Original article by Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )

Author｜Wenser ( @wenser2010 )

On November 8th, Coinbase officially hinted at the potential launch of its Launchpad platform, directly addressing industry hot topics such as listing fees charged by some Launchpad platforms, earlier unlocking for KOLs, and insider tokens. Last night, the mystery was finally revealed – Coinbase's token sale platform went live, with Monad as its first project, launching on November 17th and open to US investors. Simultaneously, US Treasury Secretary Bessant announced today that the Treasury Department and the IRS have released new guidance on cryptocurrency exchange trading products. Combined, these two announcements indicate that competition in the CEX industry is about to intensify, and the US market will become a fiercely contested battleground for many exchanges.

Odaily will provide a brief analysis of the above events in this article for readers' reference.

Following the "Blue Carpet Project," Coinbase launched a public sale of Launchpad tokens.

The market has always paid close attention to the dynamics of the Coinbase group. This is due to two main reasons: firstly, its unique position as the "first listed cryptocurrency exchange" and a leading CEX in the United States; and secondly, its status as a "bellwether of the US cryptocurrency market" to some extent.

Previously, Odaily Planet Daily published a detailed analysis of Coinbase's listing of BNB and the Blue Carpet program in its article , "Coinbase Launches 'Blue Carpet Project,' Is Listing BNB the First Step in Competing for Spot Liquidity on CEXs?" At that time, we pointed out that facing increasingly fierce industry competition, Coinbase had to rack its brains to compete for liquidity within the crypto space and needed to drive platform expansion and growth through wealth creation. The launch of the token sale Launchpad platform is undoubtedly a concrete measure to achieve these core objectives.

Of course, with the Launchpad mechanism being so mature in the industry, Coinbase's Launchpad can both "learn from Binance's experience" and also find opportunities to "overtake on a curve" through technical means and mechanism rules.

Screenshot of the promotional video

Detailed Explanation of the Coinbase Token Sale Guidelines: Monthly Allocation, Algorithmic Distribution, Project Teams Prohibited from Selling Tokens for 6 Months

As reported by the Wall Street Journal last night, "Coinbase's token sale platform will conduct monthly token sales, using an algorithm to determine how tokens are allocated to investors, striving for a broad and fair distribution. Investors can submit purchase applications within a week. Investors must have a good credit history, be registered with Coinbase, and comply with relevant regulations to use the platform. Furthermore, token purchases will support USDC payments. The token sale platform will initially be open to individual investors in most parts of the world, with plans for further expansion in the future."

Subsequently, Coinbase's official "Coinbase Token Sale Ideal State Guide" further elaborated on the specific rules, mentioning that:

• Its token sale platform does not use a first-come, first-served model, but instead uses a "bottom-up filling" algorithm, which aims to promote a wider distribution and limit the concentration of assets in the hands of large buyers. This usually results in the smallest requester receiving a more substantial allocation, while larger requests are gradually fulfilled until the token share is exhausted.
• Regarding the application window, the token sale on the Coinbase platform will last for a period of time (e.g., one week), and users can submit token applications at any time during the window. After the window closes, the algorithm will determine the final token allocation.
• Coinbase's token sale platform will allow selected investor groups to gain early access to new project tokens before they are opened for trading on its main exchange. However, the platform aims to limit the concentration of assets in the hands of large buyers, and token issuers and their affiliates will be prohibited from selling their holdings for six months.
• Coinbase’s token sale platform aims to promote fair token sales, and individual recipients who sell their tokens within one month of the token’s release may receive a reduced allocation in future offerings.
• The Monad token sale will take place from November 17th to November 22nd.

It's clear that, unlike the Launchpad mechanism of CEXs like Binance and OKX, Coinbase attempts to maintain the price and market performance of listed projects through two methods:

1. Allocation is done through algorithms, which encourages the participation of small investors and promotes fair distribution to a certain extent, thus avoiding manipulation by whales or insider trading.

2. Price maintenance is achieved by imposing time limits on project teams and users to prevent newly listed tokens from experiencing a "peak immediately upon launch".

Furthermore, regarding the "listing fee" issue that has consistently drawn market discussion and attention, the document provides the following explanation: " No fees are charged for listing or participating in token sales: Users are not charged any fees for participating in token sales; Coinbase charges issuers a fee, which is a percentage of the USDC amount received by the issuer from the sale. This fee is used solely for token sales—Coinbase does not charge listing fees."

In short, Coinbase does not charge project tokens as a listing fee, but it does charge a portion of the token sale proceeds as a "technical service fee," similar to what domestic internet platforms call a "technical service fee."

Token Sale Guidelines Details

Most importantly, this Monad token sale will be open to users in multiple regions around the world, including the United States.

Coinbase New Token Sale: After 7 years, US retail investors are once again allowed to participate in token sales, marking a resurgence in the US crypto market.

As noted in the token sale documentation above, "Coinbase launched the token sale platform with access to the retail community in most parts of the world and plans to expand in the future. For the first time since 2018, US users will now be able to participate broadly—a huge win for the US crypto economy."

This landmark event and its enormous impact were also emphasized by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who stated, "Token issuance should not only benefit whales, insiders, and speculators; tokens on Coinbase's token sale platform will be distributed to the community."

The statement made by U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessenter today seems quite intriguing.

US Treasury Secretary's statement

According to updated guidance from the IRS, “If a crypto trust trades on a national securities exchange, holds only units of cash and a single type of digital asset, is managed by a custodian, and addresses specific investor risks, it may be pledged.”

Bill Hughes, Senior Legal Counsel at Consensys, commented that this development is expected to have a significant impact on the adoption of staking. The safe harbor provides long-awaited regulatory and tax clarity for institutional instruments such as crypto ETFs and trusts, enabling them to participate in staking while maintaining compliance. This effectively removes a major legal barrier that previously prevented fund originators, custodians, and asset managers from incorporating staking yields into regulated investment products.

Furthermore, according to crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, a draft of the "Bipartisan Discussion on the Structure of the Crypto Market in the United States" has been released. Section 103(d) emphasizes self-custody protection, which "guarantees the right of individuals to directly hold and trade digital assets without relying on intermediaries, to use such wallets to conduct peer-to-peer transactions directly with others for legitimate purposes, provided that the counterparty is not a financial institution as defined by U.S. law and the transaction does not involve sanctioned or frozen property." The entire section on "DeFi" is "seeking further feedback."

In other words, the draft law has granted US users the right to participate in individual investments, which may be a direct incentive for Coinbase to launch its token sale platform at this time.

Coinbase New Coin Offering (ICO) Considerations: Coinbase One Membership Benefits and Monad Token Economic Model Information

Coinbase officially announced its Monad IPO, and then launched Coinbase One Member Week , offering free trading to eligible users. Furthermore, according to an article by Super Jun, the administrator of the Benmo community, the secret to participating in the Monad IPO is to purchase a Coinbase One membership, which unlocks a maximum subscription quota of $500,000; without a One membership, the maximum subscription quota is only $100,000.

For more information on Coinbase IPOs, please refer to the article "Can You Make Money Just by Participating? A Roundup of 8 Recent Hot IPO Projects" .

A separate explanation of the Monad token economic model is attached. According to official information , the token supply is 100 billion, of which:

Monad Token Economic Model Pie Chart

• Ecological development: 38.5%

• Team: 27.0%

• Investors: 19.7%

Category Labs Vault: 4.0%

·Public offering: 7.5%

• Airdrop: 3.3%

The token sale will run from 9:00 AM EST on November 17th to 9:00 PM EST on November 22nd. It is understood that tokens held by investors, the team, and Category Labs' vault will be locked on the first day of the mainnet launch and will be released gradually according to established rules to ensure long-term synergy. These tokens will be locked for at least one year (until November 2026), with the specific release schedule varying depending on the group. At the time of the mainnet launch, 50.6 billion MON tokens (50.6%) will be locked.

Monad Public Sale Details

It must be said that, based on the current information, the difference between Monad's opening FDV and actual circulating market capitalization will be relatively large, and the selling pressure will be relatively limited. Retail investors need to be aware of the risk of short covering losses due to hedging.

Conclusion: Coinbase fires the first shot in the battle for the US CEX market.

Finally, Coinbase's launch of its token IPO platform also boosted its stock price, with the share price rising by more than 3% at the opening of the US stock market last night. With the IPO projects clearly scheduled to be held once a month, despite the strict KYC requirements, it is expected to attract many users to participate.

Following the SEC's launch of the "Crypto Project," Coinbase has become a pioneer in the US crypto market. How leading exchanges like Binance and OKX respond will likely be the next focus of attention in the US crypto market.