---
type: source
title: "MetaDAO Q1 2026 update: Hurupay ICO failure, P2P.me upcoming, VC discount rejection via futarchy, revenue decline continues"
author: "Multiple (Blockworks, Bitget, Phemex, Pine Analytics)"
url: https://blockworks.co/news/rangers-ico-metadao
date: 2026-03-17
domain: internet-finance
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: processed
priority: medium
triage_tag: entity
tags: [metadao, ICO, hurupay, p2p, futarchy, ownership-coins, revenue, governance]
processed_by: rio
processed_date: 2026-03-18
enrichments_applied: ["decision markets make majority theft unprofitable through conditional token arbitrage.md", "MetaDAO is the futarchy launchpad on Solana where projects raise capital through unruggable ICOs governed by conditional markets creating the first platform for ownership coins at scale.md"]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

### Hurupay ICO Failure (February 7, 2026)
- Hurupay (onchain neobank for Africa/emerging markets) launched ICO on MetaDAO February 3
- Failed to reach minimum $3M target — full refunds issued February 7
- Strong underlying metrics: $7.2M monthly transaction volume, $500K+ revenue
- Supported by Founders Inc., angel investors from Microsoft, Bankless
- First MetaDAO ICO failure — all previous 8 ICOs (since April 2025) succeeded

### P2P.me ICO (Scheduled March 26, 2026)
- P2P.me (crypto-to-fiat exchange app) targeting $6M raise on MetaDAO
- Previously raised $2M seed (April 2025) from Multicoin and Coinbase Ventures
- Live in India, Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia — 23,000+ registered users
- Peaked at $1.97M monthly volume (February 2026)
- Cumulative protocol revenue: $327.4K through mid-March 2026

### VC Discount Rejection via Futarchy
- MetaDAO community voted (via futarchy) against a $6M OTC deal that would have offered VC firms a 30% discount on META tokens
- Rejection triggered a 16% surge in META price
- Demonstrates futarchy governance working as designed: community rejected value extraction by insiders
- This is strong evidence for [[MetaDAO empirical results show smaller participants gaining influence through futarchy]]

### Revenue and Platform State
- Revenue declined sharply since mid-December 2025 (identified in Session 2)
- The ICO cadence problem remains: curated model limits throughput
- MetaDAO generated ~$2.4M revenue since Futarchy AMM launch (Oct 10, 2025) — 60% from AMM, 40% from Meteora LP
- Permissionless launches still debated but not fully implemented

### Platform Metrics
- 8+ ICOs since April 2025 (now including Hurupay failure)
- Total raised: $25.6M with $390M committed (15x oversubscription)
- Futarchy AMM processed $300M+ in volume, $1.5M in fees

## Agent Notes
**Triage:** [ENTITY] — MetaDAO ecosystem state update for Q1 2026

**Why this matters:** The Hurupay failure is significant — it's the first ICO that didn't reach minimum threshold. This tests the "ownership coins = product-market fit" narrative. However, the failure may be project-specific (emerging market neobank in a bear market) rather than systematic. The VC discount rejection is the more interesting signal — futarchy governance working as designed to prevent value extraction.

**What surprised me:** The VC discount rejection and 16% price surge. This is the clearest real-world evidence of futarchy preventing minority exploitation. The market literally priced in "we rejected the extractive deal" as positive. This strengthens Belief #3 (futarchy solves trustless joint ownership) and the specific claim that [[Decision markets make majority theft unprofitable through conditional token arbitrage]].

**KB connections:**
- Updates [[MetaDAOs futarchy implementation shows limited trading volume in uncontested decisions]] — the VC discount was a CONTESTED decision with real engagement
- Strengthens [[MetaDAO empirical results show smaller participants gaining influence through futarchy]]
- The Hurupay failure adds nuance to the "ownership coins = product-market fit" narrative — not all projects succeed, which is actually healthy (the filter works)

**Extraction hints:** Extract the VC discount rejection as a specific evidence point for futarchy governance effectiveness. The Hurupay failure should be noted as evidence that the MetaDAO ICO filter works (not all projects pass), which strengthens rather than weakens the platform thesis.

## Curator Notes
PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[MetaDAO empirical results show smaller participants gaining influence through futarchy]]
WHY ARCHIVED: Q1 2026 MetaDAO ecosystem update — first ICO failure + futarchy-based VC discount rejection provide new evidence on both sides


## Key Facts
- Hurupay launched ICO on MetaDAO February 3, 2026
- Hurupay ICO failed February 7, 2026 - did not reach $3M minimum
- Hurupay had $7.2M monthly transaction volume and $500K+ revenue
- P2P.me ICO scheduled for March 26, 2026 targeting $6M raise
- P2P.me has 23,000+ registered users across India, Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia
- P2P.me peaked at $1.97M monthly volume in February 2026
- P2P.me cumulative revenue: $327.4K through mid-March 2026
- MetaDAO revenue declined sharply since mid-December 2025
- MetaDAO generated ~$2.4M revenue since Futarchy AMM launch (Oct 10, 2025)
- MetaDAO Futarchy AMM processed $300M+ volume, $1.5M in fees
- MetaDAO total raised: $25.6M with $390M committed (15x oversubscription) across 8+ ICOs
