Nansen's Corner
Alpha Initiatives
OTEX Project Update
- OTEX project is raising funds
- The project focuses on building scalable solving infrastructure across chains and dApps
- OTEX has been active on CowSwap since May 2022
- The project aims to solve user intent issues
- OTEX is raising $1m at a post-money valuation of $10m
- Find more details in their deck
- Visit the OTEX website for more information
- You can reach out to the OTEX team at contact@otex.tools
Community Channels
War Room
Crypto Predictions for 2024
- Members predicted that Sparklend will have a higher Total Value Locked (TVL) than Aave in 2024 due to factors such as Spark Airdrop, higher interest on DAI collateral compared to GHO, and the launch of the Spark token.
- One member predicted the emergence of a new meme coin in 2024 that will hit over $100M Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV).
- There was also a prediction that Pyth Oracle will surpass Chainlink's FDV due to its partnerships with TradFi and a 90% market share on Solana.
- Other predictions included Bitcoin and Ethereum hitting all-time highs again, more countries embracing crypto, an increase in the total crypto market cap, and more innovation in derivatives.
- One member shared a thread on future narratives by Alex Svanevik.
Security and Mobile Wallets
- A discussion took place about the security of mobile wallets in light of Uniswap's official launch of a cryptocurrency wallet on Android. Members expressed concerns about the security of wallets on mobile devices, particularly Android due to previous security issues.
- One member shared their personal "security tiers" for their crypto portfolio, which included cold wallets for long-term holds and big positions, hot wallets for medium positions, and mobile apps for smaller, riskier investments.
Michael Burry's Investment Decisions
- Members discussed Michael Burry's recent investment decisions, including closing his $1.6 billion S&P 500 and NASDAQ short position for a 40% loss and shorting the entire semiconductor sector.
- Some members pointed out Burry's past successes and failures, with one member sharing a screenshot of Burry's past predictions.
- Another member shared a link to Michael Burry's old posts for others to learn from his investment process.
Polygon (MATIC) Discussion
- Some members expressed interest in MATIC, with one predicting a repricing event similar to Solana (SOL) and another member creating a thread to discuss all things related to Polygon.
Various Crypto Updates
- Members shared various crypto updates, including a tweet about USDV Money, a tweet about US inflation falling to 3.2%, a tweet about the revival of Plasma, and a tweet about Uniswap launching a cryptocurrency wallet on Android.
- A member also mentioned having a pitch deck from zkPass and asked if anyone could introduce them for investing.
Trading
Cosmos Ecosystem and ATOM
- Members discussed the performance of ATOM and its dominance compared to the market cap of other Cosmos tokens, including TIA.
- They observed that ATOM's pump and immediate dump were quite accurate.
- Members noted that certain Cosmos tokens like INJ, OSMO, TIA, and KUJI have outperformed SOL in the last 30 days, with others like STRD doubling in value over the same period.
- They highlighted the change of pace, as Cosmos tokens are now outperforming heavily and not just lagging.
- A member expressed their satisfaction for the success of a fellow member who has significantly invested in the Cosmos ecosystem.
Buying the Dip
- Some members discussed their recent crypto purchases.
- One member added to their TON spot, while another added more spot ETH, expressing their liking for ETH/BTC on long-term time frames.
- Another member stuck to BTC, while one added to SOL.
- One member closed their long position based on their price target and did not want to carry the position overnight. They also mentioned having a BTC bag as a long-term investment and expressed their bullishness on BTC, ETH, and crypto in general.
Juno and CACAO
- There was a discussion about Juno, with one member indicating their bearish stance on it and other generalized chains on Cosmos. They would rather invest in apps where users already are.
- This member suggested building a position with CACAO, despite the clunky user experience with different wallets. They mentioned it's a very degen play on top of Thorchain's recent run-up and has pumped considerably since the token launch.
LDO, RLB, OP, MATIC, and LINK
- One member shared interesting investment theses about LDO, RLB, OP, MATIC, and LINK.
- These cryptocurrencies were presented as alternative investments to protect wealth against the potential collapse of the U.S. dollar due to high debt and inflation rates.
- LDO, LINK, RLB, OP, and MATIC were highlighted for their innovative technologies and expected growth in response to the crypto market's cycles and broader economic factors.
Community Behavior
- There were concerns raised about the increasing toxicity in the community.
- Members were reminded to reflect on how their words and actions can impact the comfort level in the community and to adhere to community guidelines.
- They were encouraged to reach out if they had any questions about this.
Tokens
DYDX Discussion
- Members discussed the potential of DYDX despite the 2x supply unlock happening in a few weeks. Some members expressed concerns, while others were optimistic, citing the protocol's profitability and prospects for scalability.
- One member mentioned holding a 15% position in DYDX, which has grown to 22% of their total net wealth. They have started to sell some of it as a rebalance.
- A comparison was made between DYDX and INJ, with DYDX being valued at nearly half the market cap of INJ despite doing significantly more volume. Some members view INJ as a meme rather than a protocol with solid use cases.
Portfolio Allocation
- Members expressed interest in creating a channel to discuss portfolio allocation. They saw this as a way to share tokens of interest and their distribution within their portfolios. A channel was subsequently created for this purpose.
Crypto Project Launches
- Members discussed FLOW's launch of a project with Disney.
- They also shared the announcement from Binance about the opening of the BEAMX/USDT ($MC before) spot trading pair.
Airdrops
Discussion on Argent's Potential Token Airdrop
- Members discussed the possibility of an airdrop from Argent.
- One member shared their insider knowledge, stating that while a token was included in the Seed pitch deck, the core team was against the idea as they believed it would shift the focus away from the product to the token's price.
- This sparked a discussion on how the introduction of tokens can sometimes distract teams from their primary goal of building a product.
Ethereum Bridge for Low Fee Transfers
- A member asked about the lowest fee Ethereum bridge for small main to Layer 2 (L2) transfers.
- Another member suggested using rhino.fi for free Starknet/Scroll transfers and provided a link to a tweet from Rhino.fi confirming the free bridging to Linea.
Zircuit Testnet Launch
- A member shared information about the launch of the Zircuit Testnet, which is a fully EVM-compatible zero-knowledge rollup.
- They provided a link to the official announcement and detailed the steps for developers to deploy contracts.
- They also shared a link to a form to get an OG role in Zircuit and links to acquire Sepolia ETH from Infura and Sepolia.
Sybil Account Detection in L2 Ecosystems
- A member shared research on Sybil account detection in L2 ecosystems from Messari.
- This sparked a discussion on what constitutes a Sybil attack and how many interconnected wallets would flag such an attack.
- A member from Nansen shared their observations that wallets are typically excluded in clusters of 10 - 20 and suggested that farming in clusters of 5 is usually acceptable.
- They advised adopting strategies that balance convenience and security.
NFTs and Gaming
Discussion on BigTime Game
- Members discussed about the BigTime game, noting that it's a promising buy-and-hold investment this cycle.
- The game was praised as innovative, addictive, and unlike anything else currently available.
- BigTime is still in pre-season and some issues, particularly lag on Asian servers, were noted. However, these were deemed non-issues in the long term.
- The game's economy launch was mentioned, with a member expressing confidence in the game's potential due to its enjoyable gameplay and the clarity brought about by the recent airdrop.
- The existence of large gaming guilds within BigTime was mentioned, and it was suggested that more would join.
- Members discussed accessing the game via NFT passes and using the game's own market, Openloot.com, over OpenSea.
- One member shared a Nansen.ai link showing that an address had been accumulating BigTime tokens.
- It was suggested that members could get invite codes to the game from the BigTime Discord server.
Discussion on TVK and Vanarchain
- Members discussed an address stacking TVK, a gamified metaverse project. They also noted that TVK is launching a gaming chain called Vanarchain.
- They shared a Twitter thread about Vanarchain and a Twitter post about the address stacking TVK.
EthXY Fundraising
- Members discussed EthXY, a blockchain-focused gaming platform, raising $1.6M in a pre-seed round led by a16z Crypto Startup School (CSS) and Orange DAO.
- They shared a Twitter post announcing the fundraising news.
Exploit Warnings
Scam Alerts
- Members shared a tweet from ZachXBT alerting the community about @LendoraProtocol on Scroll, suggesting it may be an exit scam in the future. The warning was based on suspicious activities tied to the Kokomo exit scam and urged users to withdraw their assets from the protocol immediately.
Fake Cryptocurrency Filings
- A discussion was held about a report from The Block regarding a bogus entity registration that caused an XRP price hike. Blackrock denied registering an entity for an “iShares XRP Trust.” The matter has been reported to the DOJ by Delaware authorities.
Farming
Origin Protocol and LSD Farming
- Members discussed about LSD farming on Origin Protocol, which recently got accepted to Eigenlayer for restaking. This caught the members' attention, especially considering that Eigenlayer isn't planning a token.
- Information about the topic was shared through a Twitter post.
Stables
Discussion on Stablecoins and On-chain Payments
- Members shared and discussed the launch of a new Omnichain Stablecoin, USDV.
- Another member shared an informational read on PYUSD, a platform bringing payments on-chain, and mentioned that the team behind it seems serious about their venture.
- It was noted that the PYUSD article was published on Mirror, a publishing platform on the Ethereum blockchain.