Monad’s Upcoming Launch Sparks Hype—and Backlash Over Tokenomics

The much-hyped Monad project is nearing its launch. Starting Monday, MON will be sold via the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange, and the Monad mainnet is scheduled to go live a week later. There is criticism of the tokenomics.

Monad (MON) is one of this year’s new crypto projects that is generating high expectations even before its launch. Monad promises the fastest Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) in the crypto industry, which could invigorate competition, especially in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. However, the secrecy surrounding the MON airdrop already rubbed investors the wrong way in October, and now the upcoming Monad initial sale is provoking criticism through the planned token distribution.

Coinbase launches token debut program with Monad

Monad has partnered with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which explained the rules for the MON sale in a blog post. Starting Monday (October 17th), you can register for the Monad offer on Coinbase; 7.5 percent of all MON will be offered at a fixed price of $0.025. The registration period runs until October 22nd, with a mandatory minimum deposit of $100.

Coinbase considers its system “ideal” and the Monad promotion the start of monthly token IEOs. This is reminiscent of the tactic used by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, which has enjoyed success with the IEO (Initial Exchange Offering) principle since 2019.

Monad Token Distribution: Team and Early Investors Over-Benefited

Monad expects to raise $187.5 million from the MON sale on Coinbase, which would theoretically give it a total market capitalization of $2.5 billion. But skeptical investors are already focusing on medium- and long-term prospects. Monad has only just made its tokenomics public, and they appear unattractive. The team has reserved a whopping 27 percent of all MON for itself, with 19.7 percent going to early investors.

“Terrible,” comments “kook” on X , adding, “I don’t see how a MON buyer could make money over the long term.” “Winch” on X is even more critical of Monad’s token distribution because reserves (38.5 percent of all MON) for ecosystem development are also under the team’s control

In pre-market trading on Hyperliquid, MON is currently quoted at prices of just over $0.05. The Monad mainnet is scheduled to launch on October 24th, at which time the 3.3 percent of all MON set aside for the airdrop will also be distributed. Simultaneously, open trading of Monad will begin, and in the current situation, this should generate profits for everyone who secures MON at the fixed price via Coinbase.

Is Monad facing a similar fate to Plasma?

A similar situation was observed in 2025 during the token debut of Plasma (XPL) , where the team and early investors granted themselves 50 percent of all tokens. After an initial surge, XPL quickly crashed at the end of September and is now trading 82 percent below its all-time high.

Furthermore, the Plasma team and investors cannot sell their coins until September 2026, which is likely to increase price pressure even further. With Monad, tokens for the team and investors are locked until November 2026; this group will only be able to begin selling in a year, and then noticeable price pressure is foreseeable.

Conclusion: Monad is launching gradually – investors should remain cautious

MegaETH also advertises itself as the “fastest EVM ever ,” where the initial sale was 22 times oversubscribed and the mainnet is scheduled to launch in early 2026. Monad, therefore, must expect stiff technological competition and strive to find showcase partners for use cases.

You should be aware that a lot of hype and high demand for a token debut like MON’s by no means guarantees a subsequent positive price curve. Analyzing token distribution and the release calendar reveals details for Monad that significantly dampen optimism.

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(Featured image by rc.xyz NFT gallery via Unsplash)

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