Overview
Introducing Aptos: a tokenomic mystery.
Is the DXY starting a downtrend?
Frax Finance introduces an Ethereum liquidity Staking protocol.
NFT Real-world utility: House sells on Opensea.
Good morning Fam,
Aptos Mainnet is live!
After four years of development, former Meta engineers introduced the newest Layer-one (L1) blockchain on the market. According to the whitepaper, the Aptos developers designed the chain with these fundamental principles: scalability, safety, reliability, and upgradeability.
With a valuation of $1 billion, the project boasts some heavyweight Venture Capitalist backing from firms like FTX Ventures, Binance Labs, Coinbase Ventures, and a16z. But not all is well.
The chain is off to a rocky start. According to the Aptos Explorer, the chain is only processing four transactions per second! Keep in mind this was called a "Solana Killer." 4 tps is slower than Bitcoin, by the way. In the wake of the mainnet going live, the Aptos Discord has gone dark.
The tokenomics aren't looking so hot, either. The Aptos (APT) token has a supply of more than 1 trillion with an estimated 821 billion staked, likely controlled by early VC investors and the team. These early investors will be looking to close out in profit. With no early token offerings or airdrops, retail will be the target.
Source: Twitter, @nosleepjon
To make matters worse, there's no profound explanation of tokenomics. Crypto analyst Cobie wasn't too impressed and covered the subject in his tweet:
All and all, the Aptos blockchain is catching some harsh criticism on Crypto Twitter (CT). Moreover, with a lack of tokenomic transparency, poor chain performance, and few answers, there's no one to blame but the project organizers.
Market update 🌍
BTC/USDT 1D
Price has crabbed between $18.2K and $ 20.3K for 34 days, and volume continues to remain in the lower range. The price action is not uncommon for Bitcoin, which occasionally enters dormant stages during bear markets. One such instance was when BTC ranged between $3,300 - $4,000 from Dec 2018 to April 2019. BTC completed the daily candle up +1.49% to $19,549.
High-resolution chart
DXY 1D
The US Dollar Index (DXY) showed the slightest weakness from late last week to today. The parabola support is being tested after the price made a lower high on Oct 12th. The volume has increased considerably, suggesting something important is brewing at these levels. If we're lucky, the DXY begins to downtrend, and investors start moving away from the USD to riskier assets. DXY completed the day down -1.12% to 111.83.
High-resolution chart
Newswatch 📰
Subpoena by email? The liquidators in the Three Arrows Capital Bankruptcy case are requesting officials the right to serve subpoenas to co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies via email addresses, Twitter accounts, or attorney emails since the pair cannot be located. Additionally, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are probing the company for misleading investors about its balance sheet before it collapsed.
Liquid Staking Frax Style. Decentralized stablecoin protocol Frax Finance is introducing an Ethereum liquidity staking protocol that mints Frax Ether (frxETH) tokens, a derivative that will match the price of Ether (ETH). According to Core Developer Jack Corddry, the launch will occur within two weeks, barring anything unforeseen.
Ripple testing sidechain compatible with Ethereum. The Ripple developers are testing an EVM-compatible sidechain that allows smart contracts to deploy on Ethereum using the XRP ledger. Phase one of three is complete, and the team expects a functioning sidechain by 2023.
Mastercard + Paxos. Mastercard and crypto exchange Paxos teamed up to help banks offer crypto trading to clients.
News Tidbits:
FTX US is under investigation by Texas Regulators.
Ethereum Shanghai Testnet is live.
North Korean hacker group Lazarus targets Japanese crypto firms.
Kayne West to buy “free speech platform” Parler.
NFT & metaverse update 🐵
Blockchain for real estate: A South Carolina house sells on Opensea for $175k using NFT service Roofstock.
My five cents…
There's always a lot of hype about new crypto projects offering the latest and greatest technology. Often, it's just good marketing. The wise choice is waiting to see how a project pans out, especially if its tokenomics remain a mystery.
In the meantime, let's play some Aptos Bingo.
Gabriel
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