Monad Explained: Architecture, Testnet Airdrop & 10,000 TPS

What is Monad?

Monad is an Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain that uses parallel execution and pipelined consensus to achieve high throughput. It processes transactions in parallel but still guarantees deterministic results, matching Ethereum’s linear execution model.

Instead of slowing down to reach consensus before running code, Monad decouples the two: nodes agree on the order of transactions first, then execute them. This separation allows full use of the block time for execution, increasing performance without sacrificing consistency.

Monad supports standard Ethereum wallets, contracts, and developer tools, making migration simple. With a 1-second finality time and 10,000 transactions per second, it’s built to support large-scale, real-time applications like games, social platforms, and DeFi at a global scale.

As of early Q2 2025, Monad's mainnet launch is anticipated but remains unconfirmed. The public testnet has been live since February 19, 2025, allowing developers and users to explore its capabilities.

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How Does Monad Work?

Monad restructures how blockchains process transactions by splitting consensus from execution and introducing parallelism at every level. This architectural change, known as the Monad tech stack, enables the system to scale far beyond traditional EVM chains while staying fully compatible with existing Ethereum tooling.

Key Architectural Features:

• Asynchronous execution: Transactions are first ordered through consensus, then executed separately, allowing full use of compute resources without compromising determinism.
• Parallel transaction processing: Transactions are optimistically executed in parallel across multiple threads, then re-executed if needed to align with the agreed-upon order.
• Pipelined consensus: Thanks to MonadBFT, proposals, votes, and finalization run in overlapping stages, minimizing idle time and enabling 0.5-second block production with 1-second finality.
• Pipelined state storage: The MonadDb state system supports concurrent access and delayed writes using a persistent Merkle trie optimized for SSDs and asynchronous I/O.
• Local mempools: Each validator maintains its own mempool, reducing network overhead and speeding up transaction inclusion without relying on global gossip.
• RaptorCast for data propagation: Block data is split into erasure-coded chunks and distributed efficiently across validators, minimizing bandwidth use and propagation latency.

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MON Tokenomics

Detailed tokenomics for the MON token have not yet been made public ahead of the Monad mainnet launch. While MON is expected to play a central role in transaction fees, staking, and governance, specifics like total supply, allocation, and vesting remain undisclosed.

Currently, MON tokens are only available on the testnet and hold no real-world value. Users can claim testnet MON tokens from the official faucet by connecting an EVM wallet, with token amounts varying based on wallet history and community participation.

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Ways to Farm the Monad Testnet Airdrop

The Monad Testnet gives early users a chance to build onchain activity that may qualify them for an airdrop. The process involves interacting across dApps, NFTs, social channels, and staking flows. There are over 220 projects in the Monad ecosystem, so you have plenty to work with.

Steps to farm the Monad airdrop:

1. Faucet Tokens: Claim MON testnet tokens daily from Monad Faucet, Owlto, Mozi, and verified bots; some active wallets may have received pre-drops.
2. Use dApps: Interact with projects like Monadverse, play Monanimal Mayhem, trade on Kuru, register domains via Nad Name Service, and launch tokens on Nad.fun.
3. Swap and Buy: Simulate trading by buying 0.01-0.1 MON worth of test tokens across DEXs like Bean, Azaar, and Kuro.
4. Stake MON: Stake MON through aPriori to signal validator-like behavior and long-term alignment with network economics.
5. Mint NFTs: Participate in NFT drops on Magic Eden and Monadverse; target collections include Monadzw, Early Tester Monad, and Monshape WL Pass.
6. Complete Quests: Use Layer3 and Superboard to complete targeted missions designed to track real usage across the testnet.
7. Earn Discord Roles: Contribute art, insights, or community support to earn curated roles such as Monvangelist, Quant, or Monvideo.

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Monad vs Ethereum vs Solana

Monad shares Ethereum’s EVM compatibility but completely rewrites the execution engine to support parallel execution. Unlike Ethereum’s sequential runtime, Monad runs multiple transactions simultaneously while preserving EVM semantics.

Solana uses a different execution model entirely, built around a custom virtual machine (SVM) and optimistic parallelism through local fee markets. It sacrifices EVM compatibility for speed, requiring developers to build with Rust and adapt to a unique toolchain.

Where Ethereum finalizes blocks slowly with high decentralization, Solana emphasizes speed with tight validator requirements. Monad sits between them, matching Solana’s performance ambitions while staying compatible with Ethereum’s developer stack.

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Funding

Monad Labs has raised a total of $244 million to date, with the largest chunk, $225 million, secured in a strategic round led by Paradigm in April 2024. That round also included significant participation from Electric Capital and Greenoaks Capital, reportedly at a valuation near $3 billion.

The project’s seed round in February 2023 brought in $19 million, led by Dragonfly Capital and supported by firms like Shima Capital, Lemniscap, Placeholder Ventures, and Naval Ravikant.

Most recently, in May 2024, OKX Ventures announced a strategic investment of an undisclosed amount to back Monad’s EVM-focused performance layer, marking their entry into the project.

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Founders

Keone Hon is the CEO and one of the co-founders of Monad. He spent eight years at Jump Trading building high-frequency, low-latency trading systems before shifting into crypto infrastructure, where he contributed to Solana DeFi projects through Jump’s crypto division.

James Hunsaker, Monad’s second co-founder and now CEO of Category Labs (formerly Monad Labs), also came from Jump Trading with a background in performance engineering. He led the development of low-level systems architecture and is credited with shaping Monad’s technical foundation from the protocol up.

The third co-founder, Eunice Giarta, takes an operational leadership role and now serves at the Monad Foundation. She has overseen Monad’s transition into a decentralized ecosystem, helping spin out the foundation to steward governance and community infrastructure.

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Final Thoughts

Monad is more than just an EVM chain; it is a complete re-architecture of how smart contract platforms scale. Monad seeks to match Solana's performance by combining parallel execution, pipelined consensus, and SSD-optimized storage while remaining true to Ethereum's developer stack.

With over $200 million in funding and a live testnet already gaining traction, all eyes are on Monad's upcoming mainnet launch. Whether you're a developer, power user, or simply curious, now is the time to experiment, create, and participate.