Metaplex

Metaplex is the tokenization platform that most Solana tokens and NFTs are built on. It began as the network's NFT standard and now covers the whole life of an asset. Token Metadata and Core define tokens and NFTs. Bubblegum makes cheap compressed NFTs. Genesis runs token sales, and a new standard handles regulated real-world assets. Metaplex also runs a trading app called Vantage. Its website says more than 1 billion assets have been made with it. The code is open source and run by the Metaplex Foundation. Half of the fees it earns are used to buy its token, MPLX, for the Metaplex DAO.

How Metaplex works on Solana and how it makes money

A plain Solana token is just a balance. It has no name, no image and no record of who made it. Metaplex programs add that layer. When your wallet shows a token's name and logo, it is usually reading data a Metaplex program attached.

So Metaplex is infrastructure, and most people never visit it. Launchpads, wallets, games and marketplaces call its programs in the background.

The code is free to use, but Metaplex charges a small fee on many actions, such as minting an asset or trading on a Genesis bonding curve. Its fee page says half of these fees are turned into MPLX for the DAO. The Metaplex Foundation keeps the other half to pay for its work.

Most of the money comes from the two asset standards. In September 2026, Token Metadata and Core earned nearly 90% of fee revenue between them, per Metaplex's September round-up. Genesis earns more in months with big token sales.

Metaplex Core and Token Metadata: Solana's NFT and token standards

Token Metadata is the older standard. It gives a normal Solana token a name, symbol, image link, creator list and royalty settings. Today it is mostly used for coins. In September 2026, 85% of new Token Metadata assets were fungible tokens rather than NFTs, per the September round-up. Many launchpads use it to give a new coin its name and logo.

Metaplex Core is the newer NFT standard. It keeps each NFT in one account instead of several, so it is much cheaper. Metaplex's Core docs put a Core mint at roughly a seventh of the cost of a Token Metadata NFT. Core passed 9 million assets in September 2026, per the same round-up.

Core also has plugins. These are small add-ons that give an NFT extra behaviour, such as enforced royalties, freezing, burning or on-chain traits. A Core collection can change royalties or freeze every NFT at once. Metaplex recommends Core for new NFT projects.

Compressed NFTs on Solana with Bubblegum v2

Bubblegum is the Metaplex program for compressed NFTs. A normal NFT needs its own account. Bubblegum instead stores a fingerprint of many NFTs in one shared data tree. Per the Bubblegum v2 docs, that cuts the cost of a large collection to a tiny fraction of a normal NFT. It suits game items, loyalty passes and airdrops that need millions of assets.

Bubblegum v2 is the current version. It set a monthly record of 1.2 million mints in August 2026, per Metaplex's August round-up. Compressed NFTs don't sit in normal accounts, so wallets read them through the DAS API. Metaplex designed this interface. Not every RPC provider supports it, but several large ones do.

Metaplex Genesis launchpad: launch pools, presales and bonding curves

Genesis is the Metaplex tool for selling a new token on-chain, announced in July 2025. A team can raise money and hand out its token in one open process that anyone can check. The Genesis docs list four ways to sell:

• A launch pool, where buyers deposit during a set window and the total decides the price.
• A presale, with a fixed price, first come first served.
• A uniform price auction, where everyone pays the same final price.
• A bonding curve, where the price rises as people buy.

In launch pools and presales, buyers pay no fee to deposit or withdraw. The team pays 5% when it takes out the money raised. Bonding curve trades carry a small fee, part to Metaplex and part to the team.

After a sale, the token can move to a Raydium RAY$1.76+12.6% pool for trading. For launch pools and presales, 20% of that pool is locked for a year and unlocks every quarter.

Genesis also supports vesting, so a team can set its own unlock schedule. Since October 2026, RugCheck has counted Genesis vesting vaults when it checks how much of a token is locked. A Genesis SDK lets other launchpads build on the same code. In August 2026, the Genesis sale of Claynosaurz's HEEBOO token drew more than $1.2 million in deposits, per the August round-up.

MPL-3643 for tokenized securities and real-world assets

MPL-3643 is a Metaplex standard for tokens with rules about who can hold them. Metaplex unveiled it in late September 2026. It is for issuers of tokenized shares, funds and other real-world assets (RWAs). The issuer writes rules into the token, such as who may invest, from which countries, and when it can be sold. A wallet that fails the checks can't receive it.

The standard sits on top of Solana's newer token program, Token Extensions (Token-2022). It uses the Solana Attestation Service, which records checked facts about a wallet. So an investor checked once can reuse that check for other tokens built the same way.

Metaplex named Orca ORCA$1.44+0.1%, Raydium, Solflare, Jupiter JUP$0.260+4.6% and Phantom CASH$1.000+0.0% as launch partners. In late October, Meteora MET$0.293+6.2% said it is an official partner too, so anyone can create Meteora pools for these tokens.

MPL-3643 is in limited-access alpha, per the September round-up, and the launch post named no issuers. We covered the launch in our MPL-3643 report.

Metaplex Vantage trading terminal

Vantage is the first Metaplex trading app, launched in closed beta on 23 September 2026. It is a research and trading screen for active Solana traders. You build your screen from blocks you can add, move and resize, and you can keep different boards for different plans. The blocks cover trading, portfolio tracking, token research and market data.

Since mid-October 2026, Vantage has shown your open orders on the chart. That includes limit orders, take-profit and stop-loss levels and live profit and loss. You can cancel an order without leaving the chart.

You join the beta through a waitlist at vantage.metaplex.com, and Metaplex lets people in batch by batch. The launch post does not describe fees or how Vantage holds your keys, so check both before you fund an account.

Metaplex developer tools: Candy Machine, Umi, DAS API and AI agents

Most developers use Metaplex through its code kits. Umi is the kit for web apps. The Metaplex CLI runs in a terminal. The DAS API reads assets. Core Candy Machine runs NFT mints with a set price, a start time and a list of who can mint.

The first Candy Machine ran many of Solana's early NFT mints. It is now retired, and new projects should use Core Candy Machine. The Metaplex docs list Auction House, Gumdrop, Hydra, Fusion and a few other old tools as deprecated too. Old guides that point to them are out of date.

Some smaller tools are still live. MPL-Hybrid swaps NFTs for tokens and back. MPL-Distro sends airdrops. Agent Registry gives AI agents an identity on the chain. In June 2026, DAS began listing those agents on the main RPC services.

MPLX token: buybacks, supply and where it trades

MPLX is the governance token of the Metaplex DAO. It launched in September 2022 with a supply of 1 billion. Each month, half of the previous month's protocol revenue goes to buying MPLX for the DAO. So each buyback grows or shrinks with what the protocol earns.

Two Metaplex groups hold much of the supply. On 14 October 2026, the DAO and the Metaplex Foundation held just over half of all MPLX between them, per the September round-up. Metaplex publishes protocol and MPLX data on a Blockworks dashboard and files a token report on Bloomberg Terminals, per the August round-up.

MPLX trades on Solana exchanges and on big centralised ones. On 20 October 2026, the South Korean exchange Upbit added a Korean won market for MPLX, TokenPost reported. Live price data appears on this page's token widget.

Who should use Metaplex

• NFT creators and game studios should start with Core, or with Bubblegum v2 for very large collections. Developers work with the programs directly. Others can use the creation tools on the Metaplex website or an app built on Metaplex.
• Token teams who want an open, checkable sale with vesting can use Genesis. The 5% fee on funds raised is a real cost on a big raise.
• Regulated issuers can apply for MPL-3643 alpha access. It is too new for an issuer that needs a live track record.
• Active Solana traders can join the Vantage beta, which is invite-only and still changing.
• MPLX holders get a token tied to fee revenue through buybacks, but voting power is concentrated, as the risks below explain.

Is Metaplex legit and safe? Audits, upgrade authority and risks

Metaplex has run on Solana since 2021, and outside firms have checked its main programs. Some were checked more recently than others. Its security page names Sec3, Accretion, OtterSec and OShield as audit partners. The last audit dates it lists are:

• Token Metadata: November 2025.
• Bubblegum: May 2025.
• Core: May 2024.
• Candy Machine V2 and V3: November 2022.

The July 2025 Genesis launch post says Genesis was audited. The security page has no entry for it and names no firm. No public audit is listed for MPL-3643 or Vantage.

Who can change the code matters too. In November 2024, Metaplex gave the key to change Token Metadata to a group of three outside security firms, per its November 2024 round-up. The goal is to lock the code for good once they finish their checks. The docs do not say who can change Core, Bubblegum, Genesis or MPL-3643. Assume Metaplex still can, unless an explorer shows otherwise.

Other risks:

• The DAO and the Metaplex Foundation held just over half of all MPLX in mid-October 2026. So wallets tied to Metaplex control DAO votes.
• A Genesis sale is open, but that says nothing about the team behind the token. Check whether a project has given up its power to mint or freeze, as the docs suggest.
• Retired programs such as Auction House still run, but Metaplex no longer looks after them.

Metaplex alternatives and comparisons

• Token-2022 metadata: Solana's newer token program can store a name, symbol and image link in the token itself. That suits simple tokens, but it lacks the Metaplex NFT features, and some older apps read only Token Metadata.
• Pump.fun and other bonding-curve launchpads are faster and cheaper for memecoins. Genesis suits teams that want a planned raise with presales, auctions and vesting.
• If you only need a simple token with a name and logo, Solana Compass runs its own token creation tool. We run it, and its fees go to our liquid staking token.
• ERC-3643 on Ethereum is the established standard for regulated tokens, with live issuers. MPL-3643 brings the same model to Solana but is still in alpha.

Metaplex history, founder and team

Metaplex grew out of Solana Labs and launched in June 2021, according to Messari. Stephen Hess, then head of product at Solana Labs, co-founded it and is still named as its founder. Soon after, the code passed to the Metaplex Foundation, a non-profit. Candy Machine became the go-to tool for Solana NFT mints in that year's boom.

In January 2022, the Metaplex Foundation raised $46 million, led by Multicoin Capital and Jump Crypto. MPLX launched later that year. Compressed NFTs came next, then Core, then Genesis.

Metaplex launched Vantage and its rule-based token standard within a week of each other in September 2026. That took it past NFTs and coins into trading and shares. In October, the Metaplex Foundation backed a Blockworks plan put to the US SEC. It would let token teams post their filings on the chain.