One of the reasons I'm bullish on @Arcium and $ARX is the number of strong, innovative projects building on its encrypted stack.
@benchdotmarkets is one of them. Opportunity markets are an exciting new primitive. You stake capital to back any option proposed in a market, and the options with the most conviction behind them rise to the top.
Running on Arcium allows Bench to offer the proper incentive structure. Your backing stays private until things resolve, so no one front-runs your read or copies your position!
$ARX launches June 22. @Arcium has real adoption and the privacy narrative is a strong tailwind.
➝ Service-network token. Node operators stake ARX as collateral to serve compute and earn 70% of the fee. The token has no claim on the fees, operators just have to stake it to earn them.
➝ Holders who don't run a node can delegate ARX and take a share, minus the operator's commission. More demand, more ARX staked, tighter float but it's very demand-contingent.
➝ Hard-capped at 1B, no inflation. 20.88% liquid at launch, the rest behind a 12-month cliff, then linear out to ~4.5 years.
➝ Early Backers (27.1%), Core Contributors (21.1%), Angels (5.6%) come to ~54% held by insiders and team. Last round priced at $200M FDV, trading ~$280M in pre-market.
➝ Rewards come on a delay. The validator allocation, 5.3% / 52.6M ARX, sits behind a 12-month cliff then 24-month linear. Emissions start at month 12, so year-one yield is a pure fee story.
I like the design, it's built around usage and easy to back when Arcium ecosystem is growing this fast.
Main flag is the 54%+ insider allocation against a thin float - there's lot of capital that may want to hedge the allocation at TGE. Be prepared for volatility.
Favorite projects from Arcium ecosystems : @UmbraPrivacy, @craftsdev, @benchdotmarkets, @zinc_cash
"Privacy in the world has value for people, and I think people will understand that more. Zcash is a very easy trade: it's Bitcoin with privacy."
Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) views Zcash as a strategic "left curve" trade, betting on the growing importance of privacy in an increasingly transparent and monitored digital economy. Its "right curve" attributes, such as being quantum-proof, could prove invaluable.
"Privacy in the world has value for people, and I think people will understand that more, and so therefore it's a very easy trade: it's Bitcoin with privacy."
"The left curve trade is it's Bitcoin with privacy."
"The right curve trade is also quantum-proof, and what you're actually doing is proving yourself somewhat to the power of government that has AI control over the people."
"People don't know it now, but in the future, what's the probability? It's reasonably high."
Credit: @KevinWSHPod
"The biggest user of DeFi and crypto payments will be AI agents, and their scale is infinite."
Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) says that AI agents will become the primary drivers of decentralized finance (DeFi) activity. Agents will execute complex, multi-chain transactions with minimal friction.
"The biggest user of DeFi and crypto payments will be AI agents, and their scale is infinite."
"DeFi is actually much better suited for machines than us. You don't even need a front end or a website."
"They're going to end up with stablecoins on three or four different currencies, and they're going to want to rebalance."
"They'll do it instantaneously without any human involved, and we won't even see the transaction."
Credits: @KevinWSHPod
"Applying Discounted Cash Flow anaylsis to value blockchains is f*cking non-sense"
@RaoulGMI highlight that using Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) to value blockchains misses the point of these networks. He argues that the true value lies in their ability to perform cost-effective and efficient transactions.
"When people look at blockchains, they [now] look at discounted cash flow analysis to value them."
"If you use discounted cash flows, you miss the actual signal, which is cheapest, fastest, most programmable will outperform over time."
"The very purpose of a network is to be the cheapest, fastest, most programmable."
Credit: @KevinWSHPod
"If you have a billion dollars in Bitcoin and you spend $100 of that... anybody who you sent that $100 to now knows you have a billion dollars."
@blknoiz06 explains why Zcash can be an alternative asset to Bitcoin.
"Crypto has two kinds of assets: there's assets that are stores of value, which is like Bitcoin, and then there's the assets which are businesses and tech assets."
"Zcash is essentially like Swiss banking in your pocket."
"It’s private money on chain."
"Zcash is, in my opinion, the second best store of value behind Bitcoin.
Credit: @MarketBubble
"I can see Monad being an interesting trade"
@jords explains why Monad may have some upside.
"If you look back historically, if you have heavy VC-backed L1s with good tech, they pump kind of regardless of if there's any users."
"I can see it being like new coin on the block, kind of first cycle launched in a bear market, has higher upside."
"It looks similar to what was previously like the Sui or the Near trade, which also didn't look very interesting... but it was a good trade because it was like shiny new token on the block and had reasonable incentives to be pumped."
"It's not strong enough for me to buy it, but I can see it being an interesting trade."
credit: @markwasonline
talking crypto, philosophy & life with @jords
00:41 - the return
04:30 - the HYPE airdrop
06:07 - why Hyperliquid?
11:38 - jords on Solana
15:47 - the origins of solBOOGLES
19:24 - why he came back to write
26:53 - books worth reading
31:28 - the value of relationships
33:28 - Monad & VC backed L1 upside
"What's the most amazing thing to come out of crypto so far?"
Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin points to DeFi as the most tangible innovation yet.
While currently dominated by sophisticated operators, Lubin believes we are on the verge of a massive shift:
new regulations are set to unlock adoption for both retail users and global enterprises.
"The most tangible is decentralized finance... it is getting easier and easier to use."
"There are user interfaces that enable people to lend and borrow without really paying too much attention to the fact that [it's] on Ethereum in some form.
"DeFi has been usable for people who understand the technology, and it is, I believe, about to get usable [for everyone]."
"Clarity in the United States of America with respect to crypto legislation... is going to [make it] become usable by many corporations."
E170: @ethereumJoseph - Trust, surveillance, and who controls your money
Joseph Lubin is the co-founder of @ethereum and founder and CEO of @Consensys, the company behind @MetaMask and @LineaBuild. He's been building decentralized infrastructure since 2014. We talk about what drew him in, where he thinks this is all going, and why the AI question might matter more than anything else happening in crypto right now.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:55 Kast Card & Hong Kong Discussion
3:52 What It Means To Be Meta
5:35 What Does Joe Do Explained Simply
7:25 When Did Joe Realized You Can’t Trust The Current Financial System
11:53 Partnerships: @JupiterExchange@KASTxyz
12:35 What Are These Magical Things That Can Transform An Economy
14:23 How Did 9/11 Change Joe’s Relationship With Institutions
16:27 The Before & After Of Joe’s Beliefs Post 9/11
18:02 What Does This Negative Or Positive Road Depend On
21:55 Why Joe Goes To Many Crypto Conferences
23:16 How Did Joe React To Novo’s Article Comment
24:18 How Did Joe Become Fascinated With Crypto & Blockchain
31:14 Partnerships: @ethena@sumsub
32:16 Why Joe Decided To Join Ethereum As A Co-Founder
35:03 Why Is Decentralization An Organizing Principle
39:15 Decentralizations Lack Of Direction Criticism Debunked
40:32 Explain Consensys To Your Uber Driver
42:57 Joe’s Fundamental Belief Of What Blockchain Represents
46:49 Every Innovation On Technology Brings Side Effects That Should Be Fixed
49:33 Partnerships: @Trezor@Bitwise
50:17 What’s The Most Tangible Thing To Come Out Of Crypto
51:43 What Is MetaMask?
57:01 How Much Of Joe’s Life Is Lived In This New Financial System
59:50 Why Would You Borrow Against A Volatile Asset?
1:00:40 Is Self-Sovereignty A Good Or Bad Thing
1:05:57 Joe’s Response To People Who Claim Self-Custody Is Too Risky
1:06:36 What Could Easier Self-Custody Look Like?
1:08:32 Joe’s Relationship With Money
1:09:28 How Will People Interact With Money In The Next 10 Years
1:12:28 Closing Thoughts
"I don't like buybacks that much."
Jason Yanowitz from Blockworks explains that buybacks may not be the most efficient way to use capital.
Product development, R&D, and growth should be the priority.
"Buybacks to me tell me that a founder doesn't know what to do with your cash."
"It tells me you don't have better ideas."
"I think it's often times better used for like R&D or like product development."
"Now there's a counter, which is if you really genuinely believe that the token or the stock is undervalued, then you should probably buy it."
New weekly roundup out now! @santiagoroel@HadickM@JasonYanowitz
We discuss:
- Robinhood earnings
- Stablecoin chains
- State of markets
- Pump's token burn
- DeFi United & more!
Timestamps:
(04:00) Takeaways From Earnings
(20:10) Fidelity Crypto Ad
(20:45) Stablecoin Chains
(24:28) State of The Market
(30:12) The DeFi United Recovery Fund
(42:04) Fidelity Crypto Ad
(42:45) Pump Fun’s Token Burn
(55:58) Content of The Week
"Regardless of the price, collectors will always collect."
Simon Dedic explains that collectibles like Pokémon cards could become a flex symbol for a whole generation.
"I feel the dopamine of kind of like opening packs and I totally get like the nostalgia effect of like collecting those cards that I loved as a kid."
"I think fundamentally here we see like a very strong generational shift of like us millennials becoming kind of like the generation with the most purchasing power."
"In general it's just like impossible nowadays for like our generation or the generation to come to actually afford houses and stuff like that, stuff that actually matters."
"What are they supposed to do with their money? I think especially for men, like there's maybe like luxury watches they would rather buy into because this is like kind of the only thing they could afford and flex with."
The Crypto Fundraising Landscape
New Episode w @sjdedic, Founder & Managing Partner @MoonrockCapital
We discuss:
- DePin and DeSci
- Growth of the Collectibles Market
- New Era of VC investing
1:05 - thoughts on current market conditions
3:30 - major shifts in venture investing
8:52 - change in altcoin bets
10:18 - Simon's contrarian bet rn (DePin)
15:55 - the TCG space (@Collector_Crypt and @Beezie)
24:40 - transition from a bio-medical career to crypto
31:45 - thoughts on DeSci
36:54 - Simon's favourite recent launch: @megaeth
43:05 - biggest miss in 8 years of crypto investing - @pumpfun and RUNE at 10 cents
"Why Did Seeker Launch a Token?"
Emmett Hollyer, Head of Solana Mobile, explains that Seeker didn't launch SKR because they needed funding, but because Seeker wants to use it as an alignment unit for their entire ecosystem.
Instead of just building a "Google Play Store with crypto," SKR programmatically coordinates the economic interests of developers, users, and hardware partners.
"Because we think of ourselves a little bit more as a platform in so far as we have users and we have developers and we will seek new distribution paths through hardware partners."
"Coordinating all of that, especially when there's economic activity taking place between those parties, is pretty tough."
"The way we're building the tech is it runs from the very beginning... and so enforcement of policies can be programmatic."
"Having a token as a means for both incentivizing good activity and punishing bad activity was something we wanted to take a crack at."
Nice article from .@Deguywithstyle.
This covers the best ways to maximize your Amp, which is crucial in deciding your allocation ahead of .@DecibelTrade token generation event.
Today marks my one-year anniversary as a member of the @AptosCollective, a milestone that fills me with gratitude and renewed purpose.
This past year has been one of meaningful impact: carrying the "warmode" energy across the ecosystem, delivering the Aptos Daily Reports, serving as a council member of .@minds_DAO (a community-led creator hub dedicated to inspiring and educating the next wave of creators and builders on Aptos), and more.
The Collective has been instrumental in all of this, opening doors to deeper connections with founders and like-minded contributors whose excellence continues to expand my horizons.
Some of my highlights as a collective include receiving a creator grant from the Aptos Foundation and earning Vanguard recognition twice for my efforts in positioning Aptos as the premier destination for creators, DeFi enthusiasts, and professional traders seeking top-tier onchain experiences.
Of course, the journey hasn't been without challenges. I've consistently advocated for more standout applications and meaningful improvements to tokenomics to address inflation concerns. I'm genuinely encouraged to see these issues being tackled head-on: the upcoming launch of Decibel, a fully onchain trading engine poised to realize Aptos' vision as the global trading engine, and Shelby, which strengthens the creator, data, and AI economy, making Aptos competitive across key verticals. The shift to performance-driven tokenomics, complete with a hard supply cap, further aligns incentives and curbs inflationary pressures in a sustainable way.
These developments have reignited my enthusiasm and deepened my commitment to contributing as a core member of this ecosystem. Amid moments of doubt, I've chosen to renew my conviction because I firmly believe Aptos boasts the best technology in the space. The path ahead is clear, the momentum is building, and the market will ultimately validate what we already know to be true.
I look forward to continue contributing and preaching the gospel, until everyone becomes acolytes of the global trading engine because I believe that the people will be the biggest beneficiaries of the reformation carried out within the ecosystem.
With Love,
Santi Dgws.
.@DecibelTrade opens a new flock of users like professional traders into Aptos, and also serves as incubator for experimental consumer apps, which comes with their own audience and thus creates a diverse community of users who weren't previously on Aptos.