Solana OGs Lash Out at Magic Eden Following $ME Airdrop Snub

To no one’s great surprise, $ME airdrops allocations were met with polarizing reactions.

Published: Dec 5, 2024 at 16:47

On December 4, the Magic Eden Foundation launched its eagerly anticipated $ME allocation checker. After counting their Magic Eden Diamonds all year, the Solana community finally confirmed how many $ME tokens they will receive in the upcoming TGE.

As expected, not everyone was thrilled with their allocations. Disappointed OG Solana NFT traders have decried the multichain app, claiming that Magic Eden pandered to Bitcoin Ordinal and Runes traders and ignored its most loyal customers.

Which principles guided $ME allocations and how were various communities rewarded?

$ME Eligibility

Supporting the launch of the $ME allocation checker, the Magic Eden Foundation published a blog outlining how various traders were rewarded. According to the post, $ME allocations aimed to reward organic users, cross-chain activity, and customer loyalty.

Beyond these guidelines, details surrounding how allocations were calculated are vague. The Foundation hinted that organic users who took advantage of the platform’s features, like multi-chain trading, cross-chain swaps, NFT launchpad, and Lucky Buy would be recognized.

Sybil farmers and inorganic activity have been detected and factored into allocations. Notably, Magic Eden claims that loyalty and continuous usage would be recognized, with OG users being rewarded. However, there’s a small caveat - Magic Eden defines an OG as someone with continuous usage.

Additionally, the Magic Eden Foundation encouraged users to link various wallets and solidify their allocations into one claim. Rewards tiers and bonuses reflect the highest achievement by an individual wallet.

While this doesn’t impact the total number of tokens a user can claim, linking wallets streams the claim process and makes it easier for users to share their total allocation, tiers, and bonuses.

Solana OGs Furious with Airdrop Snub

Unsurprisingly, a large number of Magic Eden users expressed bitter disappointment with their allocations. Dozens of traders claiming to have been trading on the platform for years have found themselves ineligible for rewards.

On top of many supposed OG users being ineligible, a lack of clarity around the role of Magic Eden Diamonds in $ME allocations fuelled further criticism. Others declared the process to be the “worst execution” for checking allocations, complaining about the “complicated” use of the Magic Eden wallet.

[https://x.com/SuperRichNft/status/1864467225366679949]

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Magic Eden faithful. Several Solana NFT stalwarts came out in support of the platform, thanking Magic Eden for recognizing organic activity from organic users.

[https://x.com/genuinearticles/status/1864456248797560907]

Were Bitcoin Ecosystem Traders Disproportionately Rewarded?

Since Magic Eden expanded to include the Bitcoin ecosystem trading, Ordinal and Rune markets have become the platform’s biggest source of revenue and trading fees, constituting over 69.9% of Magic Eden’s revenue over the last year.

NFT volume

As a result, users theorized that Bitcoin ecosystem traders would take the lion’s share of $ME token allocations. This thesis was further exacerbated by Magic Eden’s tokenomics announcement in November, with Solana users preparing for “a slap in the face”.

Magic Eden’s definition of OG users referring to people with continuous usage. Long-term Solana supporters who switched to alternative marketplaces may have been excluded, while Magic Eden faithful who followed the platform into BitcoinFi have been rewarded handsomely.

Now that $ME allocations have been revealed, it appears this theory has been proven true. According to social media commentators, Ordinal and Rune traders are largely happy with their allocations. Many Bitcoin users are expecting five-figure drops, without having ever traded Solana NFTs on the platform.

According to pre-market prices, $ME is currently exchanging hands at $3.6. The Magic Eden TGE (Token Generation Event) is set to go live on December 10, 2024.