Mad News #40 π¦ Is Backpack Exchange an L2?
Pre Season trading event snapshot date was announced, Wormhole token allocation for Mad Lads, Backpack as an L2 on Solana and a new extreme sports addition to The Roster.
Welcome to the Mad News! ποΈ
Pre Season trading event snapshot date
Wormhole token allocation news breaks internet
Mad Lads holders prepare for more airdrops
Backpack Exchange officially recognized by CoinMarketCap
Armani Ferrante speculates on Backpackβs role as an L2
New extreme sports Roster member joins the ranks
β¦and much more!
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Pre Season trading event snapshot scheduled for March 18th ποΈ
Pre Season is nearing an epoch, the trading event is a simplified pre-launch version of the Backpack Rank program.
The first snapshot of the Backpack Exchange Pre-Season will be on March 18th.
Participants have battled it out over the last several weeks to remain on the Top 100 Leaderboard by trading tokens like SOL, BONK and WIF.
Leaderboard standings are determined by an overall aggregate of trading volume meaning there is plenty of time to climb before the first snapshot, start trading here.
Wormhole token allocation news breaks the internet π₯οΈ
Mad Lads NFTs which are endowed with the βWβ Badge are on track to net a substantial allocation of Wormhole tokens.
Eligible Mad Lads will receive 16000 $W.
3200 liquid on $W TGE and the remaining amount will vest daily for a year.
Check here to see if you qualify for a Wormhole allocation.
Wormholeβs token event has been a widespread topic of conversation in the crypto community for the better part of two years.
The platform has positioned itself on the borders of all major blockchains as a service to move funds from one chain to another, this has made Wormhole a household name.
The Wormhole airdrop for Mad Lads holders is a genius move, and an innovation that we haven't seen before.
It's a new mechanic to target and reward holders. You can send a badge to holders for buying your assets, participating in your community, or anything else, and reward them.
It drives the biggest Solana NFT project into your ecosystem, and along with that a lot of attention.
The Mad Lads connection to the multichain platform deepened after an announcement that Wormholeβs token will be available to trade on the Backpack Exchange upon launch.
Needless to say the Mad Lads community responded emphatically and helped fuel the hype which sent both Mad Lads and Wormhole to the Trending Topics section of Twitter.
Mad Lads and airdrops have become ubiquitous in Solana culture πͺ
Holders of Mad Lads NFTs have netted upwards of $20,000 USD worth of tokens over the last few months with no end in site.
The unofficial airdrop marketing handbook states that including the Mad Lads community is the first step to ensure that a project reaches as many Solana eyeballs as possible.
The Mad Lads team has done something no other NFT community has yet managed to do: make the community influential enough to attract airdrops from independent projects.
Pike announced that Mad Lads holders fall into a tier that represents the current meta of blue chip projects on Solana and Ethereum.
Join the Pike Discord to qualify.
Pike is a universal liquidity market optimized for native assets.
Pike enables lending and borrowing using native assets directly on their respective blockchains, eliminating the need for wrapping and cross-chain transfers.
Portals is the most recent powerhouse to place Mad Lads into a premier position for their upcoming token launch.
Specific details have not been released but Portals confirmed that holding more than one Mad Lad NFT will increase your allocations.
It's Your World. Build it. Explore it.
A multiplayer world-building platform that allows anyone to build, share, and play in an open world that is built by your imagination.
-Portals
Backpack Exchange monitoring is now live on CoinMarketCap π
Binance owned CoinMarketCap integrated Backpack Exchange monitoring to itβs crypto price tracking platform.
The platform also released itβs βCMC Crypto Awards 2024β list which included Solana as itβs Crypto of the Year.
CoinMarketCap sits at the top of the funnel for users seeking crypto and blockchain information.
Backpack tops trading volume charts with WIF as the vehicle πΆ
CoinMarketCap isnβt the only watchdog that has picked up on the Backpack Exchange, CoinGecko integrated Backpack Exchange monitoring first.
Backpack might be Solana's newest L2 π§±
Backpack developers messed around and built an L2β¦kind of.
An L2 (Layer 2) is a network built on top of a blockchain like Solana, Ethereum and Bitcoin.
No fraud proofs though. And definitely centralized (obviously).
If we can figure out how to regularly checkpoint zk proof of reserves back to mainnet (proofs already done, just need to actually integrate it into the system and checkpoint), then holy moly.
Might just be an L2 by accident.
-Armani Ferrante
The main role for L2s on platforms like Ethereum and Bitcoin is to reduce the cost and enhance speed of transactions on the blockchain.
This is not needed to build on Solana.
Solana ecosystem making major footholds in Asia π
It is no secret that Backpack has eyes on the Asian crypto markets, the team doubled down on their commitment by moving their headquarters to Tokyo in late-2023.
Backpack has numerous dedicated Chinese support lines and makes interacting with the community a priority.
Armani Ferrante and Can Sun joined Wormhole on a Backpack China hosted Space to talk about what the teams have been cooking together.
Aurory puts Backpack on top of their wallet connector β¬οΈ
Aurory posted a Backpack infused teaser last week which paid off a few days.
The Backpack Wallet now sits on top where it belongs.
LAD OF THE WEEK: Kash Dhanda π
Our LOTW is none other than the face of SuperteamDAO, Kash Dhanda!
He is known as founder of Solanaβs Superteam movement, hosting the monthly Solana Ecosystem call, nurturing the Superteam Earn gig platform and imbibing a unique philosophy into Solana culture.
In the long term we'd love to become a proper network state in the kind of Balajiβn version of it.
We're still pretty far away from that, but we now have an international community aligned by a common ideology and common passion around building in crypto and becoming self sovereign through earning.
-βSuperteamDAO has their eyes set on becoming a network stateβ
The newly minted father is a staple at IRL Solana events and has worked with just about every major platform in the space.
I connected with Kash a few months ago for Issue #22 of Mad News which dived deep into the Superteam ethos.
He is a Day One Lad and constant champion of the brand, if you havenβt followed Kash already make sure to do it now!
Fresh blood joins Mad Lads βThe Rosterβ π©οΈ
Professional wingsuit base jumper, sky diver, big wave surfer and speed rider Jokke Sommer joined the Mad Lads Roster this week.
Jokkeβs Instagram feed looks like an advertisement for beta blockers as his adventures take him to the heights (and depths) of the world.
Follow along on the journey here.
Madness isnβt limited to The Roster βοΈ
Speaking of heights, artist BRΞNDON absolutely ripped a monster aerial stunt with the Mad Lads shining proudly on his back.
Are we getting close to the first community sourced Roster member? π
A love of extreme sports runs deep in the Mad Lads community with snowboarding and skiing leading the charge.
Holders like zach.pumps have been making mad content all winter.
This bloggers prediction is that we will see a non-extreme sport athlete integrated into The Roster before the end of 2024 (NFA/DYOR).
Mad Spaniards descend on Solana events in Madrid πͺπΈ
Spanish Solana builders are meeting up in Madrid for an intense building session.
El #SolanaDayMAD estΓ‘ cargado de sorpresas. Y ahora, junto a Backpack este evento va a llevar a EspaΓ±a al siguiente nivel.
Oportunidades + Solana
-Marzo 16
-Madrid
No te quedes afuera de la ola blockchain
This IRL activation is in collaboration with Heavy Duty Builders, a group focused on growing the Spanish speaking developer community.
Go to war in BitBrawl with a Mad Skull by your side π
BitBrawl announced that a Mad Skull brawler has joined their PVP arena.
BitBrawl is a fighting game that is linked with the Solana blockchain, making it easily accessible to crypto-based gamers.
Players can use their own brawlers or play with skins if they own an NFT from one of the game's collaborative projects, such as DeGods, Pesky Penguins, and Thugbirdz.
In true Mad Lads fashion the Skull is designed to fock things up for itβs enemies.
The Colosseum hackathon hype machine is officially in motion ποΈ
Solanaβs hackathon hype machine Colosseum has officially launched their first event, Renaissance.
Winners will receive $250,000 infusion in pre-seed funding and direct mentorship by Solanaβs top founders.
Other prizes include a $50K Grand Champion, $10K Public Goods Award, $5K Climate Award and a $5K University Award.
Colosseum itself is also looking to expand itβs team during the hackathon period.
Interrupting your regular Hackathon news broadcast to say that Colosseum is hiring!
If you're a killer full-stack dev, interested in crypto + company formation, and have a compulsive habit of shipping quality code, please reach out or apply.
NYC Hacker House is located in Brooklyn π½
Solanaβs NYC Hacker House takes place the week before NFT.NYC 2024 at a new location, ZeroSpace Brooklyn.
Thursday, March 28
Friday, March 29
The Solana x GSR Hacker House is a two-day offline event with talks, panels, and workshops by industry thought leaders, in-person guidance from Solana Labs and Solana Foundation team members, and networking opportunities with Solana ecosystem teams.Β
Marchβs Solana Ecosystem Call draws thousands of builders βοΈ
The monthly Solana Ecosystem Call is a chance for the community to claim our wins.
More than thirty regional teams hosted IRL watch parties for the Solana Ecosystem Call including Ho Chi Minh, Dubai, Auckland, Tokyo and London.
DRiP HAUS a victim of their own success π§
Even rock bottom Solana transaction fees are starting to become a considerable cost for the constantly expanding DRiP platform.
This comes on the tail of the platformβs recent expansion to 6.5M NFT airdrops per week.
Subscribe to the Backpack DRiP channel here.
Teleport has emerged as one of the most compelling DePIN projects π
Teleport has been building on the back of their mission to disrupt the rideshare market since 2022.
Users of Teleport can pay using Solana tokens and fiat currencies, drivers are able to accept stablecoins as payment which is deposited to their bank accounts or a custodial wallet.
The Daily Bolt put on a masterclass about the Teleport mission, technology and insights that come directly from Teleportβs founders.
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