Monad ICO Falls Short of Early Expectations as Layer 1 Launch Approaches

Monad's public token sale has raised $140 million toward its $187 million target with three days remaining before the sale closes on Saturday, marking a more cautious reception than recent comparable offerings despite the project's technical ambitions.

The sale, conducted through Coinbase's token launch platform, is offering up to 7.5 billion MON tokens, representing 7.5% of the initial 100 billion token supply, at $0.025 per token, valuing the network at $2.5 billion.

The sale opened on November 17 and runs through November 22, two days before Monad's public mainnet launch scheduled for November 24.

The fundraise follows MegaETH's $1.4 billion ICO last month, which filled its $50 million allocation within five minutes and concluded 28x oversubscribed. Bitcoin traded $110,000 during the MEGA sale, while it's exchanging hands at around $92,000 currently.

Market conditions have impacted pre-launch valuations. MON's pre-market valuation on Hyperliquid has declined 36% from $6 billion to $3.8 billion, implying approximately 50% gains for ICO participants if the token launches at current prices.

The sale structure includes a $100 minimum and $100,000 maximum contribution cap for standard participants, with higher thresholds available for Coinbase One subscribers. Purchases are subject to KYC requirements and geographic restrictions, excluding certain jurisdictions including most of Europe and New York where Coinbase operates under regulatory constraints.

Community sentiment has emerged as a complicating factor. Monad allocated just 3.3% of token supply to community airdrops, disappointing some early supporters who participated in Discord events and community activities over several years. The decision reflects tensions common to major token launches between rewarding genuine community members and avoiding exploitation by airdrop farmers using bots and paid participants.

"Decentralization is only possible with widely distributed ownership of the MON token," the Monad Foundation stated in a blog post, describing the Coinbase platform as enabling "smaller allocations across more participants" and bringing "public sales to retail purchasers in the US and globally."

Monad positions itself as a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain designed for speed without sacrificing security or decentralization while maintaining full Ethereum compatibility. The project has spent several years developing what it describes as "state-of-the-art financial infrastructure" to power applications for a global user base.

"The mission is to power a new world economy, suitable for a world that is increasingly online and onchain," the foundation said, outlining pillars focused on developer experience, global reach, and technical excellence.

If the sale is undersubscribed, unsold tokens will be reallocated to ecosystem development. If oversubscribed, a "filling up from the bottom" distribution mechanism will prioritize broader distribution and limit concentration among large purchasers.

Polymarket currently gives Monad an 81% probability of attracting more than $300 million in total commitments. A potential catalyst for final flows could come from the finalization and release of funds from the MegaETH ICO, expected on November 21, one day before the MON sale concludes.