Meteora (MET), Solana’s most dominant decentralised exchange (DEX), successfully completed its Token Generation Event (TGE) and airdrop on October 23, 2025, marking one of the network’s most closely watched events of the year.
The platform, known for its liquidity depth and trading efficiency, processes over $1 billion in daily trading volume and maintains a robust Total Value Locked (TVL) of $854 million. The airdrop distribution proceeded without technical issues, earning praise for its execution.
According to data from Artemis, Meteora continues to show impressive operational metrics, with $633 million in daily trading volume, $4.5 million in daily fees and $580,000 in daily revenue. These figures firmly establish it as Solana’s largest and most active DEX, well ahead of its peers.
However, the post-launch narrative has quickly shifted from optimism to concern, as MET’s market performance diverged sharply from expectations.
Tokenomics and Airdrop Details
Meteora’s tokenomics reveal a structured allocation model but one that still leaves over half the supply locked. Only 48% of the total supply is currently circulating. The largest shares are reserved for Mercurial Stakeholders and the Liquidity Provider (LP) stimulus programme, designed to incentivise ecosystem growth and user engagement.
From the non-circulating portion, the Ecosystem Reserve holds 34%, while the Meteora team retains 18%, subject to vesting schedules.
Despite the overall transparency, some users have raised concerns over specific allocations. On-chain data revealed that three blockchain addresses linked to members of Donald Trump’s team collectively received an airdrop valued at $4.2 million in MET, which was later deposited on the OKX exchange. The finding, while not suggesting wrongdoing, fuelled debates about the fairness of the token distribution.
Market Reaction: MET Price Crashes Post-Launch
Despite a flawless technical rollout, MET’s market debut was brutal. The token, which traded around $1.70 in pre-listing futures, plunged immediately after launch, bottoming out at $0.51 within days.
The decline underscores the volatile sentiment surrounding Solana-based DeFi assets. Analysts point out that even successful launches on Solana, such as Jupiter and now Meteora, continue to face undervaluation compared to Ethereum-based DeFi giants like Aave (AAVE) and Uniswap (UNI).
Chart analysis indicates MET has been moving inside a descending parallel channel since its listing. After an initial bounce on October 18, the token briefly validated the lower support line before tumbling again on October 22, reaching a new all-time low of $0.50.
Both Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) indicators remain bearish. The RSI sits below 30, suggesting oversold conditions, while the MACD remains negative, providing no signs of a bullish divergence or reversal.
While a minor rebound toward the midline of the channel remains possible, analysts caution that MET may struggle to reclaim previous highs in the near term.
Broader Implications for Solana’s DeFi Sector
The underperformance of MET despite strong fundamentals has reignited a broader discussion about the state of Solana’s DeFi ecosystem. While Solana excels in transaction speed and scalability, its user base remains heavily skewed toward memecoins and speculative trading, rather than sustained DeFi participation.
This preference limits capital inflows into protocols like Meteora that rely on consistent liquidity and user retention. As a result, Solana’s DeFi tokens often trade at significantly lower Fully Diluted Valuations (FDVs) compared to Ethereum’s established players, even when their operational metrics are comparable or superior.
If Solana’s ecosystem continues to prioritise high-risk assets over foundational DeFi infrastructure, launches like Meteora’s may struggle to sustain momentum beyond the initial hype cycle.
Final Thoughts: Strong Fundamentals, Weak Market Confidence
Meteora’s airdrop and TGE marked an operational success but a market disappointment. The DEX remains a cornerstone of Solana’s DeFi network, boasting high liquidity, substantial volume and transparent governance. Yet, the sharp decline in MET’s price reflects deeper structural concerns about valuation models, investor sentiment and the maturity of Solana’s DeFi audience.
Unless broader market confidence returns to the ecosystem, MET may continue to trade below its intrinsic value, a sobering reminder that even flawless execution cannot offset weak investor conviction.
