Meteora Referral Staking Cycle 2 Distributes Over $700K in USDC, More Than Double Cycle 1

Meteora MET$0.346-4.7% distributed over $700K in USDC to participants in Cycle 2 of its Referral Staking program, the protocol announced on September 23. That total is more than double the $336K paid out in Cycle 1, which closed in late August.

Cycle 2 ended on September 21 with 89M+ MET staked and more than 11,000 users referred. The leaderboard showed $373K in estimated rewards at that point; the final claimable figure of $700K+ was confirmed two days later after Meteora finalized its fee settlement calculations.

89M MET Staked and 11K Referred Users as Cycle 2 Tops Cycle 1 on Every Metric

Both participation and payout rose from the first to the second cycle. Cycle 1 had 76 million MET staked and 9,000+ referred users, generating $336K in USDC. Cycle 2 added 13 million more staked MET, brought in more than 2,000 additional referred users, and paid out more than twice as much.

How DLMM Protocol Fees Become Claimable USDC

Meteora's Referral Staking program allocates a share of its Dynamic Liquidity Market Maker (DLMM) trading fees to MET token holders. Referrers earn 8% of the protocol fees paid by the liquidity providers they recruit. Referred users earn 2% of fees from their own eligible positions, with a cap tied to the amount of MET their referrer has staked. Stakers without an active referral network draw from the broader fee pool.

All rewards settle in USDC, the same currency in which LPs pay DLMM fees. That makes the payout figures a direct measure of trading activity across Meteora's pools, not a token-emission subsidy. The $700K+ Cycle 2 total reflects the full fee settlement after all positions were resolved at cycle end; the leaderboard's in-cycle estimates had been lower throughout the run.

The program launched on July 20 and drew 65 million MET in its first four days. Each cycle has run approximately one calendar month, with Cycle 2 beginning the day Cycle 1 closed. Meteora describes the program as a direct tie between MET token utility and DLMM protocol usage.

Rewards from both cycles are now claimable at meteora.ag/referral. Meteora states the claim window remains open through March 31, 2027.