TL;DR
- MetaMask launched mUSD, its first native stablecoin, issued by Stripe’s Bridge and regulated under the Genius Act, to compete with USDT and USDC.
- The stablecoin went live on Ethereum and Linea with an initial $18M supply and an incentive program aimed at attracting liquidity to the new token.
- mUSD debuted on the Etherex DEX, which already processes $2.48B monthly, and aims to lower swap costs and strengthen its role in DeFi.
MetaMask launched mUSD, its first native stablecoin, designed to integrate directly into its ecosystem and provide a fiat on-ramp into cryptocurrencies.
The stablecoin had been initially announced at the end of August. It is now live and complies with the regulatory requirements of the Genius Act in the United States. Issuance will be handled by Bridge, Stripe’s subsidiary specialized in stablecoin infrastructure, placing the new token in direct competition with USDT and USDC within a market that exceeds $280B.
mUSD was deployed on Ethereum and Linea, the layer-2 network that recently held its TGE and carried out a large-scale airdrop. The stablecoin is designed for swaps, bridges, and on-ramps within MetaMask, making it the first token ever issued by a self-custodial wallet. The initial supply is around $18M, a relatively small figure compared to the market’s size but enough to kick off an incentive plan aimed at attracting liquidity.
MetaMask Aims for mUSD to Be Central in the Linea Ecosystem
MetaMask’s strategy is to make mUSD a core asset on Linea, where bridged versions of USDT and USDC currently dominate. To achieve this, the token will distribute more attractive rewards compared to other stablecoins. In the first cycle, which began on September 15, 2.8M LINEA tokens were allocated to mUSD pools against USDT and USDC, while the mUSD/ETH pair will receive 5.6M LINEA and the mUSD/LINEA pair will also receive 2.8M LINEA. These incentives aim to redirect liquidity toward the new asset and consolidate it within the ecosystem.
The launch is tied to Etherex, a decentralized exchange that opened in August and has already accumulated $180M in liquidity and $2.48B in monthly volume. Etherex could generate up to $54M in annualized fees, part of which would be shared among liquidity providers and mUSD holders. On its first day of trading, the token recorded around $20M in volume, although 40% of the supply remains concentrated in three wallets.
MetaMask still has more than 85K daily active users on its swap feature, which generates between $300K and $500K in fees. These transactions are often costly, and mUSD’s goal is to reduce expenses and expand available liquidity
