Mad News #29 π± Lads Holders Saw It First
Mad Lads walk so that other collections can run, Backpack Exchange makes leap forward with advanced trading, Backpack Wallet responds to community requests and the Solana Saga sells out in style.
Welcome back to the Mad News! ποΈ
Advanced trading dashboard in Backpack Exchange
Jito Labs token (JTO) trading goes live
Collection locking expands to Solana blue chips
Mad Lads locking implemented on mobile app
Tristan and Armani talk future of Mad Lads and Backpack
Catching up with The Roster
The first LASSIE OF THE WEEK
β¦and much more!
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Mad Lads walk so that other Solana collections can run π
The Backpack Wallet steadily expands collection locking with the addition of Galactic Geckos and Quekz.
Collection locking was released in October and has since grown to include six more collections (including Claynosaurz, Tensorians and Monkes).
Mad Lads are a proving ground for xNFT and Backpack Wallet features.
Once new features are beta-tested by holders they roll out for other blue chip collections on Solana.
Advanced trading, depth charts and new withdrawal options go live on the Backpack Exchange π
Although the Backpack Exchange is still in Beta mode itβs beginning to look more like what mainstream CEX users have come to expect.
The most notable change is the option to toggle from Simple to Advanced trading.
Advanced trading provides a significantly more robust view of crypto charts and price indicators.
Depth charts were added to the Advanced trading view a few days later.
Newly released withdrawal functions allow users to withdraw trading funds directly to your Wallet, Address Book and Exchange Subaccounts from one central menu.
Sign up for the Backpack Exchange today!
Jito token trading pair now available πͺ
Users can now trade JTO in the new advanced trading view. JTO makes the third trading pair alongside SOL and PYTH.
Jito is a liquid staking protocol on Solana operating on a stake pool model to capture MEV rewards to JitoSOL holders.Users can stake their SOL tokens through the Jito Stake Pool to receive the JitoSOL token. JTO is the governance token of the Jito Protocol.Β
JITO Labs builds high-performance MEV infrastructure for Solana. Their goal is to make Solana more efficient, minimize the negative impact of MEV on users, and maximize MEV returned to users and stakers.Β
Backpack Wallet went dark and itβs not because of seasonal depression π
Dark mode was released in response to both user demand and the inescapable demand for web applications to offer the feature.
As of 2020, 92% of software developers prefer dark mode for their integrated development environment.
In 2020, Android users who use dark mode consume up to 43% less battery than those who donβt.
Dark Mode preference in Microsoft Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint increased by 60% in 2020.
In 2019, 79% of MacOS users switched to dark mode within three months of its release.
Backpack Wallet π€ Birdeye
Real-time token prices and 24hr movements are now displayed inside of the Backpack Wallet (including the thousands of memecoins that are currently taking over Solana).
Learn more about Birdeye here.
Lock it like you talk it π±
The mobile Backpack Wallet app launched on iOS and Android in November with a limited set of features.
The latest Wallet function, NFT collection locking, was released this week.
Tristan and Armani deliver a behind the scenes look at building Backpack π
Tristan Yver and Armani Ferrante joined the Japanese community UNITED NEKO ALLIANCE for an exploration on the motivations behind building a centralized exchange and what the future looks like for Backpack.
Listen to the full Space here (the action starts at the 10:00 minute mark).
Building an Exchange and running an Exchange business are two entirely different animals π¦
Armani also appeared on the Solfate Podcast to discuss the business operations side of launching a centralized exchange.
Our conversation touches on the capital requirements and fundraising efforts of Backpack.
Armani shares the company's approach to source availability and open source. He also reveals the timeline for the launch of Backpack Exchange and expresses his focused mindset during this crucial moment.
The Roster members demonstrate what it means to be a Mad Lad to the entire world π
Coverage of The Roster has always been sparse in the Mad News for one reason: The Roster is intended to grab the attention of eyeballs outside of the traditional crypto world.
Content created by members of The Roster has racked up millions of views in 2023.
Jakey
Jakey is the inaugural Roster member and released MAD MOVIE 1 in May 2023 with MAD MOVIE 2 and MAD MOVIE 3 coming out over the Summer.
Jakeyβs most recent accomplishment came in the form of a Guinness World Record for the most amount of clothes pins pinched on a human face in one minute.
It wouldnβt be Christmas without a little Jakey cheer and he brought that in droves with this INSANE Christmas dinner.
If you havenβt seen it already, hit the play button right now.
Lyon Farrell
Lyon Farrell joined The Roster a few months ago and has quickly become one of the biggest clip makers.
His journey as a professional snowboarder headed to the 2026 Winter Olympics is being closely followed by the Lads.
I donβt think Iβve ever felt so supported!
All of you Mad Lads make me want to go and get it!!! I put my all into today. Proud of my performance and so excited for the next opportunity! #ladsontop
-Lyon Farrell after dominating at a recent world championship
Tyler Larronde
Tyler Larronde is one of the top professional surfboarders in the world and boasts an impressive pedigree of accomplishments that began as a teenager.
Recently he sat for an interview series where he describes one of the biggest challenges in surfing: keeping calm and breathing when being pummeled by the waves.
Kai Paula
Kai Paula is one of the newest Roster Members and has been quick to slap Mad Lads branding on his surfboard before hitting the waves.
Yaoyao is our LASSIE OF THE WEEK! πΎ
Yaoyao has been lighting up social media with her βFock It.β mentality and Lassie cosplays.
Gm world, happy Monday, say the sentence βFock it.β And get the job nicely done
She was known in Solana circles long before Mad Lads for her work onboarding new users and expanding the blockchain in Asia with Bybit.
Yaoyao has played an instrumental role in the Mad Lads presence in China with her contributions to the Chinese-language newsletters and other behind the scenes projects.
More recently she joined the Solana Foundation as a Growth Manager
Solana Mobileβs Saga cell phone sells out in style π
The Solana Mobile Saga cell phone launched in early 2023 with numerous surprises and benefits for early adopters.
Most notably, 30,000,000 BONK tokens were available to claim in the Bonk! app that could be downloaded in the Saga dApp Store.
Recent popularity of the BONK made the tokens skyrocket in value with the (current) highest peak sitting around $700 USD.
It did not take long for big brain degens to realize that the cost to purchase a Saga was less than what the tokens were trading for and it led to a run on the remaining inventory.
The sellout of the Saga device coincides with a memecoin crypto rally that has swept the Solana blockchain.
If you're an Android dev, now is your chance to launch an app to ~20,000 of crypto's most terminally online mobile users, with no restrictions on tokens or NFTs.
2023: The Year of the Solana Community π
The Solana community has hundreds of wins to celebrate in 2023 although it may not have looked that way in January.
The beginning of 2023 was the depths of the coldest winters, a difficult time for people across the Solana ecosystem and the greater blockchain community.
The Solana community not only stuck around, but doubled down.Β
Some of the most notable wins include:
Helium Mobile migrating to Solana from Ethereum
increased Nakomoto coefficient (31 with 1961 validators)
Firedancer went live on testnet
multiple worldwide hackathons that rewarded millions in prizes
Visa aligns with Solana for crypto payments
Shopify integrates Solana for crypto payments
Read more about the Solana 2023 season here.
Planning for the future comes on the heels of reflecting on the previous year π€
Breakpoint 2024 leaves Europe and heads to Asia for its fourth deployment in five years (skipped one year due to COVID).
The $199 presale will last until Jan. 5th.
Starting Q2 2024, tickets will be:
-$500 for general admission
-$250 for developers & creators (application only)
-$99 for students (application only)
The future of blockchains is in the hands of teenagers π₯
Superteens is a documentary that follows the journey of four young developers as they learn how blockchain tools can change their world.
The project was filmed over the course of two years and explores the bigger picture of crypto.
SUPERTEENS is a docu-feature following four teenagers - Gajesh, Kunal, Aabis, and Ujjwal - each hailing from different states in India, who find success and purpose in the world of cryptocurrency during the global lockdown.
While leaving traditional education behind, they take a self-taught plunge into coding, hacking, and the ever-evolving digital frontier.
Solana prepares for Crypto Policy Bootcamp 2.0 at the end of January, 2024 π΄οΈ
The Solana Foundation collaborated with Polygon Labs to host the first Crypto Policy Bootcamp in October.
This was one of the first events of itβs kind and focused on learning how to effectively engage in the political process in regards to blockchain regulation.
DeFi Education Fund joins Polygon and Solana for the second Bootcamp.
Make digital collections fun again with dReader π
dReader is another app which was featured in the Solana Mobile dApp Store when the Saga launched.
Since then they have been building a robust platform for comics artists to share their work, gamify the comic reading experience and form a community around the medium.
Self proclaimed βcommunity of storytellers and story loversβ dReader has created an onchain experience that rivals anything else in the ecosystem.
You can learn more about the project in their monthly Storytellers Call on January 8th with special guest and friend of the Mad News, Austin Federa.
First Shopify, now Hivemapper integrates Solana payment rails π
Hivemapper is a crypto native platform that reimagines the way we generate digital maps.
The project is called Hivemapper because it is like a beehive. A beehive makes honey by having thousands of bees fly around and collect nectar from flowers.
By working together, all the bees in the community get to enjoy some delicious honey.
Hivemapper makes maps by having thousands of people use a dashcam to take images of the world while they drive. By working together, all the people in the community get to share the fruit of their work: a fresh and detailed map of the world.
They integrated the Solana Pay payment rail last week meaning that users can now purchase the hardware needed to contribute to the Hivemapper project with SOL.
Read Solanaβs case study on Hivemapper here.
Trezor cold wallet storage supports SOL/SPL tokens π₯Ά
Cold storage is a method of storing crypto tokens and other digital assets on a device that is not directly connected to the internet.
Ledger holds the majority mindshare of crypto users when it comes to the subject of cold storage but Trezor is hot on their trail.
The hardware builder announced that two of their most popular models, Model T and Safe 3, now support SOL and SPL tokens.
This is a major move in the light of Ledgers most recent hack.
Shed some Light on the situation π‘
Light Protocol broke news of the ZK Anchor extension that takes the well known developer framework and βsuperchargesβ it for ZK.
Our vision is simple:
Make Solana the best chain for ZK.
One BIG part is developer experience.
Eventually, any Solana developer should be able to write programs with public and private state fast and safely.
And thatβs precisely what ZK Anchor is for.
The extension is still in βalphaβ mode and in a constant state of flux while developers tinker with the protocol.
View the most current status on GitHub here.
PODCAST CORNER! π₯
Chewing Glass
In this episode, Chase chats with Scott Hague (aka CloakdDev), whose project, Fluxbot, won the Grand Champion prize in the latest Solana Hyperdrive Hackathon.
Subscribe to Chewing Glass here.
Solana Community Validator Discussion
The Solana validator community discusses the mainnet-beta software updates, recent bugs being investigated, upcoming changes to SFDP and validator gated roles in Discord.
Subscribe to the Solana YouTube channel here.
Lightspeed
Udi Wertheimer joins us to discuss Ordinals, Taproot Wizards and how to solve Bitcoin's branding problem.
Udi is the co-founder of Taproot Wizards, a wildly successful Bitcoin NFT project that hopes to change Bitcoin's image and community.
Rooter (co-founder of Solend) and Edgar (co-founder of MarginFi) join us to debate last week's mSOL depeg and how to implement risk management.
Last week's mSOL depeg led to liquidations throughout Solana DeFi and a heated debate between the Solend and MarginFi teams.
Subscribe to the Lightspeed YouTube channel here.