‘The MASK token is coming’: Consensys CEO says MetaMask’s native cryptocurrency is on its way

Ethereum co-founder and Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin said that MetaMask will be launching its much-anticipated native token in the near future.

"The MASK token is coming — It may come sooner than you would expect right now," Lubin said during an interview on The Block's "The Crypto Beat" podcast. "And it is significantly related to the decentralization of certain aspects of the MetaMask platform."

Lubin explained that Consensys is actively supporting the Ethereum ecosystem's direction of progressive decentralization, and that it is using MetaMask, Infura and Linea to ensure that "rigorous" decentralization remains at the center of the ecosystem.

For years, the crypto community has been closely watching whether the most popular Ethereum wallet will launch its native cryptocurrency, an idea that dates back to at least 2021, when MetaMask engineer Erik Marks suggested the concept of community ownership of the wallet through a token launch.

In a May interview with The Block, MetaMask co-founder Dan Finlay said the token, if launched, would be advertised directly in the wallet. "You'll be able to find a link directly in the wallet," Finlay said.

While Finlay said at the time the token launch is still a "maybe," Lubin's comments on The Crypto Beat on Thursday indicate that the MASK launch plan is concrete and near.

Earlier this month, Consensys' Ethereum Layer 2, Linea, launched its native asset, LINEA, with a token generation event that distributed over 9.36 billion LINEA to eligible addresses.

"With the token launch, we had the opportunity to do some pretty impactful things," Lubin said, pointing out that Consensys took a modest 15% stake in Linea tokens while the remainder was allocated to support builders, liquidity provision, and incentivized usage for both Linea and Ethereum projects, prioritizing community growth.

mNAV concerns

Meanwhile, Lubin, who is also serving as Chairman of publicly-traded Ethereum treasury company SharpLink Gaming, commented on the company's latest performance.

The company's market net asset value (mNAV) ratio recently fell below 1, indicating the market values the company at a discount to the ETH the firm holds. According to The Block's crypto treasuries page, SharpLink's mNAV currently stands at 0.80x. A similar decline in mNAV is spotted among other crypto treasury companies such as Bitmine and MARA.

This trend can erode investor confidence and has raised concerns about a potential "death spiral," where the company's stock price falls dramatically and limits its ability to raise capital, especially for a company heavily reliant on volatile crypto assets.

"There are cyclical things that are happening in the world. There are secular trends," Lubin commented. "When we see the price of ether surge, we see that reflected in SharpLink as we see their price of ether moving back towards all-time highs … We're going to see animal spirits back in the market."

SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom, also present at the podcast interview, added that the mNAV decline below 1 is a "temporary dislocation."

"This is a public company vehicle, you own the underlying ETH, you get to stake it and earn three plus percent yields … That staking yield is revenue, and in a public company context in the mid-term to long-term, that should attract a multiple," explained Chalom.

Future of the ETH treasury

In the case the mNAV stays below 1, the SharpLink CEO said the company will opt for further buybacks, while seeking other ways to raise capital in the market, such as issuing common stock.

"There are equity-linked and convertible offerings that have really significant investor interest, where you can raise that capital without diluting the shareholders," Chalom said.

Instead of focusing on mNAV, the two SharpLink leaders put more emphasis on their own metric — ETH per share. Chalom said the ETH per share ratio has grown from 2.0 in early June to 3.95, which is a "super positive" for investors.

"It's about more and more investors waking up to the idea that we are going to be using our ether," Lubin said. "We may borrow against it at some point in the distant future when it's a giant pile of high-powered money. We'll be staking it in important protocols, we'll bring liquidity to new exciting protocols."

When the company reaches a certain inflection point that poses a limit for further Ether purchases, SharpLink plans to "substantially change" its mode from Ethereum accumulation to making use of ETH.

According to The Block's data dashboard, SharpLink is the second-largest corporate holder of Ethereum, with around 836,710 ETH under its belt. Its stock closed up 0.58% to $17.22 on Thursday, according to The Block's SBET price page.