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Cryptocurrencies to keep an eye on in 2023

Crypto: plans and news for 2023

Let’s analyse the memorable trends and events of 2022 and discover the most interesting crypto projects for 2023. Here are the ones you cannot miss!

After the excitement of the all-time high we started with this year, cryptocurrencies have been through a lot during 2022. And so have we. From the tightening of monetary policies, to the failure of some crypto projects considered to be giants in the industry. In this situation, some virtual currencies have fared better than others. We are here to review and analyse the trends and events of 2022 and to discover the most interesting crypto projects for 2023.

The crypto market in 2022: what happened?  

Before analysing the new projects and innovations that the most capitalised cryptos have in store for 2023, let’s do a quick recap of what happened in the industry during this difficult year. 2022 in Crypto can be summed up in these two concepts: failures and adoption. We started the year still enthusiastic about the price spikes that had just been reached, but we soon entered a negative economic situation. Emerging markets, such as the cryptocurrency market, were affected by increasingly strict monetary policies. Many times this year, the performance of Bitcoin and Ethereum has followed macroeconomic events. The US stock market has lost over 15% in value, the bond markets 20% and the crypto market has fallen over 50% from its peak in November 2021.

In the first months of the year, cryptocurrencies were actually not particularly affected, or at least not until the collapse of the blockchain Terra. A new blow then came a few weeks ago with the bankruptcy of FTX. The failure of these two crypto projects has brought attention to the need to regulate the sector to protect users. A topic we will probably hear a lot about in 2023. 

Although these failures affected the market, it is important to note that neither was caused by problems with blockchain technology per se. On the contrary, in 2022 the technical development continued on its path and for cryptocurrencies the progress made is remarkable. 

Trends: mobile breakthrough and the quest for scalability

The cryptocurrency world this year seems to have finally realised the importance of the ‘mobile’ medium. Concretely, this shift has been reflected by the development of new crypto projects including dapps, wallets and play-to-earn games for mobile devices, and by the launch of actual smartphones to facilitate the use of services. As in the case of Saga, Solana’s mobile phone. The goal of these projects is to improve the user experience, embracing mobile is necessary to reach the goal of one billion people transacting cryptocurrency on a regular basis (currently estimated at 300 million) as soon as possible. For many, mobile dapps and crypto smartphones in a few years’ time will be far more prevalent than AR and VR devices for the Metaverse. In the wake of this trend, 2022 was also the year when NFTs arrived on social networks. 

As we will see in the following paragraphs, the main goal that the most capitalised crypto projects have set themselves for 2023 is to enhance their scalability. That is, to make networks faster and cheaper to operate.

Bitcoin 

Nakamoto’s coin starts its 2023 with a record! The Layer 2 project of the world’s longest-lived and most famous cryptocurrency, the Lightning Network, reached the capacity, i.e. the maximum exchangeable value, of 5,000 BTC in the last days of 2022. This value grows proportionally to the use of the Lightning Network, which is now at an all-time high mainly due to adoption and integrations for small payments. At the same time, with a virtuous circle, capacity increases the speed and quantity of transactions. Another new development for Bitcoin is the development of Taro. The creators of the Lightning Network themselves announced this new crypto project that will allow stablecoins to be developed on the BTC blockchain. 

Ethereum

The most important blockchain event of 2022? The Merge! That is, the transition of Ethereum from the Proof-of-Work to the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. The complexity and scope of the consequences of this change make The Merge one of the biggest milestones in the history of blockchain. But what are the new projects and innovations of Vitalik Buterin’s crypto for 2023? The first item on the roadmap is the Shanghai update that will complete the transition to Proof-of-Stake by regulating staking activities for validators. The Ethereum Foundation has set itself two further goals: to be able to process up to 100,000 transactions per second and to reduce fees on its network. Both of these improvements can be achieved thanks to new features that will be implemented by a new update package, known as ‘Sharding’.

Polygon

The MATIC team in 2022 also focused on improving the scalability of the blockchain. The biggest innovation in this respect is the integration of zk rollups, a Layer-2 technology that allows transactions to be grouped off-chain and transferred all together on-chain. This decreases the time it takes to validate transactions and lightens the burden of data being transcribed on the blockchain. This year has been a busy one for Polygon, as well as achieving its goal of becoming carbon neutral (and offsetting all emissions since its founding), it has entered into numerous collaborations with iconic companies and brands outside the cryptocurrency market. New plans for MATIC, Polygon’s crypto, for 2023 will focus on further increasing the scalability of its network and progressive adoption.

Cardano 

For Cardano in September 2022 came the Vasil update, designed to enhance blockchain performance in terms of scalability and speed. The update changed the validation and transaction transmission system and also the programming language for Cardano’s smart contracts, Plutus. Vasil is one of the ADA team’s initiatives to attract dapp developers, especially DeFi developers. In short, thanks to this update, Charles Hoskinson’s blockchain is looking forward to a 2023 marked by the development of many new crypto projects on its network. 

Dogecoin 

The flirtation between Dogecoin and Elon Musk will presumably continue in 2023. Probably thanks to him, this cryptocurrency made it through 2022 without too much damage. The price of Dogecoin has kept pace with Musk’s statements and business decisions, and for every new development, we have found a pump. The growth of the meme coin was particularly pronounced in November, when Musk bought Twitter, making plans for the future of the social network. One of the crypto projects the tycoon might involve Dogecoin in? Twitter’s payment methods. 

Stablecoin 

If we take a look at the ranking of cryptocurrencies by market cap, between Bitcoin, Ethereum and the others we have just reported on, we find a few stablecoins lined up. How did 2022 go for Tether and USDC and what plans do these dollar-pegged cryptos have in store for 2023? After Terra’s stablecoin depegging, which caused the collapse of the entire ecosystem, the reputation of these digital coins was tarnished. Tether and USDC have therefore spent these months working on transparency and maintaining user trust. Tether, which has since also expanded to Polkadot, assures in a statement on 9 November that ‘the tokens are 100% backed by our reserves’ and that ‘Tether holds a strong, conservative and liquid portfolio, which includes cash, equivalents and US Treasury securities’.

Circle, the company that manages USDC, also confirms the soundness of its reserves and this summer also launched a new stablecoin pegged to the euro. The efforts of the centralised stablecoins seem to be paying off as their market capitalisation continues to grow. New ones are also expected to arrive in early 2023, notably Aave and Curve, which are a lending protocol and a decentralised exchange, respectively. Will the two DeFi giants be able to continue with their plans to create stable cryptos by the end of 2023?

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Everything about Aptos, the new Layer 1 blockchain for lightning transactions

Aptos: the new cryptocurrency and Layer 1 blockchain explained

Aptos is a brand new Layer 1 blockchain. What is it and how does it work?

This October, Aptos was launched. It is a new Layer 1 blockchain developed by former Meta employees. Only a few days after its debut in the crypto world, Aptos has already been making waves, both in a positive and negative sense. On the one hand, there are those who present Aptos and its APT crypto as the possible Solana Killer, due to the large amount of transactions per second it promises to be able to process. On the other hand, Aptos’s launch has been criticised due to several factors, such as the ‘premature’ listing on well-known crypto exchanges prior to the release of APT’s tokenomics. Find out what the Aptos project is, and what the main controversies surrounding the launch are!

The birth of of a brand new crypto: Aptos

Aptos is a Layer 1 blockchain founded by a group of former employees of Meta (formerly Facebook). The group of developers founded the Aptos Foundation in August 2022, which is responsible for defining the guidelines of the project. The new blockchain uses a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm to validate transactions on its network. The new Aptos crypto is programmed in Move, a smart contract writing language developed by Facebook in 2019. Move was created to build Facebook’s native blockchain, Diem. However, the project was abandoned in January 2022.

Even before its launch, Aptos’s Layer 1 blockchain and its APT crypto have been the talk of the town. How come? A great amount of interest in the project was shown from major venture capital funds, who also decided to invest in the project. Aptos raised 350 million through three different funding rounds between March and September 2022. The funds came from some of the most important venture capitalists in the crypto market such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Jump Crypto, FTX Ventures and Binance Labs.

How does Aptos work? The new Layer 1 blockchain

The new Aptos Layer 1 blockchain underwent an intensive testing programme during the months leading up to its launch. Using a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm, Aptos works thanks to 102 validators who are responsible for the security of the network. The project wants to distinguish itself by its ability to process more than 160,000 transactions per second, a number far greater than that of other Layer 1 blockchains. To date, the competitor to beat is Solana. On paper, this Layer 1 blockchain can process the largest number of transactions per second, reaching a maximum of 65,000. For this reason, Aptos was called a possible Solana Killer at its launch.

The Aptos Foundation wants to ensure a high amount of usability of the network for its users. One of the main weaknesses that Web3 is facing is complexity of use. Thanks in particular to the Move programming language, Aptos wants to improve this! Move has been designed to build more user-friendly smart contracts and DApps, which can also be used by those who are not familiar with the technologies involved.

In this first week since its launch, the Aptos network became very active. Especially so with regard to NFTs, which have recorded considerable volumes. For instance, the Aptos Monkeys collection, which was launched on the NFT marketplace Topaz, raised nearly 300,000 APTs (around $2.7 million) in the first 24 hours after its launch. The main wallet for storing and using APT tokens and NFTs on Aptos is a web extension called Petra, which has already exceeded 300,000 downloads on the chrome web store.

Aptos: an opaque beginning?

The launch of Aptos has undoubtedly broken the monotony of this bear market, generating much controversy but also some appreciation. Let’s proceed in order. The first criticism arose in the hours before the launch. Users who had participated in the Aptos testnet (an almost identical copy of the main blockchain being used for experimentation), received a very substantial airdrop. The rewards distributed via the airdrop were either 150 or 300 units of the new Aptos cryptocurrency, depending on the tasks the users performed on the testnet. The Aptos Foundation distributed 20.1 million crypto APTs, representing approximately 2% of the total supply. This amount of APT was, at the time of distribution, worth between 200 and 260 million dollars. It was divided among 110,235 crypto wallets.

The criticism in this case was that the airdrop was excessive and benefited the so-called ‘airdrop hunters’. They are users who complete tasks required by blockchain protocols using different wallets. Once they receive the airdrop, they instantly sell the crypto they have received.

The second wave of criticism concerns the choice of Aptos and some exchanges including Binance and FTX to make trading available before the tokenomics were officially released. This choice by the Aptos Foundation put potential investors in an uncomfortable position. On the one hand, they would not have wanted to miss the launch of Aptos, but on the other hand, they felt insecure given the lack of transparency shown by the project.

The tokenomics of APT, the crypto of Aptos

The tokenomics publication, which came only after listing on some of the best-known exchanges, provides for a total APT supply of one billion tokens. 510 million are held by venture capital companies, and 410 million are held by the Aptos Foundation. These 410 million tokens are locked as of today, and will be unlocked progressively over the next 10 years. The remaining part of Aptos’ supply, a total of 80 million APTs, have partly been distributed through airdrops and partly will be made available to projects that will be created on the blockchain.

If the delay in the publication of tokenomics generated controversy, the structure of tokenomics itself only increased it. The price of APT has suffered as a result. The main factor that created discontent is the amount of APT owned by venture capital companies and the Aptos Foundation. According to users, there are too many tokens held by institutional investors and the Aptos Foundation. This could generate strong sell pressure on the APT token in the future.

The influence on the price could be seen immediately after the launch. The starting price of the Aptos crypto was around $14. In the first hours after the launch, it marked a downward movement of more than 40%. In the days following the launch, the price of APT ‘stabilised’ at around $9.

PancakeSwap is the first DeFi DApp to land on Aptos

On Monday the 24th October 2022, PancakeSwap, the decentralised exchange (DEX) built on the Binance Smart Chain, announced that its platform will also be available on Aptos. The decision was made following a vote within PancakeSwap’s DAO. PancakeSwap’s ecosystem on Aptos will be similar to the one already present on the Binance Smart Chain.

Thus, Swaps will be enabled. These are a mechanism through which tokens built on the Aptos blockchain can be exchanged. Farms and Pools, where you can stack your tokens in exchange for rewards, will also be made available as well as the IFO section. The acronym stands for Initial Farm Offering, and it is a kind of ‘Initial Coin Offering’ (ICO). IFOs have the dual purpose of allowing to raise development funds for emerging projects, and incentivising users to hold crypto in the ecosystem. To participate in an IFO, it is necessary to lock your tokens in an LP (liquidity pool), which consists of 50% CAKE crypto and 50% APT.

The integration of PancakeSwap, which is the eighth DeFi ecosystem in terms of TVL, is certainly a good achievement. We will see if the new Aptos Layer 1 blockchain will continue to integrate new features at this pace, and if it will one day be able to compete with Solana in the challenge for creating the most scalable network.

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ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence that writes poetry and software

What is ChatGPT? Artificial intelligence for text and code writing

What is ChatGPT? Discover the artificial intelligence of the moment that can answer complex questions and that writes poetry and computer programmes

A few days ago, ChatGPT was released, a new application based on the GPT-3 deep learning model developed by Open AI, a San Francisco-based company founded by Elon Musk in 2015. ChatGPT is a chatbot, or artificial intelligence designed to process any text: from an article like this one to a string of html code. All thanks to the almost infinite pool of resources it gathers from the web and consults in milliseconds, as well as its ability to understand human language.

Since its release, it has been the talk of the internet, with posts by programmers and copywriters who fear being replaced by AI, users trying to figure out whether ChatGPT is in any way sentient, and those who post screenshots of the absurd requests they have made of OpenAI’s chatbot.

Opinions on ChatGPT are mixed. There are those who are enthusiastic because they see artificial intelligence as a tool that will simplify everyday work. And those, probably influenced by the countless science fiction films that deal with the issue, fear a dystopian denouement of the situation.

How does ChatGPT work?

OpenAI’s artificial intelligence is one of the most advanced AI for natural language processing. This chatbot is designed to be ‘linguistically generic’. This means that it is able to generate texts similar to what a human being could write using a very wide range of content. Just ask and ChatGPT will answer you.

It can write fantastic short stories, lyrics for songs, social media posts and poems in the style of the greatest poets. It doesn’t matter what language you formulate questions or requests in, as it can also instantly translate texts. To give you an idea of what it can do, we asked it to write a poem dedicated to Bitcoin in the style of Dante. This was the result:

“There, the value is not determined

By bankers or the laws of the market,

But from faith and trust

That users have in their system.

And so I came to Bitcoin, a new currency

that reigns over the world’s markets

with unparalleled power and strength.

O Bitcoin, you who are the future in search,

guide our steps towards the light

and give us the wisdom we need’.

ChatGPT is also capable of writing lines of code using popular programming languages, and is therefore also an interesting tool for developers.

Although it is a complex tool, using it is very simple. You just log on to the site and sign up. Once the registration is complete, you can indulge yourself by asking the AI complicated questions, such as “explain to me how a quantum computer works”. Or you can use this artificial intelligence to write Python code for a simple game.

Can artificial intelligence create smart contracts?

Artificial intelligence can also be used within Web3 in different ways. For instance, AIs are used to create NFT collections of generative art. Or, as in the case of ChatGPT, to write smart contracts or find any vulnerabilities in them. To check whether a smart contract has weaknesses, you simply have to go back to the code that makes it up and ask the chat if it has weaknesses. Finding the text of the code of a smart contract that manages a function of a dapp for example is very easy, since practically all Web3 applications are open source, i.e. can be consulted by anyone. 

Yes, you got that right! ChatGPT is also able to read and write in programming languages for the development of blockchain applications, such as Solidity, the programming language in which Ethereum is programmed, or Rust, that of Solana. If you don’t believe this, you can try it yourself, for instance by asking it to write a smart contract that generates an NFT.

The debate: does artificial intelligence belong to the people?

The potential of this technology has sparked a series of debates within Crypto Twitter. There has been discussion about the ability of artificial intelligence to detect vulnerabilities within codes, an ability that some users see as a threat. Once the weaknesses have been identified, thanks to ChatGPT, some malicious parties could attack the smart contracts of decentralised applications (dapp) and thus take possession of users’ money.

However, there are also those who have opposing views on the subject, such as the developers of Open AI. Their view on the issue is that artificial intelligence is not a threat. It will help benefit Web3 developers by enabling them to programme more secure smart contracts more quickly.

Finally, there are those who believe that such powerful and complex tools should not be handed over to the hands of individuals or companies, but should instead be directed by DAOs (decentralised autonomous organisations). This idea was given by one of the co-founders of Polygon, known on twitter by the handle sandeep.

DAOs exploit smart contracts for collective decision-making through voting where participants can cast their votes using the protocol’s cryptos. Entrusting artificial intelligence to DAOs could ensure a high degree of decentralisation, transparency and innovation while avoiding handing these powerful tools over to the hands of individuals or companies that might act to the detriment of the common good.

As is often the case when it comes to cutting-edge technology, there remain many more questions than answers. One certainty, however, is that ChatGPT is already an excellent tool that improves and speeds up the work of a large number of professionals. Moreover, being an artificial intelligence, it is also able to improve itself on a daily basis thanks to the feedback and questions posed to it by users. In short, it is potentially an unlimited resource of knowledge. And you, do you think that with AIs you can conquer the world? Or, will they conquer the world without us realising?

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Young Monday: Algorand and the Bank of Italy, Africa embraces crypto and NFT crimes

Algorand and Bank of Italy, Justin Bieber investigated for his Bored Ape

The Bank of Italy chooses Algorand as its first blockchain platform, cryptocurrency adoption grows in Africa and the “Yuga Labs Gate” scandal erupts

A week full of twists and turns in the world of crypto has just ended. The atmosphere has been tense as Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested a few days ago. Do Kwon, the fugitive founder of the Terra Ecosystem (LUNA) has been spotted in Serbia. Meanwhile, the list of crypto suspects has been growing as Yuga Labs and some celebrities including Justin Bieber, Madonna and Paris Hilton have been accused of manipulating the NFT market.

Beyond the world of crimes, courts and prisons, Algorand has been commissioned to develop a blockchain platform dedicated to the Italian banking and insurance sector. In other news, Africa is showing us new examples of adoption: Nigeria and Kenya are among the twenty countries where cryptocurrencies are most widely used. Moreover, it is increasingly easy to send money to the African continent thanks to the Lightning Network, Bitcoin‘s Layer 2 scalability solution.

Algorand and the first platform for banks and insurance companies

Algorand has been chosen as the Layer 1 blockchain that will support the development of a platform responsible for issuing digital financial guarantees. These are provided by banks and insurance companies to guarantee the fulfilment of contractual obligations or payments. Basically, they are documents that prove to creditors that you have the necessary funds to repay a debt. The platform will be developed in collaboration between Algorand, the Bank of Italy, IVASS (the institute for insurance supervision) and CeTIF, the research centre for innovation and technology of the Cattolica University of Milan.

But why was Algorand’s blockchain chosen? Firstly for its ability to process transactions cheaply and quickly but also because Algorand’s founder is the Italian mathematician Silvio Micali. He commented: ‘we are proud and honoured to be the chosen public blockchain’ moreover – ‘through Algorand’s technology, we can help solve many critical problems facing financial institutions and governments around the world today, bringing opportunity and inclusion to the table’.

The “Yuga Labs Gate” scandal: Justin Bieber, Madonna and Paris Hilton are also under indictment

Last week, several celebrities including Madonna, Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon were accused of illegally promoting Yuga Labs‘ NFTs, in particular, the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club. Thirty-three other defendants are being indicted, including a large number of Hollywood celebrities. They are alleged to have broken ten consumer protection and financial securities laws.

Yuga Labs has caught the authorities’ attention for devising a secret scheme in collaboration with celebrities, with the goal of inflating the price of the Bored Apes. The document submitted by the prosecution shows the scheme that Yuga Labs allegedly used to secretly reward the complicit stars. They would therefore not have purchased the Bored Apes using their own free will, but were incentivised by a financial return. The investigation also mentions the online payment service Moonpay, which handled the exchange of money between Yuga Labs and the stars.

A spokesperson for Yuga Labs told Decrypt: ‘In our opinion, these claims are opportunistic and parasitic. We firmly believe they are baseless and look forward to proving it’. Yuga Labs and the Bored Apes Yacht Club thus find themselves once again in the crosshairs of the US federal institutions, just two months after the still unfinished investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In October, the SEC investigated Yuga Labs to verify that it was not selling its NFT collections as securities without authorisation.

The African continent is embracing adoption

Jack Mallers, the CEO of Strike, a leading payment services company on the Lightning Network, made an announcement on stage at the AfroBitcoin conference. A partnership with Bitnob is being developed to facilitate money exchanges between Europe and Africa. Currently, the only way to send money to African countries, particularly sub-Saharan ones, is to use intermediaries. The best known of them is Western Union. However, intercontinental transactions are quite slow and expensive. For example, to make a $1,000 transfer to Africa you need to spend about five dollars in fees. Also, it takes no less than three working days for the payment to reach the recipient.

Thanks to Strike and its Send Globally app, Africans wishing to send remittance money to family or friends will be able to transfer pounds sterling (GBP) or euros (EUR) into the local currencies of Nigeria (NGN), Kenya (KES) and Ghana (GHS), in the space of a few seconds. The money, as is already the case when using Strike to pay in participating shops, will be automatically converted into BTC. It will then be sent, converted back into the local currency and deposited directly into the recipient’s bank account or mobile wallet.

A report compiled by Chainalisys shows that Africa is one of the continents at the forefront of the cryptocurrency industry. Among African countries where cryptocurrencies are most widely used are Nigeria and Kenya. They rank 11th and 19th respectively in the Global Crypto Adoption Index, which is also used by Chainalisys to measure cryptocurrency adoption in countries around the world.

CryptoCrime: Sam Bankman-Fried and Do Kwon

The vices of the ‘outlaws’ of the crypto world continue coming to light, and the stories are beginning to resemble a true crime series. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX exchange, was arrested early last week at his residence in the Bahamas. He is now awaiting extradition and trial, which could result in a sentence of 115 years imprisonment. This sentence was calculated by adding up the years of imprisonment for SBF’s charges. Namely embezzlement, financial fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, and two counts of wire fraud. In the first hearing, held on Tuesday the 13th of December in a court in the Caribbean archipelago, the prosecutor denied FTX’s founder bail, probably for fear that he might escape. Meanwhile, SBF has already applied for house arrest because of the health problems he claims to suffer from: insomnia and depression.

The other notorious fugitive from the crypto world, Do Kwon, for whom South Korea issued a warrant for his arrest on the 14th of September 2022, appears to have moved to Serbia last month. The former Terraform Labs CEO reportedly arrived in the Balkan country via Dubai, but  he may have already left. Unfortunately, due to the invalidation of Do Kwon’s passport, it is impossible to know his whereabouts with any certainty.

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Sam Bankman-Fried arrested, what happens now?

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested: what happens now?

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested last night in the Bahamas. What happened? What will be the next developments?

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested on the morning of the 13th of December (at 5:00 a.m. GMT) in the Bahamas, at his residence in Nassau. Local police forces detained him one day before his testimony before Congress that was scheduled for Wednesday the 14th December 2022. It is now likely to be canceled. But why was SBF arrested today specifically, after weeks of being left free?

There are two main hypotheses. For some, the arrest comes with the fear that Bankman-Fried might move to a country where the US could not extradite him. Others speculate a connection with new allegations made by Do Kwon that were picked up by the media. They concern a possible involvement in the collapse of the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem.

According to the New York Times, there are five charges for the founder of FTX: wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and money laundering. What will be the next developments? Will Sam Bankman-Fried’s collaborators Caroline Ellison and Sam Trabucco also be arrested soon? Are SBF and Alameda Research really responsible for the collapse of the Terra-LUNA ecosystem?

What will happen now to Sam Bankman-Fried and his co-workers?

After being ‘at large’ for quite a long time (it has been about a month since the FTX exchange declared bankruptcy on the 11th November 2022), as of yesterday morning, Sam Bankman-Fried is being held in custody in a Bahamian prison. The FTX founder’s arrest came at the request of the US government, which plans to extradite him to a US federal prison.

Commenting on the incident, the Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis said: ‘The Bahamas and the United States have a common interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with the FTX failure who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law.

In these first hours after the arrest, uncertainty reigns. It is not yet clear how many years in prison SBF faces, just as it is not yet known whether he will testify before the US Congress tomorrow as scheduled, although this seems unlikely.

Another question on the minds of many concerns the future of Sam Bankman-Fried’s associates, Caroline Ellison and Sam Trabucco. For the two, respectively CEO and co-CEO of investment fund and market maker Alameda Research, the same fate is probably in store. In the meantime, statements by the FTX founder are circulating again. A few days ago in an interview, he said was sure that he could not be arrested. On that same occasion, he had revealed his commitment to working on a new project with the aim of returning the money lost to his users.

Was it SBF and Alameda that brought down Terra (LUNA)?

What does Terra (LUNA) have to do with the SBF affair? In recent days, there has been talk about the possible responsibility of Alameda Research in the failure of the ecosystem. Alameda was the trading company founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, that has strong ties to FTX for reasons linked to fund management. A large amount of these funds were allocated to FTT, the token of the FTX exchange.

According to these allegations, Ellison and Trabucco’s hedge fund allegedly attacked Do Kwon‘s blockchain in order to destroy its competitor: Three Arrow Capital (3AC). They were heavily exposed to the blockchain’s two main assets: the LUNA crypto and the UST stablecoin.

The accusation, which originated from former Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon and Three Arrow Capital co-founder Su Zhu, has not been ignored by US prosecutors. They have launched an investigation that will result in a market manipulation charge against Bankman-Fried and Alameda Research. Should evidence be found of Do Kwon’s and Sun Zhu’s allegations, the charge of market manipulation could be added to SBF. This would aggravate the legal situation of the FTX founder in no small measure.

There is currently no conclusive evidence to support these allegations. The investigation by the US government will shed light on the facts as it takes course. In short, as of today, there are very few certain answers. Many questions about the future and past of the former FTX CEO remain.

The opinion of crypto Twitter

Meanwhile, on crypto Twitter, all hell has broken loose. Thousands of users are rejoicing and making sarcastic comments about the FTX founder’s arrest. Some wonder how many years in prison he will have to serve, and how he will pay for a good lawyer.

In particular, the crypto Twitter users are summoning the extraordinary lawyer Saul Goodman, star of the series ‘Better Call Saul’. He is the only one, according to them, capable of saving the defendant.

Nothing is sparing SBF in the world of crypto Twitter. A series of tweets have also surfaced that bring up his alleged relations with the US Democratic Party.

Bankman-Fried had secretly given donations to Joe Biden’s party during the election campaign of late 2020 and early 2021. These tweets underline the strange timing of this arrest. Perhaps his statement under oath to Congress could have been quite uncomfortable.

In light of recent events, the plot of the movie that Apple plans to produce is also thickening. Now that he has been arrested, will Sam Bankman-Fried be convicted? Is the founder of FTX really involved in the collapse of Terra (LUNA)? And what will happen to Caroline Ellison and Sam Trabucco?

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Young Monday: Avalanche, Warner Music and Goldman Sachs

FTX bankruptcy: Goldman Sachs sees it as the crypto world's turning point

Avalanche chooses Alibaba’s cloud for its nodes, Polygon is working with Warner Music Group and Goldman Sachs explains the lessons of FTX’s collapse

In the crypto world this week, there has been renewed talk of adoption. In particular, there is more news of partnerships between traditional and Web3 companies. Avalanche, AVAX’s blockchain, has signed a deal with Alibaba Cloud, one of the world’s leading cloud service providers. After having secured partnerships with Instagram, Reddit, Disney, Starbucks and other companies, Polygon now also boasts a music partnership thanks to an agreement signed with Warner Music Group. A month after the collapse of FTX, two financial giants, Goldman Sachs and Mastercard, describe the collapse of the exchange as a growth opportunity for the industry!

Avalanche will use Alibaba’s cloud for node management

Alibaba Cloud, the most widely used cloud hosting service in Asia and the third largest in the world, has chosen Avalanche as its first Web3 partner. Alibaba Cloud provides cloud-based storage, applications and web infrastructure services. Clouds are global networks of servers that operate as a single ecosystem. They can be accessed through the Internet and serve to free up memory and processing power on the devices we use on a daily basis.

Through its cloud service, Alibaba will facilitate the process of opening an Avalanche blockchain node. In addition to staking the native crypto, validators of a Proof-of-Stake blockchain must manage a node that is constantly connected to the internet. This requires computing power and memory. Thanks to this new partnership, anyone wishing to open a node on Avalanche will be able to use these resources by taking advantage of Alibaba’s services. The partnership could increase the number of blockchain validators, which to date number around 1,200, and consequently also increase decentralisation on the network.

Polygon and Warner prepare the next Spotify?

Polygon is interested in all entertainment sectors that intend to use Web3 technologies. After cinema and social media, it is time for the platform to attack the world of music, thanks to a partnership with Warner Music Group. The collaboration between the two brands resulted in the development of LGND.io, a decentralised application (dapp) very similar to a classic music streaming platform such as Spotify or Youtube Music. LGND also allows tracks and albums to be purchased in the form of NFTs, using either credit or debit cards or cryptos such as MATIC and ETH. Once purchased, these NFTs can be resold on major NFT marketplaces, such as OpenSea.

The main objective of the collaboration is to provide emerging artists with a new way to sell their music through NFT technology and the concept of digital ownership. The final version of the platform will be available from January 2023. It will enable artists to not only sell non-fungible music tokens, but also other types of content that provide various benefits such as VIP concert tickets or exclusive merchandise. In addition to Polygon and Warner Music Group, the record company Spinnin’ Records will handle relations with artists. They also participated in the development of LGND.io.

Goldman Sachs: FTX bankruptcy is a turning point for the crypto world

This week, financial giant Goldman Sachs made some statements on the failure of the FTX exchange and its consequences. Rather than analysing what happened only from a destructive point of view, Mathew McDermott, Goldman Sachs’ head of digital assets, stated that he is optimistic about the future of crypto. McDermott’s statements followed a remarkable fact, namely that following the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried‘s exchange, the number of traditional investors interested in buying crypto through Goldman Sachs is on the rise.

Mastercard also seems to be of the same opinion, according to Grace Berkley, the director of the company’s start-up branch. Berkley described the incident as a reset opportunity for the crypto world, which could become safer through the exclusion of malicious actors intending to manipulate the market and regulation.

Decentraland: start of LAND leases

A new feature for Decentraland has been announced: LAND rentals in exchange for rewards! Decentraland is one of the most popular metaverses on Web3. It consists of many units of ‘digital land’, and each of these units is an NFT called a LAND. Lending your own LAND is now very simple, just select the NFT you want to put up for rent and choose for how long and at what price you want to rent it. As far as the time period is concerned, each user can choose from seven options: 1, 7, 30, 60, 90, 180 or 360 days. Concerning the price, the decision is entirely up to the tenant.

The rent is paid by the tenants in MANA, the crypto of Decentraland, and 2.5% is retained by the DAO‘s wallet. The DAO of Decentraland is the collective institution that governs the functioning of this metaverse.

Why rent a LAND? Buying one may be too expensive, all the more so if you plan to create events or experience in a limited amount of time. The market for land in the Metaverse is one of the most expensive of the NFT markets. There are only a few LANDs in Decentraland sold directly from the platform, the remainder are only available in secondary markets, which are very competitive. Users will be able to rent their land to DJs who will throw memorable virtual parties, or to universities who will build Web3 university campuses, or even to fashion brands who will organise fashion shows.

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After crypto, will China now also ban NFTs?

NFT news from China: will they become illegal like cryptocurrencies?

Will NFTs become as illegal as cryptocurrencies in China? A Chinese court issues a ruling and the debate opens up

A few days ago, the Hangzhou court in China ruled that NFTs must comply with laws established for e-commerce sales and those related to virtual property, due to their characteristics of ‘value, scarcity, traceability, and marketability’. The ruling was particularly lenient towards the sector after the 2021 ban on crypto. What might be the next developments following this news? Will NFTs become illegal in China?

Cryptocurrencies are banned in China

In 2021, the Chinese government officially banned crypto mining and trading. On the one hand mining was banned for environmental reasons (taking 50% of all global mining activity out of the country). On the other hand, crypto was banned for possible ‘speculation’ risks. All crypto-to-crypto and fiat-to-crypto transactions are therefore illegal in China. This is the case for both local and foreign platforms. The Chinese government had however not taken a decision at the same time to regulate NFTs.

Are NFTs legal in China?

From a legal point of view, NFTs are not banned in China. However, since their technology is linked to cryptocurrencies, the situation is complicated. A first aspect to consider is that, given the ban on crypto, non-fungible tokens cannot currently be purchased via cryptocurrencies. Generally speaking, although the Chinese government is not hostile to the concept of NFTs per se, it remains intolerant of possible financial applications and even simple buying and selling.

In this regard, on the 13th April 2022, the National Internet Finance Association of China, the China Banking Association and the Securities Association of China shared guidelines to ‘prevent financial risks related to NFTs’. These are not laws because these associations have no legislative powers, but rather steps to be taken to prevent users from associating tokens with the same concepts of ‘speculation’ that led crypto to be banned. These guidelines are like a test for those who want to create and sell NFTs in China and could guide future choices by the authorities by building standards.

Some of these measures are:

  1. Using only the state blockchain to create NFT (more on this blockchain later);
  2. Referring to NFTs as “virtual collector’s items” and not as “tokens”;
  3. Avoiding any association with crypto;
  4. Suspending NFT secondary markets;
  5. Using platforms that verify the identity of users.

A black market is born

The crypto ban has led many Chinese citizens to use virtual private networks (VPNs) that can circumvent the Chinese government’s localisation and censorship of international crypto services. In this manner, Chinese citizens can access marketplaces like OpenSea and Magic Eden, where they can buy crypto tokens and resell them according to their own strategy. It is estimated that 31% of Internet users in China use a VPN. Among them, buying and selling NFTs is very popular.

From the Hangzhou court: an NFT is like a pair of trainers

To complete the picture on the status of NFTs in China, a ruling came from the Hangzhou Court, which specialises in internet law. On the 29th of November, the court was called upon to rule on a conflict between a buyer and a marketplace that cancelled a sale of non-fungible tokens without the consent of the parties involved. On this occasion, the court ruled that NFTs belong “to the virtual property of the network” as a unique product protected by an intellectual asset. Non-fungible tokens should therefore, from a legal point of view, be considered as any product sold on an e-commerce website. The law that monitors this is the e-commerce Law, that has come into force since the 1st January 2019. It is a popular law drafted to respond to the rapid growth of online commerce.

Will NFTs become illegal? The latest news does not suggest any particular closures on the part of the Chinese authorities.

Can NFTs exist without cryptocurrencies?

The Chinese government has also proposed its own version of NFTs, i.e. created on the state blockchain. This network, called the Blockchain Services Network (BSN), is a centralised and ‘permissioned‘ blockchain. In contrast to all ‘permissionless’ public blockchains, the BSN is managed by selected employees and not by network validators. On this blockchain, all users are tracked in accordance with Chinese law. Also available on the BSN are tools for artists and brands that want to create their token collections, which can only be purchased in fiat currency. This Chinese version of NFTs is called BSN-DDC or distributed digital certificates.

In China, those who sell or create NFTs do so on the BSN or other similar compliant networks, such as Alibaba, Tencent and JD. Most of these services are offered by established Web2 companies, hardly any decentralised protocols can be found. So can there be NFTs without crypto? Can those proposed by the Chinese government not be considered real, non-fungible tokens? The debate is open, for the champions of decentralisation, ‘distributed digital certificates’ do not meet the needs of Web3.

An instrument of protest

Leaving aside the legislative aspects, NFTs have become popular enough in China to be used as a form of protest against the government.

The citizens of Shanghai last May chose non-fungible tokens as a means of communicating outside China about the oppressive lockdown policies imposed back in March. After the publication of a video against the harsh lockdown, the government had banned all references to the topic on social networks. NFTs then served as a way to bear witness to the difficult living conditions, in a way that was immutable and sharable worldwide.

Even if NFTs become illegal in China, examples like this make us believe that enthusiasts will not give up so easily on a technology with this potential.

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Quelles sont les 5 meme coins les plus célèbres ?

Que sont les meme coins ? Les 5 plus populaires de Dogecoin à Baby Doge

De Dogecoin a Shiba Inu, en passant par Baby Doge et Dogelon Mars. Qu’est-ce qu’un meme coin et quels sont les 5 plus célèbres ?

Que tu le croies ou non, les meme coins sont un élément important dans le monde immense des cryptos. Ils dominent les phases de bull market, puis disparaissent quasiment pendant les bear markets. Le terme “meme coin” peut être défini comme un néologisme, inventé pour décrire la première crypto née en l’honneur d’un meme : Dogecoin. Il reste à ce jour le plus célèbre,avec le market cap le plus élevé d’entre eux.

Mais quelle est donc la définition d’un meme coin? Ce sont des cryptos nées de memes sur internet, ou d’un épisode irrévérencieux de la culture internet. Le terme “meme coin” est souvent utilisé pour décrire une crypto ayant une connotation parodique, ces projets eux-mêmes se définissent souvent de cette manière. Cependant, les meme coins ne sont pas tous les mêmes. Certains sont nés sous forme de blague et le restent. D’autres parviennent à développer un projet sérieux et consolider leur position. Découvre les différences et caractéristiques communes des 5 meme coins les plus célèbres, de Dogecoin à Baby Doge !

1. Dogecoin

Dogecoin (DOGE) a été créé en 2013 par Jackson Palmer et Billy Markus, basé sur le mécanisme de consensus Proof-of-Work. Après le Bitcoin, c’est la deuxième plus grande crypto PoW en termes de market cap. Le premier meme coin de l’histoire a été inspiré par la célèbre photo représentant un petit chien Shiba Inu (nommé Kabosu) accompagné de phrases courtes et mal écrites en police Comic Sans, une sorte de monologue intérieur du Doge.

Dogecoin est l’un des meme coins qui a “réussi”. Sa feuille de route est très simple et brève, semblant s’inspirer de la façon non grammaticale qu’utilise le chien du meme Doge pour s’exprimer : “utilité -> adoption“. Cette équation signifie que l’objectif de Dogecoin pour l’avenir, et par conséquent aussi l’utilité que l’équipe prévoit de donner à Dogecoin, est l’adoption. Ce processus d’adoption se concrétise avec de grandes entreprises qui choisissent d’accepter le Dogecoin comme moyen de paiement. Parmi ces entreprises figurent AMC, Twitch, Tesla et SpaceX. La notoriété du dogecoin dépend également de sa relation avec celui qui est désormais le propriétaire de Twitter, Elon Musk.

Surnommé “The Dogefather” par la communauté Dogecoin, il a été le premier supporter célèbre du projet qui lui doit une grande partie de son succès. D’une certaine manière, toutes les cryptos créées en l’honneur de nos amis à quatre pattes sont les filles de Musk. Certaines d’entre elles, comme nous le verrons plus tard, lui rendent explicitement hommage.  

2. Shiba Inu

Parmi les cinq meme coins les plus célèbres du monde des cryptos figure bien évidemment Shiba Inu (SHIB). Ce token est né d’une expérience : reproduire le projet de Dogecoin et faire en sorte qu’une autre crypto inspirée d’un petit chien devienne mainstream. Le projet Shiba Inu a été créé en 2020 par un développeur anonyme connu sous le pseudonyme de Rioshy. La crypto de Shiba Inu, SHIB, n’est pas un vrai coin puisqu’elle ne possède pas encore sa propre blockchain. C’est un token ERC-20, construit sur le réseau d’Ethereum. Bien qu’elle soit considérée de manière péjorative comme “just a meme coin”, Shiba Inu a intégré diverses fonctions au fil du temps.

L’écosystème de Shiba Inu est peuplé d’un exchange décentralisé (DEX) avec un AMM (similaire à Uniswap) appelé ShibaSwap, et de deux autres tokens : BONE et LEASH. Le premier est le token de gouvernance qui garantit aux détenteurs de participer aux décisions concernant l’avenir de l’écosystème. Le deuxième est distribué comme récompense à ceux qui mettent leur SHIB en staking sur ShibaSwap. Récemment, l’équipe de Shiba Inu a lancé un jeu pour smartphone appelé Shiba Eternity, qui a rencontré un grand succès, atteignant les premières positions de la section “jeux de cartes” sur l’App Store et le Play Store. Les prochaines étapes pour le deuxième des cinq meme coins les plus populaires prévoient une blockchain de layer 2 qui devrait s’appeler Shibarium ainsi qu’un stablecoin nommé SHI.

3. Dogelon Mars

Un meme coin portant le nom d’Elon Musk ne pouvait évidemment pas manquer de voir le jour. Le token Dogelon Mars, ELON, est l’un des nombreux tokens ERC-20 nés à la suite de la montée en puissance de Dogecoin et de Shiba Inu en 2021 : la meme coin season. L’idée de l’équipe anonyme de Dogelon était de créer une crypto entièrement gérée par sa communauté.

En quoi Dogelon Mars diffère-t-il de tout autre meme coin inspiré par les chiens ? La réponse est une incroyable narration ! Selon le synopsis officiel du projet, en l’an 2420, Mars sera colonisée par la race martienne des Dogelons : des chiens humanoïdes ressemblant vaguement à Elon Musk et dotés d’une intelligence distincte. Dogelon Mars a commencé comme meme coin, mais suite à son succès et à la croissance rapide de la communauté le projet a décidé de développer sa propre feuille de route. Les prochaines étapes envisagent le développement d’un écosystème DeFi, qui permettra de mettre les tokens ELON en staking pour recevoir des récompenses en governance token de l’écosystème : xELON.

4. Baby Doge

Baby Doge a également gagné une place dans la liste des 5 meilleurs meme coins du monde des cryptos. Il s’agit d’un token ERC-20 construit sur la Binance Smart Chain, la blockchain de Binance compatible avec l’EVM. Il se présente comme la “fille” de Dogecoin. La crypto Baby Doge est également née pendant la saison des meme coins de 2021, ayant été conçu comme reward token (c’est-à-dire un token qui récompense automatiquement son propriétaire avec d’autres cryptos). Dans le cas de Baby Doge, les récompenses pour les détenteurs sont payées en Dogecoin. C’est rendu possible grâce à un smart contract qui convertit une partie des cryptos utilisées pour acheter des Baby Doge en Dogecoins, qui sont ensuite redistribués aux détenteurs. L’un des projets de Baby Doge est Baby Doge Swap, un exchange décentralisé (DEX) avec AMM très similaire à PancakeSwap sur lequel il est possible de vendre et d’acheter des tokens construits sur la Binance Smart Chain, ainsi que de mettre des Baby Doge (et d’autre tokens) en staking,

5. Floki

Nous concluons cette liste avec Floki (FLOKI), le dernier des cinq meme coins les plus célèbres. Floki est né suite au tweet d’Elon Musk publié en juin 2021, dans lequel il annonçait à ses followers qu’il avait nommé son nouveau chiot Shiba Inu “Floki“. L’équipe de Floki Inu a très rapidement créé un token ERC-20 portant le nom du chiot nouveau-né, d’abord sur Ethereum, puis sur la Binance Smart Chain. Dans les jours qui ont suivi le lancement,  ils se sont lancés dans une campagne marketing impactante sur les réseaux sociaux, ce qui a permis au projet de gagner un grand nombre d’adeptes. Comme l’indique son site web, Floki veut devenir “la crypto du peuple”. Pour atteindre cet objectif ambitieux, l’équipe collabore avec des plateformes qui encouragent les initiatives caritatives.

Grâce au grand succès rencontré dans les jours qui ont suivi son lancement, le projet a pu travailler sur sa feuille de route, en commençant à développer une série de plateformes et d’applications décentralisées. À ce jour, l’écosystème Floki Inu développe un metaverse “play-to-earn”nommé Valhalla, une carte bleue et une plateforme de staking dédiée.

Outre ceux que nous avons vu, considérés comme les plus célèbres, une avalanche de meme coins a vu le jour. Certains d’entre eux n’ont pas survécu, mais pourquoi ? Les meme coins naissent dans des moments favorables du marché et tentent d’intercepter des récits ou des trend dans le but de toucher le plus grand nombre d’utilisateurs possible. Tous les meme coins, après être devenus populaires, ne parviennent pas à devenir utiles en offrant des solutions attrayantes aux utilisateurs. Pour la prochaine crypto dédiée à un emoji ou au museau d’un chien, attention au FOMO et souviens toi de la règle d’or, DYOR !

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What is FOMO? Social media and crypto anxiety

What does FOMO really mean? Here are some examples

“Fear Of Missing Out” is one of the most common forms of anxiety of our time. But what does it really mean? Here are some examples from the crypto world

The word FOMO stands for ‘Fear Of Missing Out’. FOMO is the feeling of anxiety that you may experience when you fear that you have missed out on something important. It could be an event, an opportunity or a conversation. With the arrival of social networks, this fear has become more widespead although it has always characterised human behaviour. In other words, FOMO is the constant feeling of being excluded from experiences that everyone else but us is experiencing. The term has also become very popular in the context of trading and cryptocurrencies. In this context, it could involve a fear of missing out on an upward price movement or a potential profit opportunity more generally. In this article, you will find out what FOMO is, its origins and what the term means in the world of crypto! 

What is FOMO? Meaning and origins

The term FOMO was created in 2004 by Patrick J. McGinnis, a Harvard Business School scholar, as part of his research on the social behaviour of first-year university students. From 2010 onwards, psychologists have taken up the concept of FOMO to describe a condition found in individuals who are constant users of social networks. These people, who spend a lot of time observing the lives of others, find themselves obsessively comparing their own experiences with those of others. By constantly comparing themselves, they feel like something is lacking, that they are mistaken or lagging behind in certain aspects of life. Psychologists have described this psychological condition as a constant apprehension that others might have experiences from which the person experiencing FOMO was personally excluded.

Is FOMO just social media anxiety?

The ways in which FOMO manifests itself can be different and vary mainly depending on the intensity of the sensation. You may experience it once in a while during a conversation or more continuously, which may turn this feeling into a real pathology. Suffering from this fear on a continuous basis can cause a worsening of mood, feelings of social inferiority, loneliness and anger.

As we stated before, FOMO became particularly popular after the emergence of social networks. This gave birth to a new culture based on influencers but also everyday friends, who share their dream life online. This can lead people to compare themselves and feel inadequate. Måneskin‘s bass player Victoria De Angelis also spoke about this recently. In an interview with Radio Deejay, she said that she suffers from FOMO, and that she can’t stop going out for fear of missing out on an experience. In fact, the fear of being cut off turns into a schedule full of commitments and hectic days spent chasing experiences. Often without feeling truly satisfied anyway!

You may have just come home from a hard day and you can’t wait to settle down on the couch, but you see all your friends on Instagram getting ready for a concert. If FOMO arrives, your only thought is ‘I can’t stay at home while the most important concert of the year is just a few steps away from me’. You get ready and go out. When the concert is over, the feeling comes back: ‘maybe I could follow my friends to that club and have a drink instead of going to sleep’. In the mildest cases, people in this situation just crawl into bed with some discomfort. For others, the thoughts become obsessive and limiting.

FOMO in the crypto world

In the crypto world and in trading, the meaning of FOMO remains the same. However it applies to missed profit opportunities rather than experiences. People get convinced that they have forever missed the chance to buy the next crypto that will explode. Everyone but themselves is guaranteed stratospheric gains. The venture into the crypto world of a person suffering from crypto FOMO is conditioned by thoughts like “why did I sell at that price?”, “I should have bought more” or “I absolutely cannot miss out this token’s presale”. This psychological condition usually affects those who have recently got interested in the market and who therefore do not have enough experience to know and control their anxiety. These users often buy and sell impulsively for fear of losing a potential profit opportunity.

Those who get caught up in FOMO when approaching the crypto world are engaging in outright fear, and emotions can hinder the pursuit of a rational strategy. Behavioural finance explains how rash actions, triggered by emotional aspects, can negatively affect the achievement of your goals.

Examples of FOMO with cryptocurrencies

To better explain what FOMO is in the context of crypto, we can use some practical examples. The term is for instance particularly appropriate in the case of new crypto launches. These launches always come together with presales that allow those who participate in them to financially support a crypto project before the official launch by purchasing the native cryptocurrencies. One feature of presales is that they have limited access. Only the quickest users to purchase can actually participate in the launch. This aspect generates crypto FOMO in those who want to participate and fear being excluded.

Dogecoin’s bullish movements linked to Elon Musk‘s tweets can also explain crypto FOMO. Every time Musk posts a DOGE-themed tweet, the price of the crypto goes up thanks to so-called FOMO buyers. These people decide to buy DOGE in fear of missing out on the price rise.

The JOMO (Joy of Missing Out)

The opposite psychological phenomenon is JOMO ‘Joy of Missing Out’. JOMO can be defined as the pleasure of enjoying your interests and passions without worrying about the fact that other individuals are pursuing more satisfying activities.

Instead of despairing over untapped crypto opportunities, those who live in the name of crypto JOMO simply disregard them. In fact, the term JOMO is usually used by no-coiners, those who do not hold crypto. While those in the throes of FOMO feel the need to spend hours and hours in front of charts looking for the next opportunity, the JOMO team doesn’t even bother to give it any thought.

Now that you know what FOMO means and how it differs from JOMO, you might ask yourself: which of the two is the best attitude for experiencing the world of crypto? Probably neither, both FOMO and JOMO are extremes. On the one hand we have a tendency to get too emotionally involved, on the other hand we have a tendency to avoid situations completely. Knowing the latest trends and cryptos on the upside, in short ‘being on your toes’ about all the industry news is certainly not a bad thing. So is learning to be more detached like JOMO fans.

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What are the 5 most famous meme coins?

The 5 most popular meme coins from Dogecoin to Baby Doge

From Dogecoin to Shiba Inu, via Baby Doge and Dogelon Mars. What are meme coins and which are the 5 most famous?

Believe it or not, meme coins are an important component in the huge world of cryptocurrencies. This type of crypto dominates bullish market phases and then almost disappears during bear markets. The term ‘meme coin’ can be defined as a neologism, created to describe the first cryptocurrency born in honour of a meme: Dogecoin. The first meme coin was therefore Dogecoin. To this day, it is still the most famous one and has the highest market cap from all those in our list.

But what is the definition of a meme coin? Meme coins are cryptocurrencies born from internet memes or an episode of internet culture. The term ‘meme coin’ is often used to describe a crypto with a negative connotation, although sometimes projects define themselves purposefully in this manner. However, meme coins are not all the same. Some are created as a joke and remain so, others manage to develop a project and consolidate their position. Discover the differences and common characteristics of the 5 most famous meme coins from Dogecoin to Baby Doge!

1. Dogecoin

Dogecoin (DOGE) was created in 2013 by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus, and is based on the Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism. After Bitcoin, it is the second largest PoW crypto in terms of market cap. The first meme coin in history was inspired by the famous meme depicting a small Shiba Inu dog (named Kabosu) accompanied by short, broken sentences in Comic Sans, a sort of Doge inner monologue.

Dogecoin is one of those meme coins that ‘made it’. Dogecoin’s roadmap is very simple and brief and also seems to be inspired by the manner Doge expresses himself in broken English: ‘utility -> adoption’. This equation means that Dogecoin’s goal for the future, and consequently the utility the team plans to give to the Dogecoin crypto is adoption. The adoption process is coming to fruition with major companies choosing to accept Dogecoin as a payment method. Among these companies are AMC, Twitch, Tesla and SpaceX. Dogecoin’s fame also depends on its relationship with who is now the owner of Twitter, Elon Musk.

Elon Musk, nicknamed ‘The Dogefather’ by the Dogecoin community, was the first famous supporter of the project. The DOGE crypto owes much of its success to the owner of Twitter. In a way, all the meme coins created in honour of our four-legged friends are Musk’s daughters. Some of them, as we will see later, pay explicit homage to him.  

2. Shiba Inu

Among the five most famous meme coins in the crypto world is undoubtedly Shiba In (SHIB). This meme coin was born from an experiment: to replicate the Dogecoin project and make another crypto inspired by a small dog achieve mainstream status. The Shiba Inu project was created in 2020 by an anonymous developer known by the pseudonym Rioshy. Shiba Inu’s crypto, SHIB is actually not a real coin, since it does not yet have its own blockchain. Instead, it is an ERC-20 token built on the Ethereum network. Although it is derogatorily considered ‘just’ a meme coin, over time, Shiba Inu has been integrating various functions within its ecosystem.

The Shiba Inu ecosystem is populated by a decentralised exchange (DEX) with AMM similar to Uniswap, ShibaSwap, and by two other tokens: BONE and LEASH. The former is the governance token that guarantees holders to participate in decisions about the future of the ecosystem. LEASH is distributed as a reward to those who stake SHIB on ShibaSwap. Recently, the Shiba Inu team also released a smartphone game called Shiba Eternity, which was very successful and reached the top positions of the ‘card games’ section on the App Store and Play Store. The next steps for the second of the 5 most popular meme coins envisage a Layer 2 blockchain that should be called Shibarium, as well as a stablecoin named SHI.

3. Dogelon Mars

A meme coin bearing the name of Elon Musk was not a chance to be missed. The Dogelon Mars token, ELON, is one of many ERC-20 tokens that were created following the rise of Dogecoin and Shiba Inu in 2021, the so-called ‘meme coin season’. The idea of Dogelon’s anonymous team was to create a crypto entirely managed by its community.

How does Dogelon Mars differ from any other meme coin inspired by doggos? The answer is incredible storytelling! According to the project’s official synopsis, in the year 2420, Mars will be colonised by the Dogelon Mars breed : humanoid pooches vaguely resembling Elon Musk and endowed with a distinct intelligence. Dogelon Mars began as a meme coin, but following its success and the rapid growth of the community, it decided to develop its own roadmap. The next steps are the development of a decentralised finance ecosystem (DeFi) that allows the ELON token to be staked in order to receive rewards in the ecosystem’s governance token: xELON.

4. Baby Doge

Baby Doge also earns a place on the list of the crypto world’s top 5 meme coins. It is an ERC-20 token built on the Binance Smart Chain, Binance’s EVM-compatible blockchain. It calls itself the ‘daughter’ of Dogecoin. The Baby Doge crypto was also created during the 2021 meme coin season. Baby Doge was conceived as a reward token, i.e. a token that automatically rewards its owner with other cryptos. In the case of Baby Doge, the rewards for holders are of course paid in Dogecoin. This is possible thanks to a smart contract that converts part of the crypto that users use to buy Baby Doge into Dogecoins, which are then redistributed to the holders. One of Baby Doge’s projects is Baby Doge Swap, a decentralised exchange (DEX) with AMM very similar to PancakeSwap. On this DEX, it is possible to sell and buy tokens built on the Binance Smart Chain and to stake the Baby Doge crypto as well as other tokens.

5. Floki

We conclude our meme coin list with Floki (FLOKI), one of the five most famous meme coins in the crypto world. Floki was created following Elon Musk’s tweet published in June 2021, in which he told his followers that he had named his new Shiba Inu puppy “Floki”. The Floki Inu team was very quick to create an ERC-20 token, first on Ethereum and then also on the Binance Smart Chain, named of course after the newborn puppy. In the days following the launch, Floki’s team embarked on an effective marketing campaign on social networks that allowed the project to gain a large number of followers. Floki, as the website states, wants to become ‘the people’s cryptocurrency’. To achieve this ambitious goal, the Floki team is collaborating with platforms that encourage charitable initiatives.

Thanks to the great success in the days immediately following its launch, the Floki Inu meme coin was able to work on the project’s roadmap, starting to develop a series of decentralised platforms and applications. To date, the Floki Inu ecosystem is working on a play-to-earn metaverse named Valhalla, a debit card and a platform for staking FLOKIs.

In addition to the meme coins we listed, which are considered the most famous, an avalanche of similar cryptos have sprung up. Some of these failed to survive. How come? Meme coins are born in favourable market moments, trying to intercept narratives or trends with the aim of reaching as many users as possible. Not all meme coins manage to become useful and offer appealing solutions to users after becoming popular. When you are considering taking a look at the next crypto dedicated to an emoji or a dog’s snout, watch out for FOMO and as always, DYOR!