EigenLayer sees over 12,000 queued withdrawals. How far will TVL fall?

Mass withdrawals started on April 29, after EigenLayer’s decision to ban U.S. and Canada-based participants from its upcoming airdrop.

EigenLayer — the largest Ethereum restaking protocol — has received over 12,412 withdrawal requests following widespread disappointment surrounding its planned EIGEN airdrop.

Mass withdrawal requests started on April 29, when EigenLayer saw over 4,336 daily withdrawals, rising to 6,496 on April 30, according to Dune data.

The restaking protocol amassed over 12,412 withdrawals in the past three days, which started on April 29 after EigenLayer released a white paper for its upcoming EIGEN token. However, several jurisdictions were excluded from the airdop, including the United States, Canada and several African and Asian countries.

EigenLayer has over 107,000 unique depositors, according to Dune. The past three days 12,412 withdrawals suggest that 11.6% of unique depositors are withdrawing from the protocol.

While the size of the individual withdrawals can’t yet be traced, the 11.6% of queued withdrawals would put EigenLayer’s current $14.8 billion total value locked (TVL) to just above $13 billion.

Since EigenLayer has a seven-day withdrawal processing period, the effects of the mass withdrawals will only become visible in the following weeks.

The ban of key economic jurisdictions from the EigenLayer airdrop has caused widespread disappointment that will affect the protocol’s TVL, according to Anndy Lian, intergovernmental blockchain expert and author of NFT: From Zero to Hero. He told Cointelegraph:

“Participants from these regions might have contributed significantly to EigenLayer’s TVL. Their exclusion could lead to a decrease in the overall TVL, especially if they were actively restaking their assets.”

Related: EigenLayer on the brink of potential yield crisis

Airdrop farmers are searching for new restaking protocols

EigenLayer’s TVL fell over 4% during the past week, while Karak’s TVL rose 20.5% to $439 million, making it the second-biggest restaking protocol on Ethereum, according to DefiLlama.

The new restaking protocol’s rapid growth led to speculation that Karak has a “good chance” of becoming the next EigenLayer, following the EIGEN airdrop debacle.

Beyond the disappointing airdrop, Karak also introduces technical benefits to users while offering more flexible restaking tokens, according to Lian:

“Karak introduces unique technical features such as multi-asset restaking and a plug-and-play development environment. These could provide Karak with an edge in attracting developers and users seeking a more versatile restaking platform.”

Related: Crypto on track to hit 1B users by end of 2025 — Analyst