Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Jito has launched its much-anticipated airdrop, distributing approximately $225 million worth of tokens to Solana users globally. The airdrop, which commenced on Thursday this week at 11 am EST (4 pm UTC), introduced the Jito (JTO) token at a starting price of $6.01, as reported by CoinGecko.
This initial valuation positioned the 90 million tokens designated for the airdrop at an impressive market capitalization of more than half a billion dollars. However, shortly after the launch, CoinGecko recorded a sharp drop in the token’s value that sent it tumbling to less than $2. At the time of writing on Friday, JTO had stabilized right below the $3 mark, trading at $2.91, per CoinGecko’s data.
Despite the price fluctuations, the airdrop represents a significant benefit for Solana DeFi users. So far, more than 63 million JTO tokens have already been claimed, with 27 million tokens remaining out of the 90 million that were made available, according to SolScan. Eligible recipients for the airdrop include JitoSOL holders, Solana validators utilizing Jito MEV clients, and users of Jito’s MEV services. Jito plans to conduct additional token airdrops in the future, in accordance with its roadmap.
Technical difficulties during the token airdrop
While Jito was able to launch its token airdrop, the event did see some technical difficulties along the way. Judging from reports from community members, Jito’s website suffered from a so-called Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, a scenario in which malicious actors overload the site with traffic to disrupt its functionality.
“While the motive behind the attack remains unclear, similar incidents have been reported across various crypto projects in the past, often involving scammers attempting to ransom the affected projects for the restoration of their website’s functionality,” explained an industry expert.
Jito’s plans for governance and token allocation
The airdrop comes after the Jito Foundation on November 27 first disclosed plans to create 1 billion JTO tokens to facilitate the governance of its Jito Network. The Foundation said that this would include tasks such as establishing fees for the JitoSOL staking pool, overseeing revenue, and managing the DAO treasury.
“According to the initial announcement, 115 million JTO tokens will be in circulation. The allocation plan designates 34% of the tokens for community growth, 25% for ecosystem development, 24.5% for core contributors, and 16% for investors,” mentioned the Jito Foundation spokesperson.
