Meteora airdrop coincides with market cooldown—can the wealth-making legend continue?

Known as the "Solana Liquidity Dark Horse," the veteran DEX Meteora is set to officially launch its token MET this Thursday (October 23), becoming one of the most anticipated events in the Solana ecosystem this year.

As early as October 10, MET made its debut on the Hyperliquid perpetual contract market, with its opening valuation soaring directly to $1.8 billion. Although it subsequently encountered a "black swan event" in the crypto market, its valuation demonstrated considerable resilience, with the token currently stabilizing around $1, corresponding to a pre-market market cap hovering around $1 billion.

Reborn from the Ruins of FTX: From Mercurial to Meteora

The story of Meteora began in 2021. At that time, the project was known as Mercurial Finance and conducted its initial exchange offering (IEO) through FTX, issuing the MER token. However, the collapse of FTX put the project in a difficult position, with the team stating that "a large number of MER tokens were trapped on the exchange," severely impacting liquidity.
At the end of 2022, the project announced its rebranding to Meteora, and in February of the following year, a snapshot was taken for all MER holders to determine the allocation of the new MET token. According to the team, 20% of the total MET supply would be distributed to MER holders as compensation, while early internal shares would be reduced to enhance community governance weight.

Since the brand relaunch, Meteora has rapidly risen by leveraging its innovative Dynamic Liquidity Market Maker (DLMM) mechanism. This model allows liquidity pools to automatically adjust capital distribution according to market volatility, thereby improving capital efficiency.
As of now, Meteora's total value locked (TVL) has surpassed $800 million, with monthly trading volume reaching $39.9 billion, firmly ranking among the top Solana DeFi protocols, alongside Jupiter, Drift, and MarginFi, collectively known as the ecosystem's "four pillars."

"No Token Sale" and Liquidity Distribution Mechanism

Unlike most DeFi projects, Meteora has clearly stated that there will be no token sale at TGE (No Token Sale at Launch). The team claims, "Meteora has no company equity, only MET tokens," and promises not to sell team shares during the issuance phase.

At the same time, Meteora has launched a new distribution mechanism called the "Liquidity Distributor" to replace the traditional airdrop model.
About 10% of the circulating supply will be distributed to users in the form of liquidity positions, rather than a one-time airdrop. Recipients can inject the allocated tokens into pools such as MET-USDC, providing liquidity while earning fees. This design aims to reduce selling pressure and stabilize initial market liquidity.

According to project documents, the total supply of MET is 1 billion, with community airdrops accounting for 15%-25%, or about 150 to 250 million tokens. On the day of TGE, 48% of the tokens will be fully unlocked and circulating, setting a new record in Solana DeFi history.
Several research institutions estimate that the initial circulating market cap will be in the range of $100 million to $150 million, with a pre-market FDV (fully diluted valuation) already reaching $1.08 billion. Hyperliquid perpetual contract data shows that the expected price of MET tokens fluctuates in the $1 to $1.5 range.

Airdrop Value Speculation?

Category Estimated Value Core Description Main Reference Source

Average Wallet Value	$200 – $800	Based on Jito ($165M airdrop, about 10,000 users, average ~$1,650) and Jupiter ($700M airdrop, about 955,000 wallets, average ~$733) data, adjusted for small and medium LPs and JUP stakers.	Jito & Jupiter historical distribution data, CryptoRank
High Allocation Case	$1,000 – $1,500	Assuming a claim of 800–1,000 MET, pre-market price $1.06–$1.30; active LPs and M3M3 participants may reach this range.	Hyperliquid
Total Airdrop Scale	$200M – $300M	Accounts for 15%–25% of total supply (150–250 million MET); expected to be the second largest airdrop on Solana, second only to JUP; affected by 48% unlocking and market sentiment.	CryptoRank, DropsTab,
Extreme Case	$5,000 – $20,000+	For large LP farmers (holding tens of thousands of MET), requires high scores or early ecosystem contributions	X (Twitter) community data

The above estimates of MET airdrop value are based on real-time market data as of October 21, 2025, and historical airdrop comparisons. Core reference indicators include:

• Hyperliquid perpetual contract price range ($1.06–$1.30, peak $1.71 on October 10);

• Published supply ratio (community airdrop 15%–25%, total 1 billion MET);

• Historical Solana airdrop cases: Jito (total airdrop $165M, about 10,000 wallets) and Jupiter (total airdrop $700M, about 955,000 wallets) average user return range;

• On-chain data platforms (CryptoRank, DropsTab) and exchange analysis (Binance, MEXC Blog) published FDV and circulation ratios.

Valuation is denominated in USD, with a pre-market FDV of $1 billion as the baseline assumption. The total airdrop amount of $200M–$300M is a conservative estimate; actual value will depend on liquidity and market selling pressure in the first week after TGE.

Controversy

Although Meteora has been recognized for its technological and product innovation, its development process has also been accompanied by ongoing controversy.
In April 2025, the New York District Court accepted a class action lawsuit against the M3M3 meme coin, accusing Meteora and its founders of insider manipulation, buying up 95% of the supply in advance and selling at the top, causing investors to lose $69 million. The incident was called by Decrypt "the biggest meme coin scandal in Solana history," and several venture capital firms such as Kelsier Ventures were also implicated.

Earlier in February, Meteora again became the focus due to the LIBRA token crash. At that time, LIBRA surged and plummeted amid the hype surrounding Argentine President Javier Milei, and Meteora was accused of condoning unstable liquidity pools and fueling insider trading. Subsequently, CEO Ben Chow announced his resignation.

Although he denied any market manipulation, on-chain data showed that the LIBRA team did withdraw funds from the Meteora pool before the crash, triggering market panic.

In addition, the early collapse of the AQUA Pool project and the controversy over Meteora's airdrop allocation favoring LPs also sparked community criticism of its governance structure. Some users on X (formerly Twitter) accused the MET airdrop of "falling into the hands of large farmers and early internal accounts," believing the mechanism was unfair.

Summary

Regardless of praise or criticism, Meteora, emerging from the aftermath of FTX, has finally reached its key TGE moment. Although market sentiment is no longer as frenzied as at its peak, the community's expectations and scrutiny have not diminished. On October 23, the performance of MET will no longer be defined by the project team, but will be witnessed and judged by the entire Solana ecosystem.

Author: Bootly