Binance announced that it will launch the Manta Network token MANTA on January 18, 2024. The MANTA token was sold at prices of 0.025 US dollars and 0.5 US dollars, corresponding to valuations of 25 million US dollars and 500 million US dollars respectively. In the public offering, a total of 8 % of the tokens were sold at a price of $0.36, corresponding to a valuation of $360 million. We believe that the reasonable circulation market value of MANTA is between US$500 million and US$600 million, and the corresponding price is between US$2 and US$2.4.
1. Project Introduction
Manta Network is a modular ecosystem built for the next generation of dApps. Currently two networks are provided:
Manta Pacific: A modular L2 ecosystem built on Ethereum that provides a scalable and low-gas environment for next-generation dApps, enabling applications to transcend the limitations of traditional EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) environments.
Figure 1: Manta Network technical architecture
Manta Atlantic: As the fastest ZK L1 chain on Polkadot, bringing programmable ZK (zero-knowledge proof)-driven on-chain identity DIDs and credentials to web3 via zkSBTs.
Figure 2: Interoperability of Manta Network and Polkadot Network
Manta Network provides an unparalleled environment for the scalability needs of dApps. The ecosystem takes a modular approach to meet the changing needs of dApps in the market now and in the future.
Currently, Manta Pacific uses Celestia to implement modular DA (data availability), reducing gas fees and becoming the most economical Ethereum L2.
2. Introduction to the core team
Kenny Li
Kenny Li is the co-founder and COO of Manta Network. He is also the co-founder of p0x labs. Kenny Li graduated from MIT-Sloan School of Management.
Victor Ji
Victor Ji is the co-founder of Manta Network, a certified public accountant in the United States, a researcher at the Harvard Belfer Center think tank, a former managing partner of BitBlock Capital, and a founding partner of Feiya Capital. He is the co-chairman of Harvard University's Kennedy China Institute and chairman of the school's Encryption and Blockchain Club. He is also a visiting lecturer at Boston University Business School and Carnegie Mellon University.
Vankyo S.
Vankyo S. is the Head of Business Development at Manta Network and was previously the Global Head of Institutional and VIP Business at Binance. She graduated from Columbia University and the University of Amsterdam.
3. Financing history
Manta Network has a history of multiple rounds of financing, with a total of approximately US$60.4 million raised. In private financing, a total of 24.11% of tokens were sold. MANTA tokens were sold at prices of US$0.025 and US$0.5, corresponding to valuations of US$25 million and US$500 million respectively. In public financing, a total of 8% of tokens were sold. Coin was sold at a price of US$0.36, corresponding to a valuation of US$360 million.
Figure 3: Part of Manta Network’s financing history
4. Key events
Figure 4: Manta Network historical events
5. TVL ranking
Manta Network TVL ranks fourth with approximately US$846 million, second only to Metis’ TVL of US$968 million. It is currently similar to Metis and Mantle in terms of technology type.
Figure 5: L2 network TVL ranking
6. Token Economy
The initial total supply of tokens is 1 billion MANTA.
Starting from the initial issuance of tokens, 2% will be issued every year.
MANTA tokens can be used for the following purposes:
Governance: MANTA token holders can vote on Manta Pacific and Manta Atlantic network governance decisions.
Staking: Staking MANTA helps strengthen the overall security of Manta Atlantic.
Collator Delegation: MANTA holders can choose to delegate their tokens to Collator, or stake MANTA themselves to run Collator to protect the network.
Network Fees: Manta Atlantic uses MANTA to pay transaction fees.
Native Liquidity & Collateral: MANTA tokens can be used as native liquidity tokens and collateral in the Manta ecosystem.
MANTA usage scenarios in Manta Pacific
Manta Pacific aims to thrive through on-chain activities, creating value for token holders, contributors, builders and users:
(1) Value accumulation for token holders:
Token holders benefit from sequencer revenue and gas fee savings from modular DA (data availability).
Sequencer revenue and DA Gas fee savings are primarily used to fund on-chain activities and ZK applications, driving demand for block space.
(2) Builders and Contributors:
Builders and contributors directly benefit from the funding of on-chain activity and the market it enables.
A well-funded ecosystem attracts builders, forming a mutually beneficial relationship that promotes the development of on-chain tools, market education, applications, and infrastructure.
Revenue is allocated to fund ecosystem projects and public goods, continuously stimulating innovation, supporting early-stage projects, and driving the adoption of innovative technologies in the Manta ecosystem.
(3) Users and community members:
Ongoing ecosystem and community incentives and project incentives funded by MANTA are beneficial to users and community members.
Value comes from on-chain activities and the advantages brought by ZK applications.
(4) Revenue generation:
Demand for MANTA block space generates revenue.
The initial funds for the sequencer are owned by the Manta Foundation and are available for redistribution.
Future funds may go directly to the protocol through the sale of participation rights in the Manta decentralized ordering network.
MANTA usage scenarios in Manta Atlantic
MANTA serves multiple functions within the Manta Atlantic ecosystem:
(1) Network usage fee:
Transactions and contract/pallet execution generate royalties.
72% of network usage fees are allocated to ecosystem projects, increasing incentives for building applications on Manta.
18% goes to the treasury to incentivize network development and future parachain auctions.
10% is allocated to the collector who generates the block containing the transaction.
(2) Trading medium:
MANTA serves as the native currency of the Manta network, facilitating peer-to-peer transfers and transactions with contracts/pallets.
MANTA can purchase certificates such as zkSBT and zkKYC within the network.
(3) Governance rights:
MANTA serves as the voting weight for on-chain governance decisions.
Used to propose referendums, elect council members, and shape the future of the Manta network.
(4) Network security:
Collators play a key role in packaging transactions and supporting block liveness.
MANTA tokens incentivize collectors and ensure the robustness and decentralization of the network.
The network allocates 2% of the total issuance to stakers every year to maintain network security.
Token distribution ratio
Figure 6: MANTA Token Allocation 1
Token release rules and unlocking progress
The opening circulation volume of MANTA tokens was 251 million, accounting for 25.1% of the total circulation.
Figure 7: MANTA token unlocking rules
Figure 8: MANTA token release cycle
7. Secondary market forecast
Binance Launchpool Historical Performance
From the figure below, we can see the performance of Binance’s newly launched tokens through Launchpool and Launchpad recently. We can see that the recent launch of Launchpool has performed well. After the start of Q4, several tokens such as MEME, ACE, NFP and AI The opening return was significantly higher than previous projects.
图9：币安近期IEO项目表现
Comparable valuation
Figure 10: Comparable projects
In terms of comparable valuations, in terms of narrative and track, ARB, OP, METIS and MANTLE that have issued tokens are relatively similar to MANTA. In particular, the METIS project is closer in terms of TVL and solutions. It opened with MANTA tokens of US$90.36 million. Compared with the circulating market value, the gap with the average circulating market value and total market value of the above projects is 24.37x and 28.7x respectively.
Opening capital
图11：币安近期IEO项目资金表现
Judging from the historical opening funds of Binance Launchpool, the recent Launchpool project is relatively representative. Only the data of the last four periods are used for reference. The average opening turnover multiple and circulation market capitalization increase were 37.38x and 31.76x respectively.
OTC market reference
Since MANTA tokens have been publicly raised, 8% of the tokens were sold at a price of 0.36 US dollars. Currently, in the OTC market, the average transaction price is around 2.1 US dollars.
On-chain borrowing cost reference
本次链上BNB借贷的APY为180%，根据该数值的计算，平均每个BNB的借贷利息为3.11 USD，对应每个BNB能够分配到MANTA代币的数量为1.59个MANTA代币，对应需要覆盖借贷的利息支出的币价需要在1.95美金左右。
To sum up, we believe that the reasonable circulation market value of MANTA is between US$500 million and US$600 million, and the corresponding price is between US$2 and US$2.4.
References
Manta Network报告，Binance Research，https://www.binance.com/en/research/projects/manta
Manta Network historical financing data, Rootdata, https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Manta%20Network?k=NjY2
Introduction to Manta Network Token Economics, Manta Network Medium, https://mantanetwork.medium.com/manta-tokenomics-b226f911c84c
A detailed explanation of the Manta Network token economic model, Shenchao, https://www.techflowpost.com/article/detail_15745.html
Note: This article does not constitute any investment advice, and investors should pay attention to investment risks.
