Solana DeFi project Mercurial Finance will relaunch as ‘Meteora’. Mercurial is the latest altcoin project to step out of FTX’s shadow. After the news, the altcoin price rose vertically in the middle of the red market.
Altcoin price skyrocketed with news of Mercurial rebranding!
Mercurial Finance, the decentralized finance (DeFi) trade project, plans to relaunch as ‘Meteora’. In this context, it will issue a new token to almost all MER holders. He will also expand his trading streak in an aggressive attempt to distance himself from Sam Bankman-Fried’s fallen empire. After the news, the altcoin price took a flight. The MER suddenly jumped from its horizontal price of $0.007531 during the day to $0.01563. The altcoin, which later declined, is still trading at $0.009787 with an increase of 26.67%.
Since the collapse of FTX, the MER has lost 46%. Thus, the planned rebranding of the stablecoin exchange has significant ramifications for MER holders. It is abandoned in favor of the new Meteora token with a maximum supply of 100 million, 1/10 of the MER. According to the plan, most MER holders will receive the new token in proportion to their current holdings.
But insiders will take a big hit. Ben Chow, co-founder of sister protocol Jupiter, says Mercurial seed investors, private investors, and team members, who are major backers who control 45% of all MER tokens under Mercurial’s original plan, are scheduled to receive a 50% discount on their unearned tokens. He also notes that the concussion will increase the influence of token holders on the restructured project.
What is the purpose of the altcoin project?
Meteora is the latest Solana-based crypto protocol to re-imagine itself in the fiery ashes of FTX and Alameda Research. Sam Bankman-Fried’s highly interconnected crypto exchange and hedge fund were king makers in the Solana DeFi ecosystem as top venture investors and market makers. Their deaths destroyed nearly all Solana-based trading protocols, including Mercurial, which issued its token in a sale organized by FTX.
Hours after FTX Group declared bankruptcy in November, a hacker also seized a massive $800,000 worth of MER tokens when a hacker looted the ruins of the exchange. Chow said this heist gave the Mercurial team an excuse to renew the entire protocol. The hacker’s address is blacklisted by the airdrop, as it all relates to FTX. Chow says:
It would initially be a product under Mercurial with the MER token. But because of what happened with FTX, ‘Hey, we really need a new token, not just a new product.’ It became a catalyst for us to say.
Indeed, Meteora has been around since at least September as Mercurial’s new yielding DeFi product, called dynamic automated market maker. Chow said that by lending excess capital to Meteora’s AMM vaults lending protocols, depositors get extra yield from their assets. This provides a lending yield in addition to the transaction fees charged from AMM.
Of course, it also increases the risk that something will go wrong and assets will be lost or stolen. Chow acknowledges that the risks are increasing. But he says their high risk tolerances equate to the trend in DeFi. It also says that the protocol automatically rebalances credits. In this context, “You will be able to shoot faster than you did,” he says.
Snapshot will be taken on this date
According to plans, the snapshot identifying new token holdings will occur in late December or early January. In January, it will launch a return product called dynamic vault. It will also issue the new token. Afterward, Mercurial will delete its social media and start putting control over the community. Meteora will move to token holders ‘significant leverage’ over protocol operations in a newly launched ‘decentralized autonomous organization’ according to new plans. The protocol will have a DAO for the first time.
Chow said one of his first decisions would be what to do with the MER owed to the hacker’s address. They also have a huge impact on how Meteora manages the circulating supply. “This plan allows us to remove all the uncertainties surrounding our tokenomics. It also enables us to pave the way for a clean and transparent token setup for the ecosystem and the project going forward.”
First, Chow and other Jupiter and Mercurial/Meteora team members plan to guide the community and investors through the town halls and plans. “The chances of it being a decentralized yield tier for Solana are really high,” Chow said. So I guess they will be equally supportive.”
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