Coinbase Launches Token-Sale Platform with Monad’s MON Debut, Reviving Retail Access to Early-Stage Crypto Offerings

U.S. Retail Investors Regain Access to Public Token Sales as Coinbase Partners with Monad for November Launch

TL;DR

• Coinbase introduces a new token-sale platform hosting one sale per month, beginning with Monad’s MON offering from Nov. 17–22.
• Monad’s 100 billion MON supply allocates 7.5% to public sale at $0.025 per token, with over 50% locked at launch.
• The project’s mainnet and airdrop event are set for Nov. 24, 2025, marking the first coordinated retail-access token rollout since 2018.

Coinbase has unveiled a new token-sale platform that will allow retail investors—including those in the United States—to participate directly in early-stage crypto offerings for the first time since 2018. The exchange plans to host about one token sale each month, beginning with the debut of Monad, an upcoming Layer-1 blockchain that is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The platform introduces a structured sale mechanism where users can submit purchase requests during a one-week window, after which tokens are allocated through an algorithm that prioritizes smaller orders before larger ones. The process is designed to limit whale dominance and promote fairer distribution across a wider retail base. 

All settlements will be conducted in USD Coin (USDC), and issuers will be required to observe a six-month lock-up period restricting sales on secondary markets or over-the-counter trades without Coinbase’s consent. Participants who sell their tokens shortly after listing may see smaller allocations in future offerings, underscoring the exchange’s push for long-term participation.

The inaugural sale, featuring Monad’s MON token, will run from Nov. 17 to 22 and is open to users in more than 80 countries, including the U.S. Each participant can bid up to $100,000 in USDC, with 7.5% of MON’s 100 billion-token supply offered at $0.025 per token. If fully subscribed, the event would raise $187.5 million based on current pricing. 

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the initiative represents a milestone moment for token distribution: “We’re launching a token-sales platform on Coinbase to give teams a new way to distribute their token to their community, and give the community early access to their favorite tokens.”

Monad, the first project to utilize Coinbase’s new framework, is targeting a mainnet launch and token generation event on Nov. 24, 2025, coinciding with its airdrop to eligible users. Approximately 225,000 on-chain participants are set to receive allocations, including active decentralized exchange traders, lending protocol users, NFT holders, and DAO contributors. 

The tokenomics reveal that 10.8 billion MON—about 10.8% of total supply—will be unlocked at launch, with the rest locked under vesting schedules to preserve ecosystem stability. The breakdown allocates 38.5% to ecosystem development, 27% to the team, 19.7% to investors, 4% to the treasury managed by Category Labs and Monad Labs, 3.3% to airdrops, and 7.5% to the public sale. Co-founder Keone Hon emphasized that locked MON tokens will not be eligible for staking at launch, arguing that this measure supports a more balanced long-term token distribution.

Monad’s performance goals include processing up to 10,000 transactions per second with 0.4-second block times and maintaining validator decentralization across roughly 200 nodes. As a Layer-1 network built for high-speed computation and EVM interoperability, it aims to compete in a crowded market defined by projects like Solana and Sei, both of which have sought to capture developer migration from Ethereum. The decision to debut through Coinbase’s retail-accessible platform signals a major shift in how crypto fundraising is structured in 2025—moving away from the opaque private rounds of previous cycles toward regulated, transparent distribution systems. The new approach also ties token behavior to market accountability, reflecting broader efforts to stabilize crypto price dynamics and improve investor confidence amid an evolving regulatory landscape.

The collaboration arrives at a moment when the crypto price index shows renewed volatility across major assets, with traders watching closely how MON’s eventual coin market cap might compare to other Layer-1 tokens post-listing. By embedding restrictions on lock-ups, sales timing, and staking eligibility, Coinbase and Monad appear intent on balancing investor enthusiasm with structured discipline—a contrast to the speculative free-for-all that defined the 2017 ICO boom. Whether the strategy succeeds in stabilizing early-stage crypto price movements will become clearer once the MON token begins trading after its mainnet launch later this month.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.