Whoever thinks that meme cryptocurrencies are useless at this point might want to revise their expectations. A recent study suggests that in much of the United States, people are more interested in puppy-themed meme coins like Dogecoin or Shiba Inu than in the big serious projects that claim to be a financial revolution.
Although Bitcoin and Ether occupy more than 60% of the total marketcap of all cryptocurrencies, during 2021, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have won the hearts of Americans, trending in 30 of the 50 United States.
Dogecoin Conquers Almost Half Of The United States
According to a study by research firm The Advisor Coach covered by Business Insider, there was an average of 7 million searches for content about Dogecoin last month. Such a level of interest exceeds the averages for Bitcoin and Ethereum combined. According to Business Insider, such spike cand be linked to the Dogefather’s influence:
“The rise in interest can be partially attributed to the endorsement of Elon Musk who stated earlier in the year that Tesla would accept dogecoin as a form of payment,”
And although the popular financial publication The Motley Fool catalogs Dogecoin as a “hyped token with virtually no real-world utility,” it seems that things could change in the near future with a series of capital investments and Elon Musk’s interest in improving Doge’s code to adapt it to global usability standards.
Dogecoin is the most popular currency in 23 American states, including Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Arizona. In fact, the United States is the country with the most overall searches for Dogecoin, with 97 points out of 100 in Google Trends, second only to Turkey – which has a fraction of the population.
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Interest in Dogecoin. Image: Google
Shiba Inu Wants To Be The Alpha Dog
Shiba Inu is not far behind. The Dogecoin spin-off already dominates searches in California (the U.S. tech hub), Washington, Nevada, Wyoming, Texas, North Carolina, and New York.
Just as a contrast, Bitcoin reigns in 10 states and Ethereum in 8. Cardano is Colorado’s favorite.
Most searched cryptocurrencies in the United States. Image: Business Insider
The market for meme cryptocurrencies emerged as a sort of social phenomenon during the coronavirus pandemic. Cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Floki Inu, and others benefited from several pumps in social media despite not having significant fundamentals.
However, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have grown so much that they have conquered a spot in the Top 10 of cryptocurrencies with the largest market capitalization. As of right now, Dogecoin is on the 10th spot and Shiba Inu on number 12.
And considering that the main component of money (its value and acceptance) is purely subjective, perhaps it is time to reconsider views and take memecoins more seriously.
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The cryptocurrency field has come a long way in the past few years. From a niche market dedicated only to coders, developers, contrarians, and cryptography aficionados, it’s now a trillion-dollar industry that’s making a statement.
One of the most definitive testaments to this is the growth of cryptocurrency exchanges and their mainstream adoption.
In 2018, TechCrunch reported that the highly-prized domain name “Crypto.com” was bought for $10 million, according to experts, although most of the other reports indicate the actual deal was worth $12 million. The deal’s precise details, though, were never revealed.
How it Was
In 2018, Monaco (MCO) – the cryptocurrency visa card company, allegedly purchased the domain for a whopping $12 million.
Interestingly enough, this domain name was registered all the way back in 1993 by Matt Blaze – a professor of computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania. TechCrunch reported that he also sits on the board of directors of the Tor Project.
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The MCO Visa Card would later turn out to be one of the most popular cryptocurrency products. At the same time, the company would also create a cryptocurrency exchange and a suite of other services that would catapult it to the forefront of the industry in a multi-billion dollar valuation.
How it’s Going
Fast forward to the last quarter of 2021, CryptoCom is a world-renowned brand known across both cryptocurrency experts and regular folk.
In fact, the company has been on a massive marketing and branding spree. trying to spread awareness as much as possible. It partnered up with Oscar winner Matt Damon who is now the face of the company.
More recently, the company recently announced that the iconic Staples Center – the home of the legendary NBA Team, The Los Angeles Lakers – will be renamed to CryptoCom arena in a massive deal worth $700 million.
Source: CryptoPotato Archives
All of this, and probably more, has propelled the price of the platform’s native cryptocurrency – the CRO token – to an all-time high above $0.70 and a total market capitalization of over $18 billion, becoming the 13th biggest crypto by this metric.
It’s Not Just CryptoCom
As mentioned in the start, it’s not just CryptoCom that’s making strides and pushing the industry forward through mainstream adoption.
Rival cryptocurrency exchange FTX is also putting plenty of effort into its marketing attempts and has recently bought an ad for the Super Bowl. The company also partnered with well-known mainstream names such as NBA superstar Stephen Curry, NFL legend Tom Brady, popular investor Kevin ‘Mr. Wonderful’ O’Leary, and so forth.
Similar to the deal for the Staples Center, FTX also struck a $135 million naming-rights deal for the Miami Heat Arena.
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ConstitutionDAO tried to buy the U.S. Constitution at a Sotheby’s auction.
It failed, and now it has to work out what to do with the $45 million it raised.
Some people want the show to keep on going.
ConstitutionDAO, adecentralized autonomous organizationwith over 17,000 contributors and $45 million in funds, has faced a number of challengessince its inceptionless than two weeks ago. Last week, the DAO lost theSotheby’s auctionto purchase a copy of the US Constitution. Citadel CEOKenneth Griffinoutbid the DAO and bought the document for $41 million.
ConstitutionDAO had raised over $45 million for the auction, but was unable to compete against Griffin’s final bid due to hidden expenses such as Sotheby’sauction fee of 13.9%and the costs to preserve and transport the historic document. This caused confusion and frustration, as some felt the DAO had not been transparent enough with its contributors and closed fundraising too early.
Now that the auction is over, ConstitutionDAO is fracturing. Some members are demanding refunds while others are urging the DAO to pursue a new project with all that capital. Since it began, ConstitutionDAO has maintained that if it lost the auction, all contributors would be refunded. What many donors new to the Ethereum ecosystem didn’t realize, however, was that the network’shigh gas feesmeant no one would see their full donation amount returned.
While many eagerly await pro-rata refunds, others in the DAO’s Discord community do not want to pay the refund gas fees. Instead, they hope the DAO will pursue another historical artifact or cause.
In response, the DAO has announced it will give contributors a choice. They can either receive refunds, remain in the DAO and receive a new “We The People” governance token or make a decision at a later date. Those who choose to remain in the DAO will be able to vote on future governance matters.
“We’ll soon be proposing a plan that outlines governance, vision, and values, for the community to review and comment on,” the group’s organizers wroteon Twitter.
Currently, it’s not clear what the DAO’s next project will be. Since the auction night fiasco — where misinformation spread like wildfire due to a lack of communication — the DAO is taking some time to plan out its next steps. Core contributor Brian Wagner and Web 3 enthusiast Liminal Warmth have been announced as the DAO’s new leaders going forward.
While the DAO’s next project has yet to be announced, the massive community has a range of ideas. Some want the DAO to pursue a copy of the Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence, while others have suggested they create a new Constitution for Web 3.
Bitcoin (BTC) is witnessing a tough tussle near the $58,000 mark but that has not stopped select altcoins from hitting a new all-time high. This shows that traders are watching the fundamental developments on individual coins.
One of the recent top performing major altcoins has been Avalanche (AVAX), which has soared more than 120% in November. The coin caught traders’ attention leading up to the announcement by accounting firm Deloitte which plans to build its disaster relief platforms on the Avalanche blockchain.
Crypto market data daily view. Source:Coin360
In another step that shows growing crypto adoption, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced the launch of Bitcoin city, which will be powered by geothermal energy and initially funded by $1 billion worth of Bitcoin bonds.
Could strong buying at lower levels boost Bitcoin above $60,000 and will altcoins participate in the recovery? Let’s study the charts of the top-5 cryptocurrencies that could attract traders’ attention in the short term.
BTC/USDT
Bitcoin reversed direction from $55,600 on Nov. 19 but the recovery is facing resistance at the 50-day simple moving average ($60,187). The moving averages are on the verge of a bearish crossover and the relative strength index (RSI) is in the negative area, indicating that bears are making a strong comeback.
BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
If the price turns down from the current level, the bears will attempt to extend the correction by pulling the BTC/USDT pair below $55,600. If that happens, the next stop could be the strong support zone at $52,500 to $50,000.
If the price rebounds off this zone, the bulls will try to push the pair above the moving averages and the downtrend line. Such a move will indicate that the corrective phase may be over. The bulls will then try to drive the price above the all-time high at $69,000.
Alternatively, a break below the psychological support at $50,000 could intensify selling as traders rush to the exit. The pair could then drop to $45,000 and later to $40,000.
BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The 4-hour chart shows that bears pulled the price below the strong support at $58,000 but they could not build upon this advantage. The bulls bought the dip and have pushed the price back above the 20-exponential moving average.
If the price sustains above $58,000, the pair could rally to the downtrend line. A break and close above this resistance could indicate that bulls have the upper hand. The pair could then rally to $62,000 and later to $67,000.
Conversely, if the price turns down from the current level and breaks below $55,600, it will signal the possible start of a deeper correction.
AVAX/USDT
Avalanche is in a strong uptrend and has consistently been making new highs for the past few days. The bulls pushed the price above the 200% Fibonacci extension level at $146.18 today but the long wick on the day’s candlestick shows profit-booking at higher levels.
AVAX/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The rising 20-day EMA (96) indicates that bulls are in command but the RSI near 80 suggests that the rally may be overheated in the near term. This could result in a minor correction or consolidation in the next few days.
If the price turns down from the current level, $110 and then the 20-day EMA may act as a strong support. A sharp rebound off either level will suggest that the bulls are viewing the dips as a buying opportunity. The pair could then march toward the 261.8% Fibonacci extension level at $175.58.
Contrary to this assumption, if the price breaks below the 20-day EMA, it will suggest that traders are rushing to the exit. That may pull the AVAX/USDT pair to $81.
AVAX/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The pair has turned down from $147, indicating aggressive profit-booking at higher levels. The bears will now attempt to pull the price to the 20-EMA, which is likely to act as a strong support.
If the price rebounds off the 20-EMA, it will indicate strong buying on dips. The bulls will then try to resume the uptrend by pushing the pair above $147.
Contrary to this assumption, if the price breaks below the 20-EMA, the selling could accelerate and the pair may drop to $110. Such a move will suggest that the bulls may be losing their grip. The pair could thereafter drop to the 50-SMA.
MATIC/USDT
Polygon (MATIC) has been trading inside an ascending channel pattern for the past few days. The bulls pushed the price above the resistance line of the channel on Oct. 28 and 29 but failed to sustain the breakout. This may have prompted selling from short-term traders.
MATIC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The bears again successfully defended the resistance line on Nov. 3. This started the downward journey toward the trendline of the channel. The downsloping 20-day EMA ($1.69) and the RSI just below the midpoint indicate a minor advantage to sellers.
If the price turns down from the current level, the MATIC/USDT pair could drop to the trendline. The bulls are expected to defend this level aggressively. If the price rebounds off the trendline and rises above the 20-day EMA, it will indicate that the selling pressure may be reducing. That may signal the start of the northward journey toward the resistance line.
Contrary to this assumption, if bears sink the price below the trendline, it could result in a decline to the psychological support at $1.
MATIC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The 4-hour chart shows that bulls are attempting to stage a relief rally from the strong support zone at $1.50 to $1.40. The 20-EMA has started to turn up and the RSI is near the center, indicating that the selling pressure may be reducing.
If bulls drive the price above $1.70, the pair could rise to $1.80. A break and close above this level will indicate strength. The pair could then start its up-move toward $2.15. On the downside, the selling may accelerate if the bears pull the price below $1.40.
Related:Seeing red? FUD that! Here’s what you should have bought instead of Bitcoin last week
EGLD/USDT
The bears tried to pull Elrond (EGLD) below the breakout level at $303.03 from Nov. 16 to 18 but the bulls bought the dips as seen from the long tail on the candlesticks. Strong buying on Nov. 19 pushed the price above the overhead resistance at $338.70.
EGLD/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
This resumed the uptrend and the EGLD/USDT pair has reached near its pattern target at $427. The sharp rally has pushed the RSI deep into the overbought zone, suggesting that a minor consolidation or correction could be around the corner.
The first support on the downside is the breakout level at $338.70 and then the 20-day EMA ($325). If the price rebounds off either level, it will suggest that traders continue to buy on dips. The bulls will then try to resume the uptrend with the next target objective at $500.
This positive view will be invalidated if the price turns down and plummets below the breakout level at $303.
EGLDT/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The 4-hour chart shows that bears tried to stall the up-move at $400 but the bulls were in no mood to relent. Sustained buying at higher levels pushed the pair above the psychological barrier. The rising 20-EMA and the RSI in the overbought zone indicate that bulls are firmly in the driver’s seat.
The first important level to watch on the downside is $380. If bears pull the price below this support, the pair may drop to the 20-EMA. A strong rebound off this support could keep the uptrend intact but a break below it will suggest that the bullish momentum may be weakening.
MANA/USDT
Decentraland (MANA) turned down from the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level at $4.35 on Nov. 20. This indicates that traders may be selling on rallies.
MANA/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The MANA/USDT pair could now drop to the immediate support at $3.50 and if this level gives way, the correction could deepen to the 20-day EMA ($3.11). If the price rebounds off either support, it will suggest that sentiment remains positive and traders are buying on dips.
The bulls will then attempt to push the price to $4.36. A break and close above this resistance could open the doors for a rally to $4.94. This positive view will invalidate if the price continues lower and breaks below the 20-day EMA.
MANA/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The pair has been rising inside an ascending channel pattern. The failure of the bulls to push the price above the resistance line may have prompted selling from traders, pulling the price below the 20-EMA.
Both moving averages have flattened out and the RSI has dipped near the midpoint, suggesting that the bullish momentum may be weakening. The pair could now drop to the trendline of the channel where buying may emerge.
If the price rebounds off the trendline, the pair could continue its up-move inside the channel. The buyers will then try to push the price to the resistance line. The bullish momentum could pick up on a break and close above the channel.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Payments giant Square is detailing its plans to release a new decentralized protocol for exchanging Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets.
Square’s new TBD division recently released a whitepaper outlining their plans to create tbDEX, an easily-accessible crypto exchange that aims to bridge users from fiat currencies to digital assets.
“The vast majority of people receive wages and pay for goods and services in fiat currency. They must pay taxes in fiat currency. So how do we unleash the potential of Bitcoin and decentralized financial infrastructure, when most of us still live in a world of fiat? To do so, we need to build bridges between the fiat and cryptocurrency worlds…
The tbDEX protocol aims to create ubiquitous and accessible on-ramps and off-ramps that allow the average individual to benefit from crypto innovation.”
The tbDEX whitepaper says the protocol will not have a governance token or an organization to control the network.
“We propose a solution that does not rely on a federation to control permission or access to the network; nor does it dictate the level of trust required between counterparties. There is no governance token.
Instead, the tbDEX protocol allows participants to negotiate trust directly with each other – or mutually and voluntarily rely on trusted third-parties to vouch for the counterparty.”
Square CEO Jack Dorsey first announced the San Francisco-based company was going to launch a decentralized BTC exchange back in August.
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Featured Image: Shutterstock/sdecoret/stockphoto-graf
Crypto enthusiasts raised roughly $47 million in Ethereum in an attempt to buy a copy of the US Constitution at an art auction.
A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) called ConstitutionDAO raised the money through more than 17,000 different donors with the goal of buying one of only 13 original remaining copies of the document.
The auction, held by iconic British auction house Sotheby’s, was held virtually and accepted bids in ETH.
According to ConstitutionDAO, it is the first DAO that Sotheby’s has ever worked with and potentially the largest crowdfund for a physical object they are aware of.
When the auction unfolded, the price of the Constitution was bid up all the way to $43 million before the DAO gave up out of concern that they wouldn’t have funds left over for proper care and maintenance of the document.
Says ConstitutionDAO,
“While this wasn’t the outcome we hoped for, we still made history tonight with ConstitutionDAO. This is the largest crowdfund for a physical object that we are aware of – crypto or fiat. We are so incredibly grateful to have done this together with you all and are still in shock that we even got this far.”
Shortly after ConstitutionDAO was ultimately outbid for the relic, it was revealed that the winner of the auction was billionaire Ken Griffin, CEO of hedge fund and financial services firm Citadel. Griffin reportedly plans on lending the historic document to museums, starting with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.
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Cynthia Lummis – Republican Senator for Wyoming – recently fired back at Hillary Clinton for deriding cryptocurrencies. She suggested that Bitcoin offers a hard money solution to the US dollar’s inflation problems.
Lummis Tells Clinton to Embrace The Future
Lummis’s comments follow the cautionary words of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this week. In a panel discussion at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, the latter suggested that cryptocurrencies could “destabilize nations.”
Today, Lummis responded to Clinton with the opposite perspective. In a tweet, she said that Bitcoin could help “stabilize” an otherwise unstable US dollar.
“Great leaders do not fear the future. America could win the future by embracing Bitcoin as hard money that can be used to stabilize USD and undo the tailspin begun in 1971.”
Cynthia Lummis. Source: CNBC
In 1971, President Nixon entirely abolished the gold standard, putting the US money supply under the Federal Government’s control. Since then, inflation has been a far more prevalent problem, and savings rates across the Western world have massively declined. Bitcoin is often promoted as a solution to this problem due to its absolutely fixed and non-manipulable monetary policy.
The senator’s advocacy for progress is a direct jab at Clinton’s branding as a politician. Running against Donald Trump in the 2016 US election, the former first lady became an emblem of ‘establishment’ politics – which Bitcoiners generally despise. That said, Trump has proven equally fearful on the subject of crypto.
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Is Senator Lummis a Bitcoin Maximalist?
It’s unclear what Lummis has in mind when she calls for Bitcoin “stabilizing” the US dollar. She may mean that Bitcoin could “back” US dollar value, like how gold did pre-1971. Alternatively, she might simply mean that Bitcoin will force the US dollar to compete as a store of value by reducing inflation.
Either way, Lummis unflinchingly refers to Bitcoin as “money,” rather than just an “asset.” She’s shown fervent devotion to the cryptocurrency for this reason before, even thanking God for its existence in a speech to congress. Like many Bitcoin maximalists, she’s also been critical of other cryptos and meme coins, like Shiba Inu.
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Having written just yesterday about how bitcoin can liberate people from the toxic effect of inflation on their savings, it might seem odd that I’m now publishing an article with the headline “cash is still king”.
The reality, though, is that reducing society’s dependence on government-issued money will take time.
For the vast majority of people, incomings and outgoings still are – and will for the foreseeable future be – denominated in local fiat currencies. If you’re American, you almost certainly earn your salary in USD and use that USD balance to fund your living expenses. Depending on your personal circumstances and spending preferences, you likely need to hold a greater or lesser portion of that money in physical cash.
It makes perfect sense, therefore, that the fintech industry would seek to enable frictionless transfers between cash and crypto – both for practical reasons, and as a segue to a more fully digitized financial world.
“There might be a kind of digital Utopia vision for the future, but the reality is a large portion of the market still interacts with cash on a daily basis,” explained Neil Bergquist, chief executive of Coinme, a Seattle-based crypto exchange that specializes in cash conversions.
“In order to pursue Satoshi’s vision of a global peer-to-peer electronic cash system you need a cash on-ramp – cash is literally in the headline of the bitcoin white paper – but it’s not easy [to build]. It’s messy. It’s more complicated than just offering an additional payment type.”
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Coinme launched operations in 2014 as one of the world’s first providers of bitcoin ATMs, but the company has now ditched its hardware in favor of two partnerships with Coinstar and MoneyGram.
Coinstar runs a global network of 20,000 machines – typically located in grocery stores – that guzzle spare change and spit out either banknotes or electronic giftcards. MoneyGram specializes in cross-border remittances, running 350,000 walk-in locations around the world where customers can deposit cash and send money to friends or relatives.
About half of Coinstar’s kiosks will be crypto-enabled by the end of this year, Bergquist said, up from about 7,000 today. The upgraded machines allow you to deposit up to $2,500 cash in exchange for a printed receipt with a code, which is then used to redeem bitcoin on your Coinme account.
The MoneyGram partnership, meanwhile, involves customers either handing over or receiving cash in exchange for bitcoin simply by giving their instruction to the teller.
“The only reason we did [our own] ATMs back in 2014 through 2019 was because bitcoin and digital currency were still very early,” Bergquist recalled. “A lot of the existing financial institutions didn’t take it seriously.”
He described the market cycle top in 2017 – when bitcoin peaked just shy of $20,000 – as a watershed moment for industry acceptance.
“After that, Coinstar, for example, saw bitcoin as a potential legitimate opportunity … Coinstar has over 20,000 kiosks globally. It would have taken us a very long time to deploy that many machines, so being able to use their existing infrastructure helps to solve the access and scale problem for the industry. And now with MoneyGram we have another opportunity to crypto-enable.”
Part of the complexity of dealing with cash stems from greater regulatory scrutiny – particularly in relation to anti-money laundering laws – so both channels require customers to verify their identity before completing a transaction. Coinme uses standard Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols for these checks, meaning that personal documents must be submitted but there’s no requirement to provide bank account statements.
That matters because cash-based services are particularly attractive to the estimated 22% of Americans – about 72 million people – who are either unbanked or underbanked.
It’s worth stressing, though, that the convenience of cash comes at a price.
Bergquist estimated that Coinstar’s bitcoin customers pay a 4% transaction fee plus a variable exchange-rate fee of up to 7%. MoneyGram imposes a flat $2.75 fee plus a variable exchange rate costing up to 4%.
“If you want to do a higher dollar amount, MoneyGram can be less expensive [than Coinstar],” he said. “But it really depends on the convenience of the location and the timing … Bitcoin is volatile, and being able to transact at the time you want to transact seems to be the primary motivation [for customers].”
He justified the fees by pointing to Coinme’s relatively high costbase – another consequence of specializing in cash conversions. Unlike traditional crypto exchanges, Coinme spends a significant sum on its cash logistics network as well as paying a premium to banking partners for the perceived higher risk of cash transactions. Its financial audits are also costlier than normal.
Expansion into Latin America is a top priority, Bergquist continued, with partnerships currently “teed up to activate” in the first quarter of 2022.
“The United States sends over $150 billion a year to other countries,” he noted. “If we’re able to build the cash launchpad in the United States, then we’re able to essentially follow the money – to expand into those countries that receive money from the United States. And, for example, there’s about $80 billion that goes to Latin America every year.
“So we’ve been investing heavily in order to launch in central and South America in Q1 of next year … We’re targeting pretty much every country except for Bolivia and Venezuela.”
This week, crypto’s Twitter fingers vented their frustration over the rising cost of Ethereum gas fees, ConstitutionDAO failed to win the bid for a copy of the U.S. constitution, leaving many wondering what will happen to the funds it raised, and a load of cartoon apes has stirred up controversy in the NFT world. Here’s our roundup of the most notable events on Crypto Twitter this week.
The CEO of Singaporean crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, Zhu Su, joined the chorus of dismayed voices tweeting about rising Ethereum gas fees this week. Back in August, Ethereum launchedthe “Altair” upgrade, which changed the way miners get paid and introduced staking to the ecosystem. However, Ethereum’sgas fees have risenroughly in line with its price overthe last few months.
Early on Sunday afternoon, Su tweeted: “Yes I have abandoned Ethereum despite supporting it in the past. Yes Ethereum has abandoned its users despite supporting them in the past. The idea of sitting around jerking off watching the burn and concocting purity tests, while zero newcomers can afford the chain, is gross.”
Yes I have abandoned Ethereum despite supporting it in the past.
Yes Ethereum has abandoned its users despite supporting them in the past.
The idea of sitting around jerking off watching the burn and concocting purity tests, while zero newcomers can afford the chain, is gross.
— Zhu Su 🔺 (@zhusu) November 21, 2021
While many were quick to agree with Su, a few were more critical.One Twitter usercomplained thatSu blocked himafter he tweeted that Su “loaded up on AVAX then started telling people it was the future. He’s a [market maker] and anyone taking this for face value needs to consider the driving motives (to make a shit ton of money convincing everyone eth bad, AVAX future).”
Exactly. He loaded up on AVAX then started telling people it was the future. He’s a MM and anyone taking this for face value needs to consider the driving motives (to make a shit ton of money convincing everyone eth bad, AVAX future). pic.twitter.com/fbTOjrYMmV
— DPo33 (@dan_i__am) November 21, 2021
Ethereum competitor Avalanche certainly benefited from the press. Avalanche briefly entered the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization earlier on Sunday. The native token for the blockchain, which touts cheaper gas fees and greater speeds than Ethereum, set a new all-time high of $146 on Sunday afternoon,according to CoinMarketCap.
In a story that’s tangentially related to Ethereum’s gas fees, many crypto fans on Twitter were talking about ConstitutionDAO this week. ConstitutionDAO was set up to raise funds to buy an extremely rare first-edition copy of the U.S. constitution, which was beingauctioned through Sotheby’s.The DAO raised over $40 million beforeultimately losing the auctionto no-coiner Citadel CEO Ken Griffin.
Since ConstitutionDAO is now faced with the mammoth task of refunding all the money it received back to the donors, a big part of the Twitter conversation revolved around the awkward question of refunding the gas fees donors paid to send Ethereum to the DAO.
Richard Chen, a general partner at crypto investment firm 1confirmation, tweeted that “ConstitutionDAO members have collectively spent 199.38 ETH ($860k) in gas”.
After losing the auction, ConstitutionDAO tweeted that the money “will of course be refunded to everyone who participated”, but it remains an open question as to how that will happen. Crypto journalist Laura Shin tweeted a clip from an interview with Will Papper, a ConstitutionDAO contributor who helped organize the bid.
Several refund options are being discussed, including the possibility of a layer 2 solution, where the refunds would be meted out on a sidechain separate to, but connected with, Ethereum. This option is pretty hard, as many donors were first-time or crypto-naive Ethereum users. At the time of writing, no further clarification has been given by the DAO.
We didn’t get the Constitution, but we made history nonetheless.
We broke records for the largest crowdfund for a physical object and most money crowdfunded in 72h, which will of course be refunded to everyone who participated.
To all our 17,437 contributors, THANK YOU ❤️
— ConstitutionDAO (📜, 📜) (@ConstitutionDAO) November 19, 2021
A new sold-out collection of 5,000 Ethereum NFTs called “Lil Baby Ape Club” which is inspired by, but not affiliated with, the immensely popularBored Ape Yacht Clubhas provoked feelings of outrage over its controversial artwork, which some are perceiving as racist.
Proud BAYC owner @BenMayorWhite shared a screenshot of a Lil Baby Ape Club avatar and tweeted: “Skinhead trait + German flag suspenders +monkey pride written on tee. Unforgiveable [sic] and atrocious.@LilBabyApeClubyou should be completely ashamed.”
Some things you see in the space are amazing, and then there is the horrific. This is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen. Skinhead trait + German flag suspenders +monkey pride written on tee. Unforgiveable and atrocious. @LilBabyApeClub you should be completely ashamed. pic.twitter.com/2cRV6ExlRz
— Ben Mayo White 🍌 (@benmayorwhite) November 15, 2021
Ben’s tweet blew up, and more outraged NFT fans joined the conversation. Twitter user @UglyMoms wrote: “Research the term ‘jam boy’ and try to defend this project”.
The biggest twist came when @0xRoh tweeted an article he wrote about. the BAYC spinoff project, which was trading at 30x its initial mint price half a day after hitting the market. According to @0xRoh the token contract was stolen from its original creators.
There has been no shortage of drama this week. Is Zhu Su right to totally dismiss Ethereum over the gas fees? Will ConstitutionDAO manage to successfully refund every donor? Gas fees and all? Who are the original creators of Lil Baby Ape Club and why are they flirting with racist imagery? This week’s Crypto Twitter was rife with questions and speculation, but lacking in answers.
