0xBlockBard Alpha Digest #5
0xBlockBard Alpha Digest #5
Memes and Dreams: From Ballot Box to Blockchain
GM and welcome back to the 5th edition of my Crypto Alpha Digest!
Apologies for the delay in this week's edition as I've been dealing with a particularly bad case of writer's block.
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Important: The content in this newsletter is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency investments are volatile and high-risk. Only invest what you can afford to lose.
Market Overview
The crypto market has been treading water this week, with no significant price swings to report. Bitcoin is consolidating between $57,000 and $61,000, while Ethereum remains steady in the $2,500 to $2,700 range.
This period of relative stability suggests we're in an accumulation phase as investors cautiously position themselves ahead of two major events: the upcoming Federal Reserve rate decision next month and the unfolding dynamics of the US presidential election.
From a crypto market perspective, a Trump presidency is generally viewed as more bullish for the sector.
Recent polls on Polymarket, a prediction market platform, indicate a close race for the upcoming Presidential election. Trump currently holds a slight lead with 51% odds, compared to Harris at 47%.
However, it's important to note that these figures represent a snapshot of current sentiment rather than a definitive forecast. The political landscape remains fluid, and several factors could influence these odds in the coming months.
While Harris has recently voiced support for crypto-friendly policies, there's a palpable sense of skepticism in the crypto community (after all, just look at what has been accomplished under the Biden Administration and with Gary Gensler at the helm of the SEC).
Given the current administration's track record of stifling crypto growth and innovation over the past four years, many view her sudden pro-crypto stance as an election tactic to court crypto-enthusiasts.
Adding to the uncertainty is the potential future role of Gary Gensler, the driving force behind the SEC's aggressive stance on crypto.
Rumors are circulating that Harris might nominate Gensler as Treasury Secretary, a move that would give him even more significant influence over financial policy and regulation. However, upon further fact-checking, there are no trustworthy or credible sources of the rumours, and they are likely to be untrue.
Nevertheless, these rumors have gained traction, and this possibility alone has many in the crypto space concerned about the potential for continued regulatory headwinds should Harris become the President and the current anti-crypto policies continue, albeit under a different guise.
Another major point of contention is the Democratic party's tax proposals to increase capital gains tax to 44.6% and push for a 25% tax on unrealized gains for the ultra-wealthy (those with over $100 million in assets).
While this proposal might seem attractive on paper at first glance – promising to bring in hundreds of millions in extra tax dollars to help with the budget deficit – its real-world implications could be far more complex and potentially detrimental.
Critics argue that such a tax could trigger an exodus of high-net-worth individuals from the US, shrinking the very tax base it aims to tap into. Moreover, there are concerns that this policy could reduce future profit streams for companies and ultimately decrease the overall amount of wealth subject to taxation.
As we navigate these uncertain waters, the coming months will be crucial in shaping the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies. The election outcome and subsequent policy decisions will likely have far-reaching implications for the growth and innovation potential of the crypto market.
On TON Ventures & TON Society
TON Ventures, a $40 million fund, has launched to foster early-stage crypto projects within the TON ecosystem. Led by former TON Foundation senior executives, the fund aims to drive innovation and adoption across the TON blockchain.
The fund focuses on consumer applications and Web3 gaming, leveraging TON's unique integration with Telegram's 900 million users. Beyond funding, TON Ventures provides hands-on support, access to a global network, and growth opportunities through Telegram’s channels.
This launch coincides with significant growth in the TON ecosystem. TON has recently surpassed Ethereum in daily active users, with total assets increasing from $71 million to $1.14 billion in early 2024.
The rise of tap-to-earn gaming has been a key driver, attracting millions of new users to the Web3 space. TON's integration with Telegram offers a seamless entry point for users, particularly in gaming, where its infrastructure can handle millions of transactions per second.
This unique advantage has attracted investments from major venture capital firms. TON Ventures is now positioned to play a crucial role in shaping the future of the TON ecosystem, supporting projects that can leverage these strengths for mass adoption.
TON Society
Alongside TON Ventures, TON Society has also officially launched as an independent initiative to promote decentralization within the TON (The Open Network) ecosystem. Its primary focus is on boosting ecosystem development, encouraging community engagement at the grassroots level, and improving on-chain identity.
One of TON Society's main goals is the creation of an on-chain identity system. Active members will receive on-chain achievement badges, creating a reputation system that works with all TON Society functions.
This on-chain ID system will be integrated into various aspects of the TON Society, including membership, event attendance, hackathon access, and qualification for airdrops with partner projects.
Now is an excellent time to start participating in TON ecosystem activities, potentially making you eligible for future airdrops from partner projects.
If you have programming skills, you can contribute by participating in the bounties program or online hackathons.
Alternatively, you can simply join the next Twitter space or AMA hosted by TON Society and be rewarded for doing so.
Degen Szn on TRON Network
Keeping true to crypto’s highly speculative nature, memecoins have been given another boost after flagging interest on Solana, Blast, and Base.
Over the past week, memecoin season on the Tron blockchain was kickstarted by the launch of the SunPump platform, modeled after its Solana-based counterpart Pump.fun.
Daily activity and revenue generation on SunPump has since grew rapidly over the last two weeks, as degens from other chains flocked to it.
The rapid rise of SunPump has had a profound impact on the Tron ecosystem, leading to record-breaking daily revenues for the network, peaking at $5.33 million.
The popularity of meme coins such as SunDog (SUNDOG), which reached a market cap of $223 million, underscores the potential for significant gains, as some early investors saw their small investments turn into millions.
Since its launch on August 9, 2024, SunPump has overseen the creation of over 31,000 memecoins, generating more than $2 million in revenue (approximately 12,811,356 $TRX).
Many view this new platform as a place with better opportunities to strike gold, especially as Pump.fun has become increasingly saturated.
With the support of $10 million in additional liquidity from Justin' Sun’s Meme Ecosystem Boost Incentive Program, SunPump aims to support emerging coins and reduce the number of rug pulls that could leave traders with worthless tokens.
The emergence of SunPump positions Tron as a competitive alternative to Solana for new memecoin launches. This shift could challenge Solana's dominance in this sector, particularly as the latter has seen a decline in meme coin trading volumes recently.
However, as we saw during the memecoin hype earlier this year, these trends tend to last only a few months before dropping off sharply, unsurprisingly, as most traders lose money on memecoin trading.
With support from Justin Sun, such as injecting liquidity to boost memecoins, we could most likely see a short-term revival of memecoins on the TRON network over the next few months. However, whether this momentum can be sustained remains to be seen.
The surge in memecoin activity might also serve as a gateway for Tron's ecosystem growth. If Justin Sun capitalizes on this momentum, we could see a spillover effect benefiting other sectors that have traditionally been quite weak on Tron, such as DeFi, as new users start to explore Tron's wider ecosystem.
Projects I’m Watching
Here are some interesting projects I’m watching at the moment:
Story Protocol
Story Protocol recently made headlines by raising a total of $140 million, including an $80 million Series B round led by a16z Crypto. The company aims to create a blockchain-based infrastructure that revolutionizes intellectual property (IP) management in the digital and AI era.
With the rise of generative AI, which often uses copyrighted material without proper compensation, Story Protocol addresses the growing challenges of protecting and monetizing creative works.
Story Protocol is pioneering the concept of tokenizing intellectual property (IP) on the blockchain, which is a multi-trillion-dollar asset class. The platform allows creators to declare ownership of their IP, establish usage rules, enforce them, and and receive automatic royalty payments through smart contracts.
This decentralized system offers creators better protection and monetization options than traditional methods
The company is focused on protecting creators from exploitation by large tech companies that use IP for AI training without consent. Their approach includes a "Proof-of-Creativity" protocol, which facilitates licensing and royalty payments, creating a decentralized and fair IP management system.
With strong backing from investors like a16z, Polychain Capital, and digital art collector Cozomo de’ Medici, Story Protocol is quickly becoming a crucial player in the effort to protect creative works in the AI-driven future. According to the team, they have already attracted over 200 teams, working with 20 million IPs across various sectors.
While a raise of $140 million is still an extremely high amount to think about, the AI market is expected to be worth over $800 billion by 2030 in comparison.
Should Story Protocol establish itself as the market leader for managing digital intellectual property through the blockchain, it would be very well positioned to capture a significant share of the market value generated.
Corn (Ethereum L2)
Corn is a newly launched Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network that has recently garnered attention after securing $6.7 million in seed funding.
Led by experienced DeFi builders (0xzak and SpadaBoom), Corn is designed to enhance Ethereum’s scalability while offering a unique twist: it uses Bitcoin (BTC) as the gas token, instead of the typical ETH. This innovative approach aims to create a more secure and decentralized ecosystem for users.
Corn utilizes a hybrid tokenized Bitcoin called $BTCN, which is backed 1:1 by actual BTC. This setup aims to combine Bitcoin's security with Ethereum’s Layer 2 scalability.
To address centralization concerns, $BTCN is issued through multiple trusted custodians, smart contracts, and bridging protocols, making it more decentralized than typical wrapped Bitcoin tokens.
Corn’s tokenomics is also inspired by Curve Finance, which gives $CORN holders the power to direct protocol yields, while also incorporating a native bribe market to incentivize voting on specific applications.
Corn has also announced their Pre-Mainnet Airdrop, where you can participate in their Galxe quests that reward points from social engagement on Twitter, Telegram, and Discord.
Engaging with one or more of their partner protocols in the past 12 months will also be a qualifying eligibility for the initial airdrop phase.
Currently, Corn’s social quests are still in their very early phases, so I’d recommend getting started now if you are interested in any airdrops in the future.
B² Network (Bitcoin L2)
BSquared (B²) is a Bitcoin Layer 2 network designed to improve Bitcoin’s scalability and expand its functionality beyond simple transactions.
As the first Bitcoin Layer 2 network to utilize Zk-Rollups, B² will be able to enable faster and cheaper transactions while ensuring high security through Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proof verification.
B² is also Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible, which allows developers to port dApps from Ethereum and interact with both Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems seamlessly.
With account abstraction from integrating with Particle Network, users will be able to manage both BTC and ETH accounts from a single interface too. This will help to streamline user experiences across different blockchains.
Overall, B² positions itself as a versatile platform capable of supporting DeFi, NFTs, and other dApps on Bitcoin.
In terms of TVL, there are some contrasting values from different sources. DefiLlama shows a TVL of $180m and a Bridged TVL of $231m, while B² shows a total TVL of about $421m. Another source on Dune Analytics list the total TVL of $359m, last updated 8 days ago.
This contrasts with another prominent Bitcoin L2, Stacks, which launched in 2018 and currently has a total of $91.72m TVL, according to DefiLlama.
As a relatively new platform, B² still faces challenges in achieving widespread adoption. However, B² is arguably the most prominent Bitcoin L2 at the moment, and is well-poised to take advantage of any future bitcoin hype and developers who want to leverage the advantages of both Bitcoin and Ethereum.
For those interested in exploring B² further, you can take a look at their ecosystem giveaways page, where you can receive airdrops for participating in activities and social quests.
One current event, Bedrock DeFi, is ending in 6 days. Participants who complete the social quests can earn a share of 100,000 Bedrock Diamonds and 2,000 Bedrock & B² Badges. Note that badges will be available as a free mint on a first-come, first-served basis.
Ending Thoughts
As we conclude this edition of the Crypto Alpha Digest, it's interesting to observe how much US politics impact the crypto market.
Currently, most people are anticipating the Federal Reserve's rate decision and monitoring the US presidential election developments. These factors will likely shape the crypto market's direction in the coming years.
However, despite the uncertainties in the market, there are still plenty of opportunities in the crypto space.
Many teams continue building in the background, positioning themselves for when market conditions improve. Meanwhile, the potential for another bull run in 2025 becomes ever more promising.
I hope this digest has helped you identify some promising opportunities and crypto alpha to take advantage of.
Thank you for your continued support and engagement. If there are specific topics you'd like covered in future editions, please reach out. Your feedback helps shape this newsletter.
If you've found value in this newsletter, please consider supporting my work through the Sei Creator Fund program on Gitcoin here.
Your contribution, no matter how small, will be matched and amplified thanks to Gitcoin's quadratic funding model.
This support will enable me to dedicate more time to research, expand our coverage, and continue delivering high-quality crypto insights.
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Stay curious, stay informed, and stay tuned for the next Crypto Alpha Digest.
Cheers,
0xBlockBard
P.S. Follow me on Twitter @0xBlockBard for updates between editions!