Mad News Issue #24 📰 Pyth Airdrop Coming To Backpack Exchange
Mad News Issue #24 📰 Pyth Airdrop Coming To Backpack Exchange
The Backpack Exchange is open for business, KYC'd users have chance to take part in Pyth airdrop, zero-knowledge proof of reserves and Mad Lads collection sees new wave of holders join the community.
Welcome back to the Mad News! 🗞️
Backpack Exchange is open for business
Pyth token airdrop for KYC’d users
Zero-knowledge proof of reserves
Mad Lads NFTs experience new heights
Mad Lads peaks interest of Ethereum and Bitcoin maxis
Cathie Woods chats about Solana on CNBC
Solana Incubator deadline approaches
…and much more!
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Backpack Exchange opens its doors 🚪
100,000+ sat on the waitlist when Backpack Exchange opened its doors for the first time.
*Twitch Streamer* Armani Ferrante showcased the first public reveal of the Exchange design and user experience on Sunday.
Mad Lads holders were the first group to register and begin the KYC (Know Your Customer) process.
Registrations opened to the public a few days later and feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
The Exchange has began to break the barriers of blockchain maximalism and is attracting users from across the ecosystem.
The attention on Backpack and Mad Lads led to another day of trending on X.
Pyth airdrop for KYC’d users
Mad Lads holders and early registrants to the Backpack Exchange are eligible for a $PYTH airdrop.
Pyth Network is the largest first-party financial oracle solution delivering real-time market data to over 40 blockchains in a secure, transparent manner.
Pyth supports 350+ real-time price feeds across major asset classes including digital assets, equities, ETFs, FX, and commodities.
This set the proverbial timeline on fire and registrations for the Exchange skyrocketed.
See full eligibility requirements here.
What makes the Backpack Exchange different from other CEX’s?
Zero-knowledge proof of reserves is one of the biggest differentiating factors between the Backpack Exchange and other CEXs.
Every transaction is cryptographically signed, ordered, archived, and deterministically replicated across every validator in the system that collectively custodies crypto.
We will have proof of reserves. We will have an archived, authenticated transaction history of every state transition.
Backpack Exchange excitement sends Mad Lads volumes to new heights
Mad Lads NFTs experienced a rapid rise in trading demand and floor price after the launch of the Backpack Exchange..
This put the collection in a position to “flip” former Solana-collection DeGods as well as the cultural powerhouse Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Collection activity has caught the eye of NFT traders across the ecosystem. Personalities from Ethereum and Bitcoin have shown their support for the project.
Whales are packing their bags with Mad Lads NFTs.
There are ~3,700 unique holders averaging 2.7 Lads per wallet.
Mad Lads popularity peaks interest of Ethereum and Bitcoin maxis
Backpack and the Mad Lads have attracted attention from collectors outside of Solana. Eyeballs arrived first when the Backpack Wallet released EVM support.
More mindshare was acquired when the Mad Lads NFT mint broke the internet.
The Backpack Exchange announcements and subsequent launch have driven a massive public show of support from well known actors in the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains.
Kai Paula is the newest Roster member
The Roster adds professional surfer Kai Paula to it’s ranks this week.
Kai is the sixth Roster member and brings more island vibes to our timelines.
Kai is a professional surfer currently competing to qualify to the world tour.
His aspiration is to be an Olympic surfer and he is already a strong world-class standout in anything from small to big waves.
He has been building his content bank for years and has appeared in numerous surfing publications.
LAD OF THE WEEK: Kevin MD
Hallmarks of the Mad Lads community are self organization and an incredibly positive outlook on the future.
Kevin MD is a driving force behind this culture and our LOTW!
He burst onto the scene with a dense “Mad Lads starter kit” that details the who, what and where of the project.
Kevin has been instrumental in educating newcomers and can be directly attributed to onboarding multiple first time holders.
Most recently he created the first *unofficial* raiding party which is focused on providing positive support and show of community strength for people discovering Mad Lads for the first time.
Make sure to give Kevin a follow!
Mad Lads Holders Party recap video drops
Breakpoint 2023 was a big week for the Mad Lads.
The Holders Party was held in a three story wharf aside the Amsterdam canals called “SEXYLAND”.
Mad Validator has more than $36 million in staked SOL
The Mad Validator launched at the end of March with the tagline “Fockin’ Mad Lads Community Validator”.
It shot up to 500k+ SOL within a few weeks and has continued to grow since then.
Cathie Wood shows Solana love on live television
Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, made the rounds on crypto Twitter this week for her outspoken position on Solana.
Ether was faster and cheaper than Bitcoin. Solana is even faster and [more] cost effective than Ether.
Hong Kong Hacker House packed to the rafters
Solana set up shop for their final Hacker House of the year in Hong Kong.
This four day event is jam packed with panels, firesides and workshops aimed at Solana developers and builders.
There have been more than thirty official Solana events across the world in the past twelve months.
China is home to one of the world’s biggest populations and concentration of crypto users.
OPOS campaign focuses heavily on video content
The phrase “Only Possible On Solana” originates with Mert Mumtaz earlier this year. Since then the Solana Foundation has picked up the slogan and ran with it.
It has manifested in merch, roadside advertisements, creator incentive programs and most recently a video campaign focused on documenting the “why” behind Solana developers.
As a developer, building on Solana right now is super exciting…on Solana you don’t have to wait for some hypothetical future of when blockchains will be performant enough to compete with the existing internet.
Matty Taylor to host a Hyperdrive recap for VCs
The Hyperdrive Hackathon is over but things just got started for the builders who submitted their projects.
Matty Taylor, Head of Growth at the Solana Foundation, is hosting a private demo day for the best teams that emerged from the hackathon.
This may be your last chance to meet the builders before they go on to fame and glory, contact Matty here.
Solana Incubator application deadline is November 30th
The deadline is approaching quickly for Solana’s first Incubator program. Builders that are accepted will receive:
Hands on development support
Design and go-to-market planning
Fundraising support, access to VCs
Connection to Labs’ network
Amplification on the Solana Labs marketing channels
Emon Motamedi took to the stage at Breakpoint to talk all about what you can expect from the incubator program.
Superteam Earn has more than 3000 registered users
Superteam Earn is a platform where opportunities for project work, bounties and grants in the Solana ecosystem can be found.’
Explore bounties, projects, and grant opportunities for developers and non-technical talent alike
The Superteam Earn team creates a weekly thread which highlights the most exciting listings on the platform.
PODCAST CORNER!
Bankless
David Hoffman from the Bankless podcast sat down with Anatoly Yakovenko and Austin Federa at Breakpoint to chat about “Breakpoint’s evolution, Solana vs. Ethereum and exciting new releases/products coming out of Solana”.
He also released an episode devoted to Solana amid the price surge.
Lightspeed
The Lightspeed crew has been on an absolute podcast tear by releasing multiple episodes per week.
In this episode, we discuss why all eyes are on Solana, hype vs reality, Bankless' Ethereum vs Solana episode, the significance of Solana projects launching tokens and our takeaways from Breakpoint.
In this episode, we discuss their Solana bull case, how to value L1s, if DCF valuations are a meme, Solana's biggest challenges, Cosmos vs Ethereum vs Solana, macro's impact and more!
In this episode, we discuss why RWAs and payments are crypto's massive opportunity, how speculation is crypto's killer feature, Solana's comeback vs Ethereum's headstart, Coinbase's giant opportunity, where the developers are building and more!