Telegram's $400M Crypto Holdings

Ethereum's PumpFun | Polymarket Beats NFTs

📢 Sponsor | 💡 Telegram | 📰 Past Editions

Good Morning.

The market looks meh. We’re definitely in a wait-and-see moment until the election in November, especially for technical traders. There’s not much support until further down and it’s just full-blown PVP.

In Today's Email:

  • What Matters: Telegram’s $400M crypto holdings 🪙 

  • Product: Ethereum’s PumpFun 🛠️ 

  • Charts: PumpFun’s $100M revenue & Polymarket beats NFTs 📈 

Narratives: Downside PA continues, stay cautious.

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WHAT MATTERS

Telegram’s $400M Digital Assets Holding

State of play: An FT report reveals Telegram's significant crypto holdings, valued at nearly $400M in 2023. Furthermore, over 40% of its $342.5M revenue was generated from crypto-related ventures.

  • The crypto-related ventures in the statement refer to Telegram’s “integrated crypto wallet” and the “sale of collectibles.”

  • According to the statement, “Integrated wallet is a software program that allows users to store, send, receive and trade crypto assets.”

  • Telegram sells collectibles like usernames and virtual phone numbers and also collects fees from the sale of collectibles between users.

  • Telegram users buy the collectibles and pay the fees using Toncoin.

  • Telegram then holds the digital assets (i.e., Toncoins) for investment purposes and sells them strategically when market conditions are favorable.

  • 41% of Telegram’s assets are in digital assets (~$400M), which is larger than its cash and cash equivalents (~$170M).

  • While Telegram is solely owned by Durov, it has secured over $2.3B in funding through convertible bonds from “blue-chip investors.”

What’s next: Charges against Durov will most likely lead to scrutiny of the TON blockchain as a recent FT report shows how integral TON is to the Telegram ecosystem.

For builders and investors: Telegram’s distribution power is still massive even if TON is not the premier blockchain of choice; as you don’t need to build your applications on top of TON and can still launch a Telegram mini app.

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PRODUCT OF THE WEEK

Ethervista: The Pump.fun of Ethereum

Ethervista is a decentralized trading platform that aims to address the current shortcomings of the AMM model, specifically its focus on short-term gains at the expense of long-term sustainability.

Other cool products:

  • Stork, a customizable data provisioning.

  • Vooi, a cross-chain perp DEXs aggregator.

  • Ducat, a Bitcoin-native stablecoin on Runes.

  • Credbull, an on-chain private credit fund manager.

  • Sidekick, a consolidation hub for social, games & beyond in Web3.

CHARTS OF THE WEEK

PumpFun Crosses $100M in Revenue

Credits to @adam_tehc for the original chart

State of play: Despite launching just this year in January, PumpFun has already surpassed $100M in total cumulative revenue in just 8 months.

  • The surge in revenue began in March, coinciding with the meme coin craze that swept the market.

  • PumpFun charges a 1% fee on all platform transactions and recently PumpFun eliminated token deployment costs that potentially drive even more activity.

  • However, Friday saw PumpFun's second-lowest daily revenue since May 24th, hinting at a potential slowdown.

Our take: Facilitating speculation remains the best business model in crypto.

Polymarket Beats NFT Volume in August

Credits to The Block for the original chart

State of play: Polymarket recently surpassed all NFT volumes, reaching $463M in trading value in August, compared to $377M for NFTs.

  • Its active traders have grown since May, likely due to the upcoming election.

  • The platform even has election forecaster Nate Silver as an advisor.

  • Almost $750M has been bet on the outcome of the US 2024 Presidential Election.

Our take: Memes have largely replaced NFTs are retail traders’ primary main of speculation.

QUICK BITES

  • PumpFun surpasses $100M in revenue.

  • SafeDAO eyes turning on revenue streams.

  • Cardano shifts to decentralized governance.

  • BlackRock’s IBIT marks its first loss since May.

  • Bitcoin miners sees worst revenue in 11 months.

  • Crypto losses to hacks exceed $313M in August.

  • Telegram held $400M in crypto in the 2023 revenue report.

  • OKX acquires a full license in Singapore and hires a local CEO.

  • SEC warns FTX against paying creditors back in stables and crypto.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

  • Shumo’s read on narrative violation.

  • Shui’s read on StarkWare orange and blue.

  • Sreeram Kannan’s read on multisig risks and EigenLayer’s road ahead.

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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.