Merlin Chain Launches MERL: A Major Leap Forward in Bitcoin Layer 2 Solutions

Press Release

April 19th, 2024 — Merlin Chain, the largest Bitcoin Layer 2 protocol by total value locked (TVL), is thrilled to announce the launch of its native token, $MERL. As a significant enhancement to the Bitcoin network, Merlin Chain facilitates the rapid growth of decentralized applications (DApps) across various sectors, including decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming and social platforms.

Since its mainnet debut in February 2024, Merlin Chain has seen explosive growth, accumulating over $3.6 billion in TVL and fostering a vibrant ecosystem with more than 200 native DApps. The introduction of $MERL marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of Merlin Chain, offering enhanced governance, security and ecosystem development opportunities for its users.

$MERL Token Utilities and Features

$MERL, operating under the Bitcoin-compatible blockchain standard BRC-20, has a total supply of 2.1 billion tokens and is meticulously designed to empower the community through various utilities. 

Token holders can shape the future of Merlin Chain by voting on critical proposals, thus actively participating in governance. Additionally, users can stake $MERL to enhance the security of the network, ensuring its reliable performance. $MERL also facilitates the payment of transaction fees within the Layer 3 enhancements. Community members may support network operations through collator delegation or operate their collators by utilizing $MERL tokens. Furthermore, $MERL serves as native liquidity and collateral, enabling seamless transactions and robust lending mechanisms within the ecosystem.

$MERL Token Allocation

$MERL’s 2.1 billion tokens will follow the specified rules for allocation:

Merlin’s Seal

20% of the total supply of $MERL tokens will be airdropped to participants of the Merlin’s Seal event. This event showcased an impressive TVL of $3.6 billion, with 91% of these funds coming from the Bitcoin community, including $1.75 billion in BTC and $980 million in BRC-20 assets. This substantial support from the Bitcoin community has been vital to the rapid growth and expansion of Merlin Chain in recent months.

Public and Private Sales

1% of the total supply of $MERL tokens is designated for public sale through the People’s Launchpad, providing a broad range of investors with an opportunity to participate. Additionally, 15.23% of the total supply is allocated to private investors, who have access to tokens through two distinct release schedules.

Advisors and Team

3% of the total supply of $MERL tokens is reserved for strategic advisors whose expertise and guidance are instrumental to the project's success, with a vesting schedule aligned with the platform's growth. Additionally, 4.20% is allocated to the dedicated core team in recognition of their continuous contributions, ensuring their commitment to the project’s long-term development through a structured vesting plan.

Community and Ecosystem

16.57% of $MERL's total supply is allocated for community rewards designed to foster participation and engagement within the ecosystem. 40% of the tokens are distributed through grants and incentives aimed at stimulating development and innovation on Merlin Chain.

$MERL will be distributed over a four-year timeline. 

Together, all token allocations enhance the vibrancy and growth of Merlin’s platform by rewarding active community involvement and supporting innovative projects that contribute to the ecosystem’s expansion.

$MERL Token’s Listing Schedule

Merlin Chain is set to mark a significant milestone with the upcoming listings of its native token, $MERL, on multiple crypto exchanges.

As a BRC-20 token, $MERL will be the third of its kind to be featured on OKX. Deposits will be available starting April 17, 2024, at 10:00 UTC; trading will begin on April 19, and withdrawals will be on April 20.

Additionally, $MERL will debut as the first new coin on Hashkey Global, following the same trading schedule as OKX.

Noteworthy listings also include Bitget, where deposits are already open, and trading set for April 19. Other platforms like Gate.io, Kucoin, WOO X, ByBit and BingX are aligning with similar deposit and trading schedules.

This expansion into various major exchanges underscores Merlin Chain's robust growth and the community's strong support, which has been instrumental in its development. The leadership of Merlin Chain expressed gratitude for the community's role in this progress, emphasizing that these developments are just the beginning of their mission to "Make Bitcoin Fun Again" and unlock the full potential of Bitcoin through innovative Layer 2 solutions.

About Merlin Chain

Merlin Chain is a native Bitcoin Layer2 that is committed to empowering Bitcoin's native assets, protocols, and products on Layer1 through its Layer2 network to Make Bitcoin Fun Again. Merlin Chain integrates the ZK-Rollup network, decentralized oracle network, and on-chain BTC fraud-proof modules. Merlin Chain has locked over 3.5 billion TVL within 30 days after its mainnet launch. The team behind Merlin, Bitmap Tech, is a premier OG team boasting an overall market cap exceeding $500 million. The BRC-420 "Blue Box" collection under Bitmap Tech has become one of the hottest assets on Ordinals.

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