Solana Community Divided on Sanctum’s $CLOUD, Is Earnestness Worth More than Capital?

When Sanctum, a popular Solana LST (Liquid Staking Token) provider, promised to reward ‘earnestness’ alongside more tangible metrics, the Solana community was excited to see how that might change the airdrop game.

However, while some Sanctum supporters were thrilled with their ‘earnestness’ rewards, the wider Solana community has expressed crushing disappointment. Was Sanctum’s distribution a failed experiment?

What is ‘Earnestness’?

From the outset, the Sanctum team has their intentions clear. In a bid to deter mercenary capital and airdrop farmers, Sanctum promised to distribute 50% of $CLOUD’s initial airdrop to its most faithful supporters.

Coining the term ‘earnestness’, Sanctum encouraged users to be active community members. By the team’s volition, instigating thoughtful and constructive conversations on social media platforms like 𝕏 and Discord was considered equally valuable as capital deposits in their DeFi protocol.

For a select few, the earnestness airdrop was extremely lucrative. Smaller wallets who normally struggle to earn significant allocations had a chance to win big, simply by showing their support.

While this is great for the chosen few, the vast majority of Sanctum depositors have expressed bitter disappointment with their allocations.

Sanctum Draws Harsh Criticism

Attracting over $1B TVL (Total Value Locked) at its peak from 314,367 eligible wallets, Sanctum skyrocketed to prominence and became one of the largest DeFi protocols in the Solana ecosystem. 

Mercenary capital is an unavoidable part of the crypto market. For many depositors, the benefits of using LST technology came secondary to the prospect of a generous incentive program.

With Sanctum allocating half of the initial airdrop to ‘Earnestness’, the bulk of protocol users have expressed crushing disappointment with their allocations. 

Commentators on social media have slated the airdrop, declaring the launch a “garbage farm event” and accusing the Sanctum team of being “self-righteous”.

But the drama was far from over. Rubbing further salt in the wounds, the Sanctum team announced that they’d incorrectly counted EXP from referral cupcakes. 

After updating allocations, some claimants were disappointed that they were eligible for fewer tokens than they’d originally expected.

Never far from an ecosystem-wide debate, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko wasted no time weighing in. Despite highlighting that farmers shouldn’t complain, Toly acknowledged that founders “need to reward power users that love your product and derive a value from it that exceeds rewards”, implying that Sanctum’s popular LST protocol will outlive airdrop controversy.

‘I Feel Your Pain Viscerally’ - Sanctum Co-Founder Responds

In the face of a gravely disappointed community, Sanctum co-founder FP Lee took to 𝕏 to address the criticism.

While acknowledging that many Sanctum users felt ‘unfairly treated’, FP Lee reaffirmed that the earnestness allocation is key to building and developing an onchain economy. The co-founder asserted that there was no insider allocation, and promised that those who supported the protocol monetarily would be taken care of moving forward.

This has led to the creation of a new Sanctum-inspired term. Mercenary capital has now been rebranded as ‘capital-earnestness’, and may enjoy greater incentives in future iterations of Sanctum airdrops.

Austin Federa, Head of Strategy at the Solana Foundation, has shown his support for the Sanctum. Commending FP Lee, Federa highlighted the team's transparency and responsiveness to community feedback. 

In a display of good faith, the Sanctum team has opened an appeal and review process. Sanctum users who feel that their airdrop allocation doesn’t reflect their support are encouraged to open a ticket in the official Sanctum Discord to plead their case.

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