Monad Token Surges 68% Despite Initial Airdrop Disappointment

Monad’s much-anticipated airdrop initially underwhelmed speculators when the token launched at $0.025 on Monday, mirroring its public sale price on Coinbase’s platform for fledgling tokens. Some market participants expressed surprise at the conservative opening, while others viewed it as evidence of a system working as intended. The initial disappointment prompted immediate selling from some airdrop recipients, including an individual known as NikkiSixx7 on X, who told Decrypt they ‘don’t regret’ dumping their MON tokens at $0.031 apiece, arguing that the network’s team ‘gave almost nothing to their own communities.’

However, the narrative shifted dramatically on Tuesday as MON surged 19% from the previous day to trade at $0.042, according to data from CoinGecko. The token reached a peak of $0.045 during the session, marking a 68% increase from its initial public sale price. This price action occurred against a backdrop of broader crypto market cooling, with Bitcoin falling 1.8% to $87,199 and Ethereum declining 0.6% to $2,939, erasing gains from Monday’s brief rally.

Trading activity for MON exploded across major cryptocurrency exchanges, with South Korea’s Upbit leading the charge at $400 million in volume over the past day. Coinbase recorded $233 million worth of MON trades, while Dubai-based Bybit saw $160 million in trading activity. The combined $793 million trading volume across these three major platforms demonstrates significant market interest in the new token despite its recent launch.

The substantial trading activity, particularly on Upbit, highlights the global reach of Monad’s appeal, spanning from South Korea to the Middle East and North America. For context, NikkiSixx7’s decision to sell their 10,600 MON tokens at $0.031 resulted in a $238 payday, but that same allocation would be worth approximately $445 at current prices, illustrating the opportunity cost for early sellers amid the token’s upward trajectory.

Monad bills itself as a high-performance blockchain that solves limitations faced by other networks by processing transactions in parallel, similar to approaches taken by Solana and Sei. The MON token serves dual purposes within this ecosystem: paying for transaction fees and securing the layer-1 network through staking. This technical foundation has attracted attention despite concerns about the token’s economic structure.

BitMEX co-founder and former CEO Arthur Hayes weighed in on the token’s potential, positing that MON could climb to $10 as ‘animal spirits return to the crypto market.’ Hayes acknowledged concerns about the asset’s low circulating supply—only around 10% of all MON tokens are currently in circulation—while humorously noting his own participation: ‘Just what this bull market needs, another low float, high FDV, useless L1. But [obviously], I aped. It’s a bull market.’

The combination of technical innovation, speculative interest, and limited initial supply has created a potent mix for MON’s price action. As the cryptocurrency continues to establish itself amid competing layer-1 solutions like Solana and Ethereum, market participants will be watching whether Monad can sustain its early momentum and potentially fulfill Hayes’ ambitious price prediction.