The Layer 1 blockchain Monad has grabbed the headlines in the past few days following its successful launch earlier last week. MON, its native token, enjoyed a significant 80% surge on the back of the launch, hitting an all-time high of 0.048 on Wednesday, November 26. While the Monad protocol has enjoyed significant attention since going live, it appears that not everyone is confident in its potential adoption. Most notably, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has put forward a pessimistic outlook for the project, saying its token value could fall as much as 99%. Monad Has No Real Use Case: Hayes In a YouTube interview with Altcoin Daily, Hayes stated that any other Layer 1 blockchain besides Ethereum and Solana is “zero” and is not going to do very well. Using Monad as an example, the former BitMEX CEO described the protocol’s coin as another “high FDV, low-float” token. Related Reading: Solana Braces For A Dual-Test Setup – Here’s What Could Happen Next Hayes said that Monad is going to be the new “Berachain” and expects its native token’s value to fall by 99% after the initial jump. Berachain, which launched in February 2025, has its native token BERA trading beneath $1, nearly 94% beneath its all-time high of $14.83. As of this writing, the Monad token is valued at around $0.0285, reflecting an over 40% decline since hitting its all-time high on Wednesday. Hayes highlighted that every new project’s token often enjoys an early price spike before facing a deep correction, as there is usually no real use case to back up the initial growth. The crypto founder noted that it is a classic case of FOMO (fear of missing out), especially after the massive success of Ethereum. Hayes said in the interview: Every coin gets their first pump and people want to believe in the new L1. Everybody wants to invest in the new Ethereum like they would have in 2014 when everyone missed it. Me included. But again, that doesn’t mean it [Monad] is going to actually have any real use case. Moving forward, Hayes went on to pick a “magnificent five” of protocols currently in the cryptocurrency space, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, ZCash, and Ethena. If Not Layer 1s, What Next? It is little surprise that ZCash made it to the BitMEX co-founder’s list of top blockchain protocols. According to Hayes, ZCash and other privacy-focused coins—like Monero—will dominate the crypto narrative even more in the coming year. Related Reading: Ethereum Fusaka Will Be ‘The Most Bullish Upgrade’ Ever, Pundit Claims Additionally, Hayes mentioned that Zero Knowledge (ZK) proofs and quantum resistance are other crypto narratives to watch out for in 2026. Specifically, the crypto founder noted that the next winner in the crypto market over the next one to two years would come from the ZK space. Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
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The Layer 1 blockchain Monad (MON) successfully went live on Monday, igniting a significant surge in its native token. Within 24 hours of its launch, MON emerged as the best-performing asset among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. MON Token Hits $0.045 All-Time High Last week, Monad’s token sale kicked off on Coinbase’s new token presale platform, gaining robust momentum by raising approximately $50 million. However, just 12 hours into the sale, that initial enthusiasm began to wane. The fundraising effort only accumulated $95 million of the ambitious $187 million target for Circle’s USDC stablecoin. Yet, once the Monad blockchain launched, investor interest reignited, leading to an impressive over 80% rise in the MON token’s value. Related Reading: Bitcoin Faces Less Than 50% Chance Of Hitting $100,000 By December 31, Says AI Model According to CoinGecko data, this price surge elevated the token to a diluted valuation of about $4 billion. By consolidating its gains, MON has managed to stay above the $0.040 mark, reaching a market capitalization nearing $440 million. Notably, the token also hit an all-time high (ATH) of $0.045 earlier on Tuesday, showcasing the heightened demand for MON in the past day. This rally comes despite a broader challenging environment for the cryptocurrency market, where Bitcoin (BTC) has retraced more than 30% from its ATH of $126,000 set back in October, and Ethereum (ETH) has struggled above the critical $3,000 level. The mainnet launch was accompanied by the listing of the MON token on several cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini (GEMI). Monad Trading Performance Surpasses Hyperliquid According to data from DeFillama, excitement around the MON token goes beyond its price. The Monad blockchain has already processed over three million transactions from around 140,000 addresses, with developers deploying more than 18,000 smart contracts. Investors who participated in the token sale had the opportunity to sell their holdings immediately after the launch. However, Coinbase has issued a warning to discourage early selling, stating that those who choose to sell their tokens within the first 30 days may face reduced allocations in future token sales. This aims to prioritize genuine enthusiasts of the project over traders looking for quick profits. Related Reading: Solana Rebounds Strong as Massive ETF Inflows Reinforce $128 Support Zone Furthermore, trading volume for MON on the Solana (SOL) blockchain exceeded $87 million in just 24 hours, surpassing the trading volume on Monad itself. This performance outstripped that of Hyperliquid (HYPE) by 149% and positioned MON ahead of platforms such as KuCoin, Gate, Kraken, and Bitget, making Solana the fifth-largest venue by total trading volume across exchanges. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Monad’s listing illustrates how low-float launches can anchor valuation even when macro conditions point in the opposite direction, leaving traders mispricing outcomes that hinge more on supply than on sentiment.
Coinbase’s first token-sale test drew broad retail participation, with nearly 86,000 buyers receiving near-full fills of MON tokens.
Soft demand, low volume and concerns over token distribution weighed on early market sentiment.
Magma is launching with major validator partners and early DeFi integrations, positioning gMON to become one of the first liquid assets circulating on Monad’s new ecosystem.
The total supply of MON is 100 billion tokens, with 10.8% currently unlocked and in circulation.
The platform introduces a unified gateway that allows issuers and users to move tokens from any ecosystem into Solana.
Monad's co-founder had predicted that the sale's mechanics could lead to a last-minute surge in buys, which appears to have taken place.
Monad will launch its highly anticipated Layer 1 blockchain and native token on Monday, November 24, at 9 a.m. ET.
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A public sale of the MON token will begin on Coinbase’s Token Sales platform on Nov. 17 for 7.5% of the initial supply.
This comes after the Foundation opened its airdrop claim portal on October 14, inviting users to verify their eligibility.
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CoinDesk sat down with Monad Foundation’s Head of Growth Kevin McCordic to talk about the architecture behind the blockchain.
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The window to check for eligibility to claim MON tokens will remain open until November 3, the Monad Foundation said.
Once a guaranteed pop, new token generation events are now struggling to hold value — with CAMP, XAN and XPL plunging as investor enthusiasm fades and tokenomics weigh heavy.
The airdrop claims portal will open this month, the Monad team shared on X.
Both Hyperliquid’s announcement and Monad’s recent posts suggest that an airdrop may be imminent.
Raj Parekh, Portal co-founder and a former Visa crypto director, will lead Monad’s stablecoin strategy following the acquisition.
The raise will help build an on-chain orderbook on super-fast blockchain Monad.
The arrival of the Monad testnet will provide traders with a fast EVM-compatible building site and the possibility of airdrops on the L1.
Crypto infrastructure projects led the way in attracting venture capital with major infra projects raising a combined $685 million in new capital in Q2.
According to Polygon co-founder Branden Farmer, parallelized EVMs may help to solve the problem of inscription spam.
According to Polygon co-founder Branden Farmer, parallelized EVMs may help to solve the problem of inscription spam.