The Meter project was started in March 2018. The team identified an opportunity to create a decentralized, stable unit of account to be used within cryptoasset networks. They also identified an opportunity to help alleviate other problems that existed within the cryptoasset market. So they created Meter to solve two main issues:

• The lack of a stable, decentralized unit of account representing an established value for DeFi applications. Native cryptocurrencies are currently too volatile to be used for frequent transactions, and stablecoins are either centralized, have limited capacity, or depend on oracles.
• Issues with scaling and interoperability of currently available blockchains. There is a need for a high-performance, EVM-compatible blockchain but also interoperable between other blockchains to help scale and move value between them.

In May 2018, Meter received institutional investment from Pantera, DHVC, GBIC, and others. In September 2019, they launched their first testnet, which allowed PoW mining of the MTR token. By June of 2020, they launched the Mainnet and allowed anyone to start mining the MTR token; however, validation nodes on the PoS network were still run by the foundation. DTC Capital, LD Capital and AU21 invested in the community round of the project in July 2020. In September 2020, they gradually allowed open MTRG staking on the network and public validation to begin. Meter launched its multi-blockchain router: Meter Passport in May 2021; Ampleforth, Moonbeam/Moonriver were among the notable projects that launched on the infrastructure.