DeFi is NOT Dead, Moonbirds & This Week’s Trending Coins
In This Issue
- For this weeks portfolio tip, I’ll be talking about how DeFi is NOT dead.
- Sam has a report for you on Moonbirds.
- Rebecca has this week’s top trending coins.
Premium Subscription highlights this week:
- Cardano Midnight: Cardano’s Midnight sidechain will introduce programmable privacy.
- Jesse’s altcoin report: We’re breaking down the top 5 Polygon coins.
- NFT mints: 3 upcoming NFT mints to keep an eye on.
Lark’s Portfolio Tips
Defi Is Far From Dead
One thing that has become super apparent with the FTX meltdown is that defi is not dead. Far from it. If you notice all of the bankruptcies this year made one priority, pay back their defi loans. Because unlike a bank or hedge fund you cannot negotiate with a smart contract. You either have the money or you don’t.
That being said, yields have largely fallen across defi. A quick look across top protocols shows that even safer plays like stablecoin farming are generally returning pathetic yields. Money has largely fled from defi, down 130 billion in a year.
The question from an investment perspective for yield farmers would be why risk a smart contract hack where you could lose literally everything to earn 1% on Aave when you could earn 4.75% with US treasuries?
The one thing that may make sense right now from a yield farming perspective would be using assets like ETH or AVAX in farms to earn higher yields than staking would earn. That play could make sense, that is if the tax implications don’t screw you.
The rise of perpetual swaps in defi is a promising development. Platforms like GMX, Gains, and Apex are all working to shake up how trading happens in crypto. While Uniswap has long served as the big shitcoin casino, the truth is that traders love leverage, and now they can get it on chain.
One thing to keep an eye on too is real yield. Most defi coins suck really bad. Like Uniswap’s UNI coin. There is literally no reason to buy this in its current form. There is no yield. No fee burning. You just get some vague promises of “goverance” which is all run by VC whales anyway.
Whereas coins like GMX, GNS, SNX, JOE, and many others pay out actual money to those staking their coins and let you benefit from holding the tokens by earning yield. The only challenge is lower volumes due to the bear market which affects earnings for coin holders. But if these coins are performing this well now, then how will they perform in a bull market?
Defi is here to stay. It has growing pains and challenges, and this bear market will 100% see some smaller players close up shop. So be careful, but others like Aave will go to redefine finance.
Start your Wealth Mastery Premium Subscription today!
What are Moonbirds by Sam
If you’re looking at top tier NFT collections wondering whether to pick something up, you’ll likely have come across Moonbirds.
They’re expensive, but it’s not immediately clear exactly what they’re aiming for, so let’s take a look and get a sense of what they do.
Moonbirds Up To Now
On the surface, Moonbirds is a collection of 10,000 PFPs, each depicting a unique pixel art owl with traits of varying rarity, and the April 2022 launch was massively hyped, primarily due to its founders: Kevin Rose, in partnership with Ryan Carson and Justin Mezzell.
At launch, holders of a closely-related project, PROOF Collective, were allowed to mint two Moonbirds for each PROOF NFT held. There are 1,000 PROOF NFTs, meaning 2,000 Moonbirds were taken. A raffle-style registration process offered access to the public mint of most of the remaining Moonbirds, and they sold out at 2.5 ETH each.
Nesting
Moonbirds uses a system called nesting, which is a kind of pseudo-staking mechanism. When you nest a Moonbird, it stays in your wallet, but you’re locked in, and keeping your bird nested causes it to climb the nesting tiers, accumulating access to future benefits. When a Moonbird is listed or sold, its nested status resets.
Oddities
Image credits: Moonbirds
There’s also a side collection called Moonbirds Oddities, which consists of 10,000 NFTs designed by an artist named Gremplin (who’s famous for CrypToadz and Nouns). They were airdropped in the form of something called Pellets (which later revealed as Oddities) to holders of nested Moonbirds.
Controversies
The first controversy around Moonbirds was when it minted, as there were credible claims that the raffle system had been manipulated by a Sybil attack.
Then, at the end of April, there was the departure of COO Ryan Carson. The presence of Carson had been an attraction for Moonbirds buyers, and it was reported that he bought up rare Moonbirds before leaving, allegedly benefitting from prior knowledge of which traits would be valuable.
Finally, in August, Moonbirds announced that it was switching to a CC0 IP model, also known as no rights reserved, meaning anyone could use the collection’s artwork. CC0 is considered a distinctively web3 style, but not all holders approved, and they had a point, as when Moonbirds went on sale there was no indication that CC0 would be implemented.
Why are Moonbirds Highly Rated?
Let’s be honest, there’s no shortage of pixel-art PFPs out there, and although the Moonbirds design is well executed, there’s no way it was hyped based only on the art.
Moonbirds was a huge drop because of the people who created it, their credentials, and the PROOF community it emerged from.
What is PROOF Collective?
Image credits: PROOF Collective
PROOF was founded by the same people as Moonbirds–Kevin Rose, with Ryan Carson and Justin Mezzell–in December 2021. Rose and Carson have proven backgrounds in internet entrepreneurship, while Mezzell is an artist and designer.
The community of PROOF holders includes very famous names from the NFT world, such as Gary Vee, Beeple and Justin Aversano, although some members were gifted passes for negligible sums or entirely free.
As a kind of members-only web3 club, PROOF provides networking, investment information, prestige minting opportunities, and access to real-life events. Membership means you’re on the inside of what’s upcoming, although, in reality, PROOF can also influence and create what’s upcoming.
1,000 PROOF Collective passes minted at a price–found through a Dutch auction–of 1 ETH each, and they hit an all-time-high floor price of, briefly, around 120 ETH. They now trade for a minimum of 36 ETH: a hefty outlay that will get you through the Discord gates at the top tier.
Interlinked Projects
Moonbirds developed out of PROOF, and the two are interlinked, with the same team of original founders. Moonbirds has no Discord of its own, and ownership of its PFPs unlocks entry–albeit at a different level–to the token-gated PROOF Discord, as does ownership of a Moonbirds Oddity.
When assessing Moonbirds, it’s worth considering a valid criticism around PROOF Collective. Basically, crypto was supposed to be open to everyone and provide an alternative to elitism and centralized influence. However, those ideals don’t apply to token-gated members clubs, and–rightly or wrongly–this kind of structure is now part of the landscape.
What’s Planned for the Future?
On-chain or In-Chain?
Image credits: Shubham Dhage on Unsplash
The majority of NFTs simply point to an image that is kept off-chain, a system which isn’t very crypto, and means there are no guarantees that the link between NFT and image will last forever.
By contrast, Moonbirds are moving all the layers that make up the collection on-chain, where a smart contract will assemble them. This is much more secure, and stays true to how crypto should operate.
Moonbirds is calling this system in-chain, rather than on-chain, to indicate that absolutely everything is on the blockchain and live-rendered, but in-chain isn’t a generally recognized term.
Moonbirds Mythics and Moonbirds DAO
Following on from the Moonbirds Oddities companion collection, a second spin-off is planned, called Moonbirds Mythics.
Not a great deal is known about the newest set, but it seems that owners of nested Moonbirds will receive one or two mythics, while Oddities can be burned in exchange for a Mythic. The plan is to release a total of 20,000 Mythics, starting from sometime in early 2023, although only 25 Mythics will be issued each day, creating (for reasons unknown) a very long process.
The other major plan for 2023 is a Moonbirds DAO, with membership and voting rights for holders of Moonbirds and Moonbirds Mythics. 35% of royalties from secondary sales of Moonbirds and Moonbirds Oddities will go to the DAO, on top of an initial allocation of $2.6 million in ETH and Moonbirds NFTs from the PROOF Collective treasury.
Are Moonbirds a Good Buy Right Now?
Image credits: Moonbirds
When it comes to collections that will still be around by the time we get a bull market again, the near-certainties are CryptoPunks, followed by Bored Ape Yacht Club, and after that, Moonbirds are one of the strongest contenders.
The remaining founders are active and enthusiastic, and have built an influential members’ network. They are experienced from the world of web startups, meaning they understand how to build value and sustain interest.
On the other hand, in PROOF Collective, which is closely linked to Moonbirds, we have an exclusive club whose members can profit simply by being on the inside, which doesn’t sound like a nailed-on prospect in the disruptive, fickle world of NFTs.
That said, there is likely still a lot more to come from the Moonbirds/PROOF network. Moonbirds, Moonbirds Oddities and PROOF are all heavily discounted from previous highs, and, within the context of an NFT allocation, they look like decent buys either as long-term holds, or as potential medium-term flips.
Go Premium To See This Weeks Top 3 NFT Mints
Subscribe to the Wealth Mastery Premium Investor Report to get this weeks top 3 NFT mints AND gain full access to the premium archives.
Here’s what the investment community says about the Wealth Mastery Premium Investor Report
Trending Coins This Week by Rebecca
Here are my key takeaways from the trends this week, and whilst contagion and chaos are kept at bay, it’s allowed partnerships and integrations to shine.
1 – Evmos is an EVM on the Cosmos network that’s announced wallet integration with C14 to provide users with a fiat on-ramp. Evmos has also announced a big bounty program supported by ImmuneFi.
2 – Ankr is a Web3 infrastructure provider that’s upgraded to its new remote procedure call (RPC) platform. Ankr will be migrating all services to the new interface on 30 November. As part of this upgrade, Ankr has integrated with Sui blockchain.
3 – Solana is an L1 blockchain that’s seen investors hit with the news that Alameda Research currently holds 13.25% of all SOL in circulation. Binance has removed the trading pairs for the Solana-based token, Serum, due to its ties to FTX.
4 – Aptos is a newly launched Layer-1 blockchain created by ex-Meta employees that’s been announced as a contributor to the Binance Recovery Fund for the crypto industry. Aptos Labs will be giving $50M to the fund and the Aptos token jumped 14% on the news.
5 – Celo is a mobile-first blockchain that’s partnered with Ethereum-based software company, ConsenSys, to use their Infura technology. The partnership also kicks off Celo’s compatibility with MetaMask, which has investors fearing IP addresses will be collected.
6 – Seedify.fund is a blockchain gaming-focused incubator and launchpad that’s announced it will soon be launching a news site on Web3 gaming and metaverse ecosystems. To celebrate the upcoming launch, it is running a giveaway of SFUND tokens.
7 – Chainlink is an oracle network that’s recently announced it will be launching staking in December. Chainlink has been included in the proof-of-reserves from crypto exchange, Huobi, and has also seen various integrations launched on both Optimism and Polygon.
8 – Bitcoin mining revenue is the lowest in two years, whilst addresses holding at least 1 BTC or more have hit a new high of 950,000. Bitcoin continues to be removed from exchanges in large volumes, with $15B withdrawn from Coinbase in a 48-hour period.
9 – Dogecoin is a meme coin that’s pumped 20% in 3 days as Elon Musk continues to tease his roadmap for Twitter, which could include a phone and crypto payments.
10 – Ethereum software company, ConsenSys, has addressed concerns from users over plans to collect data from MetaMask wallets, explaining the new update will not affect privacy. Binance’s proof of reserves will soon extend from Bitcoin to Ethereum.
11 – Gala is a play-to-earn (P2E) gaming ecosystem that’s hosted its Spider Tanks tournament and the highly anticipated shooter game, Superior, has gone live on Steam.
12 – Polygon is an Ethereum sidechain that’s integrated with Solana-based NFT platform, Magic Eden and partnered with Web3 shopping platform, Uquid. The integration with Uquid will allow MATIC as a payment option for its 85 million products.
13 – ApeCoin is the utility token for the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) community. ApeCoin DAO has launched its own white-label community-focused NFT marketplace, offering a reduced fee structure for sellers.
14 – Moonbeam is an on-ramp to Polkadot that’s marked the start of the FIFA World Cup with the launch of its football fantasy league on Polkamarket Labs. Moonbeam is also halfway through its current hackathon.
15 – GMX is a DeFi perpetual exchange on Avalanche that’s joined forces with Drift and Perpetual Protocol, to collaborate with Nansen on a new analytics dashboard. The aim is to bring further transparency to the DEX.
Follow Rebecca on Twitter and Instagram.
Final Notes
Make sure to check out my YouTube channel for crypto space updates like this one: Bitcoin Capitulation & Other Stories ROCKING Crypto Markets This Week!
Thank you so much for your support, and I truly hope that today’s issue will give you insights needed to help you master your wealth.
If you are reading this it means you are on the free version of the Wealth Mastery Investor Report, which is great for news and tips on the crypto markets.
If you really want to take advantage of fastest growing asset class EVER, I highly recommend you join us in the Premium Investor Report.
You’ll immediately get access to:
- Deep dive Altcoin report & The Trending Coin Report
- Technical Analysis on the crypto large caps and overall market
- Token sales, Airdrops and DeFi Tutorials
- Updates on the NFT Ecosystem and new mints
- My Investment Portfolio Updates
See you next time!
Lark and the Wealth Mastery Team
Legal Disclaimer
TCL Publishing ltd (director Lark Davis, owner of Wealth Mastery) is not providing you individually tailored investment advice. Nor is TCL Publishing registered to provide investment advice, is not a financial adviser, and is not a broker-dealer. The material provided is for educational purposes only. TCL Publishing is not responsible for any gains or losses that result from your cryptocurrency investments. Investing in cryptocurrency involves a high degree of risk and should be considered only by persons who can afford to sustain a loss of their entire investment. Investors should consult their financial adviser before investing in cryptocurrency.
You can find a full disclosure of all my crypto & venture investments here.
