Monad’s Airdrop and Mainnet Strategy Explained

Welcome back to Talking Tokens. We’ve got some great content lined up for you all from DevConnect so keep an eye out today and on Thursday. Yes, we’re putting out a pod on Thanksgiving. We’ve got a lot to be thankful for so the grind don’t stop. Anyways, back to regular programming.

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The latest Talking Tokens podcast 🎙️

For this week’s Tuesday episode, I interviewed Eunice Giarta, Co-Founder of Monad, a new blockchain that just launched on mainnet on Monday.

We sat down together during DevConnect in Buenos Aires to talk about Monad’s design philosophy, the team’s focus on distribution and decentralization, and why the public token sale with Coinbase represents a new approach to retail access.

We also discuss Monad’s viral airdrop campaign, the team’s long-term vision for performance on EVM, and what the launch means for developers building DeFi, gaming, consumer apps, and new real-time experiences onchain.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Why distribution and decentralization matter for Monad
00:17 – Introduction to Eunice Giarta & Monad’s launch week
01:42 – How the team prepared for mainnet and the Coinbase public sale
02:36 – Why Monad chose a public token sale model
03:10 – Day-1 validator distribution and network participation
04:18 – Rethinking token sales and reaching new audiences
05:39 – The viral airdrop: design, gamification, and community reaction
08:22 – Keeping new users engaged & building long-term community value
11:02 – Why launch another L1? Eunice’s differentiation argument
12:38 – Monad’s origin story and the idea of “Solana speed on EVM”
14:45 – How performance engineering shaped Monad’s architecture
17:21 – Competing or coexisting with Ethereum and Solana
19:47 – What will launch on Monad: DeFi, order books, gaming, betting
22:19 – Expected number of apps live at mainnet
22:57 – The roadmap for Monad
25:28 – How Monad changes design constraints for developers
27:11 – Expanding into payments, remittances & stablecoin infrastructure
29:57 – What healthy long-term ecosystem growth looks like
31:00 – Real-time settlement & long-term vision for blockchain
32:04 – Final advice from Eunice

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Money and people moves

1. Berachain Documents Show Brevan Howard Fund Offered $25 Million Refund Right (Unchained)

2. Coinbase acquired Vector to expand support for the Solana trading ecosystem

3. Largest Ethereum treasury BitMine invests another $200 million, addresses recent ETH price decline (The Block)

4. Solo Bitcoin Miner Hits the Jackpot, Winning $266K BTC Reward (Decrypt)

5. Crypto plunge wipes out nearly $400 billion in a week (Axios)

Talking points for the road

1. Top DEXs Aerodrome, Velodrome hit with front-end compromise, urge users to avoid main domains (The Block)

2. Here's How Digital Asset Treasuries are Holding Up as Prices Trend South (Decrypt)

3. Bitcoin Plunge Hits Market Makers in a Fragile Trading Landscape (Bloomberg)

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Please note that this content is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Any views shared should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research. We may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this newsletter.