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EigenLayer (EIGEN) Price Surges 16% on Debut; Justin Sun’s Token Dump Raises Concerns
The launch of EigenLayer’s native token, EIGEN, has been met with significant enthusiasm in the cryptocurrency market. On its debut, EIGEN’s price surged by nearly 15%, reaching a high of $4.50. This promising start has led to major crypto exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase extending their support for the new token. However, the market is now watching closely as Justin Sun, the largest holder of EIGEN, has begun to sell off his tokens received through airdrops, raising concerns about a potential price crash.
### Major Exchanges Embrace EigenLayer (EIGEN)
EigenLayer, an ethereum liquid staking platform, officially launched its EIGEN token on October 1. The token’s price saw an immediate boost, climbing almost 15% on its first day. Major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and Coinbase, were quick to add support for EIGEN. Alongside these giants, other crypto firms such as ether.fi also expanded their offerings to include EIGEN.
Binance announced the addition of EIGEN across multiple products such as Earn, Buy Crypto, Convert, Margin, and Futures. The exchange has already listed EIGEN as a borrowable asset on both Cross and Isolated Margin platforms, in addition to introducing EIGEN/USDT and EIGEN/FDUSD trading pairs. Furthermore, Binance plans to launch a USD-M EIGEN perpetual contract with leverage up to 75x, using USDT as the settlement asset.
Meanwhile, Coinbase has started transitioning the EIGEN-PERP pre-launch market into a standard perpetual futures market. The conversion process is expected to complete within four hours, making the market available to users before the U.S. morning hours.
### Ether.fi Launches eEIGEN for Restaking
In a complementary move, ether.fi has introduced eEIGEN, enabling users to stake their EIGEN tokens on the platform to earn yields. The initiative allows restaked EIGEN to earn additional rewards, paid out in LRT^2, and also accumulate points from ether.fi and Veda Labs.
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🔥 Introducing, eEIGEN which allows you to restake your $EIGEN on https://t.co/gbHcksxzp2!
✅ Restaked EIGEN earns restaking yield and additional restaking rewards, paid out in LRT^2. eEIGEN also earns https://t.co/gbHcksxzp2 and @veda_labs points.
Stake your EIGEN at… pic.twitter.com/NNAepj4goq
— ether.fi (@ether_fi) October 1, 2024
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### Justin Sun’s Token Dump Raises Concerns
Despite the initial excitement, the market is now facing uncertainty as Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, has begun to offload his EIGEN tokens. Sun received over $39 million worth of EIGEN through a series of airdrops in the Ethereum ReStaking track, establishing him as the largest holder of the token.
According to reports from Spot On Chain, Sun has already sold all 5.24 million of his EIGEN tokens to HTX, netting a profit of approximately $22 million. This significant sell-off has raised concerns that other large holders, or whales, may follow suit, potentially triggering a sharp decline in EIGEN’s price.
### Market Reaction and Future Prospects
In the last 24 hours, EIGEN’s price experienced a 15% jump, with the current trading price settling at $4.20. The token’s 24-hour low and high were recorded at $3.50 and $4.50, respectively. Despite the promising start, the token’s future remains uncertain due to the actions of its largest holders.
Data from Coinglass indicates that the total open interest in EigenLayer futures has surged by 18% within a few hours, now valued at nearly $38 million. This uptick suggests that traders are actively engaging with EIGEN, but the market remains wary of potential volatility.
As the situation unfolds, investors and market watchers will closely monitor the actions of large holders like Justin Sun and the broader market’s response. The coming days are likely to be crucial in determining whether EIGEN can maintain its upward trajectory or if it will face a significant correction.