Cross-chain NFT marketplace Magic Eden has expanded its reach beyond its sole purpose as an NFT platform to other facets of the vast crypto industry. After nearly four months of preparation, Magic Eden has finally launched its native cryptocurrency, dubbed $ME.
On August 22nd, the ME Foundation, a non-profit organization developing the Magic Eden ecosystem, announced that $ME will “be a powerful lever to incentivize users to trade any asset on the biggest chains at any time.” The firm expressed enthusiasm that third-party protocols building within the NFT marketplace will adopt $ME within their communities.
The ME Foundation also believes crypto retail investors will embrace the Solana-based token as it incentivizes those interested in consumer decentralized applications (dApps) built on Magic Eden. Notably, $ME will be usable across Magic Eden’s supported blockchain networks, like Solana, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, and Polygon.
The ME Foundation airdropped 12.5% of the $ME token’s 1 billion total supply to eligible users via the Magic Eden Wallet. The firm stressed that customers in countries like the United States are unqualified for the airdrop. Half of the supply is reserved for community incentives, while 37.5% is designated for contributors and strategic participants.
Hours before its debut on December 10th, prominent crypto exchanges like Binance revealed plans to list $ME. Upon launch, Magic Eden’s mobile app was congested due to high traffic from users grappling to claim their $ME tokens. Various users complained about the digital wallet’s performance. Magic Eden’s developer team resolved the issue three hours after the token launch. Nonetheless, on-chain data reveals that the token has garnered a market capitalization of $693 million with a trading price of $5.3 at press time.
Following its debut, the ME Foundation revealed that $ME can be staked, enabling holders to partake in activities across the non-fungible ecosystem.
It is worth noting that Magic Eden is not the first NFT project to explore cryptocurrencies. A few years ago, Yuga Labs, the brain behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) project, launched its Apecoin token. The digital asset has since served diverse utilities within the non-fungible ecosystem.
Magic Eden’s choice to establish a crypto token shows its commitment to bringing the most utility to its non-fungible community. The latest debut could even get more crypto-native investors to explore the non-fungible realm.
