Hybrid [Meaning: see profile] "Why Metaplex Remains Essential Even as the NFT Market Cools" When NFT trading volume declines, projects that grew alongside NFTs naturally lose attention. Metaplex was once primarily known as a tool for creating Solana NFTs. But recent usage patterns reveal a different trend. In June 2026, 660,000 NFTs were issued via Metaplex Core—a 142% increase from the previous month. That same month, Metaplex’s protocol revenue reached $201,000. Of the 166,000 new assets created using Token Metadata, 129,000 were not NFTs but standard tokens. Metaplex, originally known for NFTs, now sees standard token issuance account for a significantly larger share. Metaplex gained prominence in 2021 during the rapid expansion of the Solana NFT market, when its Candy Machine and Token Metadata tools were widely adopted for creating and selling NFT collections. Today, its scope has evolved significantly. Metaplex now offers a unified platform for issuing both standard tokens and NFTs, as well as token sales and distribution, asset discovery, and AI agent registration. Metaplex claims its protocol is used for over 99% of all tokens and NFTs issued on Solana. Its official website reports a cumulative total of approximately 920 million issued assets and 11.4 million unique signed wallets. A key reason Metaplex is so widely adopted on Solana is Token Metadata. Standard SPL tokens only include basic information such as supply, decimals, and minting authority. Names, symbols, images, and descriptions are not part of the default token data. Token Metadata solves this by linking a separate account to the token that stores this richer metadata. Wallets and trading platforms read this account to display the token’s name and logo to users. What seems obvious to users represents a major advantage for developers. Tokens built in Metaplex format automatically work with existing wallets, marketplaces, and data services—no additional integration needed. In contrast, adopting a new format requires each service to build custom support to recognize the token correctly. This is precisely why so many projects continue to choose Metaplex: It’s not that any single feature is superior—it’s that countless services have already been built to support the Metaplex standard. Developers no longer need to build token display, search, or ownership verification from scratch. DAS API further reinforces this trend. DAS API is a standardized interface that allows uniform querying of Token Metadata, Metaplex Core, and compressed NFTs. Developers can search for assets using criteria like wallet addresses, collections, or creators—and retrieve off-chain data such as images and descriptions alongside on-chain metadata. As more assets are created using Metaplex, the utility of DAS API grows proportionally. Metaplex continues refining its NFT issuance standards. The current recommended format for new NFT projects is Metaplex Core. The original Token Metadata approach required three or more separate accounts to manage a single NFT. Core consolidates ownership, metadata, and additional features into a single account. The base issuance cost is approximately 0.0029 SOL—over 80% lower than Token Metadata’s ~0.022 SOL. While the difference may seem negligible for small collections, it becomes substantial for projects issuing tens of thousands of NFTs, such as games or membership services. Required functionality is added via plugins: Set royalties, freeze assets, record game item stats, and more. It also supports bulk updates to royalties or metadata across entire collections. Compared to the legacy system’s complex per-NFT permission management, Core simplifies both development and operations. For extremely large-scale issuance, Bubblegum V2 is available. Instead of creating individual accounts for each NFT, Bubblegum V2 compresses multiple NFT records into a Merkle tree. For a tree holding roughly one million NFTs, the cost per NFT drops to approximately 0.00001 SOL. It also supports features like non-transferable membership cards, certificates of completion, and attendance logs—ideal for services requiring mass issuance of digital items like game assets or coupons. This technology isn’t just theoretical—it’s already in use. Candy Digital is migrating its MLB- and WWE-related NFTs to Metaplex Core.Work began in June 2026, and over one million NFTs are scheduled to be transferred through July and August. Collector Crypt, which links physical trading cards to on-chain assets, also uses the Metaplex standard. The significant increase in Core mint volume in June was substantially influenced by Candy Digital’s prior inventory. The most significant recent product evolution at Metaplex is Genesis. Previously, Metaplex was primarily used for creating tokens and NFTs. Genesis now handles the entire process—from token creation to sales and distribution. Projects can choose their preferred method among fixed-price sales, Launch Pools, or uniform-price auctions. Token generation, fundraising, allocation, and vesting schedules are all managed via smart contracts. A Launch Pool differs from a first-come-first-served sale: instead of rewarding early participants, it collects deposits over a set period and distributes tokens proportionally based on each participant’s contribution. This prevents bots from sniping early supply by submitting transactions quickly, ensuring all participants receive tokens under equal conditions. At least 20% of the sale proceeds are allocated to a liquidity pool, which is subject to a quarterly unlocking schedule over one year. The Metaplex App, launched in February 2026, enables anyone—even without development knowledge—to use Genesis. Users can create project tokens or memecoins, open Launch Pools, discover ongoing sales, participate, or trade newly launched tokens. Metaplex has moved beyond merely providing issuance technology behind other apps and now directly connects users with projects. This shift also directly impacts Metaplex’s revenue. Token Metadata and Core generate fees when assets are created. Genesis introduces protocol fees not only during token launches but also on subsequent trades. In June 2026, revenue breakdown was: Token Metadata at 58%, Core at 34%, and Genesis and other products combined at 8%. While Genesis’s share remains small, it is now confirmed as a new revenue stream. Development related to AI agents is also progressing within the same product framework. The MPL Agent Registry registers AI agents’ identities as Metaplex Core assets. Agent owners can delegate execution rights to other operators and reclaim them when needed. The wallets and official tokens used by the agent are linked to this registered identity. In June 2026, Triton, Helius, QuickNode, and Alchemy began supporting queries for agent information via DAS. Wallets and apps can now verify which wallet an agent operates from and which official token it uses. As more AI agents engage in direct trading and service sales, distinguishing genuine agents from fake ones with identical names becomes essential. Metaplex is applying its NFT-based ownership and identity mechanisms to this domain. Programs related to real-world assets are also under development on Devnet. These enable on-chain verification of conditions required to hold or transfer tokens, restricting asset trading only to wallets that comply with specified regulations. While real-world assets currently contribute little to Metaplex’s revenue, the platform already possesses mature capabilities in token issuance, metadata management, and ownership control—meaning relatively little new infrastructure needs to be built. MPLX is tied directly to protocol usage. Fifty percent of fees collected by Metaplex are used to buy back MPLX tokens, which are then transferred to the Metaplex DAO. The remaining 50% are retained by the Metaplex Foundation for operational expenses. In June 2026, approximately $100,000 of the previous month’s revenue was allocated to buy back 36 million MPLX tokens. As of July 13, the total amount of MPLX—held directly by the DAO and managed as protocol liquidity—stood at 328 million MPLX. Purchased MPLX is not burned. It is either held in the DAO treasury or deployed as liquidity to fund ecosystem grants and protocol development. Thus, this model differs from token-burning mechanisms that reduce supply. As Metaplex usage grows, so does the pool of MPLX under DAO management. The investor lineup initially attracted significant attention: In 2022, Metaplex raised $46 million led jointly by Multicoin Capital and Jump Crypto, with participation from Solana Ventures, Samsung Next, and Animoca Brands. However, when evaluating Metaplex today, actual issuance volume and revenue provide a more accurate picture than its four-year-old investor list.You can verify how much of the products created with the initial investment are currently in use through monthly metrics. What stood out during our research into Metaplex is that, whenever a new market emerged, it didn’t start from scratch with an entirely new business. The metadata and ownership management technologies developed for NFTs were extended to general tokens. Core and Bubblegum, which reduced the cost of NFT minting, are now used for gaming items and physical collectibles. By adding identity functionality to Core, Metaplex enabled registration of AI agents and connected them to Genesis, allowing agents to launch official tokens. Rather than operating as isolated products, each component reuses technologies built for previous ones. This approach reduces the burden of launching new ventures. When AI agents or physical asset markets grow, there’s no need to build issuance standards or discovery systems from scratch—because existing wallets and data services already support Metaplex’s standards. Owning MPLX is not the only way to participate in Metaplex. Developers can create NFTs and gaming items using Core and Bubblegum V2, and build their own token issuance services using Genesis. Projects can launch tokens directly via the Metaplex App, and AI developers can register agent identities in the Agent Registry. Those with protocol improvement proposals or development ideas can submit MIPs or apply for DAO grants. Evaluating Metaplex by the same metrics used for NFT projects risks overlooking its real impact. Instead of focusing on the price or trading volume of a specific NFT, you should track the number of newly issued general tokens and Core assets, revenue generated through Genesis, and the growth of services using the Agent Registry. Trending NFT collections constantly change. Metaplex, however, builds reusable tools that are consistently applied whenever new collections or tokens emerge. This is why Metaplex remains in use regardless of shifts in the NFT market sentiment. As more gaming items, tokens, AI agents, and physical assets are issued on Solana, Metaplex’s usage will naturally expand. In the June 2026 metrics, Core issuance volume, general token creation, and protocol revenue all increased. Whether this trend continues is the most realistic indicator of Metaplex’s next phase of growth. #Metaplex #Solana