Ethereum Researcher Justin Drake Appointed as EigenLayer Advisor, Secures Million-Dollar Eigen Token

Justin Drake, a researcher at Ethereum, has revealed that he has become an advisor to the Eigen Foundation and will be compensated more than the value of his entire cryptocurrency assets. According to Drake, his advisor role will allow him to receive a significant amount of EIGEN tokens within the next three years, which are currently worth millions of dollars and likely to exceed the total value of his cryptocurrency assets, mainly ETH. However, Drake has stated that he will reinvest or donate all of his advisor earnings back into Ethereum projects and is prepared to terminate his advisor position if EigenLayer, the project associated with the Eigen Foundation, develops in a way that he believes is detrimental to Ethereum’s interests. Drake emphasized that he has been selective in accepting the advisor position and has rejected over 100 other offers. His role as an advisor will be limited to researching and mitigating risks associated with EigenLayer, and his name will not be used for marketing purposes. Drake expects to continue publicly criticizing EigenLayer and aims to make his criticisms constructive and focused on risk mitigation. He also clarified that the Ethereum Foundation, which is a large organization with over 300 members, has three individuals with official ties to EigenLayer, including an early investor in EigenLabs and two recent advisors to the Eigen Foundation. Drake does not believe that the formal relationships between 1% of the Ethereum Foundation members and EigenLayer are morally compromising. He concluded by emphasizing that his role is as an Ethereum researcher and not an Ethereum Foundation researcher, and he strives to maintain independent thinking and serve the interests of Ethereum. Drake acknowledged that accepting the advisor position with Eigen Foundation comes with reputational risks but stated that it was a carefully considered decision.