MetaMask’s Native Token MASK May Launch Sooner Than Expected

Ethereum co-founder and Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin confirmed that MetaMask’s long-rumored native token, MASK, is on its way. Speaking on The Block’s The Crypto Beat podcast, Lubin said, “The MASK token is coming — it may come sooner than you would expect right now.” He stressed that the token is tied directly to MetaMask’s decentralization plans, marking a key step for the most widely used Ethereum wallet.

A Move Toward Decentralization

Lubin explained that Consensys is aligning MetaMask, Infura, and Linea with Ethereum’s broader goal of progressive decentralization. The MASK token will play a central role in this strategy. The idea of a MetaMask token has been circulating since at least 2021, when engineer Erik Marks floated the concept of community ownership through a token launch.

MetaMask co-founder Dan Finlay previously said that if MASK is released, it would be promoted directly inside the wallet, making access simple for users. While Finlay was cautious earlier this year, Lubin’s latest comments signal that the launch is now a matter of timing rather than speculation.

Lessons from the Linea Launch

Consensys recently rolled out the native token for its Ethereum Layer 2 network, Linea. The token generation event distributed over 9.36 billion LINEA, with Consensys keeping just 15% of the supply. The rest was allocated to support developers, liquidity, and ecosystem incentives. Lubin pointed to this as a blueprint for how MASK might also prioritize community growth over centralized holdings.

SharpLink’s Market Performance and mNAV Concerns

Lubin, who also chairs Ethereum treasury firm SharpLink Gaming, addressed concerns about its performance. The company’s market net asset value (mNAV) has slipped to 0.80x, meaning the market currently values SharpLink below the worth of its ETH holdings. This mirrors trends seen at other crypto treasuries like Bitmine and MARA.

Such a discount raises the risk of a “death spiral,” where declining stock prices limit fundraising ability. Lubin downplayed the concern, describing it as part of broader market cycles tied to ETH price fluctuations. He expects sentiment to shift upward as ether moves closer to previous highs.

SharpLink’s Strategy for Stability

SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom echoed Lubin’s view, calling the mNAV drop a “temporary dislocation.” He emphasized that staking ETH continues to provide steady yield, which counts as revenue and should support long-term investor confidence.

If mNAV stays below 1, Chalom said the company will consider buybacks and explore equity-linked or convertible offerings to raise capital without diluting shareholders. For him, the ETH-per-share ratio is a better measure of value, which has nearly doubled from 2.0 in June to 3.95 today.

From Accumulation to Utility

Both leaders see the company’s long-term future not in simply accumulating ETH but in leveraging it across the ecosystem. This could include staking in critical protocols, lending against ETH reserves, and providing liquidity to new projects. As Lubin put it, once SharpLink reaches a certain inflection point, it will “substantially change” its mode of operation to actively deploy its holdings.