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On-chain trading platform Magic Eden, previously known as the largest Solana NFT marketplace, said it will begin directing 15% of all platform revenue into the ME token ecosystem, starting on Feb. 1.
“The goal is simple. When Magic Eden wins, the ecosystem wins too,” the project wrote in an X post on Monday, Jan. 19. The team said the revenue allocation will be split evenly between token buybacks and monthly USDC payouts to ME stakers. Buybacks are often implemented by projects to boost the token price, as buybacks imply that circulating token supply is reduced.
Despite the news, ME is trading about 6.5% lower over the past 24 hours, and remains over 95% down since its launch in December 2024, according to CoinGecko data.
Magic Eden clarified that USDC rewards will be distributed “based on staking power,” which depends on both how much ME is staked and how long it is locked. Stakers must claim their rewards within 90 days, per the announcement.
In a separate X post on Monday, Magic Eden CEO Jack Lu said the marketplace generated about $24 million in revenue in 2025, despite a prolonged downturn in the NFT market. At a 15% allocation rate, that would translate to roughly $3.6 million flowing into the ME ecosystem each year, if revenue holds at similar levels.
If half of that were set aside for USDC rewards, a total of roughly $1.8 million could be available as rewards for stakers, though individual payouts will vary
Magic Eden’s Pivot
Lu says the change better ties the token to Magic Eden’s broader push into entertainment, arguing that the market is entering a “speculation supercycle — where finance merges with entertainment.”
The former NFT marketplace announced its pivot into broader crypto trading, specifically memecoins, in April of last year when it acquired on-chain trading platform Slingshot. The same month, fellow leading NFT marketplace OpenSea made a similar move, launching Solana token trading.
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