As part of the long-planned revival of the project post-FTX, the token will see 20% of its circulating supply allocated to former Mercurial stakeholders.
Meteora, a decentralized liquidity protocol, has announced the tokenomics of its upcoming token MET. The MET Token Generation Event (TGE), scheduled for October 23rd, is part of the team’s broader “Phoenix Rising Plan” and is being described as a clean start after the long-planned rebrand from Mercurial to distance itself from the collapse of FTX.
In a blog post on Tuesday, October 7th, the Meteora team announced a so-called “Liquidity Generation Event” that will turn all early supporters and partners into liquidity holders of the platform’s tokens. In the disclosed tokenomics, the team pointed out that there is no vesting period or gradual unlocking for holders, meaning all tokens in circulation will be liquid at launch.
Almost half of MET’s total supply, approximately 48%, will be in circulation at launch. Of this, approximately 20% will be given to old Mercurial token (MER) holders, 15% to Meteora users through the liquidity incentive program, a further 3% each will be set aside for Jupiter stakers, launchpads and market makers, 2% will be allocated to off-chain contributors, and a further 2% will be allocated to the M3M3 community.
The remaining 52% of tokens will be uncirculated, 34% will be stored in the Meteora Ecosystem Reserve, and 18% will be allocated to the team, with both allocations vesting over a six-year period.
No token sale at launch
Meteora is also introducing Liquidity Distributor, which it describes as “a new way to distribute airdrops.” As the team explained, around 10% of the circulating supply will be distributed as liquidity positions rather than standard airdrops, allowing holders to earn trading fees while providing liquidity.
The team emphasized that there is no corporate capital behind Meteora, only the MET token, adding that it will not be selling its own tokens during the launch.
From Mercurial to Meteora
According to the Meteora team, Meteora originally launched as Mercurial Finance in 2021 and conducted an initial exchange offering to launch the MER token on the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, which left “a significant amount of MER involvement on FTX.” In December 2022, shortly after the collapse of FTX, Meteora announced plans for new tokens and a rebrand in a clear effort to distance itself from the exchange.
In February 2023, a snapshot of all MER holdings was taken to determine future MET token allocations. The distribution plan aimed to return value with 20% of the total MET supply allocated to MER stakeholders. However, the previous insider allocation was cut in half to reduce investor control and increase community participation.
In February of this year, Meteora was hit with insider trading allegations after its Libra token soared and then crashed in a high-profile pump-and-dump involving Argentine President Javier Millay, which resulted in the resignation of CEO Ben Chow.