

The Ethereum Foundation is exploring how it can leverage artificial intelligence to prevent exploits targeting Layer 2 rollups. “Rollup hacks in the tens of billions is a top systemic risk for Ethereum,” said Justin Drake, an Ethereum Foundation researcher. “We want to use AI to identify catastrophic vulnerabilities that could lead to such zk-rollup hacks.”

𓂀 0xMaki Proposes Ordinals-Inspired 'Heroglyphs' To Incentivize Solo Stakers

Developers have teamed up to create Heroglyphs in a bid to promote solo staking. The protocol allows node operators to mine tokens from transaction “Graffiti” using a mechanism inspired by Bitcoin Ordinals.

📉Bitcoin, Ethereum Continue to Slide Amid Renewed Inflation Fears

Digital assets continue to pull back after U.S. growth data fell below expectations. The top ten non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies are all down by between 7% and 21% over the past week.

🚀Moonbirds Soar as Yuga Labs Looks to Restore NFT Holders’ IP Rights

The floor price of Moonbirds jumped 30% in 24 hours after Yuga Labs announced the NFT collection will ditch its Creative Commons licensing to restore the IP rights of holders. The news comes after Yuga acquired the project in February.

✟ Bitcoin Jesus is Back – Roger Ver Wants to Clear His Name

Roger Ver, a veteran cryptocurrency advocate, has penned a book arguing that Bitcoin was hijacked during its infamous blocksize wars. Ver claims that “small blockers” were able to co-opt Bitcoin in a bid to serve the private interests of Blockstream, the company behind the Lightning Network Layer 2.

🌍 ELSEWHERE

High Bitcoin fees push active addresses down to 3-year low (CryptoSlate)
BlackRock's BUIDL Becomes Largest Tokenized Treasury Fund Hitting $375M, Toppling Franklin Templeton's (CoinDesk)
Nasdaq-Listed Coal Miner Adds 425 BTC To Balance Sheet (Bitcoin Magazine)