"Solana's performance during the $JUP launch has been notable, with over 1.2 million transactions processed on @JupiterExchange alone. It's anticipated to reach a volume of at least $1 billion today (Solana is expected to achieve roughly 30-40% more)."
Disclaimer: This information is shared for informational purposes only. It should not be considered as legal, financial, tax, investment, or other advice.
Critics have expressed strong concerns about the timing of the JUP token's launch, which came just 24 hours after its highly awaited airdrop. There are worries that Jupiter may have used the open market opportunity to raise funds without complete awareness among users.
Concerns Regarding the Airdrop
Earlier in the week, the Jupiter team had revealed a strategy that extended beyond a simple token giveaway. Their plan aimed to position the JUP token as the foundation of DeFi 2.0, emphasizing expansive growth, ecosystem initiatives, and a governance model eventually inclusive of community decision-making. The "50/50 Tokenomics" token minting ritual and cold wallet release conditions demonstrated an approach to managing token supply, distribution, and security, ensuring long-term project sustainability and community involvement.
However, some misconceptions have led certain sector of the community to perceive the actions of the Jupiter team post-airdrop as resembling a public token sale. A critical issue revolved around the method of offering the JUP token on the open market. According to the team, this doubled as a strategy for fundraising. However, critics have noted that this wasn't adequately communicated with participants, leading to discussions about transparency and whether buyers were making well-informed decisions.
Another concern raised by a user on X highlighted Jupiter's implementation of "moon protection" on the token, restricting its price from exceeding 0.70 until the team secured $100 million. This led to the perception that people were participating in a sale without consciously recognizing it.
Addressing Concerns
Jupiter's founder took to X to address these concerns, stating that opting for an initial DEX offering or an over-the-counter deal would have likely resulted in more funds. They further explained that launching the token in this manner allowed airdrop recipients to sell into a substantial pool, ensuring that interested buyers could rely on a large pool to absorb selling pressure from airdrops.
Unwarranted Criticism
However, according to Blockworks research analyst Ren Yu Kong, the criticism surrounding the airdrop is unjustified. Kong states, "Fundamentally, Jupiter set a price and a valuation that they were willing to launch at, in this case, $4 – $7 billion FDV. It’s no different from investment bankers setting an IPO price, which a company is willing to sell shares at. No one is forcing participants to buy if they don’t like the valuation in the launch pool."
JUP's Trading Volume Surpasses $450M
In the meantime, the JUP token saw over $450 million in trading volume on Jupiter’s platform alone. A trader under the name “Ted Talks Macro” mentioned that Jupiter had processed over 1 million transactions within an hour after the JUP claim was made available.
