MilkyWay (MILK) Price

What Is MilkyWay (MILK) and How Does It Work?

MilkyWay (MILK) is a Cosmos-based layer-1 blockchain built to deliver modular liquid staking and restaking services. It lets you lock base tokens, like Celestia’s TIA or Initia's INIT, in its protocol and mint an equivalent amount of liquid tokens (e.g., milkTIA or milkINIT) that auto-compound staking rewards while remaining fully transferable and usable across DeFi platforms.

Under the hood, MilkyWay aggregates your staked assets with those of other users and delegates them to a vetted set of validators. In return for the staking rewards generated, you receive liquid tokens that mirror your position. You can trade these tokens, supply them as liquidity, or restake them within MilkyWay’s restaking module for an extra layer of yield.

The protocol charges a 10% fee on staking rewards to fund development, secure insurance against slashing, and incentivize its DAO governance, with MILK as the native token powering network fees, governance votes, and on-chain liquidity.

When Was MilkyWay Protocol Launched?

MilkyWay began its journey in late 2023, when a team of Cosmos and Celestia ecosystem veterans, including contributors from Manta, StakeWithUs, Alt Layer, and the Celestia core team, unveiled the first modular liquid staking solution for Celestia in December 2023.

The protocol’s alpha launch on Osmosis occurred on October 31, 2023, introducing milkTIA as the inaugural liquid staking derivative for Celestia and showcasing modular, interchain staking via CosmWasm and the Cosmos SDK.

After securing $5 million in early funding and growing its TVL through Q1 2024, MilkyWay rolled out its native MILK token in April 2025, distributing it via a community airdrop and enabling trading on major exchanges like BingX starting April 29, 2025.

Looking ahead, MilkyWay’s roadmap calls for:

1. Native Rollkit Integration: Migrating liquid staking issuance from Osmosis to Celestia’s Rollkit for on-chain milkTIA minting.

2. Multi-Asset Expansion: Adding restaking support for INIT and other modular assets.

3. Ecosystem Growth: Onboarding new DeFi integrations, expanding validator sets, and launching advanced restaking modules to compound yields.

What Are the Primary Use Cases of MILK Token?

MILK is the native token of the MilkyWay network and has the following utilities:

1. Governance & Revenue Sharing: Holders vote on protocol upgrades, fee structures, and treasury management, and earn a portion of the 10% fee charged on all staking rewards as protocol revenue distribution.

2. Gas & On-Chain Liquidity: MILK powers gas fees for transactions on the MilkyWay chain and can be supplied as liquidity in DeFi pools to unlock trading and yield-farming opportunities.

3. Collateral for Restaking & Ecosystem Incentives: Users stake MILK within MilkyWay’s restaking modules to secure specialized services (e.g., oracle feeds or data availability tasks) and earn extra yield, while also participating in reward-point programs like mPoints.

Log in to your BingX account, go to Trade → Spot, search for MILK/USDT, enter your buy or sell amount, then select Market for instant execution or Limit to set your target price.

When Is MilkyWay Airdrop and Who Is Eligible?

The MilkyWay $MILK airdrop is live now and runs through May 29, 2025 at 10 AM UTC, giving eligible users until then to claim their tokens.

Who Is Eligible for $MILK Airdrop?

1. mPoint holders: Anyone who earned mPoints by holding liquid-staked tokens (milkTIA/milkINIT) during the campaign (points snapshot closed Feb 28, 2025).

2. Moolitia NFT holders: Users who purchased and connected official MilkyWay “Moolitia” NFTs.

3. milkINIT testers: Participants in the Initia testnet who staked INIT and provided feedback.

How to claim your MILK Tokens After the Airdrop

1. On-chain via the Massdrop portal: Go to the official MilkyWays airdrop claim site, connect your Cosmos-compatible wallet, and verify eligibility. Follow the prompts to claim; your tokens will vest across four unlock phases (immediate, +90 days, +182 days, +364 days).

2. Via centralized exchanges: If you opted in before April 26, 2025 at 12 PM UTC on a supported CEX, your MILK allocation will be credited directly to your exchange account, no on-chain claim required.

Be sure to claim before the May 29 deadline or you’ll forfeit any unclaimed MILK tokens.

What Is MilkyWay Tokenomics?

MilkyWay’s native governance token $MILK has a fixed total supply of 1,000,000,000 MILK, allocated as follows:

1. Core Contributors: 200,000,000 MILK (20.00%) reserved for founding team, contributors, and future hires; locked 12 months, then linear vesting over 36 months.

2. Early Private Investors: 134,200,000 MILK (13.42%) from seed/backer rounds; locked 12 months, then 24-month monthly vesting.

3. Early Supporters: 35,500,000 MILK (3.55%) for advisors and early builders; locked 12 months, then 36-month monthly vesting.

4. Foundation: 80,000,000 MILK (8.00%) to fund DeFi integrations, rollup deployments, and ecosystem grants; 2% unlocked at launch, remainder vesting over 36 months.

5. Community Round: 52,500,000 MILK (5.25%) allocated via community allocations (e.g., Echo); locked 12 months, then 12-month monthly unlock.

6. CEX Exclusive TGE: 20,000,000 MILK (2.00%) sold in an exclusive token generation event on Binance Wallet via PancakeSwap; fully unlocked at launch.

7. CEX Web3 Wallet Marketing: 20,000,000 MILK (2.00%) earmarked for future marketing on Binance Web3 Wallet.

8. Ecosystem Growth: 165,000,000 MILK (16.50%) to incentivize new protocol integrations, partnerships, and liquidity mining.

9. Massdrop Airdrop: 100,000,000 MILK (10.00%) distributed to early adopters (mPoint holders, Moolitia NFT holders, milkINIT testers) across four vesting phases.

10. Community Growth: 192,800,000 MILK (19.28%) for ongoing community incentives, ambassador programs, and user acquisition efforts.

How to Stake MILK to Earn Rewards on MilkyWay

Here’s how to stake your MILK tokens on MilkyWay and start earning on-chain rewards:

1. Add MilkyWay to your wallet: In Keplr (or another Cosmos-compatible wallet), click “Add Chain” and select MilkyWay from the list (or visit the Keplr dashboard and enable MilkyWay under chains).

2. Connect and fund your wallet: Open the MilkyWay app in your browser, click “Connect Wallet,” and approve the MilkyWay network in Keplr. Send MILK tokens to your wallet via any supported CEX or bridge.

3. Navigate to the Staking page: In the MilkyWay dApp, select the Staking tab. You’ll see a list of active validators and the current APR for delegations.

4. Delegate your MILK: Choose a validator you trust, click Delegate, enter the amount of MILK you want to stake, and confirm the transaction in your wallet. Your tokens are now bonded, and you’ll begin accruing staking rewards immediately.

5. Claim & compound rewards: Periodically return to the Staking tab and click Claim Rewards to harvest your earned MILK. You can then re-delegate those rewards (compound) or leave them in your wallet to use elsewhere.

Will I Qualify for Celestia (TIA) Airdrops If I Stake via MilkyWay?

MilkyWay’s liquid staking derivatives (e.g., milkTIA) have consistently qualified for Celestia airdrops because the MilkyWay team coordinates directly with Celestia projects to include milkTIA stakers in snapshot and distribution events. To date, MilkyWay has secured nearly every TIA airdrop on behalf of its users, and you’ll automatically be eligible for future drops so long as you hold milkTIA through each projects’ snapshot windows.

That said, actual eligibility always depends on each airdrop’s specific criteria, such as minimum holding periods or point thresholds, so it’s a good idea to monitor MilkyWay’s announcements and official Celestia airdrop updates. If you ever spot a potential oversight, you can join the MilkyWay community channels and notify the team to help ensure your staking position is recognized in upcoming distributions.

Who Are the Validators That Secure the MilkyWay Network?

MilkyWay doesn’t run its own validator nodes; instead, it partners with a hand-picked subset of Celestia’s top professional validators. Your liquid-staked assets (e.g., milkTIA) are spread evenly across twelve reputable operators, Finoa, CryptoCrew, Figment, P-OPS, Everstake, Chorus One, Allnodes, 01node, Cosmostation, Hex Trust, DSRV, and Keplr, each vetted for reliability, security, and best-in-class uptime.

By delegating uniformly across this diverse set, MilkyWay ensures decentralization and minimizes single-point risks. All partnered validators cap their commission at 10 %, and while Celestia currently only penalizes double-signing (2%) and not downtime, MilkyWay’s governance framework will evolve to let token holders vote on adding or removing validators to maintain network integrity.

What Are the Fees or Costs Associated with Liquid Staking on MilkyWay?

Using MilkyWay’s liquid staking incurs only two main costs beyond the base asset you lock up:

1. On-chain gas fees: Every interaction, staking, claiming rewards, or unstaking, requires a transaction on Celestia (via Rollkit/Osmosis), so you’ll pay whatever network gas fees prevail at the time (which fluctuate with on-chain demand).

2. Validator commission + protocol fee
• Validator commission: Your staked tokens are delegated evenly across MilkyWay’s partnered validators, each charging up to 10 % of the staking rewards as their commission.
• MilkyWay protocol fee: On top of validator commissions, the protocol itself takes 10% of the gross staking rewards. Those fees fund development, cover slashing insurance, and supply the DAO treasury that supports future upgrades.

There are no extra deposit, withdrawal, or subscription fees. Just account for gas on each transaction and the combined 20% maximum cut from your rewards (10% validator + 10% protocol). Unbonding follows Celestia’s standard unbonding period before you can access your underlying tokens.

Has MilkyWay Been Audited and Is It Safe to Use?

Yes. MilkyWay’s codebase undergoes rigorous third-party security reviews at every major release; most recently, Oak Security completed a full protocol audit on December 12, 2023, and all audit reports are published transparently in the MilkyWay Docs under “Security → Audits.”

In addition, MilkyWay runs an ongoing bug-bounty program and engages external consultants to vet new features, helping ensure that staking, minting, and restaking operations remain secure—though, as with any blockchain protocol, users should stay updated on disclosures and follow best practices (e.g., using hardware wallets) to maximize safety.

What Makes MilkyWay (MILK) a Good Investment?

MilkyWay stands out as an early leader in modular liquid staking for the Celestia ecosystem. As of April 2025, it secures over $178 million in TVL, representing some 58.5 million TIA staked, which demonstrates strong market demand for on-chain liquidity and composable staking products. Its liquid-staked tokens (milkTIA, milkINIT) auto-compound rewards while remaining fully transferable across DeFi, and the protocol’s thorough security audits and partnerships with top validators further mitigate slashing or downtime risk.

On the token side, MILK’s design aligns stakeholder incentives and protocol growth. With a fixed 1 billion supply, MILK entitles holders to governance votes and a share of the 10% protocol fee on all staking rewards. Backing from Binance Labs, Polychain Capital, and a successful $6.3 million fundraising round underscores institutional confidence, while listings on major CEXs like BingX boost liquidity and price discovery. Looking ahead, roadmap milestones, such as Rollkit integration for on-chain minting and multi-asset restaking, position MilkyWay to capture growing demand for secure, yield-optimized staking across the modular Web3 stack.