Metaplex will launch a DAO to provide community management, and creators outside the U.S. will be rewarded with MPLX tokens.
NFT Solana has been on the rise again lately thanks to high-profile projects like y00ts and ABC, and now the creator of the NFT networking protocol is hitting the iron while it's hot: Metaplex has announced plans to launch a token and decentralize its management via DAO.
Metaplex's MPLX token was announced over the weekend and will be released today, and the creators of NFT, who used the Solana protocol, are entitled to an as yet undisclosed distribution of the token. There is one big caveat, however: U.S. residents are not eligible for distribution, presumably because of regulatory issues.
Metaplex plans to open its application website later today, allowing eligible wallets to receive the MPLX token. The useful token will be used to launch a DAO or decentralized autonomous organization, an online community whose membership is represented by tokens. MPLX token holders will be able to vote on proposals to manage the NFT protocol.
"MPLX holders will manage the protocol through the Metaplex DAO, fulfilling the promise of a decentralized and community-owned platform for authors," Metaplex writes.
According to the Metaplex Foundation, the protocol has been used to date to create 20 million NFT Solana coins, generating more than $3.5 billion in primary and secondary sales. Overall, according to Metaplex, more than 2.4 million makers and collectors have interacted with such NFTs, though it's unclear how many makers are eligible.
Metaplex took a snapshot of eligible makers on Aug. 24, according to a Twitter response, which means that only users who had created NFTs through Metaplex by the time the snapshot was created could be eligible.
In addition, Metaplex wrote that creators of projects deemed "empty," meaning creators who took money from users and then disappeared and/or failed to fulfill their promises, would be filtered out of airdrop. The company said it has enlisted digital asset compliance company TRM Labs to help it remove such projects from token giveaways.
However, the term "pulling the rug" can mean different things to different collectors, and the criteria for excluding airdrop is currently unclear. Decrypt reached out to a Metaplex representative for more information, but didn't immediately get a response.
In January, Metaplex raised $46 million in a round led by Multicoin Capital and Jump Capital that also included Animoca Brands, Solana Ventures and Alameda Research. More than 90 individual investors also participated in the round, including basketball legends Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson.
