Coinbase Monad Token Sale Raises $90 Million But Falls Short of Expectations

TLDR

• Monad’s public token sale on Coinbase raised $43 million in the first 23 minutes but slowed down significantly afterward
• As of six hours after launch, the sale was only 45% subscribed with over $100 million in tokens remaining unsold
• The sale aims to raise $187 million in USDC with individual bids ranging from 100 to 100,000 USDC
• Critics point to Monad’s high venture capital involvement (20% from VCs) and $2.5 billion fully diluted valuation as reasons for weak demand
• The sale contrasts sharply with MegaETH’s token sale last month, which was oversubscribed by nearly 28 times

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Coinbase’s public token sale platform launched its second offering on Monday with Monad tokens, but the results showed mixed performance compared to previous sales. The sale generated $43 million in commitments during its first 23 minutes before momentum slowed considerably.

Six hours after the Monday morning launch, the Monad token sale had raised approximately $90.05 million. This represented about 48% of the total 7.5 billion MON tokens being offered. More than $100 million worth of tokens remained available for purchase.

The Monad sale differs from MegaETH’s token offering in October, which drew $1.39 billion in commitments against a $50 million target. MegaETH’s sale closed with a hypothetical fully diluted valuation exceeding $27.8 billion due to oversubscription.

Monad launched its sale with an estimated $2.5 billion fully diluted valuation. The project seeks to raise $187 million in USDC through the offering. Participants can bid between 100 USDC minimum and 100,000 USDC maximum.

Sale Structure and Timeline

The Monad token sale operates as a fixed-period offering rather than first-come, first-served. According to a person familiar with the sale, this structure reduces pressure for immediate participation. The offering runs through Saturday night.

Some observers questioned the sale’s appeal on social media. X user @sam6170 posted that “most people ain’t overtly excited about the Monad sale” several hours after launch. A Polymarket poll tracking expected commitments showed declining predictions as the day progressed.

Community Concerns

Staking provider Stakecito released a video before the sale outlining potential concerns. The team cited Monad’s venture capital funding as a deterrent. The project raised over $260 million in previous funding rounds.

According to Stakecito, more than 20% of Monad’s funding came from venture capitalists. Team members and early investors hold 50% of the total token supply. The project has also allocated tokens for a community airdrop.

Critics argued the $2.5 billion fully diluted valuation was too high for current market conditions. The venture capital-heavy funding structure drew comparisons to previous token launches that underperformed.

Coinbase acquired Echo, an onchain fundraising platform founded by crypto trader Jordan Fish, to build its token sales platform. The exchange plans to conduct approximately one token sale per month.

The public token sale format represents a shift from recent years when U.S. regulatory action limited token launches. The Securities and Exchange Commission began classifying many tokens as unregistered securities in 2018. This enforcement pushed token sales offshore or restricted them to accredited investors.

The initial coin offering boom of the previous decade attracted fraudulent projects. Regulatory crackdowns followed to protect investors from scams and unregistered securities offerings.

Monad’s public sale continues through the week with final results expected by Saturday night. The sale has raised $90.05 million with 45% of available tokens subscribed as of Monday evening.

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