Developer Platform
Bubblegum V2
The next generation of compressed NFTs launched in May, marking the most significant upgrade to compressed NFTs since their inception. Used to mint over 1 billion assets to date, Bubblegum now introduces v2: a scalable, enterprise-ready upgrade designed to meet the needs of gaming, AI, RWAs, collectibles, and more.
New capabilities include:
Permissioned plugin: Define who can transfer, burn, freeze, or soulbind an asset
Royalties plugin: Enforce creator royalties onchain, automatically
Onchain attributes: Enable collection evolution and real-time updates, fully trustless
Bubblegum v2 is already integrated by early adopters like dVIN, getting ready to mint 150K+ wine provenance NFTs; Crossmint, powering loyalty and product passports; Matrica, enhancing token-gated tools and SDKs, and SendAI/SendArcade, exploring AI and gaming experiences. Solana Labs also joined the initial launch cohort.
At launch, Bubblegum v2 is supported by a launch partners including Triton, Solflare, Phantom, QuickNode, Magic Eden, Tensor, Sonic, and more, ensuring assets are instantly usable across the Solana ecosystem.
The upgrade is fully available through Metaplex SDKs and tools. Read the full blog post on the launch.
Token Metadata
1.3M assets were created through Token Metadata in May, including 1.2M fungible tokens, reinforcing Metaplex’s position as the go-to standard for fungible token launches on Solana.
The Token Metadata Resize initiative also remained active, with over 3.3m NFTs optimized and over 7,800 SOL claimed by users.
Metaplex Treasury Initiative MTP-004 “Extended Claim Period with SOL-MPLX Liquidity Provisioning” by yamalyama was approved by the Metaplex DAO. This proposal results in an extended 18-month window for eligible NFT holders to continue claiming excess SOL created by the resize initiative.
The resize initiative was one of the final upgrades to Token Metadata (TM) before handing the upgrade authority to security firms who are doing final audits ahead of immutability.
Anybody with a TM NFT can continue to resize their eligible NFTs’ accounts and claim excess SOL until the newly approved MTP-004 claim mechanics are ready to be implemented. The new mechanics will generally work as follows:
A snapshot will be taken of every TM account yet to be resized followed by an automatic resizing, which helps optimize Solana by removing unneeded state. This will begin an extended 18-month window whereby any eligible NFT holder who had not resized their NFT’s accounts can claim the full amount of excess SOL created by the resize optimization.
The unclaimed funds will be divided into two pools:
10% (~5.2K SOL) will go to a Claim Pool that is automatically topped up so that NFT holders can claim the full amount as if they had done the resize directly.
90% (~46.8K SOL) will be designated for adding to SOL-MPLX liquidity while also available to top up the Claim Pool as needed.
After 18 months, the DAO can vote on what to do with any unclaimed funds.
Metaplex Protocol Fees & $MPLX Buybacks
~$1M (6,030 SOL) was used to buy back 4.4 million $MPLX (0.4% of total supply) for the Metaplex DAO. Each month, 50% of the prior month’s protocol fees are allocated to buying back $MPLX for the Metaplex DAO.
May’s protocol fees totaled $2.2M (13,480 SOL), driven by continued asset creation across Solana and the SVM. Half of this, 6,740 SOL, will be used for MPLX buybacks in June. With cumulative protocol fees now exceeding $34M (245,000 SOL), Metaplex continues to demonstrate its scale as core infrastructure for the onchain economy. The Metaplex DAO remains a central force for governance, protocol development, and long-term ecosystem growth.
Metaplex Earn Campaign
May continued the momentum of Season 2 of the Metaplex Earn campaign, spanning weeks 6 through 9 of the 12-week program. The campaign, developed with Forgd, Kamino, Orca, and Jito, aims to deepen $MPLX liquidity and expand DeFi utility.
The big update in May: a new MPLX-USDC vault was launched in Week 7, providing LPs with a direct MPLX-stable pair. It has since distributed weekly rewards of up to 10,000 $MPLX and 150 $ORCA. Meanwhile, the flagship MPLX-jitoSOL vault continued with rewards of up to 85,000 $MPLX, 650 $JTO, and 200 $ORCA.
TVL in the jitoSOL vault neared the $7M cap as participation remained strong. The campaign enters its final stretch in June, with updates to the program teased for the upcoming weeks.
MTP-004: Extended Claim Period with SOL-MPLX Liquidity Provisioning
As previously mentioned, the Metaplex DAO voted to approve MTP-004, which includes extending the claim period for the excess SOL resulting from the resize initiative by 18 months, while also provisioning SOL for SOL-MPLX liquidity.
The unclaimed funds will be divided into two pools:
10% (~5.2K SOL) will go to a Claim Pool that is automatically topped up so that NFT holders can claim the full amount as if they had done the resize directly.
90% (~46.8K SOL) will be designated for adding to SOL-MPLX liquidity while also available to top up the Claim Pool as needed.
Please refer to the Developer Platform section above for more information.
Metaplex DAO Grants
Cohort 1 of the Metaplex DAO Grants Program, managed by the Metaplex DAO Grants Working Group including members from IslandDAO, officially wrapped at the end of May. Designed to support public goods and protocol adoption across Metaplex Core and MPL-404, the program distributed approximately $160,000 in funding (100K USDC + 1M MPLX) to 12 grantees out of 76 total applicants.
The focus was on open-source contributions and infrastructure-level innovation, with teams like Verxio, Publique, Faenora, Silicons, Nomadz, RubiansVR, and WeRate selected as grantees.
Applications for Cohort 2 are now open. Learn more at metaplexdaogrants.replit.app.