Solana NFT Platform Token Down 65% After Second Airdrop

Metaplex token (MPLX) plunged more than 65% in the last 24 hours after the Metaplex foundation announced a second token airdrop. MPLX currently trades at $0.11, down from around $0.34 prior to the announcement. Metaplex token is the native token of Metaplex, a Solana-powered NFT platform.

MPLX Crashes After Metaplex Approves a New Airdrop of 40 million Tokens

MPLX, the native token of Solana-powered non-fungible token (NFT) platform Metaplex, declined roughly 65% in the previous 24 hours to $0.11. The drop comes after Metaplex Foundation announced a second token airdrop on Tuesday.

“Collectors are the lifeblood of the Metaplex ecosystem! The Foundation has approved a collector airdrop of 40 million $MPLX to Solana NFT creators. Visit our claim site to see if you’re eligible.”

Metaplex wrote in a a tweet.

Metaplex’s first airdrop took place in September, aimed at rewarding creators who used Metaplex tools to launch their NFTs on Solana. Community members asked for an extension of the airdrop but failed to secure one in the vote.

However, the Metaplex Foundation announced it would drop an additional 40 MPLX tokens to reward the collectors. Those who minted a minimum of 5 NFTs via the first Metaplex minting module were eligible for the second airdrop.

More than 12 million MPLX tokens have been claimed in total so far, according to the official website. The project claims that Metaplex NFTs “have generated over $3.4B in total commerce since inception in mid-2021, driven by programs such as Token Metadata, Candy Machine, and Auction House.”

The second airdrop takes place amid a notable decline in the NFT market, with sales plummeting 68% year-over-year in Q3 2022. This marks a sharp U-turn from 2021 when NFTs recorded unprecedented growth.

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Metaplex NFT Marketplace

The Metaplex Foundation unveiled its NFT marketplace in June 2021. The marketplace, which allows NFT artists to develop their own storefronts, was built on the Solana blockchain and the Metaplex protocol.

It also allows creators to hold online auctions and sell their art directly to buyers, with no need for an intermediary. Deposits from the minted NFTs are made through the decentralized storage protocol Arweave, which also facilitates automatic payments to the artists after the sale.

Metaplex is best known for Candy Machine, a Solana-powered minting and distribution program for NFT collections. Candy Machine was the culprit behind Solana’s network outage in May, one of many over the past year.

Do you think the NFT market will reach new highs after the current downturn? Let us know in the comments below.