Ethereum expert Justin Drake has revealed that his investment in EigenLayer is valued at “millions of dollars,” a fact that some believe could change the incentive structure for blockchain developers.

EigenLayer’s foundation employed a researcher from the Ethereum Foundation as a paid advisor, sparking criticism on social media. Commentators have suggested that this arrangement could create “conflicted incentives.”

On May 19, in a detailed post on X (formerly Twitter), Ethereum researcher Justin Drake announced his new advisory role at EigenFoundation. He disclosed that the position includes a significant EIGEN token incentive, which is valued at millions of dollars and has a three-year vesting period. Drake highlighted that this incentive is worth more than all his other assets combined.

EigenLayer, a protocol that recently launched a partial mainnet, allows users to stake liquid Ether (ETH) tokens. These tokens, staked in protocols like Lido, are essentially variants of ETH, enabling users to stake ETH twice.

Drake mentioned that he accepted the advisory role on the condition that he could investigate the risks associated with restaking.

In his statement, Drake said:
  • "As an advisor, I aim to gain firsthand insights into restaking issues and influence EigenLayer from within"
  • He added, “I regret not acting sooner on liquid staking. This is a chance to avoid the same mistake with restaking.”

A day earlier, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sought Drake’s views on a podcast co-hosted by cryptocurrency trader Jordan Fish, also known as Cobie. During the discussion, Cobie raised concerns about Ethereum Foundation employees receiving substantial financial incentives from projects, using EigenLayer as an example. He suggested that such incentives might conflict with Ethereum’s interests.

However, others have praised Drake for his transparency. Huson James, vice president of governance at Polygon, and David Wong, co-founder of zkSecurity, commended him. Robbie Nakarmi, director of crypto investments at Standard Chartered Ventures, also lauded Drake.

In his X post, Drake addressed accusations against EigenLayer, denying claims that the project is trying to “corrupt” or “bribe” the Ethereum Foundation.

He wrote, “The EF is a large organization with over 300 people. To my knowledge, only three EF members have a formal relationship with EigenLayer: one as an early EigenLabs investor, and two as recent EigenFoundation advisors.”

Drake emphasized that he doesn’t believe the small number of EF members involved with EigenLayer would compromise their ethics. He also noted that he could “end the advisership at any time” if EigenLayer acted against Ethereum’s interests.

Earlier in May, EigenLayer conducted an airdrop, distributing an additional 28 million EIGEN tokens to users. This move received some backlash from users who felt the program was too limited.