The Pulse: Cryptocurrency airdrops to select communities remind us that this is an insider game.

The evolution of airdrops has reached the next level.

Initially, cryptocurrency airdrops were a surprise gift of tokens to early adopters, who each received tens of thousands of dollars. However, over time, the perception that projects can release tokens via airdrops has led to an ongoing battle between projects trying to distribute tokens to real users and those trying to earn airdrops.

The latest twist in this story is that the project is distributing some of its airdrops to popular communities, particularly those built around NFT projects. But why? Well, there could be a few reasons.

The biggest thing is participation. NFT projects commonly included on the list include Mad Lads, Milady’s, and Pudgy Penguins. It’s a community that’s all passionate about X and known for increasing engagement. This type of participation is so powerful that even Su Zhu Changed to Mill Lady He has worked to repair his reputation after the collapse of hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

Another could be to enrich insiders. Having the ability to decide on airdrops for potentially multi-billion dollar projects is a huge power. Ethena, the cryptocurrency’s fastest-growing project, said it gave a portion of its airdrops to an NFT project called SchizoPosters and Redacted Remilio Babies, a community that two of its key contributors belong to, although it is not without risk. What is the reason given? “There’s no reason not to,” said founder Guy Young. PostedIt’s a style adopted by many community members, before just writing “Remilio” to end the post.

This approach of gaining cryptocurrency supporters to promote a project on social media is not new. It is well known in the industry that influential people, so-called key opinion leaders, receive ridiculously short lockups on tokens allocated for shilling projects. Some even receive a significant portion of the token supply.

In a similar vein (albeit more legal), Monad’s recent raise focused on acquiring as many cryptocurrency influencers as possible. The project mentioned 12 angel investors in its announcement post, then pointed to “others,” of which there appear to have been many. Some went this far. joke It will be easier to reveal how many people are not on the list. Heck, even I was asked to join (although I politely declined).

“We keep seeing people tweeting about Monad’s great go-to-market strategy,” said Jill Gunter, chief strategy officer at Espresso Systems. ponder “But as far as I know, most of the major GTM strategies are about getting sponsors to tweet about good GTM strategies.”

None of this is particularly surprising. Cryptocurrency owners like to deify influencers, follow their trades, and generally be exit liquidity. For example, look at how Ansem ended up in Cobie’s shoes. But this highlights how cryptocurrency has become a social game.

This could be useful for people who know of a $30,000 NFT that gives them access to a private Discord group. Especially since these airdrop allocations are likely to pump their bags, so to speak. However, the flip side is that it may start to alienate the rest of cryptocurrencies, especially those who are new to the field. But honestly, I don’t know if they’ll be interested.

Now let’s take a look at some of the stories that caught my attention this week.

The SEC has the biggest opportunity ever in DeFi.

that much Securities and Exchange Commission We’ve tracked large centralized cryptocurrency companies like Coinbase, Ripple, Binance, etc., as well as smaller DeFi projects like Ooki DAO. However, this is the first time we have tracked Uniswap, a major DeFi project.

The SEC sent the Wells notice on Wednesday to Uniswap Labs, an organization that developed decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, my colleague Elizabeth Napolitano wrote. A Wells Notice is a formal notice that the SEC intends to prosecute a defendant.

The cryptocurrency industry has reacted, calling this a “war on DeFi” with many supporters ready to take Uniswap’s side. “This is new territory for them moving forward, although it is no surprise to me or anyone else that they continue to open up new frontiers on new fronts in the war against cryptocurrencies.” Jennifer Schulp said: Director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.

But some say this could be good for cryptocurrencies. me shared the stage When asked about this topic with Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier at Paris Blockchain Week on Thursday, he responded that the industry will finally get the answers and clarity it has been craving.

Bitcoin ETF comes to Hong Kong

Hong Kong regulators could approve spot ETFs based on Bitcoin and Ethereum as early as Monday, Napolitano wrote, citing Bloomberg. The first issuers are targeting the launch of two types of spot ETFs by the end of April..

This is consistent with HashKey Exchange CEO Livio Weng telling colleague Timmy Shen that fund issuers working with HashKey have completed the development of a spot Bitcoin ETF.

While this is a notable milestone, it is unclear whether Hong Kong will have any further impact as similar cryptocurrency products have existed in Europe without coming close to the impact of American products.

Bitcoin halving is one week away

There are only seven days left until the fourth Bitcoin halving in history, and as always, questions are being raised about whether prices have reflected this.

Meanwhile, Coinbase analysts say prices may fully reflect the halving, as it hit an all-time high just weeks before it occurred. this is “The effects have already been priced in by savvy traders“They said.

On the other hand, Matt Ballensweig, head of BitGo Go Network, said halvings tend not to be reflected in the price each cycle. He pointed to the Bitcoin ETF as an example of a similar event, which in his view was not reflected in the price as it rose significantly. After the product is approved.

Either way, track the halving in The Block’s new Bitcoin Halving Countdown Tracker.

It’s all from me this week. Come back every weekend for the next edition of The Pulse.

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