PumpFun Announces Token Plan

Stripe Acquires Bridge For $1B | BlackRock Pitched Binance

Marco Manoppo & Karon Pangestu
October 21, 2024

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Good Morning.

We’re a few weeks out from the election and everybody is gambling much more aggressively. This combined with the recent Bridge acquisition signals that interest in crypto seems to be gearing back up. But so far, it came mostly from the institution, and not from the retail side of the world.

In Today's Email:

What Matters: PumpFun Announces Token 💊
Product: Bitcoin ETF Options, BlackRock’s BUIDL 🪙
Charts: DEX vs CEX, Off The Grid Nears 1M Daily Active Users 🔫

Narratives: Memes and majors remain king in this bounce, with a few smaller market cap alts that have lesser inflationary pressure.

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WHAT MATTERS

PumpFun Announces Plans for Token Launch

one of the BIGGEST announcements in pump fun's history is coming up (and one that tons of you have been asking for)
join us in tomorrow's spaces for the GRAND REVEAL and an AMA right after 🔥🔥🔥
set your reminders 🔔
x.com/i/spaces/1MnGn…
— pump.fun (@pumpdotfun)
10:45 PM • Oct 18, 2024

State of play: PumpFun, a Solana-based memecoin launching platform, announced that it plans to issue a token in the future.

The PumpFun team emphasized their commitment to rewarding early users and reinvesting their revenue into the platform.
The team also introduced "Pump Advanced," a new trading terminal with features aimed at power users.
A key feature of the terminal is its integration with non-custodial wallets via the Privy authentication platform.
Pump Advanced includes features such as charts, top holder stats, and advanced filters.
The platform will offer 0% fees for the first 30 days, with future fees to be determined.

What’s next: The upcoming token launch announcement is expected to further accelerate PumpFun’s impressive revenue growth and expansion, building on the platform’s already strong momentum.

PumpFun has seen significant growth, with daily revenue reaching $1M and cumulative fees surpassing $100M.

For builders and investors: Trading and asset issuance remains as crypto’s biggest PMF.

Take a peek at our referral reward at the bottom of this issue. Share this newsletter and receive our list of 500 crypto VC individuals 👇

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK

Bitcoin ETF Options, BlackRock’s BUIDL

SEC Approval for Cboe to list Bitcoin ETF Options

The US SEC has approved NYSE and Cboe to list and trade options on multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs, including offerings from Fidelity, ARK, Invesco, Grayscale, and others.

This decision allows expanded trading of these Bitcoin-linked options, building on the approval of similar options on Nasdaq in September.
Bloomberg’s ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted the SEC approval wasn’t surprising, as similar approval was recently granted for Nasdaq.
He added that the timeline for listing remains unclear, but the process is progressing well.

Meanwhile, BlackRock is pitching major exchanges, including Binance, OKX, and Deribit, to use its BUIDL token as collateral for derivatives trades, according to anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg.

The BUIDL token, managed by a fund with $550M in assets, is backed by US Treasurys and repo agreements, generating yield for onchain token holders.
Currently, prime brokers FalconX and Hidden Road already accept BUIDL as collateral.
Komainu announced that eligible clients can trade with BUIDL through Hidden Road.

Other cool products:

SuperBoring, a streaming DEX.
Memstagram, a meme-to-earn app.
MemePet, a pet-themed simulation game.
AiGO Network, a plug-and-play DePIN data network.
Unframed, a platform to buy and sell art, PFPs, music, and memberships.

CHARTS OF THE WEEK

DEXs Fall Behind CEXs as Futures Trading Shifts

Source: The Block

State of play: DEXs struggle to maintain their share of the futures market as trading volume shifts back to CEXs.

DEXs accounted for just 3.26% of futures trading volume in September, down from 5.18% in February.
Despite notable platforms like Hyperliquid processing significant daily volume ($1.23B of a total of $2.8B daily volume), DEXs still face challenges such as liquidity gaps and user experience issues.
Binance remains the leader in Bitcoin futures, handling $480B of the $1.4T monthly volume.

Our take: DEXs’ user experience can be less intuitive due to complexities with smart contracts and gas fees, which may deter new users. To boost adoption, DEXs should enhance liquidity, improve user interfaces, and develop cross-chain futures contracts.

Off The Grid Nears 1M DAUs.

Off The Grid’s DAU (Source: apix)

State of play: Web3 gaming may have reached a pivotal moment with the launch of Off The Grid on October 8, which has successfully introduced a AAA Web3 game.

Since its debut, the game has seen over 6M testnet addresses created and peaked at nearly 900,000 daily active users on October 11.
The game's go-to-market strategy has relied heavily on influencer marketing, attracting over 150,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch during its peak, thanks to prominent streamers like Ninja, TimTheTatman, and Shroud.
Daily transactions within the game are reaching all-time highs, reflecting growing user activity.

Our take: The challenge for Off The Grid lies in converting this interest into sustained player engagement and retention.

QUICK BITES

PumpFun plans to launch a token in the future.
SEC doubles down on allegations against Solana.
Marc Andreessen-funded AI becomes a millionaire.
Vitalik calls staking centralization 'one of the biggest risks'.
BlackRock pitches Binance, OKX, and Deribit to use BUIDL.
SEC gives the NYSE the go-ahead to list Bitcoin ETF options.
Stripe acquires Bridge for $1.1B in crypto's largest acquisition.
US spot bitcoin ETFs reach the highest recorded total asset value.
DBS introduces 'Token Services' to enable blockchain-based banking.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

thedefiedge’s read on daily crypto research workflow.
Lily Liu’s read on the a16z state of crypto report recap.
Titania Research’s read on how to become a cross-chain filler.

— Bold (@boldleonidas)
4:48 AM • Oct 20, 2024

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.