The Monad Pulse #038
Monad Ecosystem Updates, July 9 - 16
A week of real strategic sequencing. MIP-9's active set expansion was postponed (not shelved, redirected) because Cadence, Category Labs' new multi-proposer consensus design, changes the architecture MIP-9 was built against. Testnet completed its MIP-12 upgrade to 300ms blocks, with mainnet rollout beginning next week via cohort-based deployment. On the ecosystem side: MetaMask's Joseph Lubin explained the Monad decision directly, Aave V3 deposits crossed $265M, and Agent Hub opened as Monad's answer to one-click AI agent deployment.
Governance & Protocol
MIP-9 Active Set Expansion Postponed for Cadence
Monad Foundation postponed the active-set expansion proposed in MIP-9 following the introduction of Cadence. MIP-9 had been tested against Monad’s current consensus architecture, but Cadence introduces a materially different multiple-concurrent-proposers design, and the Foundation determined that expanding the validator set now could set a limit that later needs revision.
Active-set expansion may be reconsidered once a larger validator set has been evaluated against the proposed Cadence architecture.
This is the right call, even though it means more waiting for approved VDP operators. Setting a validator count against an architecture that’s about to change would have locked in a number that Cadence might immediately make wrong. Worth remembering the next time “postponed” reads as bad news, sometimes it’s sequencing discipline.
Cadence Proposal Outlines Multi-Proposer Direction
Monad Foundation shared additional detail on Cadence, Category Labs’ proposed multiple-concurrent-proposers consensus protocol. If adopted, Cadence would support 100 millisecond block intervals and roughly 200 millisecond finality. Combined with Category Labs’ encrypted mempool work, the design is intended to address MEV at the protocol level without sacrificing low latency.
Cadence builds on existing Monad components, synchronous execution and Deterministic RaptorCast, rather than a ground-up redesign. Technical details are in the research paper.
Testnet Moves to 300 Millisecond Blocks
Monad testnet completed its MIP-12 upgrade and is now producing blocks at an average interval of roughly 300 milliseconds. Network monitoring after the hard fork showed stable operation under the reduced vote pace.
Mainnet rollout was expected to begin the following week, with the hard fork itself expected roughly two weeks after that. If you’re operating a mainnet validator, the cohort rollout below is the process to watch.
Validator Action Required
Mainnet v0.15.0 Rollout Moves to Validator Cohorts
Monad Foundation announced that mainnet’s next release will follow the same cohort-based process used for testnet v0.15.0.
Do not upgrade before receiving a cohort-specific announcement. Cohort 1 was scheduled to begin first, followed by Cohort 2 roughly 24 hours later, with subsequent groups following additional guidance.
Check the mainnet cohort document to confirm your assignment and timing before taking any action.
Ecosystem Updates
Joseph Lubin Explains Why MetaMask Chose Monad
Joseph Lubin said MetaMask selected Monad for the Money Account after comparing it against other Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks. According to Lubin, Monad’s technology, fast finality, real-time network experience, and growing application ecosystem were central to the decision. MetaMask Money Account launched with Monad as its exclusive canonical chain.
Direct reasoning from the Consensys side, worth reading in full if you missed the original launch coverage two weeks ago.
Aave V3 Deposits on Monad Pass $265 Million
Aave V3 deposits on Monad crossed $265 million. Keone Hon highlighted the market’s early growth and credited Aave, TokenLogic, and the wider deployment teams. Monad’s Aave V3 market supports USDC, USDT0, AUSD, GHO, WETH, cbBTC, wstETH, weETH, syrupUSDC, and sUSDe.
AUSD Crosses $100 Million and 10,000 Holders on Monad
AUSD surpassed $100 million in supply and 10,000 holders on Monad. Agora launched AUSD on Monad in November 2025 — eight months later, the issuer describes Monad as one of the asset’s fastest-growing network deployments.
View balances and holder data on Monadscan
Agent Hub Opens a Home for AI Agents on Monad
Monad introduced Agent Hub, where users can launch AI agents in one click, connect them to Monad applications, and enter agent-focused campaigns. A built-in skills directory gives agents direct access to integrations from Uniswap, Morpho, Balancer, Kuru Exchange, Clober DEX, Nad.fun, dev.fun, and BlinqFi.
This is the consumer-facing complement to the agentic infrastructure work (Ultrafuzz, Bugfinder, the Agent Control Layer) that’s been building for months — Agent Hub is where a non-technical user actually deploys an agent rather than reading about the primitives underneath.
Nook Adds USDC Lending on Monad
Nook added Monad support, giving users access to USDC lending through Aave from its mobile app. Deposits can come from a bank account or another supported Nook source without manually bridging, swapping, or holding gas. Onramping and offramping are free, with support on iOS and Android. Nook cited Monad’s growing DeFi activity and high-performance EVM infrastructure as reasons for the integration.
Interactive Brokers Adds MON Trading and Monad USDC Transfers
MON trading is now live on Interactive Brokers, which also added support for USDC deposits and withdrawals through the Monad network — another institutional-grade distribution channel added this month, following Ramp and OnePay Crypto in recent weeks.
Perpl Records More Than $20M in Daily Trading Volume
Perpl recorded more than $20 million in trading volume on July 10, following its recent fee reduction and the launch of its first mainnet trading tournament. The fee cuts appear to be working as intended.
Saturn Launches Structured Products on Monad
Saturn is live on Monad, bringing structured products powered by STRC and U.S. Treasury assets. Eligible participants can bridge through Saturn’s front end and earn Gravity Points. Saturn stated the offering is unavailable in the United States and European Economic Area, with variable, non-guaranteed yield — see Saturn’s documentation and legal disclosures for full terms.
Monad Cards Move Onchain
Monad Cards are now available to mint through cards.monad.xyz, moving the community card experience fully onchain.
Monad Foundation Sponsors Raingentic Commerce Hackathon
Monad Foundation joined the Raingentic Commerce Hackathon as a sponsor. Participants can build with Rain on any supported network; the best agentic commerce implementation on Monad wins a Mac Mini and six months of access to Studio, Monad’s builder space in New York. The event runs August 8-9 in New York with Encode Club, and includes a technical session on agentic commerce settlement on Monad.
Monad Foundry Moves Closer to Upstream Support
Monad Foundry v1.7.1-monad-v1.0.0 is now available, porting the existing Monad integration to the generic network and EVM architecture introduced in upstream Foundry v1.7.0. Category Labs described this as an important step toward adding Monad support directly to the main Foundry codebase.
Teams upgrading must reinstall foundryup following the release instructions.
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