Good morning! ☕️ 

The market’s like a wild adventure - one minute you're climbing, the next you're holding on tight. But that’s what we signed up for, isn’t it? 🙃 

The ups, the downs, and everything in between are just part of the ride 🎢 

Today we’re talking about:

• 🪙 RWA / Tokenization: still the future of crypto?

• 🫣 Most airdrop tokens RUG within days: new study

• 🐹 Hamster Kombat players are fuming after the token goes live

• 🐶 Degens go mainstream: BONK to launch an ETP

As for our Degen Portfolio, we’re seeing another 8% weekly increase 📈 

The portfolio’s looking more healthy, but what’s next? Should we ride the wave or rebalance? 🤔 

You can share your thoughts and be part of the fun by joining the #🔥|Web3-On-Fire chat on our Discord!

LFG!

RWA / Tokenization: still the future of crypto?

• In 2024, the tokenization meta is becoming a bigger part of the conversation around crypto and finance.

• The focus is on turning real-world assets (RWAs) like bonds, commodities, and real estate into digital tokens that can be traded on the blockchain 📈 

With the RWA market now valued at over $12 billion, driven primarily by U.S. Treasuries the question is - are we looking at the future of crypto? 👇️ 

Payment giants jump in

Visa’s announced Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP) shows just how seriously traditional financial giants are getting into the game.

VTAP is set up to allow banks to issue digital tokens backed by fiat assets, like bonds or commodities, on blockchain platforms like Ethereum.

This could be a gamechanger, helping bridge the gap between traditional finance and DeFi.

Visa’s involvement highlights a major trend: institutional adoption is finally here 🏁 

In 2024, we’ve seen increasing participation from big names in finance - like BlackRock and Goldman Sachs - pushing tokenized treasuries and corporate bonds. These players are recognizing the potential of tokenization to streamline the issuance of securities, lower costs, and democratize access to traditionally exclusive investments​

The growth of tokenized RWAs

Beyond government bonds, we’re also seeing a shift towards tokenizing assets like real estate and commodities 🏘️ 

Different platforms, like for example RealT allow fractional ownership of U.S. rental properties, meaning you can potentially own fractionalized piece of real estate for as little as $50​. 

And it’s not stopping there - everything from carbon credits to intellectual property is on the table for tokenization, broadening the scope of what investors can own and trade digitally.

While the promise of tokenization is massive, it’s not without its hurdles 🤔 

• Regulatory clarity remains an issue, as different jurisdictions offer varying degrees of oversight and rules for tokenized assets.

• On top of that, the market for some tokenized assets is still fairly illiquid, raising questions about whether there will be enough buyers and sellers to keep things moving smoothly​ 🧈 

Looking forward

As we move into 2025, tokenization still seems might have what it takes to become a “killer use case” 🗡️ for blockchain technology.

But the big question remains: will tokenization truly take off as the bridge between traditional and decentralized finance, or will the governments and banks keep it from reaching its full potential?

Most airdrop tokens RUG within days: new study

• A recent study highlights a growing trend in the crypto space: most airdrop 🪂 tokens lose value quickly, with 89% of them crashing in price within the first 15 days after listing.

• According to KeyRock, the company behind the study, a significant portion of airdrop tokens suffer price drops almost immediately, making airdrops less effective as a marketing or engagement tool than they once were 👇️ 

Ethereum and Solana show better results

Not all networks are equal when it comes to airdrops, it turned out.

Ethereum and Solana managed to perform better than others, with about 25% of airdrop tokens either maintaining or increasing in value after three months.

This success has been attributed to these networks’ stronger community engagement and broader adoption.

On the flip side, BNB, Arbitrum, and ZKSync showed no positive outcomes during the same period​ 🤷 

Oversaturation and abandonment

• One of the reasons for the sharp drop in airdrop token prices is oversaturation. The market is flooded with airdrops, making it difficult for projects to maintain user interest.

• Many of these campaigns fail to build sustainable community engagement, leading to early sell-offs and a rapid loss of value​.

• The study also pointed out that smaller airdrops - those where less than 10% of the total token supply is distributed - tend to fare the worst 🪂 

• Without a large enough distribution, these projects often fail to capture the long-term interest needed to stabilize prices​ 💵 

  

So, what makes a more successful airdrop?

Interestingly, the study found that larger airdrops - where more than 10% of the token supply is distributed - tend to perform better in the long run 📈 

• A bigger distribution helps build a stronger community foundation, offering more stability and less price fluctuation ⌛️ 

• Medium-sized airdrops, where between 6% to 10% of tokens are distributed, struck a balance between short-term performance and long-term viability, proving to be the most effective at retaining community engagement​.

Airdrops are still popular but increasingly unpredictable

Despite these findings, airdrops remain a popular tool for crypto projects looking to raise awareness and attract new users. The effectiveness of airdrops is becoming more unpredictable as the market matures and users become more discerning, though.

The success of an airdrop largely depends on network choice, distribution size, and the ability of the project to engage its community over the long term 🫠 

As the study shows, generous airdrops may help build a more committed user base, but only if they can maintain value over time.

So the tldr is, while airdrops are still a widely used marketing strategy in crypto, the market for them is becoming more saturated and harder to predict.

Hamster Kombat players are fuming after the token goes live

And talking about airdrops, one of the most popular ones this year has to be Hamster Kombat 🐹 

Anticipation had been building for months, with players waiting for their HMSTR tokens to finally hit exchanges. But now that the token has officially gone live, many users are feeling disappointed - why? :

Because after all the hype, most ““players”” are walking out with a mere $5-$10 worth of tokens airdropped to their wallets 👇️ 

The airdrop hype

Hamster Kombat had promised big things, positioning itself as a click-to-earn game with an engaged community of hundreds of millions of people 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 

• With 131 million users who participated since its March 26 launch on Telegram, it claimed to be one of the biggest in its niche.

• But first, it disqualified over 2.3 million users for cheating and banned millions more for not meeting eligibility criteria, then faced an enormous backlash over this.

• After the trading of the token went live users who expected a fair and generous token allocation were hit with the reality of just a few dollars' worth of HMSTR tokens 🤷 

Lockups and low rewards

To make matters worse, the tokens allocated to community members - 11.25% of the total 60 billion supply - are locked for 10 months, preventing early exits and leaving some players feeling trapped.

On top of that, over 60% of players didn’t even receive the airdrop at all.

The HMSTR token launch has been anything but smooth, and this has spurred a wave of frustration on social media. Hashtags like #Scamster #BoycottHamster and #HamsterIsScammer have started to trend, with users pointing out how badly the launch has been handled 🤯 

High volatility expected

While early predictions suggest that HMSTR tokens could remain highly volatile even after the other listings and the general sentiment seems grim 🤔 

Crypto analysts are comparing Hamster Kombat’s post-launch outlook to other tap-to-earn projects that failed to gain traction, and it’s likely that prices will fluctuate wildly in the first days of trading.

The Community Speaks Out

Influencers and community members alike have criticized the Hamster Kombat team for their lack of transparency.

Players have accused them of using the game as a cash grab, with many YouTubers and influencers now distancing themselves from the project 🎥 🗣️ 

Despite this backlash, the team has remained relatively quiet, only addressing some concerns and choosing not to respond directly to the viral complaints.

Degens go mainstream: BONK to launch an ETP

It looks like BONK, the meme coin born on Solana, is making a major move by launching its own exchange-traded product (ETP) by the end of 2024.

This announcement came during Solana’s Breakpoint 2024 event in Singapore, where developers revealed that Osprey Funds would back the ETP.

The idea behind this new product? Let investors gain exposure to BONK without actually holding the coin 🪙 

What’s the deal with an ETP?

Now, here's where things get a bit interesting.

• ETP is a broad term that covers a variety of financial products, including ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds), ETNs (Exchange-Traded Notes), and other exchange-traded securities 💰️ 

• Essentially, an ETP is any product that can be traded on a stock exchange, providing exposure to an underlying asset like stocks, commodities, or in this case, crypto.

While it's not entirely clear yet whether BONK’s ETP will specifically be an ETF, the idea is that it functions similarly by offering investors access to the meme coin through a traditional stock exchange.

So, whether this product turns out to be an ETF or another type of ETP, it will allow investors to gain exposure to BONK without actually having to hold the coin directly or deal with crypto exchanges 💱 

For many institutional investors, this would be a gamechanger since it would allow them to invest in memecoins without the need to interact with the crappy UI most DEX have to offer 🙄 

Unless, you know, the meme rugs and brings half the industry down with it 😐️ 

At the same time, for degens this represents a massive move toward legitimizing meme coins like BONK within mainstream finance. For better or worse.

BONK’s market position

Despite initial skepticism, BONK’s price experienced a 3% bump after the ETP announcement, pushing its market cap to $1.2 billion, according to CMC.

With a product that makes meme coins accessible through traditional financial channels, BONK is looking to move beyond its viral meme status and into a more serious investment category 🤝 

Could this be the moment when degens finally go mainstream?

With BONK’s ETP a possibility, it’s looking more and more likely that the wild west of meme coins might start rubbing shoulders with institutional investors.

But, as always in crypto, volatility is still the name of the game so anything can happen.

Other worthy reads

Some upcoming token unlocks, alpha from Crypto Stream:

CZ is out in a few days, apparently:

Part of the ETH vs Solana debate, a POV by Redphone:

That's all for now, frens.

We'll meet in a week! And remember, the market conditions are temporary, but our commitment to building a better DeFi is here to stay. Thanks for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you back next week. Cheers!

Yours, The 🔥 Team

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