Event Timeline
About Renzo
Renzo is a liquid restaking protocol built on EigenLayer. Depositors receive ezETH, a receipt token representing restaked ETH, and the protocol handles operator selection and reward routing on their behalf.
The launch is remembered less for the distribution than for what happened days before it. On 24 April 2024 ezETH traded sharply below the value of the ETH backing it, because withdrawals were not yet open and the only exit was a thin secondary market. Leveraged positions liquidated into that gap.
Airdrop Stats
How it worked to get the Renzo airdrop
Deposit ETH or LSTs for ezETH
Deposits across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base and BNB Chain all accrued points toward the Season 1 allocation.
Hold ezETH through the campaign
Points accrued on balance over time, so the position had to stay open rather than be cycled.
Understand the exit was not open
Native withdrawals were unavailable during the campaign. The only way out was selling ezETH on a secondary market, which is exactly what broke in April.
Claim REZ from 30 April 2024
The token launched days after the depeg, into a market that had just watched leveraged holders get liquidated.
Was the Renzo airdrop worth it?
- The receipt token was not redeemable. Points programmes assume you can leave. With withdrawals closed, ezETH depended entirely on secondary liquidity, and when that thinned the price detached from the ETH behind it.
- Leverage turned a discount into liquidations. Traders had borrowed against ezETH at par. A few hours of discount was enough to trigger cascading liquidations that had nothing to do with the protocol's solvency.
- The lesson outlived the trade. Renzo is now the standard example of why a liquid staking token is only as liquid as its exit, and later launches were pressed much harder on withdrawal timing because of it.
Renzo Official Links
Official channels, documentation and community for this airdrop:
This airdrop has concluded. It is kept for research rather than participation.
