The Espresso Network is a base layer purpose-built to provide fast finality, high-throughput data availability, and (optionally) decentralized sequencing to chains that require speed, security, and a high degree of customizability without sacrificing sovereignty. . When the ESP token went live on February 12, 2026, they weren't thinking about claim portals or distribution contracts. That work was already done. Magna took care of everything, audited contracts, a branded claim portal, and infrastructure that absorbed 8.9 million submitted accounts without the team noticing.
The context
Espresso Systems is the original developer of the Espresso Network, the kind of foundational, absolutely critical plumbing that the modular blockchain stack depends on. By the time the Espresso Foundation was ready to launch $ESP, the Espresso ecosystem and technology had significant VC backing and a reputation for shipping real infrastructure. Their token design matched that seriousness: It pioneered a new approach to airdrops with its introduction of Holder Score, a methodology that evaluates a wallet’s past behavior after receiving previous airdrops to predict future commitment. Tokens fully unlocked at TGE.
The build-vs-buy moment
For infrastructure-focused teams, the instinct is often to build. But token distribution is a different kind of problem than the one you’re being paid to solve. It requires audited smart contracts, a full-stack claim portal, compliance tooling, and infrastructure that has been battle-tested at scale, none of which is your core product when your actual product is a shared sequencer.
“If we hadn’t worked with Magna, we would have had to spend a lot more time designing, implementing, and testing basic building blocks like distribution contracts and the full-stack claim portal — resulting in a much more uncertain timeline and areas for potential errors.” — Charles Lu - Espresso Co-Founder
The DIY route wasn’t just slower. It was a different category of risk. Every hour spent on distribution tooling is an hour not spent on the product. Every custom contract is a new attack surface. Every unproven portal is a potential launch-day failure in front of a million eligible wallets. Espresso chose to outsource the plumbing to people who had already built it, tested it, and run it at scale.
What Magna built
Magna delivered the full distribution stack: audited smart contracts, a branded claim portal at http://claim.espresso.foundation, Terms of Service integration, and post-claim staking and delegation integration — all coordinated through a single platform before claims opened. The portal also handled wallet connections (up to 8 per user), X (Twitter) authentication, Terms of Service and privacy policy flows, Proof of Humanity verification via Authena, and a post-registration “Share on X” experience.
At claim time, users had a smooth path from eligible to staked, claim and stake handled together, with delegation to an Espresso validator and easy access to manage their position afterward.
Powered by Magna — full-stack token distribution infrastructure
See the Portal in action
This is what 981,261 eligible accounts saw when they came to claim, a branded, seamless experience that felt like Espresso built it themselves.
“Magna’s scalable infrastructure, based on using Magna's time-tested token distribution protocol, allowed Espresso’s claim process to scale to hundreds of users claiming per block at times. This was extremely key for a high-transaction volume period like an airdrop opening.” Charles Lu — Co-Founder, Espresso Systems
Launch Day, by the numbers
The launch went exactly as planned, which, for a token distribution at this scale, is the highest possible praise.
Pre-launch
● Portal tested, contracts funded, allocations loaded
12:00 PM UTC — Feb 12
● Claims open
Portal live.
ToS published. Staking guide linked below the FAQ. (First hour)
● 5,000+ claims processed without incident
Peak traffic absorbed. Hundreds of claims per block.
Claim window
● 8.9M accounts submitted
The outcome
“Definitely go with Magna — they have everything covered: security, scalability, support, and more.” ‘ Charles Lu — Co-Founder, Espresso Systems
The Espresso launch is what it looks like when a serious infrastructure team treats token distribution the same way they treat everything else: with the right tooling, the right partners, and zero tolerance for preventable failure. Distribution isn’t a side project. It’s the moment your token meets the world. Magna exists to make that moment go quietly, exactly as it should
Ready to power your token launch? magna.so
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