The Eigen Foundation has announced the launch of EIGEN Season 2 Stakedrop, with claims going live on or before September 17, 2024. This initiative aims to recognize key contributors and participants across the ecosystem, including stakers, operators, ecosystem partners, community members, and early supporters. The eligibility criteria for the Stakedrop include open source contributions, participation in EigenLayer hackathons, and active involvement on platforms such as Twitter, Farcaster, Discord, and various podcasts. Additionally, Eigen Labs has introduced the EigenPod upgrade, which enhances the EigenLayer protocol by making native ETH restaking easier and more rewarding through a novel balance checkpointing system. The upgrade of EIGEN and bEIGEN contracts has also been initiated to support the rollout of programmatic incentives.