Metaplex, creator of the NFT protocol on Solana, is launching an MPLX governance token and will conduct an airdrop for NFT creators. Metaplex said it took a snapshot of eligible creators who created NFTs via Metaplex by August 24 and has removed of the airdrop hundreds of wallets “believed to belong to bad actors.”
Metaplex announced on Saturday plans to launch its MPLX token and decentralize its governance via a DAO, which will drop on Sept. 20. NFT creators who used the Solana protocol are eligible to receive some allotment of tokens. However, US residents are not eligible for the airdrop due to regulatory concerns.
Utility token MPLX will be used to launch a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) – an online community with membership represented via tokens. Token holders will be able to govern the NFT protocol, voting for various proposals.
“MPLX holders will steer the direction of the protocol through the Metaplex DAO, delivering on the promise of a decentralized and community-owned creator platform,” Metaplex said on Twitter.
As per the Metaplex Foundation, the protocol has been used to mint 20 million Solana NFTs to date, yielding more than $3.5 billion worth of sales between initial and secondary sales. Overall, Metaplex says that more than 2.4 million creators and collectors have interacted with such NFTs.
According to its tweet thread, Metaplex took a snapshot of eligible NFT creators on August 24, which means that only users who created NFTs via Metaplex by that time will be eligible. Moreover, the company said it enlisted digital asset compliance firm TRM Labs to help remove “rug pulls” projects from the airdrop, adding that it has “removed hundreds of wallets believed to belong to bad actors.”
In January, the Metaplex Foundation raised $46 million in a round led by Multicoin Capital and Jump Capital, alongside Animoca Brands, Solana Ventures, Alameda Research, and more than 90 individual investors, including basketball stars Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan.