Introduction to MON and Initial Supply

MON is the native token that powers the Monad protocol. The MON token is primarily used for transaction fees on the Monad network and for staking to secure the Monad network. At the launch of Monad Public Mainnet, the total initial supply of MON will be 100 billion tokens. The allocation of MON among different groups is summarized below:

Estimated Token Release Schedule

The following diagram illustrates the anticipated token release. Released tokens are those that are both unlocked and vested (the latter of which is only relevant for team tokens). The release of employee and investor tokens, coupled with staking rewards, drives an increase in circulating token supply over time.

Dark grey labels at top of chart denote total maximum unlocked tokens in supply in each quarter, inclusive of inflation via validator rewards. Actual total will likely be lower than as shown due to deflation via token burn.

Unlocked Tokens

At the launch of Monad Public Mainnet, approximately 10.8B MON tokens (10.8%) are expected to be unlocked and in public circulation, owing to distribution via the Monad public sale and the MON Airdrop. These tokens are freely deployable for activity on the Monad protocol. Approximately 38.5B MON tokens (38.5%) are expected to be allocated to Ecosystem Development; these tokens are unlocked and stewarded by the Monad Foundation. In total, approximately 49.4B MON tokens (49.4%) are unlocked on Day 1 of Monad Public Mainnet. 

Locked Tokens

Tokens for all investors and team members, along with the Category Labs Treasury, are locked on Day 1 of Monad Public Mainnet and are subject to defined unlock and vesting schedules to ensure long-term alignment with the success of the project. All tokens in these categories are locked for a minimum of one year following initial token distribution as part of the launch of Monad Public Mainnet in November 2025, with further unlock schedules varying among group members, as described herein. At the start of Monad Public Mainnet, 50.6B tokens (50.6%) will be locked.

Locked tokens cannot be staked. The intent of this is twofold: to ensure that staking rewards initially contribute to the public circulation of MON and to avoid an initial concentration of rewards among those individuals (team members and investors) involved directly with the project.

All locked tokens in the initial token supply are anticipated to be fully unlocked by the fourth anniversary of the Monad Public Mainnet launch in Q4 2029.

Allocation Group Details

Public Sale

Up to 7.5B MON tokens (7.5% of initial token supply) will be made available to the public for purchase in the public sale via the Coinbase token sales platform at a price of $0.025 per token. This token sale offers the general public an opportunity to purchase MON tokens immediately before the launch of Monad Public Mainnet. Promptly following completion of the MON token sale, coincident with the launch of Monad Public Mainnet, MON tokens will be distributed to purchasers. If the public sale is undersubscribed, any unsold tokens will be reallocated to Ecosystem Development.

Airdrop

Approximately 3.3B MON tokens (3.3% of initial total supply) were claimed in the MON airdrop by members of the Monad Community as well as members of the wider crypto community at large. Read about criteria, recipient categories, and other distribution details in The MON Airdrop.  

Ecosystem Development

Roughly 38.5B MON tokens (~38.5% of initial total supply) are allocated for Ecosystem Development. This portion of the total supply consists of unlocked tokens that are available for ecosystem growth opportunities and initiatives now and in the future. The Monad Foundation will steward these resources for many years to come, issuing grants or incentives where strategic, and delegating according to the Foundation’s Validator Delegation Program. The Ecosystem Development allocation does not include any existing team token grants – these are included in the Team allocation, as described in the section below. 

While a minority (less than 2% of total supply) of the MON set aside for Ecosystem Development is already committed to various projects and infrastructure providers, the Monad Foundation expects the majority balance to be spent over many years post-Public Mainnet launch. In the future, some portion of the Ecosystem Development allocation may be used to fund Monad Foundation operating expenses. 

A significant portion of the MON allocated to Ecosystem Development will initially be delegated (i.e., staked) via the Validator Delegation Program to promote the security of the network and to foster a thriving decentralized and independent validator community. The Foundation expects to initially delegate about 15B MON in the Validator Delegation Program, and to increase this number over time, delegating between 15B and 25B MON in the first year. Staking rewards earned via this delegation will become a part of the Ecosystem Development allocation. 

Team

Approximately 27B MON tokens (~27% of initial token supply) have been allocated to team members of the Monad Foundation and Category Labs, including employees, founders, and contractors. Team token allocations are subject to both lock-up and vesting conditions. Individual vesting schedules are typically 3-4 years and are tied to the date of initial involvement in the project.

All team tokens are locked for the first year following the launch of Monad Public Mainnet. Team tokens are released at the 1-year anniversary of the launch and over the three years that follow. 

In order for a token to be released, it must be both unlocked and vested. At the 1-year anniversary of the launch, released team tokens will represent ~10.7% of initial token supply.

Investors

Approximately 19.7B MON tokens (~19.7% of initial token supply) have been allocated to investors in the Monad project during Category Labs’ (formerly known as Monad Labs) previous fundraising rounds. All investor tokens are subject to a four-year lock-up schedule starting from the launch of Monad Public Mainnet, with a one-year cliff and equal (1/48) monthly unlocks thereafter. 

Category Labs Treasury

Category Labs (formerly known as Monad Labs) is the team of systems engineers and researchers building and designing the decentralized technology behind the Monad protocol. Roughly 3.95B MON tokens (~3.95%) have been allocated to Category Labs to be used for future employee compensation. The Category Labs Treasury is subject to a four-year lock-up schedule from the launch of Monad Public Mainnet, with a one-year cliff and equal (1/48) monthly unlocks thereafter. 

Token Supply Changes

Total supply is subject to inflation via block rewards and deflation via burning of base transaction fees.

Inflation: New MON tokens are minted at each block to reward validators and stakers for securing the network. Each successful block generates an inflationary block reward of 25 MON, which is split between stakers of the validator that produced the block, as described in the staking docs. Annualizing this rate yields inflation of about 2B MON (2% of initial total supply) per year.

Deflation: Transaction fees consist of a base component and a priority component, as described in the gas pricing docs. The base component of each transaction fee is burned.