Megadeth launch their own cryptocurrency, $MEGA

Megadeth have launched $MEGA, their own cryptocurrency which offers special perks and benefits to fans who buy, hold and trade with it.

Announcing the new digital coin on Facebook on Thursday (December 2), the band wrote: “By buying, holding, and transacting with $MEGA, fans will gain access to exclusives and premium benefits.”

In addition, members of Megadeth's official fan club, Cyber Army, that hold $MEGA will unlock “additional exclusives, access, and offers”, starting with free $MEGA. This is available to all of the club's Premium, Deluxe and Free members now.

The thrash metallers jumped on the crypto train for the first time earlier this year when they sold their first NFT – a digital work of art entitled Vic Rattlehead: Genesis – for 8.4 ETH, roughly $18,000 at the time.

While many musical artists have bought into the NFT hype – including Joe Bonamassa, Yngwie Malmsteen and Muse's Matt Bellamy – Megadeth join a small list of musical artists who are using the world of crypto to offer real-world utility to fans.

Last month, California metallers Avenged Sevenfold announced the Deathbats Club, a community which gives fans who hold one of 10,000 NFTs access to a range of perks, including free concert tickets for life, guitar lessons with Synyster Gates and even a round of golf with frontman M Shadows.

Megadeth are currently gearing up to release their 16th studio album, The Sick, the Dying and the Dead, in 2022. 

We've yet to hear any official music, but band leader Dave Mustaine has shared two audio snippets in Cameo videos to fans so far, including a melodic section from the record's title track and a quintessentially Megadeth thrash riff that is yet-unattributed to a song.

Back in August, James LoMenzo was announced as the band's new live bassist, following the departure of longtime bass player David Ellefson, who was fired from the band after a series of sexually explicit videos were leaked online.

Following the lineup change, it was revealed that Ellefson's bass parts for The Sick, the Dying and the Dead would be re-recorded by a mysterious “stellar bass player”, though the identity of that person is still unknown.