Former contributor accuses Magic Eden of changing rewards and governance after long-term $ME lockups

Ben Gruenbaum, a former community data analysis contributor at Magic Eden and founder of Magic Lab, said in a post on X that Magic Eden changed its rewards, governance, product and strategic direction after users committed to long-term $ME lockups. He said the token has a fixed supply of 1 billion, with 225 million set aside for active user rewards over four years on a linear unlock schedule, while locked tokens can remain inaccessible for as long as four years. Gruenbaum also pointed to changes in distribution figures across Season 1 and Season 2, a 5 million $ME community fund, and a Magic Lab proposal seeking 295,000 $ME. Based on a $0.60 price, that budget would equal about $177,000, though he said the decline in price reduced its value. He added that users remained locked while Bitcoin and EVM markets, Runes infrastructure and wallet products were shut down, with rewards shifted to USDC. He also said Magic Eden made a $75 million commitment to Dicey, and that some top stakers reported problems claiming USDC and have filed lawsuits.