- Critics of the hugely-hyped Jupiter (JUP) airdrop have questioned the project’s tokenomics, likening the airdrop to an ICO style cash-grab.
- Jupiter founder, Meow, swatted away criticism on Thursday, suggesting his critics are uninformed.
- JUP token is currently down almost 70% from its highs, as sell pressure from airdrop recipients tanks price.
Meow—the pseudonymous creator of Solana-based Jupiter (JUP)—and his critics, have been at each other like cats and dogs following the project’s high-profile airdrop on Wednesday.
The criticism of Jupiter, a decentralised exchange (DEX) aggregator, has focussed on the project’s launch liquidity pool and its token distribution strategy, which critics suggest resembles an initial coin offering (ICO) and a cash-grab by the founders, more than a regular crypto airdrop.
Meow has hit back at the FUDsters stating information about the airdrop and token distribution were made available ahead of time and that his critics were simply uninformed.
What Exactly Is The Criticism?
Critics of the Jupiter airdrop have pointed out that the tokenomics are very favourable to the founders of the project and not so great for airdrop recipients and are especially bad for early buyers of the JUP token. Some have likened the tokenomics more to a round of fundraising than an airdrop.
The token distribution for Jupiter’s launch:
- Allocated 10 billion of the total 20 billion token supply to the founders; and
- From that 10 billion, the founders created a launch liquidity pool of 250 million tokens, which will return to the project’s treasury after seven days.
This return of the liquidity pool back to the founders has been seen as a red flag by critics. On X, Adam Cochrane — a partner at venture capital firm Cinneamhain Ventures — broke down his understanding of the airdrop tokenomics, and it wasn’t pretty:
Cochrane concluded that the strategy is basically a cash-grab by the founders, describing it as “shitty antics throwing away reputation of what could have been a *very* successful business long term.”
Since the airdrop, JUP’s price has plummeted, and at the time of writing the token is sitting at AUD$0.914, down 69.7% from its high, according to CoinGecko.
How Now Meow Meow?
Meow was quick to try to squash the FUD, spending much of the day Thursday on X trying to counter what he believes are misunderstandings of the airdrop’s mechanics.
Meow claimed the liquidity pool has been provided to benefit token holders, saying without this liquidity, selling the token would be difficult. He also denied founders would be selling the tokens used to provide liquidity after seven days, saying they’ll simply be returned to treasury or used to provide liquidity for other projects.
Speaking to the ominously-named ‘Rug Radio’ on Thursday, Meow attacked his critics saying “You know what I realized, guys? How many people don’t understand anything…they only understand buy/sell.”
What is Jupiter?
Jupiter is a decentralised exchange aggregator built on the Solana blockchain.
Its purpose is to aggregate liquidity from multiple DEXs in the Solana ecosystem to optimise trading prices and minimise slippage.
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