Schlagwort: crypto market

Key Takeaways

• Google search interest in the metaverse is down 92% from its peak, highlighting the fall from grace for the concept
• 92% of respondents globally said that they have heard of crypto, but only 8% considered themselves to be very familiar with the concept of Web3
• Web3 often has trouble defining exactly what it is, with abstract and shifting goals frequently changing with time
• Collapse of token economy and pullback in wider crypto space has curtailed enthusiasm
• Web3 is not the metaverse, but there are valuable lessons to be had for tokens with regard to lofty goals and abstract descriptions 

Lockdowns, stimulus packages, social distancing – the year 2021 could not seem more different when looking back on it today. 

The same holds true within crypto. The year saw Bitcoin sail past $68,000, El Salvador declare the orange coin as legal tender, cartoon monkey pictures sold for millions of dollars, and a doggy token by the name of Dogecoin at a valuation of $88 billion.

Among the hysteria, a virtual world was touted more and more as the future. A future world where everybody could work, hang out and more, built on top of blockchain rails. They called it the “metaverse”. The only problem is, that clamour has become a whisper, as data for the search term “metaverse” on Google shows below, which is down 92% from its peak. 

Web3 has also pulled back

While the metaverse may be low hanging fruit to target, the more ubiquitous- and somewhat related – concept of Web3 has also struggled to maintain the excitement levels of the pandemic. 

Despite lofty predictions that Web3 was on the verge of a parabolic rise, in a recent survey conducted by YouGov and Consensys, the results suggested this was nowhere near. While 92% of respondents globally said that they have heard of crypto, only 8% considered themselves to be very familiar with the concept of Web3. 

With so many aware of crypto yet so few familiar with what Web3 is, it may suggest two things. The first, quite simply, is that Web3 has had trouble catching on; the results not delivering on the lofty promises, the protocols struggling to deliver utility amid a declining crypto environment. 

The second is a long-running criticism of Web3; namely, it has trouble defining exactly what it is, at least without venturing into an overly abstract realm. 

Interestingly, the same survey indicated enthusiasm around solving problems which proponents of Web3 claim it aims to fix. For example: 

• 79% want more control over their identity on the Internet
• 83% think data privacy is important
• 67% believe they should own the things they make 

For some enthusiasts, this may be optimistic, as it highlights interest in the problems which Web3 aims to solve and an inevitable target market. And yet, in another way, it sums up the exact problem. These issues are extremely broad and vague. In a survey, it is not surprising that the majority say that they believe they should own the things they make, or that data privacy is important. 

Just because people are interested in these things does not necessarily mean that Web3 protocols built with the supposed goals of tackling these “problems” will succeed. As we have seen, once token prices fall, the climate shifts rapidly. 

Facebook rebranding to Meta sums up struggles

Perhaps there is no better way to sum up the popping of the bubble quite like Facebook’s decision to rebrand as Meta. On last month’s earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg was forced to outline that the company’s determination to focus on the metaverse remains intact. 

“We remain fully committed to the Metaverse vision as well,” Zuckerberg said. “We’ve been working on both of these two major priorities (AI and the metaverse) for many years in parallel now, and in many ways the two areas are overlapping and complementary.”

Meta’s metaverse ventures have hurt shareholders. Last year, its Reality Labs unit, in charge of the Metaverse project, lost $13.7 billion. The year before, a further $10.2 billion was lost. 

“I can’t guarantee you that I’m going to be right about this bet. I do think that this is the direction that the world is going in,” Zuckerberg added. 

Thus far this year, Meta has performed strongly in conjunction with the bouceback in the tech sector. However, the rebound comes after the stock significantly underperformed the Nasdaq, with the underperformance widening after the company’s Meta rebrand in October 2021 (not that it is necessarily indicative, but it is interesting all the same). 

Looking back, the timing of Meta’s rebrand was unfortunate. Its public commitment to the metaverse and company name change came on October 28th 2021, only thirteen days before the Bitcoin price peak and the pinnacle of the COVID-driven crypto bonanza.

Of course, the pertinent counterpoint of this is that Meta represents the exact antithesis of what many Web3 believers desire. A dominant big tech company with a questionable history and public image, to say the least. And besides, the metaverse is not Web3 – although this inability to define it in tangible and actionable terms is part of the issue. 

Obviously, the entire crypto sector is hurting badly, not just metaverse and Web3 tokens. Bitcoin remains over 55% off its high. The macro environment has been problematic and risk assets have struggled across the board, with interest rates hiked north of 5% following so many years of treading water near zero.

In a more direct comparison, even interest in Bitcoin from the mainstream is down, with search volume for Bitcoin falling to two-year lows. And yet the damage with regard to the metaverse has been worse. Looking at the coins classified as metaverse on CoinMarketCap, the top currencies are all down at least 84%, with an average 92% drop.

It’s been a rough ride for all of crypto. But for metaverse, it has nearly decimated the still-nascent concept. While the metaverse is not Web3, there are many tokens and projects leaning on the promises of the latter while creating nothing of genuine utility. For the projects still around in the space, examining the travails of metaverse coins could be a valuable lesson. 

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Notes

Consensys and YouGov survey Link

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• Sports betting and gambling companies published strong financial results.

• Chancer token has raised almost $1.4 million in the past few weeks.

Sports betting and gambling revenue jumped in the first half of the year as demand for the services rose. Recently released financial results by companies like Penn National, Entain, and Flutter Entertainment. At the same time, Chancer, an upcoming betting platform that uses the blockchain technology, has raised almost $1.4 million in the past few weeks.

Betting revenue is soaring

Publicly-traded companies in the sports betting and gambling companies have published strong financial results in the past few weeks. Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of Fanduel, PokerStars, Paddy Power, Sisal, and Betfair, said that its revenue jumped by 42% in the first half of the year. It made over 4.8 billion in revenue as the number of users soared by 28%. In his statement, the head of Flutter said:

“We acquired over two million new players in the period, cemented our leadership position in sports and grew our share in iGaming to 23%. The US business was profitable in the first half with FanDuel generating over $100m in EBITDA.”

Similarly, Entain had a strong performance, offset by a huge fine in Turkey. Its revenue jumped by 19% in the first half of the year. Most of this growth came from the United States, where the company owns several brands. Its gaming revenue rose by 22%.

DraftKings, one of the leading players in the industry also recorded strong results as the company nears profitability. Its revenue jumped to over $874 million in Q2 and EBITDA coming in a positive territory.  

Other companies in the sector like Penn National, 888 Holdings, and Churchill Downs have all reported strong financial results. As a result, most of these stocks have jumped by more than 20% this year. Entain has underperformed because of the company’s legal issues.

Chancer is set to thrive

All these numbers mean that Chancer is set to thrive when its product launches later this year. For starters, Chancer is a company that is building a unique beting platform where people from around the world can participate.

Its global nature is enabled by the company’s use of blockchain technology. $CHANCER, its crypto token, will help to facilitate payments in its ecosystem. Also, holders will be able to create their market, live stream them, and then make money when people place bets on them. 

Also, $CHANCER holders will take part in the network’s governance, where they will be able to vote on key issues. As owners of the platform, they will receive a share of the profits that the network generates. All these features are different from traditional companies that are managed centrally. You can buy the Chancer token here.

While Chancer token has more room to grow, investors should always do their own research before investing.

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• ApeCoin will unlock tokens worth over $31.4 million this week.

• Oasis Network will also unlock tokens worth over $8 million.

• Injective will also release more tokens this week.

Some of the most popular cryptocurrencies are having their token unlock events this week. The Sandbox unlocked millions of tokens, leading to a major dilution among holders. This dilution, helped push the SAND token to the lowest level since June.

According to TokenUnlocks, ApeCoin, Oasis Network, and Injective will flood the market with additional tokens this week. ApeCoin, the native token by Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), will release additional 15.6 million tokens on Wednesday. 

These tokens represent about 4.3% of the total circulating supply and will be worth $31.5 million. Most of them will go to Treasury followed by Yuga Labs, Yuga Labs founder, and launch contributors. The last ApeCoin token unlock will happen in June 26th.

ApeCoin’s token unlock will come at difficult for the ecosystem as demand for BAYC prices retreat. Its price has plunged by over 68% from the highest level this year.

Oasis Network, a smart chain platform, will unlock additional ROSE tokens worth over $8 million. Its last token sale happened in May 18th when the developers unlocked 199.50 million tokens. These tokens will go to partners and reserve, core contributors, and the community. The last token unlock will happen in February 2031.

The last major token unlock will be Injective, the DeFi-focused blockchain backed by Mark Cuban. Injective will release tokens worth over $20 million on Sunday, with most of them going to the ecosystem developers. Injective’s final vesting will happen in April 2024.

In most cases, token unlocks tend to be bearish for cryptocurrencies since they lead to more dilution. They are often seen as the reversal of share buybacks in the corporate sector.

How to buy ApeCoin

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• Shiba Inu and Bone Shibaswap have outperformed BTC and ETH.

• They have all jumped by over 68% and 115% from the lowest level in June.

• Shiba Memu has raised almost $2 million from investors.

Meme coins are doing relatively well, with some outperforming popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Shiba Inu price has jumped by over 68% from the lowest level in July while Bone Shibaswap has surged by over 115% in the same period. Large-cap coins like BTC and ETH, on the other hand, have remained in a tight range while drifting downwards.

Shibarium launch ahead 

Shiba Inu and Bone Shibaswap prices have done well in the past few weeks as investors wait for the upcoming Shibarium launch. Shibarium is an important technology that is designed to change how the Shibaswap ecosystem works.

For starters, ShibaSwap is a platform in Shiba Inu’s ecosystem that makes it possible for people to swap tokens and make money by staking. It is now powered by Ethereum, the biggest chain in the world. 

Ethereum has its own challenges, which explains why many layer-1 and layer-2 alternatives have come up. Some of the top L2 networks seeking to supercharge its ecosystem are Polygon, Optimism, and Arbitrum.

Shiabarium will be a layer-2 network whose goal will be to supecharge Shibaswap’s ecosystem by reducing its transaction fees and boosting its speed. Its testnet has attracted thousands of users and there is hope that the mainnet will be better.

Shibarium’s success will be a testament that a meme coin can create an ecosystem and thrive. 

Shiba Memu token sale booms

Bone Shibaswap and Shiba Inu are not the only meme coins that are thriving. Shiba Memu, a new meme coin is taking shape as its token sale has raised almost $2 million from investors. This makes its token sale one of the most successful in the industry.

Shiba Memu is aiming to take advantage of some of the most important themes in the market this year. It is combining the ongoing meme coin craze and the one on artificicial intelligence.

Its AI angle will involve concepts like Natural Language Processing (NLP), sentiment analysis, and image and video recognition. In its white paper, Shiba Memu says this about the use of NLP:

“AI-powered NLP algorithms can be used to analyze social media posts, forums and other online communities in order to identify discussions and topics relevant to Shiba Memu. This information can then be used to develop targeted marketing campaigns and engage with potential investors. Sentiment Analysis”

Is Shiba Memu a good investment?

It is too early to determine whether Shiba Memu will be a good long-term investment. As a result, you should do your own research about the ecosystem before investing. In my view, I believe that the token has the potential to become the next big thing in the crypto industry.

For one, its name has a close resemblance to Shiba Inu, the biggest meme coin in the world. Also, it has already gained traction even before its public debut as evidenced by the amount of money it has raised in a month. Most mportantly, it is targeting the biggest themes this year. You can buy the Shiba Memu token here.

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• Bad Idea crypto token has jumped in the past few days.

• The token’s market cap has jumped to over $78 million.

• I think it is a scam that has no future in the industry.

Bad Idea crypto has moved from obscurity to become a popular cryptocurrency worth over $78 million. The token surged to a high of $0.00000042 during the weekend and then pulled back to the current $0.00000015.

The crypto industry is made up of thousands of scams. This process has been made possible by crypto tokens, which can be created by anyone in a few minutes. Most of these tokens are built using Ethereum and BNB smart contracts.

Bad Idea is one of the many project that I believe is not a valuable cryptocurrency. According to its white paper, it is a project that combines the concepts of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). It aims that these three parts will help to create a fully decentralized economy. 

Unlike other projects, Bad Idea does not have a roadmap. Instead, the developers hope that it will be a system of interconnected AI agents working for humanity’s benefit, instead of it. One way it will use AI is to produce weekly blog posts on AI and other topics (makes sense?)

Bad Idea’s tokenomics seem to favor insiders, who I expect wil be cashing in soon. It has a supply limit of over 831 trillion tokens, with 58% going to the public. The rest will go to the team (we don’t know who is the team), marketing, AI development, DAO development, and the Humanity Last Hope Fund. I believe that all these entities are the same team of insiders.

Therefore, in the short term, there is a likelihood that Bad Idea token will rise as insiders pump it. It will then crash, with most buyers left holding the bag. The white paper adds that:

“The BAD IDEA Token and its associated project are intended for educational, entertainment, and experimental purposes only. By engaging with the BAD IDEA Token and project, you acknowledge that you are participating in a high-risk experiment and assume full responsibility for any decisions you make.”

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