Coinbase has taken a historic step by launching a dedicated platform for public token sales, open to individual investors worldwide. In essence, it’s the regulated comeback of ICOs… but this time under the control of the largest crypto exchange in the United States.
While token fundraising had vanished after the frenzy of 2017-2018, Coinbase is betting on a more mature and regulated revival of this model. The goal is to allow users to invest in new projects before they are officially listed on the platform.
Coinbase opens its ICO platform
Coinbase plans to organize approximately one sale per month. Investors will have a week to submit their purchase requests via an automated system, which will then distribute tokens fairly. The entry ticket? Purchases made exclusively in USDC, the stablecoin issued by Circle and partly managed by Coinbase.
Only verified and compliance-approved users will be able to participate. On their part, candidate projects will be scrutinized: team quality, community interest, business model, vesting schedule… Coinbase aims to position itself as a reliable gateway to Web3 fundraisings.
Monad, the first project to inaugurate the launch
The first project to take off is called Monad, a new blockchain network that aims to optimize performance and coordination among validators, developers, and users. Its native token, MON, will be sold from Monday, November 17 at 3 pm, until Saturday, November 23 at 3 am.
The unit price of MON will be set at $0.025, with a minimum participation of $100 and a cap of $100,000 per investor (Coinbase One members may benefit from higher limits). Out of a total supply of 100 billion tokens, 7.5 billion will be offered for public sale, representing 7.5% of the total, aiming for a raise of $187.5 million.
The revelations of the tokenomics do not seem to have had the desired effect: at the time of writing this article, the MON token is hovering around a $5 billion valuation on the different pre-market platforms available, after a 25% drop.
Monad unveils its tokenomics
Monad has revealed the complete distribution of its tokens.
- Ecosystem: 38.5%
- Team: 27%
- Investors: 19.7%
- Category Labs Treasury: 4%
- Public sale: 7.5%
- Community Airdrop: 3.3%
At the mainnet launch, 10.8% of tokens (10.8 billion MON) will be in circulation, coming from the sale and airdrop. These tokens will immediately support network activity, while the Monad foundation will oversee a development fund representing 38.5% of the supply, partially unlocked to support initial growth. The shares held by the team and investors will remain locked up at least until November 2026.
