After Linea Delays Token Issuance, Are Founders Hinting at Something?
(Background: MetaMask’s New Feature “Gas Station” Launches: Can USDT, USDC, and Other 8 Tokens Pay Gas Fees? Is it Useful?)
(Context: Microsoft Warns of New Malicious Trojan: Targeting OKX, Metamask, and 20 Other Mainstream Web3 Wallets)
On May 14, Dan Finlay, co-founder of MetaMask, stated in a podcast that the wallet team is still considering launching a native token for the wallet. Although there seems to be no clear plan at the moment, Finlay pointed out that “more types of token issuance are safe” under the looser regulatory framework of the Trump administration.
As early as 2021, MetaMask engineer Erik Marks proposed the idea of token issuance, and ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin hinted at the token’s potential to attract market attention in a tweet that year. However, the market is currently more focused on the TGE program of Layer 2 product Linea under ConsenSys. On March 8, Linea announced that it would not launch its token in Q1 2025, raising community questions about the TGE progress. In such a public opinion environment, is ConsenSys looking to take a different path to surprise the vast number of wallet users?
Amidst Wallet Wars, Is Token Issuance a Differentiation Strategy?
As a top wallet in the Ethereum ecosystem, despite the repeated delays in token issuance, MetaMask’s large scale of 3 million monthly active users keeps token airdrop expectations as a focal point of community interest. From trading data, the current trading volume of MetaMask Swap is relatively small, with daily trading amounts failing to exceed 100 million USD for a long time, significantly lower than the trading volumes on Solana’s chain platforms. With market liquidity trends heavily favoring Solana’s chain, MetaMask is gradually losing its share in the trading market, dropping from 77% at the end of 2022 to less than 3% now. Although MetaMask is actively integrating developers through tools like Snap to connect with external wallets such as Solana, it still cannot compete with the rapid growth of exchange wallets in trading products.
In today’s market environment, MetaMask may achieve decentralized operations through DAO governance tokens, linking token functionalities closely with cross-chain interactions and even transaction fee rebates, thereby strengthening its positioning as a multi-chain hub. This strategy of “delayed gratification,” while somewhat manipulative, encourages community members to continuously use the Swap function and participate in cross-chain transactions to increase airdrop weight. As major exchanges actively expand their suite of wallet products and accumulate on-chain liquidity, token issuance could also present an opportunity for differentiation, aiming to recover liquidity while enhancing user activity.
With Market Conditions Warming, Are Expectations for Wallet Token Issuance Dwindling?
As ConsenSys’s Ethereum Layer 2 project, Linea has attracted users to participate in ecological tasks since its mainnet launch in 2023, boasting the star power of being backed by MetaMask and promising to airdrop tokens to early supporters through an LXP (Linea Experience Points) system. However, the token generation event (TGE) originally scheduled for Q1 2025 has been postponed to Q2, with official reasons including “the need to refine token economics” and “complex legal processes.” However, the community generally believes these explanations lack substantive evidence, questioning whether they are merely excuses for “endless delays.” Moreover, as other Layer 2 projects (like Starknet and zkSync) have successfully issued tokens in the meantime, Linea’s lagging progress has resulted in user funds being locked within the ecosystem, significantly increasing opportunity costs.
Data shows that assets on the Linea chain are continually flowing out to other ecosystems, with cross-chain assets now totaling less than 300 million USD. Meanwhile, Declan Fox, the product lead for Linea, stated that the TGE will occur after the market transitions from bearish to bullish. Given the current market trends, as a public chain project with a pre-trade FDV stabilizing around 2-3 billion USD, we can preliminarily anticipate Linea’s TGE.
