GLIF protocol launches token, distributes 94 million GLF in airdrop as it expands beyond Filecoin

GLIF, Filecoin's largest DeFi protocol, has officially launched its native token, GLF, and is distributing 94 million tokens to users in an airdrop. The distribution accounts for 9.4% of the total GLF supply, rewarding users who accumulated GLIF points through protocol activity.

GLIF had initially allocated 100 million tokens for the airdrop but adjusted the figure based on participation. The remaining tokens will be returned to the community rewards pool and distributed at a later date.

For now, GLF is primarily a governance token, but GLIF is working on expanding its utility.

"We are building a loyalty program, inspired by existing programs like airline miles," GLIF founder and CEO Jonathan Schwartz told The Block. The token, he added, will eventually offer additional benefits. While details remain undisclosed, Schwartz said GLIF is developing at least one "really novel mechanism to introduce to the crypto/DeFi world" on the benefits side.

GLIF expands beyond Filecoin

The token launch comes as GLIF moves to expand beyond Filecoin into other decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs). GLIF enables FIL holders to earn rewards through liquid leasing, a mechanism that lets them lend tokens to Filecoin storage providers, who use the FIL as collateral to offer storage services. Lenders, in turn, receive rewards.

Depositors in GLIF receive iFIL, a liquid leasing token that can be traded or used in DeFi protocols while still generating yield. The model has helped establish GLIF as Filecoin's dominant DeFi protocol with over $102 million total value locked, and the team is now looking to apply a similar system to other DePINs.

However, GLIF has not disclosed which networks it will support first.

"We are in discussion with the foundations of a number of different protocols/networks at the moment," Schwartz said. The team's criteria for expansion, he explained, are based on demand from its existing users, the technical feasibility of integrating new networks and the economic risks involved.

Many of Filecoin's storage providers are also some of the largest miners across DePIN networks, Schwartz said, pointing to a trend in which operators optimize hardware to simultaneously contribute storage, compute power and other resources across multiple blockchains — a practice known as "double" or "triple" mining.

By integrating with the networks these miners are already supporting, GLIF expects to scale quickly, Schwartz said, though he declined to specify which networks are under consideration.

GLIF is also looking at DePIN networks outside of storage, including those in the energy sector.

"We are also interested in supporting a few networks that look much much different from Filecoin," Schwartz said. "Even if it means slightly tweaking our model or introducing new types of protocols to support them."