Metaplex token crashes 60% amid second airdrop

Solana NFT platform Metaplex (MPLX) has seen the value of its native token decline significantly following the announcement of a second airdrop.

The MPLX token, which had maintained an average price of $0.35 over the past fortnight, has fallen to $0.12 today. This 60% decline came after the project announced it was releasing a second airdrop of its token.

The Metaplex token has crashed in price since the airdrop was announced. Image: CoinGecko.

The Metaplex Foundation held its first airdrop in September, rewarding creators who used the project’s tools to launch their NFT collections on Solana. Some members of the community pushed for an extension of the airdrop to reward collectors. This matter was brought to a vote before the DAO but those in support couldn’t muster enough votes to meet the required quorum.

On Tuesday, the Metaplex Foundation announced that — irrespective of the failed vote — it would release 40 million MPLX tokens to reward collectors. This second airdrop rewarded collectors who minted at least five NFTs using the earliest version of the Metaplex minting module.

The second airdrop has already started. Data from the project’s website shows that 10.8 million MPLX tokens have been claimed across the two airdrops.

These tokens confer governance rights to the holders meaning that owners of the token can use them to vote on matters within the DAO.