Linea, Ethereum’s Layer-2 scaling project, is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Its newly launched token, LINEA, has crashed 27% in a single day, now trading near $0.023. What was expected to be a strong debut has turned into one of 2025’s most turbulent launches, fueled by airdrop backlash, heavy whale sell-offs, and growing anger over how the tokens were distributed.
Linea Token Airdrop Fallout
The first wave of trouble began during Linea’s much-awaited airdrop, which was supposed to reward early adopters. More than 9.36 billion tokens were released to nearly 750,000 wallets, but many users couldn’t claim them right away.
While Binance users received their tokens instantly, many in the community were locked out due to delays.
Analysts later revealed that the airdrop contract itself had been funded late, allowing exchange users to sell first. This sparked frustration and set the stage for a wave of panic selling.
Whales Exit, Price Collapses
Meanwhile, this uneven distribution opened the door for large holders and early buyers to cash out quickly. As soon as the token listed on OKX, early buyers and large holders wasted no time exiting.
LINEA briefly touched $0.32 during its first hours of trading, but sell pressure quickly overwhelmed liquidity. Within hours, the token lost more than 27% of its value before stabilizing closer to $0.024.
Tokenomics Raise More Questions
Adding to the storm are concerns around supply. Linea recently announced an expansion of its liquidity rewards program, increasing allocations to 1.6 billion tokens.
While the move aims to attract more users, some fear it adds to short-term selling pressure and undermines confidence in the token’s value.
Lubin Hints at Rewards for Long-Term Holders
Despite the rocky launch, Joseph Lubin, founder of Consensys hinted that long-term LINEA holders could get future rewards.
In a post on X, he said keeping tokens shows commitment to the Linea community and may qualify users for extra distributions, possibly from Consensys or other ecosystem projects. He also noted MetaMask and Linea are preparing something together.
The update followed Linea’s token launch, where 85% of tokens went to the ecosystem and 15% to Consensys. On top of it the project’s total value locked has soared to $2.5 billion, up 700% since April.
