Polymarket bettors taking the “Yes” side on the EIGEN airdrop are facing unexpected losses due to a technicality involving time zones. The Eigenlayer Foundation announced on X that the token unlock would occur on September 30th at 9 p.m. Pacific Time, which is exactly one minute after the market's predetermined settlement time of 8:59 p.m. Pacific Time (11:59 p.m. Eastern Time).
Before this announcement, earlier social media communications and documentation from the Eigenlayer Foundation indicated a September 30th unlock, causing the “Yes” side of the bet to reach a high of 97%. However, the posts did not specify a time zone, while the Polymarket resolution referenced Eastern Time. This discrepancy means that even though the EIGEN token unlock is on schedule for September 30th, it will technically occur one minute into October 1st, leading to a likely win for the “No” side.
Following the announcement, the “Yes” side plummeted to just 3%. The Polymarket prediction resolution was updated in June, stating that airdropped tokens must be unlocked and transferable for a “Yes” resolution; if tokens remain locked, it resolves as “No”. Thus, despite the airdrop occurring, the market is set to resolve in favor of “No”, with nearly $500,000 in volume recorded.
Binance plans to open trading for the Eigen token one hour after the restrictions on transferability are lifted. As of now, the pre-market trading platform Hyperliquid estimates the derivatives of EIGEN at approximately $4.10, translating to a market capitalization of around $6.8 billion. For users with staked tokens, a 7-day withdrawal period is required to unstake their EIGEN.
EigenLayer is a platform designed for users to deposit and stake ether, aiming to secure third-party networks and validated services. The platform's total supply is 1.67 billion native tokens, which are intended for use in a crypto-economic security system known as inter-subjective forking.
Despite Eigenlayer's significant growth in the first half of the year, it has experienced a nearly 50% decline in its total value locked (TVL) since peaking in June.
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