The Monad Pulse #008
Monad Ecosystem Updates, Dec 11 - 18
Monad’s week was pure expansion mode - exchanges, payments, wallets, and DeFi all flipped to “on” at once. With MON staking hitting Bybit, payments live across 50M merchants, Wormhole-powered DeFi exploding past $1.4B on Uniswap, and consumer apps rolling out fast, the network is quickly turning mainnet momentum into real-world usage.
Ecosystem Updates
Bybit On-Chain Earn Launches MON Staking
Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced that Bybit On-Chain Earn now supports Monad (MON) staking, effective December 11, 2025. This integration enables Bybit’s 70 million users to participate in on-chain MON staking with competitive APR rates directly within the Bybit app.
The platform offers flexible staking and redemption options that support blockchain decentralization. Once successfully enrolled, staking rewards begin accruing approximately 5.5 hours after on-chain transaction confirmation. MON earnings compound automatically and are distributed upon redemption.
AEON Brings MON to Global Payment Infrastructure
AEON, a payment and settlement layer for the AI economy, announced its support for Monad on December 11, 2025. The integration enables the use of Monad’s native token, MON, as a payment currency within AEON Pay. This allows MON to be used for online and offline payments across over 50 million merchants in regions including Southeast Asia, Nigeria, Mexico, and Brazil.
This development significantly expands the real-world utility of the MON token by integrating it into an established payment infrastructure. It leverages Monad’s high-performance Layer-1 blockchain capabilities to power everyday transactions globally.
A16z Crypto Expands to Seoul with Former Monad APAC Lead
A16z crypto established its first office in Seoul, South Korea, on December 11, 2025, with Sungmo Park, formerly the APAC lead at Monad. This strategic expansion aims to support portfolio companies with go-to-market strategies and partnerships across Asia. The move underscores Monad’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region and strengthens the network’s institutional connections in one of crypto’s most important markets.
Euclid Protocol Integrates Monad, Passports Become Tradeable
Euclid Protocol, which addresses DeFi liquidity bottlenecks, announced its partnership with Monad on December 15, 2025. As part of this integration, Planet Euclid Passports, which track user activity and earned ASTRA points, became freely tradeable and transferable digital identities. Minting of these Passports is permanently closed, meaning new users must acquire them on secondary markets like OpenSea or MagicEden to access upcoming private mainnet quests and exclusive benefits.
This integration drives user engagement and liquidity within the Monad ecosystem by offering exclusive access and incentives through a novel digital identity system.
Monad Testnet Re-Genesis Completed
The Monad team completed a full re-genesis of the Monad Testnet on December 16, 2025, after rescheduling from the original December 10 date to allow ecosystem partners more time to prepare. This re-genesis aimed to remove legacy behaviors from early testnet phases and reduce state sync time, optimizing the network’s performance for a cleaner, more efficient development environment.
All balances, deployed contracts, and on-chain state were wiped, requiring teams to redeploy any existing contracts. This important step ensures the testnet closely mirrors expected mainnet conditions and improves the foundation for future production deployments.
BingX Expands MON Trading Options
BingX added MON to its spot and futures markets on December 16, 2025, leveraging its 40 million-user platform. The exchange highlighted MON’s inclusion in its AI-driven trading tools and Copy Trading 2.0 suite, which handles $580M in cumulative volume. The listing provides immediate liquidity access for MON traders and expands the token’s presence on one of the top 5 derivatives platforms globally.
MetaMask Integrates Native MON Support
MetaMask, one of the most widely used Web3 wallets, integrated native Monad support on December 16, 2025. This integration expands multichain accessibility for MON holders and simplifies the user experience for those interacting with the Monad ecosystem. With MetaMask’s massive user base, this integration removes friction for new users entering the Monad network and strengthens the ecosystem’s accessibility infrastructure.
JOE Staking Goes Live on Monad
Trader Joe staking is now live on Monad, with the initial sJOE payout expected to be distributed around December 20, 2025. This payout consists of all Monad LFJ DEX revenue since mainnet launch. This development provides new opportunities for users to stake their JOE tokens on the Monad network and earn rewards from decentralized exchange revenue. It signifies growing utility and financial incentives within the Monad ecosystem, potentially attracting more users and liquidity to the platform.
StaFi Protocol Supports Monad LST Stack
The StaFi Protocol team announced that its Liquid Staking-as-a-Service (LSaaS) platform now supports the Monad LST Stack. The integration includes a deployment framework for creating Monad LSTs and configurable components for reward logic and fee management. This brings professional liquid staking infrastructure to the Monad ecosystem, enabling users to maintain liquidity while earning staking rewards.
Wormhole Connect Powers Next Generation of DeFi on Monad
The Monad ecosystem is accelerating with Wormhole Connect powering the infrastructure for the next generation of DeFi. With just a few lines of code, Wormhole Connect embeds a native bridge into applications, improving conversion and simplifying onboarding with gas dropoff to ensure users always have the gas needed. Several major platforms have launched using this infrastructure:
Bean Exchange is now live as the ultimate capital-efficient Perps & DLMM Spot on Monad, already processing $3M in volume. LeverUp launched as an LP-free perps DEX offering unlimited open interest and up to 1001x leverage. Dirol Protocol went live as the all-in-one trading aggregator to everything DeFi on Monad. OctoSwap is operating as the Native Liquidity Hub of Monad, uniting classic and concentrated AMMs with an advanced smart router. Mace launched as the smartest DEX aggregator on Monad. All these platforms are powered by Wormhole Connect.
Backpack Exchange Enables MON Lending with Staking Yield
Backpack Exchange now allows users to lend MON and stack yield, combining native staking yield on top of lending yield. The platform offers lending, staking, and perps collateral all in one integrated solution, maximizing capital efficiency for MON holders. Check it out.
Monad Momentum Grants Program Opens for Applications
Applications to Monad Momentum are now open. Monad builders can apply for grants to support their user acquisition campaigns, experiment with growth strategies, and build sustainable business models. This program provides direct funding and support to help projects scale their user bases within the Monad ecosystem.
Monad Reaches $1.43B Volume Milestone on Uniswap
Monad’s chain ID is 143, and the network just crossed $1.43B in volume on the Uniswap Protocol, marking a significant milestone for the ecosystem. The coincidence of the chain ID and volume figure has become a celebrated moment in the community. Users can now swap seamlessly on Monad through Uniswap’s interface.
Consumer Applications & Gaming
RareBet Sports Brings On-Chain Sports Betting to Monad
Think you have ball knowledge? With RareBet Sports, users can put their money where their mouth is by selecting 2-6 player props and winning up to 50x. The platform brings real sports betting excitement to the Monad ecosystem with transparent, on-chain wagering.
LootGo Launches Real-World Treasure Hunts with Crypto Rewards
Real-world treasure hunts are now live on LootGo. Users can earn crypto rewards while getting their steps in, combining physical activity with blockchain incentives. The LootGo Monad Momentum program is now live, allowing users to earn rewards and climb the leaderboard by hunting treasure chests. Users can sign up with code ‘momentum’ to get started.
Kizzy Mobile Introduces Social Media Betting
Social media betting is now live on Kizzy Mobile. Users can predict posts’ performance to win rewards, bringing a new dimension to social media engagement on Monad.
Explore Omnia Launches Pet Collection and Battle Game
Players can now collect pets and battle others in Explore Omnia. The game offers an immersive world filled with adventures, risk, and a chance to climb the ranks in the grand arena. The experience showcases Monad’s capability to handle complex gaming mechanics with instant responsiveness.
Technical & Infrastructure Updates
Improved Security and Performance Protocols
Monad has implemented technical upgrades focused on security and performance during this period, including encryption protocols and enhanced RPC methods for instant transaction confirmations. The network continues to refine its MonadBFT consensus mechanism, which now uses authenticated UDP for validator communication with replay attack prevention. These improvements reduce risks of network-level attacks and boost validator confidence while maintaining the network’s high-throughput capabilities.
Network Momentum Continues
As MON prices stabilize following the mainnet launch, the blockchain’s integration of major infrastructure providers continues to strengthen its ecosystem. The network maintains its position as one of the fastest-growing Layer-1 blockchains, with active development across DeFi, payments, gaming, and infrastructure sectors. With over 300 projects building on Monad and strong institutional backing from investors like Paradigm, the network’s trajectory remains focused on delivering 10,000 TPS with sub-second finality while maintaining full EVM compatibility.