Bitcoin Hit $0.1 Million USD

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Good Morning.

Bitcoin hit $100,000! For many of us, the journey of witnessing this asset class grow from a nascent space to an institutional juggernaut intertwines significantly with our personal career trajectory.

I myself, belong to a cohort of working professionals that directly entered crypto after college. At the time, many thought it was a niche and edgy corner of the internet. A space filled with fake libertarians who launched a scam ICO in 2017. With each cycle, the technology and the buy-in from genuinely curious people increase, and the ridicule decreases.

Seeing the outcome of our leap of faith, when we chose crypto instead of a Big 4 job as a fresh graduate, is a great feeling of joy that's hard to describe.

This industry continues to be the most interesting space. One that attracts the most entertaining kind of experimentation, sitting at the intersection of finance, technology, human coordination, AI, geopolitics, and many more.

One day I might expand on this much more, but for now, onward and upward!

The new podcast episode is up!

In Today's Email:

• What Matters: $HAWK Rug Pull 🤡 

• Founders Highlight: Erick of Nomad Capital 👨 

• Deal Flow: Union Labs’ $12M Series A 💰️ 

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WHAT MATTERS

Hailey Welch’s $HAWK Rug Allegations

State of play: The Solana-based memecoin $HAWK launched and inspired by Hailey Welch a.k.a "Hawk Tuah" girl, suffered a 90% crash in market cap shortly after launch, plunging from $400M to $37M.

• Allegations of market manipulation have surfaced.

• Onchain data reveals centralized control of 79% of the token supply.

• Welch and the team deny wrongdoing, stating no tokens were sold and attributing the crash to sniping bots and high initial fees.

The $HAWK token launched on December 4, 2024, riding a wave of hype thanks to Hailey Welch’s viral “Hawk Tuah” moment.

• The launch started strong, with bots and presale investors driving the token’s market cap to $400M almost instantly.

• Tokens sold during the presale had no lock-up period, allowing investors to dump them as soon as the price spiked.

• As a result, the market cap crashed by 90%, leaving retail investors with huge losses.

• Meanwhile, high transaction fees, which reportedly generated over $2M, flowed to a Cayman foundation, raising further suspicion.

• These factors have led to accusations of a calculated "rug pull," sparking outrage among the community.

Why it Matters: The $HAWK crash is another example of celebrities launching meme coins that end up hurting retail investors. This kind of incident damages trust in the crypto space, making it harder for serious projects to succeed.

What’s next: Stricter regulations and protections on launch platforms and DEXs are essential. Lock-up periods and market surveillance exist for a good reason; to safeguard investors.

For builders and investors: Always be cautious with celebrity-endorsed tokens.

BUILDER-INVESTOR HIGHLIGHT

Erick Zhang of Nomad Capital

Intro: Erick Zhang is the Managing Partner and Founder of Nomad Capital, an operator fund that provides hands-on assistance to help projects develop and scale.

Erick just launched BuidlPad, a new ICO platform, amidst renewed interest in the fundraising model, partially thanks to the improving regulatory landscape after Turmp’s victory.

Previous background: Zhang was one of the early team members at Binance and previously held multiple executive positions, including Head of Binance Research and the Head of Launchpad.

• Zhang was the CEO of CoinMarketCap in 2020 and 2021.

• Before crypto, he had several years of experience in banking, investment, and big data analytics.

• He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Macau and his MSc degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

The big idea: Zhang through Nomad wants to empower the blockchain industry's next wave of long-term builders by combining hands-on operational support with insights gained from navigating past market cycles.

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INSIGHTS

Noble Launches Stablecoin via M^0

State of play: Noble, a Cosmos-based blockchain, has introduced USDN, a stablecoin powered by M^0's Ethereum-based stablecoin infrastructure.

• M^0 provides a "stablecoin extension engine," allowing developers to customize its $M stablecoin.

• Backed by US Treasurys, $M is issued by approved minters under governance oversight.

• Noble facilitates stablecoin transfers across 50 Cosmos-based chains using the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol.

• Unlike traditional stablecoins, M^0 shares yield revenues with market makers, creating a collaborative ecosystem.

• All M-based stablecoins benefit from shared liquidity and security as the network grows.

DEAL FLOWS

Union Labs’ $12M Series A

Deal flows remain steady this week - we saw $120M+ in deals 💼 

Union Labs, a blockchain interoperability project, has raised $12M in a Series A funding round led by Gumi Cryptos and Longhash Ventures, with participation from Borderless Capital and key angels in the Polygon, Celestia, Movement, and Berachain.

• The funds will support team expansion, partner integrations, and ecosystem growth.

• Union's core product, a modular ZK interoperability layer, facilitates asset transfers between Ethereum and Cosmos.

• Union plans to expand into Bitcoin by addressing scripting limitations for secure cross-chain transfers. Union’s mainnet is set to launch in early 2025.

Deal flows in the past week:

• LSP Finance, $1M Pre-Seed Round

• Scrypted, $1.5M Pre-Seed Round

• GAIB, $5M Pre-Seed Round

• Earos, $10M Pre-Seed Round

• RuneSoul, $1M Seed Round

• OpenPad, $2M Seed Round

• DeFi.app, $2M Seed Round

• Sekai, $3.1M Seed Round

• Flamma, $4M Seed Round

• The Binary Holdings, $5M Seed Round

• SuperFi Labs, $2.5M Series A

• Union Labs, $12M Series A

• RedBelly Network, $600K Public Token Sale

• Anzen, $3M Public Token Sale

• Ancient8, $1.23 Grant

• Midas, $5M Grant

• Suilend, $4M Unknwon Round

• BLIFE Protocol, $7M Unknown Round

• Brightly, $10M Unknown Round

• USDX Money, $45M Unknown Round

QUICK BITES

• Fed Chair Powell says Bitcoin is like digital gold.

• Pudgy Penguins to launch SOL-based $PENGU token.

• Mt. Gox moves $2.4B in Bitcoin to an unknown address.

• BlackRock's IBIT breaks records with over $50B AUM.

• Putin praises Bitcoin as Russia eyes ways around sanctions.

• Rep. French Hill pledges to investigate debunking in crypto.

• Pudgy Penguins to launch Solana-based official token Pengu.

• Tron surged in South Korea amid martial law due to local dominance.

• Trump appoints David Sacks to lead AI and crypto at the white house.

• Base reaches another ATH with 8.8M daily transactions on its network.

• Trump taps crypto-friendly ex regulator Paul Atkins to lead the US SEC.

NOTEWORTHY READS

• Ambit Labs’ read on Hyperliquid precompiles.

• Teng Yan’s read on AI agents that make money.

• Paul Veradittakit’s read on the trillion dollar opportunity.

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.