According to Odaily, Justin Drake, a core researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, recently announced his advisory role at the Eigen Foundation. Drake disclosed that his advisory services would be rewarded with a significant amount of EIGEN tokens, potentially surpassing the total value of his other assets, primarily ETH. The tokens involved are worth millions of dollars over three years.
Drake pledged to reinvest all advisory earnings into valuable projects within the Ethereum ecosystem, either as investments or donations. He also stated that he is prepared to terminate his advisory role if EigenLayer's development contradicts Ethereum's interests. Drake has been selective in providing advisory services, having possibly declined over 100 such invitations to date. He did not readily accept the advisory role at the Eigen Foundation, with discussions spanning over a year.
The conditions for providing advisory services are that Drake's tasks are limited to research and risk-taking, and he should not appear in marketing materials. As an advisor, Drake hopes to stand at the forefront to solve problems and guide EigenLayer from within. As a researcher, he feels he has done too little too late in terms of liquidity pledging, and this is an opportunity to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Drake emphasized that he provides advice in a personal capacity. This is not just a legal detail: his work-life is primarily as an Ethereum researcher, not as an EF researcher. He strives to maintain a free and independent thinker, serving Ethereum's interests, even if this sometimes means breaking the expected pattern as an EF researcher.