JUP $6.5 Billion FDV Launch & Controversies

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Good Morning.

The broader markets are somewhat flat but Solana got its long-awaited liquidity injection from JUP airdro. There are ongoing criticisms about the launch mechanism (more on that below) — but hey, free money is free money.

In Today's Email:

• What Matters: Jupiter “public sale” 🤔

• Founders Highlight: Hugo of Flare 🔥

• Deal Flows: Portal $34M seed 💰️ 

WHAT MATTERS

JUP Token $6.5B FDV Launch & Criticisms

State of play: Jupiter recorded nearly $1.4B in trading volume within 24 hours on 1 February 2023, coinciding with the launch of its native token, $JUP.

• Jupiter's launch tripled Solana activity, setting Phantom's traffic record, and surpassing the WEN token launch.

• $JUP debuted at $0.40 in its native pool and later started trading on major exchanges like Bybit, Binance, Bitfinex, and OKX.

• JUP is currently trading at $0.60, a 50% rise, with a market cap of ~$800M and a fully diluted value of ~$6B.

At the same time, the launch faces controversy over alleged public sales by the team. Some users pointed out or criticized the team for using the launch pool to sell tokens publicly.

• @Lord_Ashdrake shared a screenshot showing Jupiter's founder, Meow, calling the team's large public token sale an "open market sale."

• @MeatEsq argues that Jupiter bypassed investor funding to avoid VC overhang, raising funds through high-valuation public sales without contractual restrictions on team token vesting.

• This strategy allowed the team more control and token allocation but didn't offer low entry valuations to the public while eliminating external restrictions.

• @Evan_ss6 criticizes the launchpad fee that is set by Jupiter to pay itself $65M.

• Addressing the controversy, Jupiter's co-founder Meow stated the team sold only 250M JUP, cutting the sales ratio from 20% to 2.5%. He noted they could have raised more funds via IDO or OTC methods.

Why it Matters: As usual, it’s an argument about "what's fair" in a permissionless market.

• What remains in question is whether JUP price can hold without the team supporting 250M JUP tokens in the pool, and whether the public thinks the team deserves to "cash out" $200M+

For builders and investors: Communication is key. Striking a balance between being authentic without grandstanding is what one should strive for.

• Did the Jupiter team say that they’ll be selling some tokens? Yes

• Could the Jupiter team communicate their action more transparently, aka stating that they’re “technically selling” tokens via the DLMM pool? Yes

• Do you think they deserve to cash out 3.5% of the total supply at $200M+ in the current valuation? You decide

BUILDER-INVESTOR HIGHLIGHT

Hugo Philion of Flare

In partnership with Flare

Intro: Hugo Philion is a co-founder of Flare, the blockchain for data, and CEO of Flare Labs. Flare is an EVM smart contract platform specifically designed for the intensive data demands of the next generation of blockchain applications, including Machine Learning/AI, RWA tokenization, gaming, and social. 

Previous background: Hugo’s previous career was as a derivatives trader managing portfolios at several large funds. After being introduced to Bitcoin by early investors in Finance, Hugo left the city to embark on a full-time course in Machine Learning at University College London. It was there that he met Flare’s other co-founders, with whom he set out to investigate blockchain technology and ultimately land on the plan for building Flare.

The big idea: Flare is the only smart contract platform optimized for decentralized data acquisition and designed to support more sophisticated use cases such as machine learning and real-world assets.

• Until now, blockchain industry growth has been constrained by the lack of access to reliable off-chain data, with current oracle systems not built to enable these next-generation dApps.

• Flare’s goal is to grow the industry’s total addressable market by increasing what’s possible with blockchain - giving developers access to the broadest range of data, provided in a decentralized manner, at scale, low latency, and minimal cost.

• Plus, new models of trustless bridges for both non-smart contracts and smart contract tokens securely feed the network with new users and value without relying on any centralized entity.

Join Flare, Google Cloud, and Ankr as they co-host a [Dev]meetup at ETHDenver.

Take a peek at our referral reward at the bottom of this issue. Share this newsletter and receive our list of 500 crypto VC individuals 👇

INSIGHTS

Aevo Farming Program & TGE

Aevo announced yesterday that it will be airdropping $AEVO to early adopters of Aevo Exchange and will be launching its first Farming Program over the coming weeks.

The Aevo team wrote that it has decided not to do a points program and that Aevo’s Farming Program will be centered around farming $AEVO ahead of the airdrop.

• The main criteria for the farming program will be centered around volumes, fees, and loyalty on the platform.

• Loyalty will be measured based on recurring usage of Aevo.

• There will also be an additional “Farming Boost” factor, which is a multiplier on the rewards that you will accrue.

• Post the farming program, Aevo users can claim their accrued $AEVO tokens.

• The team is preparing the farming program and is currently ongoing audits. They plan to shorten the $RBN->$AEVO conversion window due to delays, pending governance approval.

DEAL FLOWS

Portal $34M Seed Round

Deal flows remain steady this week, we saw $102M+ in deals 📈 

Portal, a San Francisco fintech provider, secured $34M in a seed round for its bitcoin-based DEX development, which emerged from stealth on Tuesday.

• Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures, and Gate.io participated in the funding round.

• Portal plans to use the funds towards developing a non-custodial wallet.

• Portal seeks to enable direct peer-to-peer bitcoin swaps across blockchains, bypassing intermediaries like wrappers, bridges, or CEXs, reducing hack risks.

Deal flows in the past week:

• Ithaca Protocol, $2.5M Pre-Seed Round

• BBOX, $2.7M Pre-Seed Round

• imgnAI, $1.6M Seed Round

• PublicAI, $2M Seed Round

• Infrared, $2.5M Seed Round

• Reboot World, $2.5M Seed Round

• Velar, $3.5M Seed Round

• Saltwater Games, $5.5M Seed Round

• Gevulot, $6M Seed Round

• Clusters, $9M Seed Round

• Portal, $34M Seed Round

• Doubler, Undisclosed $ Seed Round

• Cube, $12M Series A

• Yet Another Company, $1M Private Round

• Mesh, $5M Private Round

• Forgotten Playland, $7M Private Round

• Squid, $4M Strategic Round

• Navi Protocol, $2M Unknown Round

• TProtocol, Undisclosed $ Angel Round

• Puffer, Undisclosed $ Strategic Round

• Kip Protocol, Undisclosed $ Strategic Round

QUICK BITES

In partnership with Flare

• OPNX to shut down by February 7th.

• Polygon Labs lays off 19% of the team.

• US to collect crypto miner energy use data.

• Celsius to distribute $3B crypto to creditors.

• Bybit submits license applications in Hong Kong.

• XRP Co-Founder’s hacked for $112M in XRP tokens.

• GSR hires former JPM exec as its new Head of Trading.

• Genesis settles SEC lawsuit over Gemini Earn program.

• FTX plans to repay customers in full, drop exchange relaunch.

• Elizabeth Warren renews criticism of illicit finance in crypto.

• DOJ charges trio for $400M SIM-swapping hack targeting FTX.

• Congress tries to repeal controversial SEC crypto custody policy.

• Tether reports a profit of $2.9B in Q4, with $5.4B in excess reserves.

• JPMorgan says Tether's increasing dominance is negative for crypto.

From our partners: Flare onboards Google Cloud as an infrastructure provider to validate the network and contribute to the Flare Time Series Oracle. This novel role doesn’t exist on other blockchain platforms and is required for Flare to fulfill its mission as the Blockchain For Data. Join Flare, Google Cloud, and Ankr as they co-host a [Dev]meetup at ETHDenver. Apply here.

NOTEWORTHY READS

• Evanss6’s read on conviction.

• Figment’s read on berachain first look.

• Decentralised’s read on the Bitcoin spot ETFs.

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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.