Merkle Trade
MKL
Evaluation Score
Overall rating on a scale of 0-10
Dimension Breakdown
AI Analysis
Comprehensive evaluation of the token
Merkle Trade (MKL) has officially announced a voluntary project wind-down and cessation of operations, directing users to a claim page to withdraw remaining funds. Because the project is defunct and has ceased development and community operations, Active Development and Community Support were assigned scores of -1.0 (data gap) and excluded from the weighted scoring calculation. Among the evaluated sections, Tokenomics scored 1.0/10 due to the complete collapse of token utility following the shutdown announcement despite over 60% of supply remaining locked. Market and Use Case scored 3.5/10, reflecting negligible 24-hour volume, a steep 85-90% drawdown from its all-time high, and negligible market share. Team and Governance scored 2.5/10 due to centralized administrative controls and protocol abandonment. Security and Audit History scored 4.5/10, noting a historical MoveBit audit and an April 2024 EVM exploit (~$20k) that was resolved, though forward-looking security is discontinued due to the shutdown. With the protocol permanently winding down, MKL offers no viable investment case.
Development Activity
Code updates and developer engagement
Community Support
Social media presence and community engagement
Tokenomics
Supply, distribution, and utility
Market & Use Case
Value proposition and competitive landscape
Team & Governance
Team background and project governance
Security & Audits
Security history and audit status
About Merkle Trade (MKL)
Merkle Trade (MKL) is a deprecated token associated with Merkle Trade, a gamified perpetual decentralized exchange (DEX) that officially ceased operations and initiated a protocol wind-down. Founded in Singapore in 2022 by Ye Park and Patrick Park with seed funding from investors including Hashed and Arrington Capital, the protocol launched primarily on the Aptos blockchain and later expanded to Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) networks. The platform offered leveraged trading on cryptocurrencies, foreign exchange, and commodities, recording over 160,000 traders and $30 billion in cumulative volume during its operational lifecycle.
The MKL token was structured with a maximum supply of 100,000,000 units, distributed across community incentives (46%), team and shareholders (22.5%), treasury reserves (18%), and community airdrops (12.8%). The protocol lacked a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) or tokenholder voting mechanisms, retaining centralized administration. Over 60% of the total token supply remained locked when operations concluded, leaving the asset without ongoing utility or deflationary mechanisms.
During its lifecycle, Merkle Trade faced technical vulnerabilities and severe market contraction. On April 18, 2024, an exploit of the platform's EVM Swap & Deposit smart contract resulted in the theft of approximately $20,000 from users, which led the team to roll back to an earlier contract version. In addition to facing high market competition, the MKL token suffered an 85% to 90% price drawdown from its all-time high of $0.4639 alongside near-zero trading volume. The team subsequently announced a permanent project shutdown and active development cessation, establishing a claim portal for users to withdraw their remaining assets.