A significant milestone for high-performance EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchains was reached on November 24 with Monad’s eagerly awaited mainnet launch, which promised 10,000 TPS and sub-second finality. Supported by $225 million from Paradigm and other investors, the project created a lot of buzz. However, after strict anti-sybil measures, an estimated 230,000 “eligible” users were left without anything after a $105 million airdrop of 3.33 billion tokens to just 76,000 wallets. This was the gut punch of the token generation event (TGE) for its native $MON.
Up to 230,500 participants, including 5,500 members of the core community and 225,000 crypto users in general, were promised rewards in pre-launch teasers. Between October 14 and November 3, the claim portal was operational; however, post-snapshot filters, which were driven by Trusta AI, reduced the number of recipients by two-thirds, citing fake engagement, multi-account farmers, and testnet grinders. There was a flurry of criticism that followed, including claims that hype, presale insiders, and KOLs were given precedence over real contributors. X erupted in farming rage, boycott calls, and “L1 betrayal” memes, solidifying Monad as the most contentious launch of 2025.
With TVL at a meager $70 million and $MON rising 42-78% post-TGE despite dumps, this “betrayal” highlights the high-stakes risk of ecosystems driven by airdrops. Here’s the full breakdown. From eligibility drama to market fallout, and what it means for Monad’s survival.
1. The Launch Hype: Promises vs. Reality
Monad entered 2025 as a darling of the EVM revival, raising $225 million from Paradigm, Electric Capital, and others on vows of Ethereum-scale performance without compromises. The testnet drew 1 million users, with dApps like Zerion and Clanker integrating early. Pre-TGE, the foundation teased a “community-first” airdrop, 3.3% of 100 billion total $MON supply (3.33 billion tokens) to 230,500 wallets, 5,500 core contributors via manual review and social graph analysis, plus 225,000 from on-chain activity (DEX volume, NFT ownership) and off-chain signals (Twitter, Discord, Telegram, Farcaster).
The claim portal opened October 14, closing November 3 at 1:00 PM UTC. Users connected via Privy (EVM/Solana wallets, social logins), with tokens escrowed until mainnet on 24 at 9:00 AM ET (14:00 UTC). Public sale on Coinbase’s Token Platform raised $270 million from 86,000 participants across 70 countries at $0.025 per token (7.5% initial supply).
Reality hit hard, the post-snapshot, Trusta AI’s sybil filters excluded ~154,500 addresses, grinders, bots, multi-accounts. Only 76,000 received drops, averaging $1,382 per wallet at launch pricing. Core community got the lion’s share, but “random” wider crypto users (e.g., Backpack, Fantasy Top heroes) felt the sting, many with genuine activity shut out.
2. The Betrayal Backlash: Community Rage Ignites
People immediately became incensed over the exclusion, calling it “2025’s biggest L1 betrayal.” With an average of 4.2K views per post, X threads exploded with 50% negative sentiment, one original poster lamented, “Failed believers”, mocked the idea of community. After ten months of work, the backlash against “Testers useless and cancer” was particularly strong. KOL allocations that were presented as “marketing expenses” infuriated hype farmers because 99% of them were predicted to dump.
The main complaints about Sybil’s overreach were that genuine DeFi/NFT users were booted and that Apriori dApp billed more than $5,000 before TGE, but filters also caught innocent people. Concerns about overvaluation include: “Another L1” following delays of more than three years; regional “rugs” through coinList (which heavily impacted Ukrainians); bot-inflated 1M followers; and a focus on profit rather than community. Launch issues, lags in the claim site, were a further insult.
FUD was used as “retail salt” by ineligible farmers, recipients retaliated with “free money,” and the wide CT drop was called “genius minds hare.” Proponents dismissed detractors as “ungrateful,” arguing that “people stay for the product, not airdrop.” Polarized responses were usually highly engaged; negative discourse was equated with free promotion. Even non-eligible memed asked, “Where do we FUD?”
Trust erosion is the scar: “You don’t buy loyalty; you earn it through fairness.” Discord vents from Nigerians/Indians highlighted regional bias.
3. Token Performance: Rally Amid the Rage
$MON debuted in a bearish November but bucked airdrop dumps, surging 42-78% post-TGE despite farmer/ICO pressure. Opened at $0.0256 (near ICO), dipped -20% to $0.0206, recovered +30% to $0.033, market cap $365M in 24 hours. No major listings (Coinbase pump absent) fueled chop, but low TVL ($70M) prioritized retention over inflation, echoing Ethereum/Solana’s organic paths.
Premarket FDV bets to $60B amplified losses for public buyers, some profited more from wagers than drops. Analysts eye $0.01 risk from 10.8% circulating supply and $269M ICO unlocks, but volatility signals “bottom” in no-buyer bears. Day 1: 145K users, 2.8M txns, traction despite FUD.
4. Tokenomics and Supply Breakdown
There are 100 billion $MON in total supply. 10.8% of TGG is in circulation (7.5% public sale + 3.3% airdrop). The remainder is made up of 38.5% ecosystem, 19.7% investors, 4% Labs Treasury, and 27% team. Airdrop tokens that were not claimed were transferred to development. Incentives include bridging bonuses, momentum rewards, and support for dApps (DeFi, Farcaster).
5. Growth Prospects: Beyond the Betrayal
Despite scars, Day 1 metrics show promises, Zerion/Clanker integrations generated $70M TVL. Next are NFTs and dApps; “brick-by-brick” growth is more important than hype. Bullish: If adoption continues, the High-TPS EVM niche will rise in comparison to Solana/MegaETH. “Trailing to zero” TVL bears are similar to VC L1s. Examined now is the team’s “community first” policy, fairness retention determines whether to choose “GM chain” or “McDonald’s toy.”
Conclusion
Monad token launch betrayal, $105M to 76K, zero for 230K, marks 2025’s ugliest airdrop. Sybil filters saved from farms but alienated builders, KOL dumps fueled rage, trust frays. Yet $MON’s 78% surge, 145K users signal resilience. Monad’s EVM edge could redeem if fairness follows, L1 wars demand loyalty, not hype. FUD may be bottom for believers.
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