Solayer Foundation Announces Native Token, $LAYER

The Solana community might soon be in for yet another generous airdrop.

Published: Jan 6, 2025 at 10:45

Solayer, one of Solana’s leading restaking applications, has formally announced the decentralization of its protocol.

The Solana-based restaking giant is expected to airdrop $LAYER, its native governance token, to users sometime in Q1, kickstarting the network’s vibrant 2025 TGE calendar.

While official eligibility criteria are yet to be revealed, Solayer’s Season 1 campaign attracted over 200k unique depositors, indicating that the $LAYER airdrop could be one of the biggest TGEs of the year.

What is $LAYER and when can depositors expect next?

$LAYER and the Solayer Foundation

Launched by the Solayer Foundation, $LAYER begins its life as the native governance token of the Solayer staking protocol. Harnessing the versatile capabilities of the SPL-2020 token standard, the Solayer Foundation aims to leverage $LAYER to expand ecosystem growth and expedite protocol development in a decentralized manner.

While $LAYER will initially serve as a governance token, the Solayer Foundation anticipates the token will benefit from expanded utilities and mechanics later in 2025.

A non-profit organization, the Solayer Foundation primarily aims to develop a new hardware-focused SVM (Solana Virtual Machine) network, and scale Solana-based applications by boosting transaction throughput.

Led by independent directors, the Foundation operation will support advanced research and development of the Solayer Network. Additionally, $LAYER token holders will benefit from having a direct influence over the Foundation’s activities, starting with the formation of the entity and appointment of directors and officers.

Solayer SOL TVL at ATH

Since launching in May 2024, Solayer quickly rose through the ranks to establish itself as one of Solana’s key DeFi protocols. Based on DefiLlama data, Solayer has amassed over $380M in TVL, or 1.78M SOL in terms of the chain’s native asset.

Additionally, Solayer introduced Solana’s first fully permissionless yield-bearing stablecoin, $sUSD. Attracting over $26M from 36k depositors, the Solayer stablecoin is fully backed by U.S. T-Bills, marking the protocol's expansion into Solana’s emerging RWA sector.

Beyond its own product suite, Solayer assets like $sSOL and $sUSD have been widely integrated into Solana’s expansive DeFi scene, including prominent lending platforms like Kamino and Save.

Meanwhile, Solayer also partnered with Adrastea Finance in October to deliver a Solana LRT (Liquid Restaking Token).

When Airdrop?

While the $LAYER TGE is already one of Solana’s most eagerly awaited upcoming airdrops, timelines surrounding the launch are still vague. Solayer has indicated that the $LAYER distribution will play out in three separate phases.

The first phase aims to reward users who took part in Solayer’s Season 1 reward campaign by staking $SOL or depositing $USDC in exchange for $sUSD. Phase 1 will also reward Solayer’s numerous ecosystem partners.

Solayer asserts that $LAYER airdrop allocations are stake and time-weighted, meaning that long-term contributors are likely to receive higher rewards than late depositors. Referral points will also factor into allocations.

When the $LAYER eligibility checker is released, users will be required to agree to Solayer’s airdrop terms and conditions. This recent development has become a critical step in crypto airdrop culture.

Many traders reported missing out on six-figure $HYPE airdrops in Q4 2024 after neglecting to sign T&Cs which made them ineligible for an allocation.

$LAYER has already been listed on Whales Market, a pre-market trading platform, and currently trades hands at $5.08. However, with tokenomics yet to be released for the asset and $LAYER pre-market trading witnessing negligible volume, this cannot be considered a fair valuation.