Several crypto funds, including Pantera Capital, ParaFi Capital and more, purchased Metaplex (MPLX) tokens from Wave Digital Assets that were initially held by the FTX estate.
According to a source with direct knowledge, the FTX estate originally had 72.6 million MPLX tokens, of which 62.6 million were sold privately over the past five months, signaling the end of the entire block of unlocked MPLX tokens. An additional 2.5 million tokens were moved from the FTX wallet recently. Currently, only 7.5 million tokens remain, all expected to be fully unlocked by September 19th.
Metaplex is a Solana-based protocol facilitating the creation of digital assets, including fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Since its launch in 2021, it has facilitated the minting of over 550 million assets across 55 million unique wallets.
James Ho, co-founder and managing partner at Modular Capital, mentioned that Metaplex has generated substantial fees in 2024, highlighting its promising future as it supports creators and token issuers.
Modular Capital procured about 700,000 tokens at an average price of $0.21 in April. Currently, MPLX trades at $0.25 with a valuation of roughly $245 million according to CoinGecko.
Ryan Watkins, co-founder of Syncracy Capital, stated that MPLX trades at a 'depressed multiple' but is critical for the Solana digital economy. Syncracy also invested $1.4 million in MPLX at a significant discount.
Other funds like Pantera, ParaFi, and Theia Blockchain have also engaged in purchasing MPLX from Wave Digital. Cosmo Jiang from Pantera noted that Metaplex fits their long-term investment strategy, and Josh Solesbury from ParaFi confirmed participation in the MPLX investment.
Stephen Hess from the Metaplex Foundation remarked that the addition of new strategic token holders will greatly benefit the ecosystem as it progresses.
The FTX estate has been liquidating its crypto assets, including selling Solana tokens, drawing attention from various VC firms. Currently, they possess over $376 million in assets, yet the liquidity and profitability of some tokens remain uncertain.
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