Fogo has canceled its $20 million pre-sale and will instead distribute tokens via an airdrop during its upcoming mainnet launch.
Fogo, an experimental Layer 1 blockchain built on the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), has canceled a previously announced token pre-sale ahead of its January mainnet launch, opting instead to distribute the tokens via an airdrop.
Earlier this week, the project revealed plans for a $20 million token pre-sale valuing the network at a $1 billion fully diluted valuation. The sale was set to offer 2% of FOGO’s total supply and was framed as a way to broaden token distribution rather than raise significant capital.
However, Fogo has since reversed course. “The original goal of the presale was broad distribution to current users and loyalists, but we determined there are better ways to do that while we focus on the launch of public mainnet,” Fogo Foundation Director Robert Sagurton told The Block in a direct message.
Instead of selling the tokens, Fogo will now airdrop the entire 2% allocation, a project representative confirmed. “Always read the room, sanity check original assumptions, and don’t hesitate to pivot when something no longer makes sense,” Sagurton added.
Tokenomics adjustments
The pre-sale cancellation marks the latest change to Fogo’s tokenomics. On Thursday, the team published its allocation plan, which includes 6.6% of the total supply reserved for an immediately tradable airdrop. Roughly one-third of the initial supply will be unlocked to fund the Fogo Foundation, while 34% is allocated to core contributors under a four-year vesting schedule. Under the initial plan, 38.98% of tokens will be unlocked at network launch.
Fogo also disclosed two institutional investors—Distributed Global and CMS Holdings—which together will receive 8.77% of the total supply. Advisors are allocated an additional 7%.
Beyond the airdrop, 11.25% of FOGO is reserved for “community ownership,” including participants in two crowdfunding rounds conducted via Echo, the angel investment platform founded by crypto trader Jordan Fish (Cobie), as well as a now-canceled Metaplex sale. According to the team, more than 3,200 investors participated in the Echo rounds, including an $8 million raise at a $100 million valuation in January.
“The Echo and upcoming Metaplex sales ensure community members hold a greater share than institutional investors,” the team wrote on X. Ahead of the now-canceled pre-sale, Fogo also burned an additional 2% of the genesis supply originally allocated to core contributors. “It’s gone forever,” a project representative said.
Airdrop, points, and mainnet launch
With the Dec. 17 pre-sale scrapped, Fogo indicated that participants in its points program could receive a larger token allocation. The team said it has taken snapshots of Fogo Fishers, Portal Bridge points holders, and all USDC transfers made since the initial pre-sale announcement.
These early users—testnet participants, Fogo Fishing dApp users, and those who bridged USDC via the Wormhole-powered Portal Bridge—will receive Fogo Flames, a points system redeemable for FOGO tokens following the Jan. 13 mainnet launch.
“We value the strong, positive support received. Rest assured, we have taken note,” the team wrote. “The Fogo Flames points program remains a central pillar to give meaningful distribution to developers, community members, and ecosystem participants.”
Sagurton, a former Jump Crypto executive, described the decision as a “doubling down on Flames,” emphasizing that the strategy shift will not affect the Layer 1’s planned launch.
Fogo is positioning itself as a next-generation blockchain built on Solana’s underlying technology. Developed by former Wall Street executives, the network aims to achieve 40-millisecond block times, support real-time trade execution, and mitigate malicious MEV. Its testnet, launched in July, currently processes more than 1,000 transactions per second.
Notably, Fogo plans to become the first blockchain to implement Jump Crypto’s newly released validator client software.