Mango Markets, a decentralized exchange platform on the Solana blockchain, has raised $70 million in a just-concluded token sale.

Investors initially locked up over $500 million in USDC in the DEX as they raced to get a piece of MNGO tokens. However, the token sale closed at $70M.

While announcing the conclusion of the token sale, Mango Markets revealed that the MNGO tokens are currently on offer on popular crypto exchange FTX and derivatives exchange Openserum.

Solana first introduced Mango markets in May this year as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that also offers spot markets, perpetual futures, and lending. The project claims to provide users with lightning-fast network speed and near-zero transaction fees.

Liquidity is sourced from its pools and also from Serum, the Uniswap equivalent on Solana. Apart from being the governance token of the Mango Markets, Mango tokens give token holders the power to upgrade the protocol as they see fit. It also allows token holders to create incentives to reward participation and drive usage of the protocol.

Mango's token sale appears to be one of the largest this year. Many decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols raise between $1 million and $15 million in seed-stage funding. However, Mango made a substantial $70 million. This rise from a budding project reflects the rising fortunes of the Solana blockchain.

Mango markets' $70 million token sale shows the growth and popularity of the Solana blockchain. The blockchain has seen strong support from developers and users over the past few months. This is because of its vital role in solving problems faced by Ethereum users regarding congested networks and high gas fees.

The number of projects building on Solana has increased tremendously. Currently, there are more than 400 projects in Solana's ecosystem. Some of the most notable projects include Serum, Raydium, Maps.me, Chainlink, Terra, Audius, USDC, USDT, and Pyth Network.

The networks based on Solana are also thriving. An example is Saber Labs which recently secured $7.7 million in an initial seed fundraising round led by early-stage venture capital firm Race Capital. Another is Wormhole, a communication bridge based on Solana that launched its mainnet to support inter-blockchain message transfers.

One of the principal backers of the Solana blockchain is Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of crypto exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried has invested heavily into many of the projects currently built on the Solana blockchain.

This can be seen in the $314 million Solana Labs raised in June. Some of the major investors of the funding were Alameda Research (a firm backing FTX exchange), alongside Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital.

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