blockworks.co
The Solana-based swap aggregator Jupiter Exchange is releasing a native token.
Announced during the Solana Breakpoint conference, the news came with a pledge that a majority of the forthcoming JUP token will be released to the public via community airdrop and a token sale.
Jupiter is a swap aggregator, a platform used to gather liquidity for traders seeking the best possible prices with minimal slippage.
The protocol’s internal tracker reports $103 million in volume over the past 24 hours. Jupiter’s swap aggregation service has likely been buoyed by a recent uptick in Solana DeFi activity.
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“Jupiter has been the leading DEX on Solana for quite some time. After the death of Serum due to the FTX collapse, JUP stands to fill that hole and offer a new opportunity for Solana DeFi,” Spencer Hughes, a Blockworks Research analyst, said.
40% of the forthcoming JUP tokens will be airdropped to the Jupiter Exchange community, and around 955,000 users are eligible, according to the team’s slide deck from the event announcement. Twenty percent of the tokens will be distributed in a token sale, with the remaining 40% set to be distributed to insiders and a “strategic reserve.”
Jupiter will spend the next two weeks consulting with the community before setting a firm launch timeline, Jupiter’s pseudonymous cofounder Meow said in a Telegram message, adding that JUP will function as a governance token.
Jupiter’s token allocation announcement follows a similar move by Celestia, a data availability-focused blockchain. Around 53% of Celestia’s TIA tokens will go to early investors and core contributors, while 20% is allocated to the public.
The TIA community allocation will be fully available at the token’s launch, while the investors and core contributor allocations will be subject to gradual unlocks.
Jupiter Exchange also announced Thursday that it will integrate with Circle’s cross-chain transfer protocol.