Metaplex September Round-Up 2025

September Highlights

• Genesis - Genesis powered the $EXO & $GOATED token launches in September and debuted a new launch mechanic, Uniform Price Auctions

• Protocol Fees - Protocol fees reached nearly $2.5M in September, driven by over $2.3M from Token Metadata, the highest TM revenue in the last seven months.

• $MPLX Buyback - $1.1M of Metaplex protocol fees were used to buy back 4.8M $MPLX (0.5% of total supply / 0.8% of outstanding supply) for the Metaplex DAO.

• Genesis Partner Network - The Genesis Partner Network expanded with Cohort 2, adding Jupiter, Orca, Meteora, Saros, Marinade, and Streamflow

Protocol Activity

In September, Metaplex generated nearly $2.5M in protocol revenue including $2.3M from Token Metadata (94%), $95K from Genesis (4%), and $40K from Core (2%).

Genesis debuted the Uniform Price Auction launch mechanic with the Exotic Markets ($EXO) launch and recorded another fast sellout with Goated ($GOATED) in just 13 seconds.

Combined, token creation (TM tokens) and token launches (Genesis) accounted for 98% of revenue while 2% was driven by the creation of NFTs (TM NFTs, Core, BG v2).In September, 1M Token Metadata assets were created, including 980k fungible tokens (94%). Cumulatively, over 20 million fungible tokens have been minted using Token Metadata.Core adoption continued in September, with 219K mints driving the cumulative mint total near 4M.In September, creators and developers minted nearly 9M digital assets through Metaplex, including nearly 8M compressed NFTs. This activity raised the protocol’s cumulative total to over 950M assets minted to date.Unique user activity stayed strong in September, with approximately 500K unique wallets authorizing transactions powered by Metaplex. Cumulatively, over 12.5M distinct signers have signed transactions powered by Metaplex since launch.365K new wallets collected a Token Metadata asset and over 2M new wallets collected a Bubblegum NFT in the month of September.

Developer Platform

Genesis

September was a landmark month for Genesis as the protocol introduced Uniform Price Auctions, adding a new mechanic for fair and transparent token launches. The first auction came from Exotic Markets, whose $EXO token attracted 694 bids totaling over $1.3M (5,400 SOL), with proceeds reaching $130K (1,300 SOL). The mechanic ensured organic price discovery without front-runners, snipers, or insider advantages.

Later in the month, Genesis powered its fifth launch with Goated, a blockchain-backed betting and gaming platform. Their $GOATED presale sold out in just 13 seconds raising over $800k (4,000 SOL), and showcasing a new mechanic for fixed-price presales with deposit bonuses, early participants received a 5% token bonus in the first 10 minutes.

These launches highlighted the flexibility of Genesis to support different designs, from real-time onchain auctions to fixed-price sales with customizable incentives, all while ensuring transparent and community-driven distribution.

Several projects have announced their intention to launch using the Genesis protocol in October.

• PlaySolana is a consumer gaming company building portable hardware devices and an onchain gaming ecosystem.

• Additional launches are lined up, though not yet disclosed, and will be revealed closer to their launches.

Genesis remains in alpha. Learn more at genesis.metaplex.com

Guides & Documentation

Metaplex expanded developer resources in September with practical tooling demos and updated documentation to streamline the builder experience.

The Metaplex CLI series highlighted new quality-of-life upgrades:

• RPC Selector. Save multiple RPCs by name, removing the need to constantly copy-paste URLs.

• Wallet Selector. Store multiple wallets and switch between them with ease.

• Token Creation. Spin up a token in seconds with a single command.

On the documentation side, full guides were released for Shank, the Rust tool that generates IDLs directly from program code. With Shank, frontend developers can use Kinobi and Solita to instantly build TypeScript SDKs, eliminating glue code and accelerating development.

Metaplex DAO

Metaplex Protocol Revenue & $MPLX Buybacks

$1.1M USD (6,700 SOL) of protocol fees were used to buy back 4.8 million $MPLX (0.5% of total supply / 0.8% of outstanding supply) for the Metaplex DAO. Each month, 50% of the prior month’s protocol fees are allocated to buying back $MPLX for the DAO.

Protocol fees reached $2.5M USD (11,191 SOL), driven by asset creation with Token Metadata revenue at $2.3M, the highest revenue since February. 50% of these fees will be used to buy back $MPLX for the DAO throughout October.

With cumulative protocol fees surpassing $43 million (~292,000 SOL) to-date, Metaplex continues to scale as core infrastructure for onchain assets, while the DAO remains a key driver of governance, development, and ecosystem growth.

Metaplex Earn Campaign

Season 3 of Metaplex Earn continued throughout September, with liquidity incentives running consistently across both the MPLX-jitoSOL and MPLX-USDC vaults on Kamino.

The campaign, approved by the DAO with a 2.5M $MPLX budget (including 1M $MPLX left over from Season 2), remains focused on deepening $MPLX liquidity and expanding its utility across Solana DeFi. Additional components, such as lending markets for $MPLX via Kamino v2, are in development and expected to roll out later in the season.

Metaplex DAO Grants

September was one of the busiest months yet for DAO grant activity, with five new proposals spanning art, gaming, staking, and education:

• FubbyFourTeen proposed The Order of Impossible Artifact, a 7-week artist residency where participants mint experimental NFTs with Metaplex Core.

• Polyquest introduced NFT Prediction Positions, turning every prediction into a tradable NFT with gamified XP and collectibles.

• StakeNova proposed a staking layer for Solana’s creator economy, offering turnkey staking pools and StakeDrops for token creators.

• PrimeSkillX applied for funding to integrate a Metaplex-powered loot box and digital asset economy into its competitive FPS, FrontStrike.

• Fogees Hub (by Seb Montgomery) sought to expand its Education Hub on Fogo Chain, producing weekly Metaplex-focused news, tutorials, and podcasts.

Partnership Highlights

Genesis Partner Network

The Genesis Partner Network expanded in September with its second cohort of partners, adding more of Solana’s top teams to support projects post-TGE. New members include Jupiter, Orca, Meteora, Saros, Marinade, and Streamflow, joining the roster of service providers offering liquidity, staking, vesting, and distribution solutions.

With these integrations, Genesis continues to evolve into a full-stack launch infrastructure, giving selected projects the flexibility to design their TGE and the support to scale it.

Blockworks Feature: “How Solana is Cutting MEV Snipers Out of Token Launches”

Blockworks spotlighted Metaplex and its Genesis Uniform Price Auctions in an in-depth article on Solana’s efforts to eliminate MEV sniping from token launches.

The piece featured commentary from Metaplex Founder and Director at the Metaplex Foundation, Stephen Hess, explaining how Genesis brings trust, transparency, and onchain price discovery to the token launch process.

The article also positioned Metaplex alongside other leading Solana teams, including Ellipsis, Meteora, and Orca, as key innovators shaping fair launch infrastructure across the ecosystem.

Venture Launch

Metaplex joined Venture Launch as a partner for the upcoming Solana Prospera Bootcamp on Roatán. The four-week program blends wellness and adventure with coworking, mentorship, and Solana-focused workshops. Alongside partners like Solana Foundation, Prospera Global, Nomadz, and BeInCrypto, Metaplex will help founders explore how to turn ideas into scalable products using Solana’s onchain infrastructure.

Syndica Monthly Revenue Report (Aug ’25)

Syndica’s August report showed infrastructure revenue across Solana reaching a seven-month high, led by Metaplex and Jito, which together accounted for roughly half of all Solana infrastructure revenue.

Metaplex generated over $2.1M in August, including $387K from Genesis (up 3.7x month-over-month), underscoring its growing role as both the backbone of asset creation and a leading driver of onchain revenue through Token Metadata and Genesis.

Other highlights included continued growth from Genesis-powered launches like $CARDS, $PORTALS, and $TUNA, as well as broader strength across Streamflow, DeFiTuna, and Hylo.

Community

APEX Singapore

Metaplex joined Solana APEX Singapore, a one-day founder-focused summit held alongside Token2049. Metaplex Foundation’s Head of Strategy, Mackenzie Hom, shared Metaplex’s vision of building the onchain Silicon Valley, highlighting the protocol’s success to date, the future of Internet Capital Markets, and how Genesis is powering the next wave of token launches. The event brought together founders, investors, and builders for a day of panels, workshops, and networking at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

Podcasts & Spaces

Metaplex continued to amplify the Internet Capital Markets (ICM) narrative across live conversations and community podcasts in September.

• Stephen Hess, Metaplex Founder and Director at the Metaplex Foundation, joined Blockworks for a deep dive into Genesis and how onchain auctions are shaping the future of token launches. He also appeared on Pukecast, powering a global series of creator-focused discussions across Hong Kong, Korea, China, and Thailand. Additional highlights included Stephen’s conversation with Ashen on fair token launches.

• Scharko, BD at the Metaplex Foundation, joined a Goated community Spaces, sharing the broader vision for Genesis and the evolution of transparent launch mechanics.

Ecosystem

September saw continued growth across the Solana ecosystem, with projects leveraging Metaplex standards to power new experiences across gaming, DeFi, governance, and consumer apps. From major integrations to record activity, Metaplex remained core infrastructure behind some of the month’s most notable launches.

• PlaySolana confirmed its $PLAY token launch on Genesis for October 13, with PSG1 consoles shipping October 6 and Season 1 XP quests wrapping up.

• GameShift introduced GameShift ID, a Core-powered digital identity that lets players own usernames, achievements, and rewards. The platform, now under Honeycomb, is building a consumer-ready gaming hub on Solana.

• Raydium powered liquidity for three Genesis launches, $CARDS, $EXO, and $PORTALS, showcasing the strength of Internet Capital Markets on Solana.

• Realms integrated Core into the new Realms V2, enabling DAO governance directly through Metaplex Core assets.

• Beamable used Bubblegum v2 to mint its Alpha Checker Node Licenses, introducing custom royalty enforcement and freeze mechanics, while open-sourcing their distribution tool for the broader builder community.

• LastMint launched its second Gold Mint campaign, offering exclusive art and a $2,500 $MPLX prize pool across 156 winners.

• Toast.fun launched on MPL-404, showcasing “NFT 2.0” with liquid NFTs backed by fungible tokens at mint. Each collection auto-creates LPs, enabling instant liquidity, seamless NFT to fungible token bridging, and native DeFi composability.

• Sirius Crocodile used Metaplex Core NFT plugins to auction a Drip collectible on Mallow, extending the Crocoverse with both digital and physical editions.

Follow @metaplex on X for ongoing community updates. You can also subscribe to receive these monthly updates directly to your email here. To contribute to the Metaplex protocol, engage with us on GitHub or submit a Metaplex Improvement Proposal (MIP) at mip.metaplex.com.

Last, thanks to TopLedger for their data support on this month’s round-up. They provide real-time monitoring of Metaplex activity and usage to the ecosystem. For additional Metaplex onchain metrics, please refer to the following link.