Glimmer (GLMR) is the native token of Moonbeam, a smart contract parachain on the Polkadot blockchain that’s compatible with Ethereum.

GLMR launched in January 2022, instantly hitting an all-time high of $29.84. Over the next six months the token collapsed in a dramatic fashion, hitting $1.19 by June.

However, GLMR’s market cap has increased as more tokens entered circulation. At launch, GLMR’s market cap was about $1 billion, but this peaked at $1.21 billion in April 2021 when GLMR’s price was far lower. Still, GLMR’s market cap fell to about $350 million in June.

Moonbeam launched on Dec, 17, 2021, as a centralized protocol. Its total value locked (TVL), the metric that describes how much crypto is locked up in the protocol’s smart contracts, did not surpass $1 million until Moonbeam fully decentralized on Jan. 11, 2022. Moonbeam’s launch on Polkadot coincided with the launch of GLMR.

After its launch, Moonbeam’s TVL peaked at $275 million on January 27. Its TVL cratered shortly thereafter, to $94 million in March. When the terraUST (UST) algorithmic stablecoin collapsed in May, sucking liquidity from decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, Moonbeam’s TVL plummeted, sinking to $64 million by June 10.

GLMR launched with a supply of 1 billion. Its supply increases at a rate of 5% a year, with no limit on its maximum supply. The protocol burns 80% of transaction fees and sends 20% to the treasury. According to data provider Messari, 17% of the initial tokens were allocated to airdropped and pre-mined rewards, 41% were earmarked for founders and the project, and 42% went to investors.

Moonbeam is a smart contract platform on Polkadot that is compatible with Ethereum and the ERC-20 assets that sit atop it.

The protocol allows developers to redeploy apps they have already built on Ethereum to Polkadot with little extra effort. Developers don’t have to rewrite their programs and can connect all the tools from Ethereum they’re accustomed to using, such as Hardhat, Truffle and MetaMask.

GLMR is Moonbeam’s utility token. Holders can use it to pay for transactions or vote in governance proposals. It’s also used to pay rewards to stakers.

Moonbeam and its sister blockchain, Moonriver, were developed by PureStake, a cryptocurrency company founded in 2019 that builds software for proof-of-stake networks. Its CEO is Derek Yoo. A non-profit called the Moonbeam Foundation acts as the long-term steward of the Moonbeam network and funds its development.

On June 8, 2022, the Moonbeam Foundation launched a $100 million ecosystem fund together with investments from Arrington Capital, the venture capital firm founded by TechCrunch and CrunchBase founder Michael Arrington, and TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde.