Blast network dominated week 19 of Coffee with Captain. Pacman is masterful at holding on to the attention of degens. It’s no wonder projects like Fantasy.top, The Colony, District One and so many more want to build on this network. We also get into American policies and how America is doing their best to kill all crypto innovation within the country. Regardless, crypto will continue to push forward with SocialFi, RWAs, NFTs and more.
In case you missed any of the shows, below is a small recap of each day with links to the podcast on Apple and Spotify. Links to other streaming platforms can be found on our buzzsprout page. Check out the timestamp if you want to catch the specific interviews.
Monday
Is Fantasy.Top’s SocialFi Experience Manipulated?
The “Jackpot” feature on Blast network has caused tokens and NFTs to have a mini-run. By now you should know how to participate in the jackpot, but if not I’ll lay it out. With every block, there is a small chance a token or NFT will win the Jackpot’s gold. Holders with winning tokens or NFTs in their deck will earn gold based on their balance. You have a limited number of slots to build your deck with, so choose wisely.
Fantasy.top is a SocialFi gamification platform that’s based on social engagement of players. Steve’s first thought is it can be too easily manipulated, but the Coffee Crew gives a little bit of pushback. As of Monday, nobody knew the scoring system being used, but the Fantasy.top team said it’s constantly being monitored to prevent botting.
We did a quick flyover of the Ethereum NFT price action and its relationship with Blur bidding/lending. The two seem heavily linked and as a collector you have to be watchful. There was also news that the SEC served Robinhood’s crypto arm with a Wells Notice. This seems like a last ditch effort from Gary Gensler, but that’s TBD.
Check this episode out on Apple and Spotify.
Tuesday
Blast Network Dominates User Attention
Blast continues to dominate user attention largely thanks to Fantasy.top. Monday, Fantasy.top did 50% of the volume of the entire ETH mainnet NFT ecosystem. The question becomes “is it too late to jump in?” If you’re reading this a few days after publishing, then I think you’ve got time to learn. The Blast network will continue to have space’s eyes until $BLAST drops.
Even after $BLAST releases, it’s a guarantee that Pacman (Tieshun Roquerre) will find a way to keep liquidity on Blast. Will this last forever? In my opinion, no. Attention is constantly moving in crypto and at some point the attention will shift again. However, there is an opportunity to make money now.
Check this episode out on Apple and Spotify.
Wednesday
Building On Blast
What network would you launch a project on in May of 2024? Solana seems to be the degen, casino-type blockchain with memecoins being the main rulers. Blockchains such as Arbitrum and Base are positioned well for the future, but right now Blast is dominating attention. The Coffee Crew discussed the benefits of “going where the people are.” If you’re completely new to the space, then it’s smart to leverage the marketing of whatever chain you launch on. There’s also no sense in “swimming upstream” when it comes to attention. It’s a healthy mix of building for the future and the now.
We also discussed Base’s massive advantage of potential new users. Coinbase is positioning itself as the top centralized exchange in America and users will naturally funnel to Base because of this. Does Blast want to expand their audience to “normies” or are they fine with being crypto focused?
Check this episode out on Apple and Spotify.
Thursday
Are American Politics Harming Crypto?
The anti-crypto movement is starting the ramp up in America. It doesn’t seem to matter that 40% of American adults own crypto, or maybe that’s the actual issue. It also doesn’t seem to matter that Blackrock has a Bitcoin ETF and are recommending it to their clients. All I know is this movement will scare legitimate crypto businesses away from building in America. The Coffee Crew gets a little more political this episode to try and unpack what’s going on.
The truth is many Americans don’t really know anything about crypto aside from the news headlines they read. How would they? An important step in changing the narrative around crypto is education and forums where people can ask questions. Steve used a great analogy in the show. America has shifted from a scrappy startup to a big corporation who is stuck in their ways.
Check this episode out on Apple and Spotify.
Friday
OpenSea’s Blown Lead + SocialFi Summer
OpenSea had 90% of the NFT market share at the beginning of 2022. Since then it’s seen marketplaces such as Blur, Magic Eden, Mintify, etc. steal attention and that has only continued. Is there a way for OpenSea to regain their dominance? I don’t think we see that happen. It feels like there are almost no OpenSea loyalists remaining. A token drop will get immediately dumped and then they’re right back where they started. Blur, Magic Eden and Mintify have all provided something different value to their users in their own way. OpenSea seemingly became too big, too fast and largely ignored their user base.
Cap and Steve are very interested in the aspect of a SoFi summer created by Blast. We have already seen a variety of users be rewarded by projects like Pacmoon and Fantasy.top. They rewarded genuine content as opposed to simple farming tactics. If you have put in effort, then there’s an opportunity for future rewards. We also touched on RWAs (real world assets) with Joey Vowel’s project, The Colony. This is another sector within crypto to keep your eyes on as we move deeper into the summer.
Check this episode out on Apple and Spotify.
Wrap Up
This week on Coffee with Captain was mostly about Blast and the attention it’s been receiving. Right now everywhere else is taking a little bit of a backseat. How long will attention remain on Blast? Attention is constantly shifting in this space and I’ll be interested to see if it’s more of the same next week. Whether it’s more Blast or something else, we’ll be here to give you the news. If you missed week 18, make sure to check it out here.
Be sure to check out:
- The Everything Token: A Book on Web3 and NFTs
- Making Coffee: Our Official Coffee Partner
