Monad (MON) Surges 42% as Mainnet Launch Goes Live With $105M Airdrop

• MON token rose 42% today, now trading at $0.03632 with a market cap of $392.39 million. 
• Over 76k+ wallets claimed 3.33 billion MON tokens for free earlier this month.
• Monad is a fast-growing, scalable Layer-1 network with robust tokenomics, exchange listings, and EVM-compatible wallets.

Monad’s long-anticipated mainnet launch has triggered its first major breakout. The MON token rose 42% in the past 24 hours, now trading at $0.03632 with a market cap of $392.39 million, placing it among the top 200 crypto tokens. The rally reflects a combination of mainnet excitement, fresh exchange listings, and tight early supply.

Source: CoinGecko

Airdrop Worth $105 Million Leaves Speculators Divided

Monad’s long-awaited airdrop, valued at around $105.2 million, finally went live as the chain activated. Over 76,000 wallets claimed 3.33 billion MON earlier this month, but tokens only became usable after the mainnet opened this week.

The airdrop represented 3% of MON’s total supply and 30% of circulating supply, granting free tokens to early community members, NFT holders, builders, and users of platforms like Hyperliquid and Pump.fun.

Participants in Coinbase’s token sale, where MON was offered at $0.025, noted that the token’s early trading range did not deliver the explosive listing upside seen with other recent airdrops.

Some recipients sold immediately. One user said they exited a 71,000 MON position at $0.031, citing weak opportunities in the ecosystem at this early stage. Even dedicated community contributors shared disappointment, noting that their allocations were smaller than expected.

Yet others viewed the airdrop’s pricing as a sign of healthy market discovery. Industry voices praised Monad for achieving what many projects struggle with: launching an ICO and airdrop without leaving excessive upside on the table or causing a chaotic early price spike.

Inside Monad’s Tokenomics

The project has stated that MON’s tokenomics are not for short-term hype, but for multi-year network expansion. Specifically, 38.5% of the initial supply is to ecosystem growth, while the team and investors hold allocations subject to vesting schedules.

At launch, roughly 10.8% of the total supply entered circulation, with the remaining majority locked to support stability. The foundation framed the rollout as the beginning of a gradual decentralization process, where more tokens unlock as usage grows.

Alongside the tokenomics reveal, Monad introduced Monad Momentum, an ecosystem incentive program that allocates more than 30% of the MON supply to early users, developers, liquidity providers and protocol teams. The incentives include protocol-level airdrops, boosted MON rewards, and high-yield early adopter opportunities.

The program seeks to boost growth in DeFi, gaming, infrastructure, and NFTs, areas Monad sees as key to becoming a top-performing EVM-compatible Layer-1.

Exchange Listings and Wallet Support Strengthen the Launch

MON is now listed on several major centralized exchanges, with Coinbase playing a pivotal role through its token sale. More exchanges are preparing direct withdrawals to the Monad network, reducing early bridge congestion.

Because Monad is fully EVM-compatible, wallets such as Rabby, MetaMask, Backpack, and soon Phantom have begun supporting the network. This makes onboarding seamless for users familiar with Ethereum tooling.

Bridging options remain in early rollout. The official Monad Bridge plans to open shortly, though high traffic is anticipated. As an alternative, Mayan Finance has already launched support with added MON incentives for early bridgers seeking faster settlement.

How Monad Is Influencing Today’s Crypto Sentiment

Monad’s launch has become the month’s trending event. The token’s 42% rise demonstrates strong speculative interest. Its positioning as a fast, parallel-execution EVM chain places it in direct comparison with Ethereum, Solana, and other scaling-focused networks.

While airdrop participants continue debating whether the launch lived up to the hype, market sentiment is highly optimistic. As mainnet usage grows and ecosystem projects roll out incentives, Monad’s impact in the Layer-1 space is likely to expand.

Related: Monad (MON) Price Prediction 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028–2030