Category: Tokens

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Crypto News DeFi Gaming Scams Tokens

SQUID Game Token Surged 110,000%, But Buyers Couldn’t Sell It Before Rug Pull?

The popular Korean Netflix TV series-inspired “play-to-earn” cryptocurrency Squid Game (SQUID) tanked almost 99 percent on November 1 in what is suspected to have been a rug pull. This happened after people who bought the cryptocurrency rained their complaints on the project as a scam, as they were not able to sell on PancakeSwap.

SQUID token price cliff collapse.

The SQUID token rose more than 110,000 percent since launching last week. Just like the original Squid Game drama, the whitepaper for the cryptocurrency project reads that players can participate in six online games, after which the winners will be rewarded with prizemoney. 

The more people join, the larger the reward pool will be […] 10 percent of the entry fee will be sent to the developer’s wallet, and the [remaining] 90 percent will be added to the reward pool for the last winner of the game.

Squid Game whitepaper

This project was not in any way related to Netflix or the producers behind the eponymous Korean TV series, which raised red flags against the SQUID crypto: 

Did SQUID Pull the Rug?

As many had warned, the SQUID crypto game was rug-pulled. The price of the token dropped nearly 100 percent from US$2,864 to US$0.005. The website for the crypto game was also taken down at the time of writing. Sadly, a lot of people who invested in the SQUID token are left head-scratching in regret as their funds vanished in a matter of minutes.

Before the crash, CoinMarketCap had warned that investors weren’t able to sell their tokens on PancakeSwap:

We have received multiple reports that the website and socials are no longer functional and the users are not able to sell this token in Pancakeswap […] This project, while clearly inspired by the Netflix show of the same name, is not affiliated with the official IP.

CoinMarketCap

Investors were trapped and some lost everything. The takeaway is to think twice before investing into new meme projects with no utility.

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Crypto News Dogecoin Tokens

Memecoin Dogelon Mars Token Up 4,000% in October After OKEx Listing

Elon Musk’s namesake memecoin Dogelon Mars (ELON) mimicked his SpaceX corporation in October by rocketing a massive 3,780 percent in value.

Much of the monthly gain in performance occurred at the back end on October 29 and 30, when the token rallied by more than 200 percent alongside its listing on OKEx and Crypto.com last Friday.

In what could be called the Year of the Dog for memecoins, Shiba Inu (SHIB) also shot up in October by more than 850 percent to hit a market cap of around US$38.5 billion, surpassing even Dogecoin, which has gained an astronomical 10,360 percent year-to-date.

The Dogs (All 45 of Them) Are Barking

Since the Dogecoin network launched on December 6, 2013, there are now no fewer than 45 meme-based crypto assets with dog-related nomenclature. Samoyedcoin (SAMO), for example, surged by around 2,925 percent to reach a market valuation of around US$458 million last month.

Whenever one of these coins starts to pump a little bit, everyone starts to think this could be the next nonsensical rally. It’s a casino, and it’s more fun than a roulette table.

Eric Wall, chief investment officer, Arcane Assets

Dogelon Mars is the fifth-largest meme-based crypto-asset, as rated by CoinGecko. Baby doge coin (BABYDOGE) ranks #7, and even it has spiked ​​560 percent in the last month.

ELON’s price corrected by almost 30 percent after topping out for the year at US$0.00000233, waving what looked a lot like a Bull Flag in the process.

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Crypto News DeFi Tokens

CRV Token Up 63% in a Week Amid Curve Becoming Second-Largest TVL in DeFi

Curve DAO (CRV), Curve Finance’s native token, has become one of the three best performing assets of the crypto market, surpassed only by Decentraland (MANA) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

At the time of writing, CRV was trading at a price of US$4.64 – a 42.10 percent increase in the past seven days. The token is now the third-most traded asset, only behind MANA, which is trading at US$1.34 – up 68.45 percent in the same period – and SHIB, at $0.00007399 (164.43 percent in 7d).

Top 5 gainers in seven days. Source: CoinmarketCap

What’s Driving CRV’s Rally?

Curve Finance is an exchange liquidity platform built atop the Ethereum network. We can name a few developments and partnerships that are driving CRV’s rally.

Curve Finance doubled its TLV shortly after the launch of Convex Finance, a platform that provides CRV token holders and Curve liquidity providers additional interest rewards. After just five months, Convex Finance is seeing massive amounts of CRV tokens being locked up for yield farming.

And if that were not enough, Curve now has its own automated market maker (AMM) – called EpsilonDeFi – on the Kusama Network and Polkadot.

Another boost for the CRV token came with the integration of the Harmony protocol, which will allow Curve to use Harmony’s bridges to connect Ethereum and the Binance Smart Chain, enabling cross-chain swaps between the two networks.

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Crypto News Dogecoin Investing Tokens

Floki Inu Pumps 220% in a Single Day Amid Memecoin Frenzy

The memecoin circus looks set to continue as Floki Inu, a token established in July and named after Elon Musk’s then-new Shiba Inu puppy, soared 220 percent, printing new all-time highs.

Floki Inu soars 200%. Source: Coingecko

Advertisement-Driven Pump

One of the oft-repeated buzzwords common to almost all coins and tokens is decentralisation. In the case of Floki Inu, however, it’s pretty obvious that decentralisation is a secondary concern, given that an effort is being made by a centralised group to pump up the price.

Notably, the marketing material lacks any reference to FLOKI’s reason for existence – an omission that in itself speaks volumes and ought to already raise the alarm bells for anyone paying attention.

Floki Inu on the move, as seen in London. Source: Twitter

All over the world, various campaigns have been launched to promote FLOKI, seemingly seeking to elicit a sense of “FOMO” (fear of missing out) from retail investors looking to pile in.

A tale of two dogs, as seen in London. Source: Twitter

This tactic appears to have been successful given the token’s parabolic price rise in the past 24 hours.

An Obvious Pump and Dump?

Traditional finance has often struggled to understand crypto valuations, but even crypto investors would struggle to put together a coherent investment case for a token such as FLOKI, a memecoin that ostensibly lacks purpose.

FLOKI isn’t alone, as a lack of utility hasn’t stopped its canine relative SHIBA from soaring in recent weeks. Remarkably, the original memecoin, DOGE, comprised 62 percent of Robinhood’s Q2 crypto revenue. Unfortunately for Robinhood, DOGE’s lack of publicity in Q3 contributed significantly towards the company’s 78 percent decline in crypto revenue.

One eagle-eyed Redditor noted that of the 158,865 FLOKI holders, a whopping 49 percent is held by a single address. Could this whale be behind the campaign pumping FLOKI’s price with a view to dumping it on retail investors? A cynic would say yes, but then again, so would a realist. Steve Hanke isn’t a fan of crypto in general, but in this case he may prove to be spot on:

FLOKI isn’t even listed with any major exchanges as of yet. So it’s likely that its run will continue. Much like a game of musical chairs, retail investors would be well-advised to ensure they are not left holding the bags when the music stops.

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Crypto News DeFi Tokens

1inch Surges Over 100% in 24 Hours, Following Announcement of Exodus Wallet Integration

While Bitcoin (BTC) and other major altcoins struggled on the upside yesterday, DeFi token 1inch skyrocketed over 100 percent, which raised its market value to another record high, inclusive of market capitalisation and trading volume. 

Early on October 27,  the native cryptocurrency and governance token of DEX aggregator 1INCH spiked to another all-time high, raising the market cap to over US$1 billion while the trading volume across all exchanges spiked to +US$2 billion at the time. 

The rally follows the announcement that the 1inch protocol has integrated with Exodus wallet, which would make its offerings available through the decentralised wallet application. Adding to the euphoria was another announcement from leading South Korean exchange Upbit on its plan to list the 1inch token and two other DeFi tokens, Mask and AAVE. 

DeFi tokens are apt to increase in price upon listing on major platforms. Some months ago, Dexe token surged over 110 percent in a day following its trading support on the largest crypto exchange, Binance.  

1inch Sees a Spike in Network Activities

The DEX aggregator aims to provide users with the “best rates by discovering the most efficient swapping routes” across several decentralised trading platforms. According to data from DappRadar, about US$16 million worth of digital assets have been locked on the protocol, and recently it recorded a new high of US$700 million in the 24h trading volume. 

The number of users on the network has also increased to 800k. On the seven-day chart, 1inch ranked among the top-10 decentralised protocols on Binance Smart Chain in transaction volume, and also the fourth-largest protocol on Polygon in users. All of the bullish stats attest to the growing network activities and demand for the token, hence the recent increase in price.  

However, 1inch was down, trading at US$5.25 with a market capitalisation below US$1 billion at the time of writing. 

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Blockchain NFTs Sports Tokens

Wrestling Fans Can Now Buy WWE NFT Collectibles and ‘Memorable Moments’

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has formed a tag team with LA studio Bento Box to launch a new line of NFTs in a multi-year deal with Blockchain Creative Labs.

After WWE entered a five-year media deal with Fox Entertainment in 2018, Fox announced a US$100 million investment in its then-new blockchain division.

The WWE NFT drop is the first from Blockchain Creative based on a property not owned by Fox, after it released an NFT line based on popular TV competition The Masked Singer earlier this month.

Fans Will Need a Digital Media Wallet from Eluvio

Like those tokens, the WWE collectibles are on the Eluvio blockchain, in which Fox is also an investor. Fans will need to create a digital media wallet via Eluvio to allow them to purchase NFTs with credit cards or crypto, as well as trade and sell them.

Each of the WWE tokens will be tied to images of past and present WWE superstars and tentpole events such as Wrestlemania and SummerSlam. The NFTs will be listed on WWE’s NFT Marketplace, the name of which and official launch date to be announced in the “next few weeks”.

This is not WWE’s first foray into NFTs. In April, timed to coincide with WrestleMania 37, it dropped a set highlighting the career of recently retired star Mark Calloway, better known as the Undertaker.

We know WWE’s passionate fan community will love owning authentic digital goods across the organisation’s creative universe, from past and present stars to classic, culture-defining moments.

Scott Greenberg, CEO, Blockchain Creative Labs and co-founder/CEO, Bento Box Entertainment

Still Think Wrestling Is Fake? Adobe May Have a Solution

In the same week as news of the WWE NFTs broke, Adobe Photoshop announced the upcoming launch of a new security feature in its Photoshop software that can assist in verifying an NFT’s authenticity. Perhaps Adobe could talk to the WWE about a possible solution for those cynics who continue to doubt the authenticity of professional wrestling.

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Blockchain DeFi Hackers Tokens

CREAM Finance Exploited Again, This Time for $130 Million

DeFi lending protocol Cream Finance has been attacked again, this time to the tune of US$130 million, in what is its third and biggest hack by far.

Flash Loan Attack on 68 Different Assets

As highlighted by blockchain security firm PeckShield, the attacker managed to exploit the platform through a flash loan attack that involved at least 68 different assets and cost around 9 ETH. Of the estimated US$130 million drained, at press time US$92 million was held in the attacker’s contract while US$22 million was held by the contract creator’s address. 

Cream Finance confirmed the event on October 27, revealing that the C.R.E.A.M. v1 marketplace on Ethereum had been attacked. The hacker took mostly Cream LP tokens and some other ERC-20 tokens: 

However, it appears that Yearn Finance, a group of DeFi protocols running on the Ethereum blockchain, had salvaged US$9.42 million from the hacker:

Third-Biggest Hack in DeFi History

A few months ago, Cream Finance suffered its second flash loan exploit in which it lost US$19 million. While the team promised to pay back its affected users, it’s unclear as to whether there’s going to be another compensation program.

This hack positions Cream Finance among the biggest DeFi hacks in history. And while Rekt’s leaderboard has not been updated, this attack relegates EasyFi’s US$59 million exploit to fourth spot, while Poly Network and Compound are at the top.

Compound has also been hit hard by malicious actors. As Crypto News Australia reported earlier this month, Compound Labs suffered its second major blow after another bug in the platform was found, putting US$162 million at risk.

DeFi hacks accounted for 76 percent of cyberattacks in 2021, causing users to lose more than US$470 million in DeFi platforms. This clearly suggests that while the space is an emerging ecosystem full of opportunities, there is cause for caution as it’s also a lucrative target for malicious actors.

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Crypto News Dogecoin NFTs Tokens Trading

Shiba Inu Coin Surges 500% Amid Shiboshi’s NFTs Launch and Exchange Listings

Shiba Inu (SHIB), the token that ate dogecoin, hit an all-time high on October 24 with a month-to-date gain of almost 500 percent. SHIB traded at US$0.0000455, topping its previous best of $0.0000388 on May 10, and at time of writing was trading at $0.0000394.

SHIB Also Subject to Listing Frenzy

Prices for the meme token had surged by nearly 50 percent in the previous 24 hours and its latest high-water mark comes amid rumours that online brokerage platform Robinhood may soon list the cryptocurrency. Brazilian exchange Novadax listed SHIB just a few days ago, and popular trading app Public followed suit soon after.

Prices bumped over 200 percent in early October on the back of increased buying by whales and other large investors. While SHIB has gone ballistic this month, DOGE has gained just 27 percent and still trades well below its August high of US$0.35. Like SHIB, DOGE had hit a peak of just over $0.73 in early May.

Shiboshi NFTs Sell Out in Just Over Half an Hour

Adding to this month’s SHIB fever, the Shiboshi NFTs released on October 14 sold out in just over 35 minutes, fetching between US$350 and US$1050 apiece. And SHIB holders perhaps owed Tesla CEO Elon Musk a vote of thanks for posting an image of his new Shiba Inu puppy, Floki, which was at least partly responsible for the meme coin’s price surge.

The irony is that Musk, originally a champion of Dogecoin, confirmed on Twitter that he does not own any SHIB:

While some in the SHIB community hit out at Musk for damaging the price of SHIB (it dropped 20 percent after Musk’s tweet), some noted that Shiba Inu could survive handsomely without the influence of celebrities and should instead focus on the community.

$1,000 Invested in Shiba Inu on January 1, 2021, Is Now Worth $500 Million

SHIB’s market capitalisation now exceeds US$15 billion, placing it well within the top 15 coins. SHIB/USDT is also the most traded pair on Binance over the past 24 hours, surpassing US$2 billion in traded volume.

SHIB traded at a mere $0.000000000077 on January 1, 2021. This means that the meme coin is up by a colossal 50,649,250 percent year-to-date. As such, a hypothetical investment of US$1,000 made on January 1 would be worth over US$500 million today.

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DeFi Ethereum Tokens

THORChain Token RUNE Up 70% Following Update Enabling ETH Trading

RUNE, THORChain’s native token, has been thriving in the DeFi market, up 70 percent following a network update that enabled Ether (ETH) trading.

As per a blog post from RUNEBase, THORChain has updated its network nodes and now allows ETH and ERC20 token trading. The update comes a few months after THORChain fell victim to several exploits, the most recent being an attack on the ETH router, which halted ETH trading and withdrawals.

The update has significantly boosted RUNE’s price, now trading at US$13.10 and with a 24-hour trading volume up to 85.91 percent as per data from Binance.

The price is the highest maximum reached by the token, surpassing last week’s maximum of $11.28 early on October 25.

Difficult Year For THORChain

THORChain suffered heavy losses after being attacked three times in Q2 2021, losses that amounted to around US$100 million.

Since then the protocol has been working behind closed curtains, developing new safety measures to avoid further attacks. Last week, THORChain announced the released of “two new critical features for node operators”.

The first feature, Make Pause, will allow node operators to pause the network for a period of one hour in the event of an attack. Trading and outbunds are halted, trapping attack transactions.

The second feature, called Make Relay, is a verified anonymous broadcasting service for nodes, broadcasting signed and verified messages into public channels.

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Crypto News Cryptocurrencies Privacy Tokens

Bizarre ‘Worldcoin’ Wants to Scan Your Eyeball to Give Everyone Free Coins

Worldcoin is a newly launched cryptocurrency out of Silicon Valley that wants to get its coins into as many hands as possible, as quickly as possible. In exchange for your free share, you’ll only need to have your eyes scanned by their “Orb” as “proof-of-personhood”.

Let’s Talk About Worldcoin

Worldcoin claims to be a “new, collectively owned global currency that will be distributed fairly to as many people as possible”. Unfortunately, a quick glance at the company’s investor base suggests that the distribution of coins is likely to be anything but “fair”. Willy Woo correctly pointed out: “How is it fairly distributed when it has primary round investments by the big name VCs and angels?”

Lead investors in Worldcoin. Source: Willy Woo

False claims of fair distribution aside, you may still be wondering what Worldcoin is actually trying to do. What is their value proposition and what real-world problems are they looking to solve? These seemingly trivial details would appear to have been overlooked in their haste to outline how this coin will be readily adopted worldwide.

To rapidly get its new currency into the hands of as many people as possible, Worldcoin will allow everyone to claim a free share of it. For this to happen, we first had to solve one major challenge: ensuring that every person on Earth can prove that they are indeed human (not a bot) and that they have not received their free share of Worldcoin already. This challenge is the longstanding problem of ‘unique-humanness’: how can you prove you are you, without telling us anything about yourself?

Worldcoin website

The coin’s lack of utility isn’t apparently a problem when it comes to the company’s vision of having the entire planet collect their free share. Instead, the issue is proving your “unique-humanness”, otherwise users would be double-claiming.

Fortunately, to solve this issue Worldcoin has a new device called an “Orb”, which scans a person’s eyes and makes it possible to know if the person has already signed up for their free share. The plan is to manufacture and distribute Orbs around the world. Orb holders then grow the network by bringing on individuals and having their eyeballs scanned. It’s like Herbalife, but for crypto.

For users concerned about privacy, the company says they needn’t worry due to “modern cryptography”, but Edward Snowden remains unconvinced about this and CBDCs.

Silicon Valley Tone Deaf?

Silicon Valley is known for being in a bubble, and this uniquely invasive and dystopic effort would appear to support that view. Could it be that Silicon Valley is entirely disconnected from the ordinary person and their concerns? The founder himself even admitted that he “underestimated the visceral reaction to using biometrics”.

To anyone paying even a little attention, it was obvious that this would be the response.

Worldcoin is seemingly, on the face of it, a self-serving project lacking any utility or value for its users, but that alone is unlikely to prove enough of a deterrent for investors looking for the next big thing.