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They Made Millions on Luna, Solana and Polygon: Crypto’s Boom Beyond Bitcoin

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1 year ago

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Etienne vantKruys, a globe-trotting cryptocurrency investor from Amsterdam, was hunting for a new investment two summers ago when he met some early backers of Luna, a digital coin that offers a framework for decentralized finance. Impressed by their commitment to the project, he bought $25,000 of Luna for 20 to 35 cents a coin.

These days, despite a recent fall in cryptocurrency prices, the value of a Luna coin is up to around $50. Mr. vantKruys’ original investment? It’s now worth about $5 million on paper.

“Dude, man,” he said on a recent call, “we’re in some happy country.”

You have probably heard of Bitcoin, Ether and even Dogecoin millionaires. But over the past two years, their ranks have rapidly expanded, as speculators recorded huge profits from more obscure cryptocurrency projects, some with names that sound cribbed from a children’s cartoon. Now there are Solana millionaires, Luna millionaires, Polygon millionaires.

Even after the drop in cryptocurrency prices dampened some of the hype, the gains remain staggering. The value of Solana, a cryptocurrency platform that provides an alternative to Ethereum, has grown by more than 6,000 percent since January 2021. The price of Cardano, another crypto platform with its own currency, is up 500 percent.

The wealth generated by these coins shows how widespread the cryptocurrency phenomenon has become. More than 11,000 digital currencies exist, and anybody can create one with a bit of coding. Some of the coins are tied to complex “DeFi” projects, which offer decentralized borrowing and lending options, while others serve as currency in video games like Axie Infinity. These currencies, usually created for some kind of practical application, are distinct from meme coins like Dogecoin, a joke currency that soared in value last year.

“Every type of financial service is now being replicated in these decentralized environments,” said Stephen McKeon, a cryptocurrency expert at the University of Oregon. “This is what’s driving all the investment.”

The investors profiting from obscure coins come from a variety of backgrounds. There are industry aficionados who had already made money on Bitcoin and Ether, and newcomers who have notched impressive gains practically overnight.

In interviews, members of this new class of crypto millionaires said they were still figuring out what to do with their growing wealth. Some have made splashy purchases, renting fancy apartments or partying in foreign countries. Others have relocated to tax havens like Puerto Rico or quit their day jobs as they plowed even more money into an ever-expanding set of tokens.

In January, Cal Graham, 28, a British cryptocurrency speculator, invested $200,000 in a new token called LooksRare, which is part of a trading platform for the unique digital collectibles known as NFTs, or nonfungible tokens. He sold all his LooksRare holdings less than two weeks later, walking away with nearly $500,000 in profits.

Mr. Graham, who lives in a luxury apartment in London, became a crypto millionaire through his investment in Ether, the second-most-valuable digital currency behind Bitcoin. He said he had made at least $1 million more by trading lesser-known currencies like LooksRare.

“I’m a simple man, I like simple pleasures,” he said. “I will be buying myself an expensive car and an expensive Rolex at some point.”

A former human resources officer, Mr. Graham described himself as “semiretired,” with a daily routine that often consists of several hours of intensive tweeting (he doles out market analysis to his 90,000 followers), boxing practice at the local gym and movies in the evening. Eventually, he plans to funnel his LooksRare profits back into the cryptocurrency market.

But as some people mint millions from little-known cryptocurrencies, others have seen impressive gains disappear overnight. For every Solana or Luna, there’s an out-of-the-way token that shoots up in value, only for its price to collapse. Some of these projects are scams, or what industry experts call “rug pulls,” in which someone aggressively markets a coin, then immediately liquidates the holdings, leaving investors with major losses.

“There’s too many pockets of froth that lure a lot of people who are just getting crushed and duped,” said Ed Moya, a cryptocurrency analyst at the trading company OANDA. “You have a lot of social media influencers that are pumping up certain coins that are worthless.”

Even paper gains from a successful investment in a legitimate coin can turn out to be just that: paper gains. That’s because it’s difficult and labor-intensive to convert large amounts of cryptocurrencies into dollars. Some little-known coins are unavailable on mainstream exchanges like Coinbase, meaning they first have to be converted into a better-known cryptocurrency, like Ether or Bitcoin, said Philip Gradwell, the chief economist at the crypto tracking firm Chainalysis.

A sudden conversion of a large amount of cryptocurrency can also be dangerous, causing the price of the coin to collapse as it’s turned into dollars.

“You cannot ever just get all out, or get your money out with immediate effect,” said Adrian Zdunczyk, a former musician who trades digital currencies full time from his home in Warsaw. “You’d just dampen the market or crush the market. It doesn’t work in your favor.”

Mr. Zdunczyk, 28, said he had made several million dollars from his crypto investments, more than half from obscure coins. Once, he said, he recorded profits of $150,000 in two days after buying e-Radix, a token for DeFi projects. To avoid a drop in prices, he has learned to withdraw only a small portion of his profits at a time, while keeping the rest in the crypto market.

Mr. Zdunczyk has used some of his new income to help his parents pay off their debts, and he recently donated $15,000 to a parrot sanctuary in Arizona. He also has three parrots of his own. “I found an amazing love,” he said. “Beautiful creatures.”

Mr. Zdunczyk has steered some of his other profits into less volatile investments, like real estate and even gold, which Bitcoin was specifically intended to replace. “I’m a huge fan of commodities,” he said.

Some of the new crypto millionaires have found more sophisticated ways to protect their wealth, joining earlier generations of wealthy Bitcoin investors in offshore tax havens like St. Kitts and Nevis.

“They say, ‘Why do I need to be a U.S. citizen, what’s the benefit?’” said Armand Tannous, a wealth management executive who advises crypto investors seeking citizenship in other countries. “‘I’m a global citizen, I don’t need to live in the U.S. anymore, I don’t need to pay taxes anymore.’”

Brenda Gentry, 46, a cryptocurrency speculator from San Antonio, said she started buying Bitcoin in 2020 before switching her focus to lesser-known tokens like Bund, which is tied to a decentralized sports-betting network. Ms. Gentry’s Bund trades netted her around $400,000 in profits, she said, and her total portfolio is now in the mid-six figures, after taking a hit from the recent drop in prices.

“It’s like a child walking into a candy store,” Ms. Gentry said, noting that she can buy one token, then convert it into another, and then another.

On top of her cryptocurrency investments, Ms. Gentry, a former mortgage underwriter, has found work as a consultant advising DeFi and NFT projects. She’s planning to use her cryptocurrency income to buy an acre in San Antonio. She wants to build a house, with a crypto mining operation in a storage unit next door.

Many people who have gotten wealthy through little-known cryptocurrencies said they didn’t plan to cash out. They said they preferred to HODL, or hold on for dear life, and keep speculating.

Consider Mr. vantKruys, the Luna investor. He said he recently used about $1 million of his cryptocurrency holdings to buy a house for a loved one. But he has no interest in selling his stash of Luna, despite market volatility that led to a drop from $99 to below $50 per coin between December and January.

“My idea is Luna is going to be $500 in five years,” said Mr. vantKruys, who is 45. “That’s the horizon we’re playing with.”

Recently, he has become fixated on another obscure token, Pocket Network, that offers digital infrastructure for a range of blockchain initiatives. (Mr. vantKruys, the managing partner at the crypto fund TRGC, is an adviser on the Pocket Network project.)

Mr. vantKruys once heard about a Dutch investor who had sold his house to make a huge Bitcoin purchase. At the time, he said, he thought the man was insane, but now he’s contemplating a similarly substantial investment in Pocket Network.

“My dude, it’s just the first crypto where I’ll probably do something crazy,” he said. “You’re at the poker table — you’re like, all in.”

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Tulip Protocol Officially Integrates Chainlink on Solana Mainnet

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10 months ago

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August 9, 2022

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Tulip Protocol Officially Integrates Chainlink on Solana Mainnet

Today, Tulip Protocol made the announcement that they have integrated Chainlink Price Feeds in order to better secure their yield aggregating platform that is running on the Solana mainnet. The team had previously stated their intention to integrate Chainlink Price Feeds, and at this point, the connection has been completely put into action. Chainlink is the premier decentralized oracle network in the world, safeguarding tens of billions of dollars in smart contracts. It has diversified its offerings across other blockchains, notably Solana, Fantom, Polygon, BNB Chain, and others.

In a recent blog post, the team behind the Tulip Protocol explained that they had integrated Chainlink to provide users with more confidence that leveraged positions will be liquidated equitably using extremely accurate price data and that the protocol will continue to be completely collateralized at all times.

According to Tomasz Wojewoda, Head of Global Sales at Chainlink Labs:

“We’re pleased that Tulip Protocol has integrated Chainlink Price Feeds on Solana, helping secure its yield aggregation protocol with highly robust, decentralized market data. With the high-throughput performance of Solana and the strong security guarantees of the Chainlink Network, Tulip Protocol is able to empower users with a performant and secure platform.”

Tulip Protocol Seeks To Take Advantage Of Solana

Tulip Protocol brings together lenders who receive a return on their deposits and borrowers who are interested in gaining access to leverage. Users who initiate leverage positions are responsible for maintaining a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio that has been previously established. The Tulip Protocol then uses the asset price data that is provided by Chainlink Price Feeds to verify that this ratio is accurate. If the value of the collateral falls below the threshold that was established by the protocol, then their position will be immediately liquidated to assist in guaranteeing that the lenders will be repaid.

Tulip Protocol intends to capitalize on Solana by giving users the ability to more regularly reinvest their income and grow their assets without having to pay exorbitant amounts of gas expenses. Chainlink oracles can now be natively integrated on Solana, making it possible for Solana-based applications to benefit from enhanced levels of security and transparency. Yesterday, OpenOcean made the announcement that they would be integrating Chainlink Price Feeds in order to help secure the limited order functionality on many chains. These chains include Avalanche, Ethereum, Polygon, Fantom, and BNB Chain.

According to Senx, Co-Founder of Tulip Protocol:

 “We’re excited to be using Chainlink Price Feeds on Solana to help secure our yield aggregation platform. By leveraging the most secure and reliable on-chain data available, we’re able to provide our lenders and borrowers with greater assurances that liquidations are based on accurate price data, and the protocol will maintain a healthy loan-to-value ratio through all market conditions.” 

Allowing Stakers To Benefit From Higher APYs

Natives of the blockchain as well as newcomers to the technology are beginning to understand that decentralization does not necessarily equate to a secure platform. Given that Web3 services are currently disclosing their susceptibilities to attacks from both within and outside the network, further initiatives should be undertaken to improve the safety of user assets. Fortunately, a growing number of blockchain businesses are beginning to add various levels of security to their services in order to solidify the trust of their existing customers and attract additional investors in the near and distant future.

Tulip Protocol is the very first yield aggregation platform to be built on Solana, and it features auto-compounding vault techniques. The dApp was developed to make use of Solana’s blockchain, which has a low cost and high efficiency, hence enabling the vault techniques to compound frequently. Stakeholders are able to reap the benefits of greater APYs as a result, without the need for active management.

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Is your SOL safe? What we know about the Solana hack

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10 months ago

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August 9, 2022

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On this week’s episode of “The Market Report,” Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss the latest updates concerning the recent Solana (SOL) hack.

To kick things off, we broke down the latest news in the markets this week:

Bitcoin realized price bands form key resistance as bulls lose $24K, significant whale activity between $22,000 and $24,800 adds to the complexity of the current spot market setup. Bitcoin (BTC) consolidated lower on Aug. 9 after familiar resistance preserved a multi-month trading range. When will we finally break out of this price range and make the move towards $30K?

Institutions flocking to Ethereum for 7 straight weeks as Merge nears: Report, “Greater clarity” around the Merge has driven institutional inflows into Ethereum products, according to a CoinShares report. Is the ETH merge finally around the corner and will it bring new all time highs to ETH or has the price already been factored into the current price?

Circle freezes blacklisted Tornado Cash smart contract addresses, Crypto data aggregator Dune Analytics said that, on Monday, Circle, the issuer of the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, froze over 75,000 USDC worth of funds linked to the 44 Tornado Cash addresses sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list. Could this mark the end for Tornado Cash or is there a way they can redeem themselves?

Next up is a new segment called “Quick Crypto Tips,” which aims to give newcomers to the crypto industry quick and easy tips to get the most out of their experience. This week’s tip: Have some funds ready to buy further downturns.

Market expert Marcel Pechman then carefully examines the Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) markets. Are the current market conditions bullish or bearish? What is the outlook for the next few months? Pechman is here to break it down. The experts also go over some markets news to bring you up to date on the latest regarding the top two cryptocurrencies.

After Marcel’s market analysis, our resident experts discuss whether your SOL is safe and the latest updates on the Solana hack. We also discuss why the network has been victim to so many hacks and downtimes. What exactly do these exploits mean for the Solana platform and if you should be worried.

Lastly, we’ve got insights from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, a platform for crypto traders who want to stay one step ahead of the market. The analysts use Cointelegraph Markets Pro to identify two altcoins that stood out this week: Radicle’s RAD and DigiByte’s DGB.

Do you have a question about a coin or topic not covered here? Don’t worry. Join the YouTube chat room, and write your questions there. The person with the most interesting comment or question will be given a 1 month free subscription to markets Pro worth $100!

The Market Report streams live every Tuesday at 12:00 pm ET (4:00 pm UTC), so be sure to head on over to Cointelegraph’s YouTube page and smash those like and subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.

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Web3-Based ZepetoX to Build on Solana

Cashverse

Published

10 months ago

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August 9, 2022

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Web3-Based ZepetoX to Build on Solana

Singapore, Singapore , Aug. 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, the ZepetoX team (ZTX, ZepetoX.io) announced its foray into the web3 space, sharing its vision to build an open world that empowers creators and communities to build, play and earn.

ZepetoX is the crypto metaverse initiative jointly incubated by ZEPETO – Asia’s largest metaverse platform with over 320 million registered users – alongside leading global blockchain organizations including Jump Crypto.

As the sole blockchain project comprehensively backed by ZEPETO, ZepetoX will have exclusive ties to ZEPETO in terms of IP including technological, design, and content assets as well as bridges to facilitate user onboarding between the two platforms. ZepetoX’s blockchain development efforts will be advised by Jump.

“ZepetoX is our official venture into the blockchain industry. We feel that web3 opportunities should be advanced through a crypto-native approach, which is why we are excited to have Jump as a contributor to developing a new platform that would have exclusive connections to ZEPETO. Overall, we believe that ZepetoX can build the ideal web3 platform to not only bring blockchain to our existing users but also to expand our footprint in the blockchain space through various disruptive initiatives,” said Daewook Kim, CEO of Naver Z – the operating entity of ZEPETO.

“We are excited to support ZepetoX’s efforts aimed at onboarding new audiences into the rapidly growing crypto space. ZEPETO’s expertise and technological know-hows accumulated over the past years from building an immersive social platform will serve as a springboard for ZepetoX,” said Saurabh Sharma, Partner at Jump Crypto.

Building on the Solana network, ZepetoX will offer a web-based 3D open world with varying levels of gamification integrated as well as opportunities for users to monetize via ownership of digital assets and social interaction. Ultimately, ZepetoX aims to empower self-expression through customizable avatars and lands that can be equipped with NFTs from a rich collection of assets created by diverse creators, DAOs, or communities.

“I am thrilled to see IP powerhouses like ZepetoX choosing to build their metaverse on Solana,” said Anatoly Yakovenko, Co-Founder of Solana. “Projects like ZepetoX create new pathways for onboarding millions of users to web3.”

“Our global team brings a depth of crypto native experiences and our goal is to build on the foundation of ZEPETO to spearhead the adoption of blockchain among metaverse users, developers, and creators,” said co-CEO of ZepetoX, Chris Chang.

In the coming months, ZepetoX will launch its first land sale. The lands will be tradable on the ZepetoX marketplace, which will feature a variety of different NFTs as the open world project evolves. Further details on the sale will be available on the ZepetoX website in the coming weeks.

# # #

About ZepetoX: ZepetoX (ZTX) is a web3 company building an immersive content-driven platform for users to create, trade digital assets and enjoy social interaction. Founded in 2022, ZepetoX is the blockchain initiative of ZEPETO, widely regarded as the largest Asia-based metaverse platform boasting over 320 million lifetime users with over 2.5 billion virtual fashion items sold.

Contacts:

Vera: vera@ztx.foundation

News Via KISS PR Crypto Press Release Distribution Media Contact az@kisspr.com

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