Eclipse Launches $ES Airdrop, Distributing 15% of Token Supply

Eclipse, the layer 2 that combines technology from the Ethereum and Solana blockchains has gone live with an airdorp of its $ES token.

The team behind the network shared that the initial distribution will occur over the next 30 days.

According to a press release shared with CoinDesk, a total of 1 billion $ES tokens have been minted. Of the supply, 15% is allocated to an airdrop and liquidity provisions for core community members and developers who have supported the network from the start. 35% will support ecosystem growth and research and development, aimed to help scale the network.

Contributors will receive 19% of the supply, including team members,with a four year vesting period and three year lockup schedule. The remaining 31% is for early supporters and investors, who are subject to a three year lockup schedule in order to commit with Eclipse’s roadmap long-term.

The team also said that the $ES token serves several purposes on the network. It acts as the gas token for the Eclipse chain, and it also enables decentralized governance. Token holders will be able to vote on key protocol upgrades and fee structures, such as Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) redistribution rates. The team also emphasized that the token’s utility may evolve over time with its decentralized governance.

The eclipse network went live in November 2024, but not without some controversy. Neel Somani, Eclipse Labs’ co-founder and former CEO, was ousted from the company in May 2024 after he received some sexual misconduct allegations against him on X. Further controversy came in July when a CoinDesk investigation revealed that Somani had secretly allocated an outsize share of the $ES supply to a partner at Polychain. That deal with the Polychain partner no longer exists, a spokesperson at Eclipse previously told CoinDesk.

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