The Monad Pulse #021
Monad Ecosystem Updates, Mar 12 - 19
If last week was about institutions showing up, this week was about the network proving it can handle them. MONAD_NINE hit mainnet on Thursday, cutting RPC response times by 66%. Aave v3 went live with $15M in bootstrapped liquidity. Monad joined Mastercard’s Crypto Partner Program. Stablecoin volume crossed $59 billion, up from $4 billion four months ago. And MetaMask Card made MON spendable anywhere Mastercard is accepted.
The infrastructure is no longer in question. The scale is.
MONAD_NINE Mainnet Hard Fork Executes
On Thursday, March 19 at 14:30 GMT, the MONAD_NINE hard fork went live on mainnet (v0.13.0). All nodes were required to upgrade. The hard fork introduced three protocol improvements:
MIP-3: Linear memory costs, removing quadratic gas pricing. MIP-4: Precompile for reserve balance introspection, useful for AA bundlers. MIP-5: Osaka fork features including the CLZ opcode.
Beyond the protocol changes, the release delivers a meaningful performance improvement: RPC responses for queries using block=’latest’ — the most common query pattern — now return in 400ms instead of 1.2s. Simulations and state lookups now reference the latest proposed block rather than the latest finalized block, reducing delay across the board. Major exchanges including Upbit and Bithumb temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals as standard precaution during the upgrade.
Full changelog at docs.monad.xyz.
Aave v3 Deployment Goes Live
The Aave DAO finalized deployment of Aave v3 on Monad, backed by over 873,000 votes in favor and a $15 million incentive package from the Monad Foundation to bootstrap liquidity. The deployment marks a major endorsement from one of DeFi’s most established protocols, bringing deep lending and borrowing infrastructure to the network and driving sustained demand for MON as the gas token.
Monad Joins Mastercard Crypto Partner Program
Monad joined Mastercard’s Crypto Partner Program alongside more than 85 crypto-native companies, payments providers, and financial institutions. The partnership positions Monad’s onchain infrastructure within one of the world’s largest payment networks, creating a path for Monad-based activity to connect with real-world payment rails at scale.
Stablecoin Volume Reaches $59B - Up From $4B in Four Months
Monad’s stablecoin transfer volume grew from $4 billion to $59 billion since mainnet launch — one of the fastest stablecoin ramps recorded from a new chain. The figure reflects genuine economic activity, not just TVL numbers, and positions Monad as a serious contender in the stablecoin infrastructure conversation.
Data built with Dune’s Stablecoins Dataset.
MetaMask Card Goes Live on Monad
Monad is now live on MetaMask Card. Users can swap any Monad token to USDC with gas covered, then spend anywhere Mastercard is accepted. The integration closes the loop between onchain assets and everyday purchases in a single flow.
Mento Launches GBPm/USDm FX Pair on Monad
Mento Labs brought institutional-grade FX infrastructure to Monad with its first deployment outside of Celo, launching the GBPm/USDm trading pair using Mento V3’s Fixed-Price Market Maker design, powered by Chainlink oracle pricing. The pair is built for payments, treasury flows, remittances, and multicurrency applications, with cross-chain connectivity via Wormhole. More pools and broader market expansion are planned.
KyberSwap Adds Monad Support
Monad is now live on Kyber Earn. Liquidity pools from multiple protocols on Monad are accessible through KyberSwap, with Kyber Zap allowing users to interact with any pool using any token in a single transaction.
Dirol Trading Terminal Launches
Dirol launched its trading terminal for analyzing and executing trades across Monad tokens, with integrated swap routing powered by its proprietary routing algorithm Grace. As Monad’s DEX aggregator, Dirol routes trades across AMMs with seamless execution.
Public beta is live at dex.dirol.io/terminal.
Parletto Beta Launches Prediction Parlays on Monad
Parletto beta went live on Monad, combining prediction markets with parlay mechanics. The platform is fast, decentralized, and EVM compatible. Users can mint tUSD, ensure they have MON for gas, then parlay or provide liquidity as the bookie. The team is shipping continuously toward mainnet.
Try it at parletto.bet.
Levr.bet Launches March Madness Leaderboard Challenge
Levr.bet introduced a March Madness Leaderboard Challenge running March 19 – April 6 with a $5,000 prize pool. Users can place conviction bets, climb the leaderboard, and win through the tournament. New users receive a 25% cashback promo on their first bet.
Compete at levr.bet/tournament.
PlayKami $20K Rewards Campaign
PlayKami launched a two-week rewards campaign on Monad distributing $20,000 in MON plus bonus PlayKami Points through Monad Momentum. Three earning methods: First Rip Rebate (12% back on first pack for new users), Daily Streak Boost (up to 10% back with a 7-day streak), and a Weekly XP Leaderboard (Week 1 includes historical XP). Rewards paid in MON.
Full details at playkami.io.
Blog: Streaming Payments and the Future of Payroll
@HarryAlford3 published an analysis examining how high-performance networks like Monad make continuous payroll viable for the first time. With stablecoins settling instantly and transaction costs low enough to support continuous interactions, payroll can shift from periodic disbursement to a live income balance — programmable, streaming, and real-time.
Weekly Ecosystem Snapshot
A quick look at what else shipped this week across the ecosystem:
MetaMask Gas Sponsorship - users can swap and interact without needing gas, Monad remains the first network where this is live
Blinq - real-time prediction markets with sub-second execution, live on Monad
Tangem - MON now supported on Tangem cold wallets for secure storage
Packflip - open digital Pokémon and One Piece packs, trade instantly or redeem for physical cards
World Baseball Classic - live on Levr.bet with leveraged predictions on baseball
memetok Scroll Trading - create content for favorite memecoins and earn commissions when posts drive trades
This newsletter is brought to you by Chainflow - an independent, self-funded validator and genesis node on Monad. Stake $MON with Chainflow and support decentralized infrastructure.