Ethereum scaling developer MegaETH has shut down its Mega Mafia accelerator, ending a two-year program that helped roughly 20 early-stage projects across two cohorts and produced about $80 million in startup fundraising from pre-seed through Series A rounds.
Kong, a core member of MegaETH, said the decision came after the team reviewed the assumptions behind the accelerator and concluded that some of them no longer fit the network’s current strategy. The program had been designed to bring outside teams closer to MegaETH’s core developers, helping them build applications that could run inside the network’s ecosystem.
The closure marks a strategic shift for MegaETH as it moves away from supporting external startup teams through an accelerator model and toward building more of its own applications internally. The company now plans to direct funding, engineering time and product resources toward consumer-facing tools that can generate direct user activity on the network.
The decision also comes after several projects that went through Mega Mafia either moved to other blockchains, changed direction or stopped development. That outcome appears to have weakened the original case for the accelerator, which was meant to encourage teams to build applications closely tied to MegaETH.
MegaETH did not take equity stakes or governance rights in the teams it supported. Instead, the company sought to build alignment through technical collaboration and shared ecosystem goals. Its preferred model centered on what it calls OMEGA applications, meaning services designed to operate only within the MegaETH network environment.
The end of Mega Mafia comes during a sensitive period for the network’s token economy. MegaETH launched its mainnet in February 2026 and introduced its MEGA token in April after activating 10 associated applications. The release of the token had been linked to those applications meeting measurable contribution benchmarks for the network.
In June, the protocol unlocked roughly 250 million MEGA tokens to compensate early system testers. That release, worth a little more than $13 million at the time, expanded the amount of tradeable supply and was followed by an 18% decline in the token’s price. MEGA recently traded around 4.6 cents.
Only about 11.3% of the maximum 10 billion MEGA supply is currently in public circulation. That relatively small float means future token unlocks could have an outsized effect on short-term market conditions, especially if large amounts of newly available supply reach the market at the same time.
Why the accelerator ended
Mega Mafia was created to help outside developers build directly with MegaETH’s core team. The accelerator offered technical and operational support to selected projects, giving young teams access to infrastructure guidance, product feedback and ecosystem coordination.
For a new blockchain network, that type of program can help create early activity. Applications bring users, transactions and visibility. In return, the network gives developers support, attention and sometimes access to funding or other resources.
But the model depends on long-term alignment. If supported teams later leave for other networks, launch their own chains or stop building, the original network may be left with limited lasting value from the time and money it committed.
That appears to be part of the issue MegaETH is now trying to address. Kong said the team revisited the assumptions that supported Mega Mafia and found that they had become outdated. While he did not frame the move as a rejection of outside developers, the new direction suggests MegaETH wants more control over which applications receive meaningful backing and how those applications contribute to the network.
The decision also reflects a wider challenge in blockchain ecosystems. Early-stage crypto projects often choose where to build based on funding, technical performance, ecosystem support, user access and token incentives. A team that begins on one network may later move if another chain offers better liquidity, lower costs, stronger developer tools or more attractive growth opportunities.
For MegaETH, the accelerator helped generate fundraising momentum but did not always keep projects inside its ecosystem.
Projects that moved on
Several projects that participated in Mega Mafia have already moved away from MegaETH or changed their plans.
Global Token Exchange’s team raised $25 million before launching its own chain. Noise, another program participant, secured a $7.1 million seed round before moving to a competing platform.
Other teams, including HelloTrade, Avon and Valhalla, shifted direction or ceased development. Cap, a stablecoin protocol that launched in early 2026, is now pursuing a multichain strategy rather than limiting itself to MegaETH.
Those examples show how difficult it can be for a network to retain early-stage projects without formal ownership, governance control or binding ecosystem commitments. MegaETH’s decision not to take equity or governance roles gave supported startups more independence, but it also limited the company’s ability to influence their long-term choices.
That tradeoff is common in open blockchain development. Networks often want to appear neutral and developer-friendly, but they also need applications that stay, grow and create recurring network activity. If a supported team builds valuable software and then moves elsewhere, the original network may gain only temporary attention.
MegaETH’s accelerator model was based on collaboration, not control. The end of the program suggests the company now believes that collaboration alone is not enough to guarantee durable ecosystem growth.
A shift toward internal applications
MegaETH’s next phase will focus more heavily on applications developed or closely directed by the core team. Kong said the company intends to prioritize internal development and direct resources toward consumer-facing products.
That approach gives MegaETH a clearer path to capturing user activity inside its own network. Instead of supporting outside teams that may later leave, the company can build products whose transaction fees, user relationships and data flows remain tied to MegaETH.
The strategy also gives the team more influence over product timelines, user experience and technical integration. Internal applications can be designed from the beginning to use MegaETH’s infrastructure in specific ways, including high-speed execution, low-cost transactions and network-native features.
The risk is that internal development can narrow the diversity of an ecosystem. Outside teams often introduce different ideas, use cases and communities. If MegaETH leans too far into internally built products, it may reduce the range of independent experimentation that can make blockchain networks more resilient.
Still, the decision shows that MegaETH wants a tighter link between spending and measurable network activity. In a market where token supply, application usage and developer retention are closely watched, the company appears to be choosing focus over breadth.
Token unlocks increase market pressure
The end of Mega Mafia is not the only issue facing MegaETH. The MEGA token has also come under pressure after the June 23 unlock of about 250 million tokens.
Token unlocks are closely watched because they increase circulating supply. When more tokens become available for trading, prices can come under pressure if demand does not rise at the same pace.
In MegaETH’s case, the unlock was used to pay early system testers. Such payments are common in blockchain projects, especially when protocols reward users who helped test software before or shortly after launch. But the release still added fresh supply to the market.
After the unlock, MEGA fell 18% and traded near 4.6 cents. The move highlights the sensitivity of the token’s market structure. With only 11.3% of the 10 billion maximum supply currently circulating, scheduled releases can meaningfully change the balance between available supply and demand.
That does not mean every unlock will automatically lead to selling. Some recipients may hold their tokens, stake them, use them in applications or wait for future network milestones. But traders generally monitor unlock calendars because newly liquid tokens can create short-term volatility.
For MEGA, future unlocks will be important to watch because the current float remains small compared with the total possible supply. A narrow float can support sharp upward moves when demand is strong, but it can also amplify declines when new supply reaches the market quickly.
The role of the Uniswap upgrade
MegaETH is also trying to improve the trading and usability environment around its ecosystem. At the end of June, a major Uniswap software patch went live, allowing users to swap assets more directly without using outside bridges.
That change could help reduce friction for people moving between assets. Bridges are often viewed as inconvenient, expensive or risky, depending on the design. They can add extra steps to transactions and may create security concerns if users must rely on external infrastructure.
By making swaps easier, MegaETH may improve the experience for ordinary users and traders who want faster access to assets inside the network. Easier swapping can also support application activity, because users are more likely to interact with apps when asset movement is simple and inexpensive.
However, technical upgrades alone do not solve the broader retention problem that led to the accelerator’s closure. Better infrastructure can attract builders and users, but the network still needs applications that create lasting demand.
MegaETH’s leadership appears to understand that point. The company’s renewed focus on internal consumer applications suggests it wants to pair infrastructure upgrades with products that keep users active inside the ecosystem.
New revenue plans through speed markets
MegaETH also plans to sell ultra-fast server access through specialized proximity markets. The idea is to create a revenue stream around transaction speed, particularly for users or applications that value being physically or technically closer to the network’s execution infrastructure.
In blockchain systems, speed can be valuable. Traders, market makers and high-frequency applications often care about latency because small time differences can affect execution quality. If MegaETH can sell access to faster routing or lower-latency infrastructure, it may create a business line that does not depend on funding external startups.
That model could help replace some of the role previously played by the accelerator. Instead of spending money to attract outside teams, MegaETH can try to earn revenue from infrastructure services that users and applications are willing to pay for.
The approach also fits with the network’s broader positioning as a high-performance Ethereum scaling project. If MegaETH can prove that its infrastructure offers meaningful speed advantages, it may be able to monetize those advantages directly.
Still, proximity markets can be controversial if they create unequal access to execution speed. Networks must balance revenue generation with fairness and transparency, especially when speed advantages can affect trading outcomes. MegaETH will need to show how such access is structured and whether ordinary users are protected from harmful effects.
What it means for MegaETH
MegaETH is entering a more disciplined phase after two years of ecosystem experimentation. The Mega Mafia accelerator helped bring projects into the network, supported fundraising and gave the company a way to work closely with outside builders. But the departure or redirection of several participants appears to have reduced confidence in that model.
The company’s new strategy is more direct. It wants to build applications itself, improve asset swapping, create revenue from technical advantages and keep more activity inside its own network.
For traders, the key near-term issue is token supply. Future unlocks could continue to affect MEGA’s price, particularly while most of the maximum supply remains outside public circulation. Network usage, internal application launches and revenue from infrastructure services will likely play a larger role in determining whether demand can absorb future supply.
For developers, the shutdown of Mega Mafia changes the way MegaETH supports outside teams. The network is not closing itself to builders, but the end of the accelerator means fewer structured resources for startups seeking close collaboration with the core team.
MegaETH’s challenge now is to prove that its internal-development strategy can create stronger and more durable activity than the accelerator did. The company has chosen to stop funding a broad pipeline of external projects and instead concentrate on products it can more directly shape.
That decision may give MegaETH more control over its future. It also raises the stakes. Without the accelerator, the network’s growth will depend more heavily on the core team’s ability to build applications that users actually want, while managing token supply pressures and competing against other chains for attention, liquidity and developer talent.
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