Monad is gearing up for one of its biggest weeks yet. Fresh off a massive $269 million token sale, the layer-1 blockchain project is preparing to launch its long-awaited mainnet—and the crypto market is watching closely.
The MON token sale, hosted by Coinbase last week, drew huge attention across the industry. More than 85,000 buyers took part, pushing the offering to 1.43x oversubscription and making it one of the most successful ICOs of the year. For many investors, the turnout signaled growing hype around Monad’s promise of high throughput, strong developer backing, and full EVM compatibility.
Now the spotlight turns to Monday, when Monad’s mainnet officially goes live. MON will also begin trading on major exchanges, with confirmed listings on platforms like Bybit and Coinbase. The launch opens the door for early ICO buyers and insiders to take profits, while giving new investors their first opportunity to buy the token on the open market.
Supporters believe Monad could emerge as a genuine challenger in the crowded layer-1 space. The network boasts more than 200 validators, a performance-focused design that aims to surpass existing chains in speed, and integrations with major ecosystem players including LayerZero, Pyth Network, and Chainlink.
But despite the excitement, market history offers a note of caution.
Many newly listed tokens experience sharp pullbacks shortly after they begin trading, and MON may not be an exception. ICO participants often unload tokens quickly to lock in profits—one reason why projects like Pi Network and LayerZero saw declines after their own airdrops. Early investors, including well-known firms such as Paradigm, Dragonfly, Electric Capital, and Castle Island, could also choose to sell part of their holdings to realize returns.
Recent trends reinforce the risk: several high-profile launches this year—such as Trump Coin, World Liberty Financial, Wormhole, Somnia, and Keeta—fell by double digits after going live.
The broader competitive landscape adds another challenge. The layer-1 and layer-2 sectors are already dominated by giants like Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain, with even more networks in development from companies like Circle and Robinhood. Breaking through this crowd will not be easy.
Tokenomics could also weigh heavily on MON’s early performance. Insiders and team members reportedly control over 50% of the supply, while the public sale accounted for less than 8%. Such concentration often creates selling pressure during early trading.
Whether MON becomes the next major layer-1 contender or faces a steep post-launch correction remains to be seen. What’s clear is that all eyes will be on Monad as its mainnet goes live and its token hits exchanges this week.
Also Read: Why Crypto Needs a New Language for Failure
