TL;DR
- MegaETH will refund all pre-deposit funds after a sloppy bridge launch.
- A user executed the multisig transaction early, causing major confusion.
- The project still shows strong demand, with a recent $1B+ ICO oversubscription
MegaETH announces a full refund of all contributions from its Pre-Deposit Bridge, describing the execution as “sloppy” and far from its original goal of building 1:1 USDm collateral ahead of the Frontier mainnet. The team communicates the decision through an X thread on Nov. 27, outlining a refund process handled through a new smart contract currently under audit. The refund effort follows strong user speculation about potential rewards, which MegaETH denies while affirming that early participation “will not be forgotten.”
MegaETH confirms it will reopen the USDC-USDm conversion bridge before Frontier’s beta to reinforce liquidity and support onboarding during the rollout phase.
We've decided to return all funds raised from the Pre-Deposit Bridge.
Execution was sloppy and expectations weren’t aligned with our goal of preloading collateral to guarantee 1:1 USDm conversion at mainnet.
How this decision impacts you:
— MegaETH (@megaeth) November 27, 2025
Pre-Deposit Failures Create Immediate Turbulence
The bridge launch collapses within hours of going live. Sonar, the platform responsible for KYC checks, blocks deposits for nearly an hour after hitting its traffic ceiling. Once restored, the initial $250 million cap fills in a little over two minutes, prompting the team to raise the limit to $1 billion to allow broader access.
A critical misstep then accelerates the breakdown. MegaETH completes all required multisig signatures ahead of the public relaunch announcement. Under Safe multisig rules, once all signatures exist, any user can execute the transaction on-chain. An X user, chud.eth, spots the ready transaction and executes it 34 minutes early, triggering an unplanned reopening and fueling further confusion.
MegaETH responds by resetting the cap to $400 million, then $500 million, where the deposit limit eventually closes.
MegaETH Sustains Strong Demand Despite the Disorder
MegaETH continues to attract intense market interest. Its October ICO, run through Sonar, draws over $1 billion in commitments, exceeding the $50 million cap by a wide margin and engaging more than 38,000 participants. Earlier funding rounds, such as the Echo raise in 2024 and the Fluffles soulbound NFT campaign in 2025, also sell out rapidly.
The team asserts that the stablecoin program remains a priority and that the Frontier launch will proceed with tighter controls and clearer execution standards to avoid repeat failures.
