Meteora Moves Forward with New Project Lead and Roadmap - When $MET?

Meteora, the DEX caught in the crossfire during the controversial Kelsier memecoin launches, is eager to put the saga to rest and move forward.

After three weeks of limbo following the resignation of co-founder and former CEO Ben Chow, Meteora has outlined a new protocol roadmap and announced its new project lead, Zhen Hoe Yong.

Who is Meteora’s new frontman Zhen Hoe Yon, and what’s next for the protocol?

Zhen Hoe Yong Named as New Meteora Lead

The last few weeks have been undeniably difficult for Meteora. One of Solana’s leading decentralized exchanges by trading volume, Meteora’s reputation was called into question after Kelsier Ventures and Hayden Davis repeatedly used the protocol to coordinate extractive pump-and-dump memecoins launches. 

While Meteora in itself is a permissionless protocol and can’t be blamed for how people choose to leverage it, Ben Chow routinely recommended Hayden Davis as a trusted launch partner for memecoin teams. In the wake of the $LIBRA scandal, Ben Chow stepped down from his role as CEO.

Stepping into Chow’s shoes and tasked with guiding Meteora forward, fellow co-founder and interim lead Zhen Hoe Yong has officially been named Meteora’s new project lead. Despite a relatively subdued social media presence, Zhen has been heavily involved in Meteora since day one, back when the protocol was called Mercurial.

The wider Jupiter team has championed Zhen as the best man for the job. Jupiter co-founder Siong Ong has described Zhen as “our go to when a problem needs fixing and a team needs leader.”

Prior to his genesis role at Jupiter and Meteora, Zhen co-founded Fulfilled in 2013, an app facilitating easier communications between personal trainers, coaches, and their clients.

Meteora’s New Roadmap - When $MET?

In his first official address as Meteora Project Lead, Zhen outlined his key focus areas for Meteora moving forward.

Zhen and the Meteora team are doubling down on their efforts to improve and evolve Meteora’s LP technology. While Meteora’s DLMM model is a powerful DeFi tool, Zhen admits it has a steep learning curve and aims to make the application more intuitive and accessible.

Additionally, Meteora will dedicate resources and attention towards partnerships and integrations with the wider Solana ecosystem. The LP Army, Meteora’s devout community of users, will also receive additional support for educational initiatives.

However, the question on the tip of everyone’s tongue concerns the TGE of $MET, Meteora’s native token. In December 2023, Meteora announced its LP Stimulus Package, a campaign designed to reward Meteora users with a $MET airdrop. 

This campaign replaced the protocol's previous plan, laid out in December 2022 following the FTX collapse, to migrate Mercurial’s token $MER to its new asset, $MET.

Meteora’s LP Stimulus Package claimed that users could expect a $MET liquidity event in early 2024. However, as 2024 breezed past, Meteora was no closer to its eagerly anticipated TGE. In December 2024, Chow informed Meteora users that the $MET launch was “not anytime soon”. 

Instead, Chow indicated that Meteora would be redoubling its efforts on building out the M3M3 launchpad and the $M3M3 memecoin, which has since been revealed to have been launched by Kelsier Ventures’ Hayden Davis.

However, under Zhen’s leadership, the LP Army might be one step closer to the fabled $MET airdrop. In his statement, Zhen acknowledges that the Meteora community has open questions regarding $MET and has assured users the team is “actively evaluating options and plans that align with the best interests of our long-term supporters and the broader ecosystem.”

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