This Week in Review | Binance Initiates Listing and Delisting Voting; Identity of '50x Leverage' Whale Revealed
BlockBeats will compile the key industry news of the week (3.17-3.23) in this article, and recommend in-depth articles to help readers better understand the market and learn about industry trends.
Key News Review
Binance Launches "Coin Voting," 9 Memes Listed, Wallet Introduces 6-Month Fee-Free Trading
On March 20, Binance officially announced that it would launch the first batch of coin voting activities, inviting users to vote for the first batch of tokens to be listed on Binance under the official post on Binance Square. The first batch of coin voting projects is limited to tokens based on the Binance Chain (BNB Chain), and future voting rounds will expand to include all tokens in Binance Alpha. The first batch of tokens includes BANANAS31 (Banana For Scale), BID (CreatorBid), Broccoli (Broccoli), Broccoli (CZ'S Dog), KOMA (Koma Inu), SIREN (SIREN), mubarak (mubarak), TUT (Tutorial), WHY (why). Related Reading: "Binance Launches "Coin Voting," 9 Memes Listed, How Can Users Participate?" Additionally, Binance Wallet announced that starting from 16:00 on March 17, 2025, all exchange trading pairs in Binance Wallet will enjoy zero transaction fees. The event will end at 16:00 on September 17, 2025.
"50x Leverage Whale" Real Identity Controversy: A Real-World Cybercriminal
The mysterious high-frequency trading whale on Hyperliquid, known as the "50x Leverage Whale," attracted attention in the industry due to its super high win rate. The whale made around $20 million in profits through high-leverage positions from January to March 2025. Many suspect that the whale's precise market entries were insider trading by the Trump Cryptocurrency Group. However, on March 18, blockchain detective ZachXBT revealed that the market's "50x Leverage Whale" is, in reality, a cybercriminal who used stolen funds for gambling.
Investigations uncovered that this individual exploited vulnerabilities in gambling games and phishing attacks to obtain funds, and engaged in high-leverage trades on Hyperliquid and GMX through multiple wallets. Ultimately, the whale was traced back to William Parker (formerly known as Alistair Packover), a convicted felon with a history of fraud and gambling crimes. Currently, the funds are primarily held in an Ethereum address. Related Reading: "50x Hyperliquid Whale Identity Revealed, Turns Out to Be a Fraudster Who Made Headlines in the UK?"
Movement Genesis: MoveDrop to Launch in April with Additional Incentives
Movement Labs co-founder Rushi Manche responded to recent airdrop controversies in a post on X, stating, "MoveDrop is coming soon (confirmed to launch in April). Ahead of this, a few key issues need to be addressed: · Ensure TVL is bridged from Cornucopia, Parthenon is ready, there are no additional claiming conditions, guard against Sybil Activity, additional incentives. This will ensure a smooth and delay-free MoveDrop process."
OKX DEX Aggregator Service Paused, Impacting Multiple API Trading Bots
On March 17, OKX officially announced that after consulting with regulatory authorities, they have voluntarily decided to temporarily pause the DEX aggregator service to conduct more security upgrades to prevent further abuse. As a result, related limit orders and cross-chain orders will be automatically canceled. OKX stated that the specific resumption time will depend on the progress of the upgrades. During this period, users can still trade by redirecting to third-party protocols, and other OKX Web3 wallet services will not be affected. Related Reading: "DEX Aggregation Product Hits Pause, OKX Seems a Bit Misunderstood"
BNB Chain Sees Emergence of Multiple Memes, CZ and He Yi Engage in Public Chain Hype
This week, under CZ's leadership, multiple meme tokens emerged on the BNB Chain. CZ and He Yi chose to interact with some of them, thereby promoting BNB Chain. With the Solana meme market weakening, market funds began flowing to the BNB Chain. On March 22, BNB Chain (BSC) TVL surpassed $7 billion, currently at $7.06 billion. The 24-hour DEX trading volume on BSC reached $2.61 billion, the leverage contract trading volume reached $93.47 million, net fund inflow was $28.1 million, and active addresses reached 1.21 million.
Trump Provides "Speech" via Video at Digital Assets Summit, But Does Not Announce Any New Policies
Former US President Trump's "speech" at the 2025 Digital Assets Summit lasted only about 2 minutes, consisted entirely of "pleasantries," and did not contain any new content, contrary to previous leaks by reporter Eleanor Terrett claiming Trump would announce his upcoming crypto policies at the US Digital Assets Summit. From the live stream of the summit, the live chat room was filled with disappointed comments from viewers.
AUCTION Token Skyrockets 500% in a Single Week, Users Question Whale Manipulation
The Bounce Brand ecosystem token AUCTION has shown remarkable strength during this period, demonstrating outstanding price performance. Since hitting a low of $7 in early February, the AUCTION price has been on a steady rise, reaching $68 on March 21, not only surpassing the previous year's price high but also achieving a peak gain of over 470% in just a month and a half, far above the market average. The violent price surge has also brought about an extremely high funding rate, with all trading platforms hitting the limit of around -2% and maintaining it for several days. Many users on social media have expressed that the irrational price movement is a result of malicious manipulation by whales behind the scenes. Related Reading: "AUCTION Surges Nearly 500% in 50 Days: Is It 'Whale' Manipulation or Discovery of Potential Value?"
Whale: Strategy Amplifies Bitcoin's High Volatility by 2.5x to U.S. Stocks, Professional Institutions Utilize It for Arbitrage
On March 17, according to Whale, co-founder and CEO of Cobo, Strategy (MSTR) cleverly amplified Bitcoin's high volatility by 2.5 times and transmitted it to the U.S. stock market. Professional institutions are leveraging this high volatility for arbitrage to gain short-term profits. MSTR is accumulating a large amount of Bitcoin through the issuance of convertible bonds and ATM issuances to use cash for mass Bitcoin hoarding. Ordinary shareholders bear the brunt of severe stock price fluctuations and short-term downside risks but passively receive "Bitcoin gains" with each share of Bitcoin increasing. Bitcoin holders benefit from ongoing market inflows and Bitcoin price appreciation.
U.S. SEC Acting Chair: Considering Repealing or Modifying Proposals on Investor Asset Protection During Biden's Term, Including Cryptocurrency
On March 18, the Acting Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that they are considering adjusting the monthly reporting rules on the holdings of mutual funds and ETFs. They are considering repealing or modifying proposals related to investor asset protection (including cryptocurrency) brought up during Biden's term.
EOS Rebrands to Vaulta, Focusing on Web3 Banking Business
On March 19, EOS Network announced that it will rebrand to Vaulta, with a renewed focus on Web3 banking business. This transformation comes with a scheduled token swap expected by the end of May. It also introduces the Vaulta Bank Advisory Board, a team composed of finance and blockchain industry experts dedicated to bridging the gap between traditional banking and decentralized systems. The members of this board include executives from Systemic Trust, Tetra, and ATB Financial. Vaulta plans to retain its technical infrastructure from the EOS Network, including smart contract architecture, decentralized databases, and blockchain interoperability. As part of its Web3 banking initiative, the platform will integrate with the Bitcoin-focused digital banking solution exSat. Vaulta will leverage multiple partnerships with collaborators such as Ceffu, Spirit Blockchain, and Blockchain Insurance to expand its Web3 banking business ecosystem.
YZi Labs Announces Investment in Plume Network
On March 17, YZi Labs announced an investment in Plume Network, aiming to bring real-world assets on-chain and advance RWAfi. Plume is building an EVM-compatible environment that not only introduces a diverse set of RWAs but also plugs them into a composable RWAfi ecosystem, giving them utility. Plume's mission is to tailor blockchain infrastructure to both crypto-native users and institutions. Having successfully completed a testnet with over 18 million wallets and partnered with over 180 protocols, Plume not only brings the real world onto the blockchain but also bridges the gap between Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and traditional finance, aiming to unlock the full potential of RWAfi. Read more: "Understanding Plume Network: Up 20% Against the Trend, Binance's Chosen RWA Exclusive L1"
Crypto KOL: WhiteRock Suspected to Be Launched by a Team with a Rug Pull History, Users Advised to Be Cautious
On March 16, according to crypto Key Opinion Leader (KOL) Helicopter Money, the on-chain brokerage project WhiteRock is suspected to be launched by the ZKasino team, and users are advised to be cautious. ZKasino had previously rug pulled users of 10,500 ETH (worth over $30 million at the time). Read more: "ZKasino Making a Comeback? New Project WhiteRock Allegedly 'Re-shelled' by the Same Team"
Solana Futures Officially Launch on CME
On March 17, Solana futures officially launched on CME, where CME now offers two sizes of new contracts: a micro contract covering 25 SOL and a standard contract covering 500 SOL. Giovanni Vicioso, Global Head of CME Group's cryptocurrency products, stated, "As Solana continues to be the platform of choice for developers and investors, these new futures contracts will provide a capital-efficient tool to support their investment and hedging strategies."
Crypto.com Pushes Through Controversial Vote to Reissue 700 Billion Burned CRO Tokens
On March 18, the final vote result for "Crypto.com to Reissue 700 Billion Burned CRO Tokens" was 61.18% in favor, 17.61% against, 20.11% abstained, and 0.11% vetoed. The participation rate for the vote reached 70.18%. Throughout the voting period of the proposal (March 2 to 16), most of the time, the support votes barely exceeded the opposing votes, but as the required 33.4% voting threshold was not met, the proposal did not take effect. It wasn't until last Sunday, when 33.5 million CRO tokens were added to the supporting votes, that the threshold was met. With the vote passing, the Cronos blockchain will undergo an upgrade to mint 700 billion new CRO tokens. These newly issued tokens will be gradually unlocked over five years for various purposes, including providing funding for a potential CRO ETF.
Canary Funds Submits First SUI ETF Application to the US SEC
On March 17, according to official sources, Canary Funds submitted the first SUI ETF application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If approved, this ETF will provide investors with direct exposure to the SUI spot exposure, further driving institutional adoption.
Mask Network Founder: Decentralized Writing Platform Mirror's Content Has Not Been On-Chain for Two Months
On March 17, according to Mask Network founder Suji Yan, decentralized writing platform Mirror has not stored any articles on-chain since 12:38 am on January 13, 2025, with all content only being stored on servers for the past two months. Related reading: "The Rise and Fall of Mirror: From a Pioneer of Web3 Content Revolution to a Sample of 'Decentralized Bubble'"
This Week's Popular Articles
"Solana Ad Backfires, Should Public Blockchains Take Political Sides?"
Solana and Base recently had a dispute over ideological issues, reflecting the blockchain projects' divergent political stances. Solana released an ad implying that certain modern ideologies hinder innovation, which was later deleted but minted by the community, and Base responded with a short video. Solana has been criticized for its support of the "Black Lives Matter" movement, while Ethereum insists on decentralization and political neutrality. Projects like Solana and Base are increasingly aligning with Trumpism, while Ethereum remains independent, demonstrating the competition for political discourse in the public blockchain ecosystem. The crypto world is transitioning from a technical competition to an ideological game, and the belief in decentralization faces the challenge of real-world survival rules.
"The People Who Left the Telegram Mini Games"
The TON ecosystem was once seen as a traffic gold mine for Web3 but quickly declined after a brief boom. The Telegram mini-games in the TON ecosystem had attracted substantial funds, resulting in the emergence of hundreds of games within a short period. TVL increased by 70 times, and the TON price briefly surged from $2 to $8. However, the extremely low customer acquisition cost led to artificially inflated data, with a very low proportion of real users, making the ecosystem's traffic manipulated by project teams and studios. Internal factional struggles within the TON Foundation, with key resources controlled by a Russian team, gradually led to the core ecosystem development being dominated by the TOP organization. The TON Foundation's strategic shift towards DeFi suddenly left small game developers without support. Coupled with the arrest of the Telegram founder and frequent listings on exchanges leading to oversaturation of the market, the TON ecosystem quickly plummeted, turning Web3's anticipated "traffic explosion outlet" into a short-lived speculative game.
"CZ's 'Post-Binance Era': 170 Days, 363 Tweets, Busier Than When CEO?"
Since stepping down as Binance CEO, CZ has been even more active, frequently tweeting and participating in various activities. He has not only invested in decentralized science (DeSci) and biotechnology but has also demonstrated strong market influence through meme coins, driving the Meme economy on the BNB Chain. At the same time, he is dedicated to founding Giggle Academy, using blockchain technology to reshape the education system, emphasizing improving retention rates through gamified learning, and advocating for practical skill assessment to replace traditional degrees. CZ's transformation is not only a reshaping of his personal brand but also signifies his new role positioning in the crypto ecosystem.
"Latest Interview with Andre Cronje: 'I Didn't Enter Crypto to Make Money' | In-Depth Dialogue"
In this article, Andre Cronje shares his original intentions for entering the crypto industry, his views on the current state of the industry, and his future outlook. He mentioned that he is not primarily money-driven but is attracted by the industry's innovative potential. Despite the abundance of low-quality projects and fund flow issues in the current industry, he persists in solving the industry's challenges. Andre discussed the impact of meme coins on capital flow, compared the differences between the ICO era and now, and pointed out that infrastructure progress has reached 50%-60% but still needs to be breakthrough. He also emphasized that future innovation will come from "crypto-native" developers, hoping to drive the development of decentralized exchanges and infrastructure, ultimately bringing about a transformation in the financial industry.
"STO: Possibility, Path, and Long-term Impact of U.S. Stocks on the Chain"
STO (Security Token Offering) has regained attention in the crypto field, especially after Coinbase's CEO and CFO proposed restarting stock tokenization, becoming a hot topic. This topic was first mentioned in 2020 but was not able to progress due to unfavorable regulatory conditions. Recently, with the SEC's abandonment of the lawsuit against Coinbase and the government's more crypto-friendly attitude, Coinbase intends to tokenize its stocks and plans to issue them on the Base chain. The main advantage of stock tokenization is its ability to break geographical restrictions, transforming the traditional financial market into a global market. In addition, stock tokenization may empower stocks, expanding their functionality from a mere shareholder certificate to a multifunctional tool usable for pledging, payments, and more, bringing greater value.
"Ethena Releases New Public Chain Converge, Is the Stablecoin Leading the Way in DeFi+TradFi?"
Converge is a settlement network driven by Ethena Labs and Securitize, aiming to integrate traditional finance with DeFi, using USDe and USDtb as core assets to build a high-performance EVM-compatible network. By supporting institutional fund inflows and tokenized assets, Converge will provide permissionless and permissioned financial applications, driving deep integration between traditional finance and crypto finance, with the mainnet scheduled to launch in the second quarter.
Mirror was once a pioneer in the Web3 content creation platform, empowering creators with ownership and revenue from their content. However, due to strategic shifts, product weaknesses, regulatory pressure, and user growth challenges, the platform gradually declined. Although it once garnered widespread attention in the crypto community, its deviation from the decentralized ethos, key data centralization, and an economic model similar to Web2 platforms led to a breakdown of user trust. Ultimately, Mirror was acquired and transformed, marking the failure of Web3 content platforms and the collapse of the decentralized ethos.
The author of this article reflected on his cryptocurrency investment experience, sharing three major lessons learned from greed, emotional investing, and lifestyle traps. He suffered heavy losses in the 2018 bear market due to blindly chasing altcoin investments and then lost everything through futures trading. In March 2020, the Bitcoin flash crash led him to completely exit the crypto space and switch to film production. In the end, he realized that greed, emotional investing, and rapidly upgrading his lifestyle were the root causes of his failure.
Liquidity providers play a key role in the market but may also engage in unethical practices. Liquidity providers can be divided into active and passive categories, with active providers potentially profiting by manipulating market prices, collaborating with project teams, or influencing coin prices. In the past, many liquidity providers have been involved in regulatory investigations, such as Jump Crypto and Cumberland DRW. Common manipulation tactics by liquidity providers include wash trading, pump and dump schemes, and many providers also invest in projects to influence the market through liquidity provision or funding support. Project teams often choose multiple liquidity providers to spread risk, but a lack of regulation and oversight makes it difficult to effectively curb these behaviors.
BSC has recently made a strong push to promote the Meme ecosystem by incentivizing liquidity, fostering ecosystem partnerships, and developing infrastructure to advance the overall on-chain ecosystem. However, despite short-term increases in liquidity and users, the long-term effects are not significant. BSC's TVL and on-chain activity have fluctuated, especially as Meme-related liquidity incentives have not led to stable user growth. While Meme tokens have performed well in the market, other tokens have generally declined, and the overall impact has not surpassed the performance of other chains.
Aave announced the launch of the RWA plan Horizon on March 13, allowing institutions to use tokenized money market funds as collateral to borrow stablecoins, with plans to migrate to Aave V4 in the future. However, the community has raised strong objections to Horizon's potential issuance of new tokens and its profit distribution mechanism, believing that this move would dilute AAVE's value, harm the interests of long-term holders, and question Aave Labs' motives. Faced with ongoing opposition, founder Stani first attempted to explain, but eventually compromised on March 16, committing to using only the AAVE token. This incident highlights Aave's challenge in balancing institutional demands and community interests as it explores the RWA space.
"Malicious Node Earns 1000 SOL in a Single Transaction, Why Has Solana Become an MEV Hotspot?"
Solana recently faced frequent sandwich attacks on transactions due to MEV-related issues, with users complaining of being "front-run." Some traders suffered significant SOL losses when selling $GANG tokens due to routing issues, and analysis indicated that some Jito validators may have leaked data, allowing attackers to profit in advance. Despite Solana Foundation taking measures to remove malicious nodes, attackers continue to monitor transactions through private RPC. Unlike Ethereum, which limits transaction manipulation through MEV-Boost, Solana faces greater difficulty in prevention due to relatively centralized validators. In the current scenario, users can reduce slippage and enable MEV protection features to mitigate risks. However, if the issue persists, Solana's ecosystem reputation may be at risk.
"Why Will a Single New Energy Asset No Longer Be the Hotspot of the RWA Market?"
The hype around the new energy market has declined, with single new energy assets facing challenges of saturation, illiquidity, and policy uncertainty. Traditional investment and financing models struggle to adapt to market changes, and cross-industry asset portfolios are becoming a new trend in the RWA market. Integration models across industries such as new energy + AI hashing power, transportation, logistics, commodities, agriculture, etc., not only enhance asset returns but also create new investment opportunities. In the future, RWA investments need to break traditional boundaries and explore diversified asset portfolios to achieve higher returns and greater market adaptability.
"Bitcoin in the Shadow of Trade Wars: How to Find Balance Between Risk and Hedge?"
Bitcoin's status as a hedge asset has been questioned in recent years, especially under global economic pressures and market volatility, where Bitcoin's performance lags behind traditional hedge assets like gold. Many experts believe that Bitcoin's high volatility makes it unsuitable as a hedge tool. Although Bitcoin has the potential for long-term value storage, it is more often seen as a speculative asset highly correlated with risk assets such as tech stocks. Bitcoin's dual nature means it may behave differently in different economic contexts, serving as a hedge tool in specific situations or being significantly affected during market turmoil.
"Strategy Reboots 'Buy Buy Buy' Mode? A Comprehensive Analysis of the New Financing Scheme"
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) plans to issue up to $21 billion in 8% Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock, marking an innovation in the company's financing approach. Unlike past reliance on debt financing and stock issuance, preferred stock is not tied to company performance and has no fixed maturity date, offering greater financing flexibility. Although it carries a higher dividend rate (8%), it avoids the repayment pressure of traditional debt financing. This financing method may bring more stable cash flow to Strategy, especially for purchasing Bitcoin. However, the market has doubts about whether it is suitable for the current downturn, as it may increase volatility risks.
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專訪Virtuals聯創empty:AI 創業不需要大量資金,Crypto是答案之一
今年 2 月,Base 生態中的 AI 協議 Virtuals 宣布跨鏈至 Solana,然而加密市場隨後進入流動性緊縮期,AI Agent 板塊從人聲鼎沸轉為低迷,Virtuals 生態也陷入一段蟄伏期。
三月初,BlockBeats 對 Virtuals 共同創辦人 empty 進行了一次專訪。彼時,團隊尚未推出如今被廣泛討論的 Genesis Launch 機制,但已在內部持續探索如何透過機制設計激活舊資產、提高用戶參與度,並重構代幣發行與融資路徑。那是一個市場尚未復甦、生態尚處冷啟動階段的時間點,Virtuals 團隊卻沒有停下腳步,而是在努力尋找新的產品方向和敘事突破口。
兩個月過去,AI Agent 板塊重新升溫,Virtuals 代幣反彈超 150%,Genesis 機製成為帶動生態回暖的重要觸發器。從積分獲取規則的動態調整,到專案參與熱度的持續上升,再到「新代幣帶老代幣」的機制閉環,Virtuals 逐漸走出寒冬,並再次站上討論焦點。
值得注意的是,Virtuals 的 Genesis 機制與近期 Binance 推出的 Alpha 積分系統有一些相似之處,評估用戶在 Alpha 和幣安錢包生態系統內的參與度,決定用戶 Alpha 代幣空投的資格。用戶可透過持倉、交易等方式獲得積分,積分越高,參與新項目的機會越大。透過積分系統篩選使用者、分配資源,專案方能夠更有效地激勵社群參與,提升專案的公平性和透明度。 Virtuals 和 Binance 的探索,或許預示著加密融資的新趨勢正在形成。
回看這次對話,empty 在專訪中所展現出的思路與判斷,正在一步步顯現其前瞻性,這不僅是一場圍繞打新機制的訪談,更是一次關於“資產驅動型 AI 協議”的路徑構建與底層邏輯的深度討論。
BlockBeats:可以簡單分享一下最近團隊主要在忙些什麼?
empty:目前我們的工作重點主要有兩個部分。第一部分,我們希望將 Virtuals 打造成一個類似「華爾街」的代理人(Agent)服務平台。設想一下,如果你是專注於 Agent 或 Agent 團隊建立的創業者,從融資、發幣到流動性退出,整個流程都需要係統性的支援。我們希望為真正專注於 Agent 和 AI 研發的團隊,提供這一整套服務體系,讓他們可以把精力集中在底層能力的開發上,而不用為其他環節分心。這一塊的工作其實也包括了與散戶買賣相關的內容,後面可以再詳細展開。
第二部分,我們正在深入推進 AI 相關的佈局。我們的願景是建立一個 AI 社會,希望每個 Agent 都能聚焦自身優勢,同時透過彼此之間的協作,實現更大的價值。因此,最近我們發布了一個新的標準——ACP(Agent Communication Protocol),目的是讓不同的 Agent 能夠相互互動、協作,共同推動各自的業務目標。這是目前我們主要在推進的兩大方向。
BlockBeats:可以再展開說說嗎?
empty:在我看來,其實我們面對的客戶群可以分為三類:第一類是專注於開發 Agent 的團隊;第二類是投資者,包括散戶、基金等各種投資機構;第三類則是 C 端用戶,也就是最終使用 Agent 產品的個人用戶。
不過,我們主要的精力其實是放在前兩大類──也就是團隊和投資人。對於 C 端用戶這一塊,我們並不打算直接介入,而是希望各個 Agent 團隊能夠自己解決 C 端市場的拓展問題。
此外,我們也認為,Agent 與 Agent 之間的交互作用應該成為一個核心模式。簡單來說,就是未來的服務更多應該是由一個 Agent 銷售或提供給另一個 Agent,而不是單純賣給人類使用者。因此,在團隊的 BD 工作中,我們也積極幫助現有的 AI 團隊尋找這樣的客戶和合作機會。
BlockBeats:大概有一些什麼具體案例呢?
empty:「華爾街」說白了就是圍繞資本運作體系的建設,假設你是一個技術團隊,想要融資,傳統路徑是去找 VC 募資,拿到資金後開始發展。如果專案做得不錯,接下來可能會考慮進入二級市場,例如在紐約證券交易所上市,或是在 Binance 這樣的交易所上幣,實現流動性退出。
我們希望把這一整套流程打通-從早期融資,到專案開發過程中對資金的靈活使用需求,再到最終二級市場的流動性退出,全部覆蓋和完善,這是我們希望補齊的一條完整鏈條。
而這一部分的工作和 ACP(Agent Communication Protocol)是不同的,ACP 更多是關於 Agent 與 Agent 之間交互標準的製定,不直接涉及資本運作系統。
BlockBeats:它和現在 Virtuals 的這個 Launchpad 有什麼差別呢?資金也是從 C 端來是嗎?
empty:其實現在你在 Virtuals 上發幣,如果沒有真正融到資金,那就只是發了一個幣而已,實際是融不到錢的。我們目前能提供的服務,是透過設定買賣時的交易稅機制,從中提取一部分稅收回饋給創業者,希望這部分能成為他們的現金流來源。
不過,問題其實還分成兩塊。第一是如何真正幫助團隊完成融資,這個問題目前我們還沒有徹底解決。第二是關於目前專案發行模式本身存在的結構性問題。簡單來說,現在的版本有點像過去 Pumpfun 那種模式——也就是當專案剛上線時,部分籌碼就被外賣給了外部投資人。但現實是,目前整個市場上存在著太多機構集團和「狙擊手」。
當一個真正優秀的專案一發幣,還沒真正觸達普通散戶,就已經被機構在極高估值時搶購了。等到散戶能夠接觸到時,往往價格已經偏高,專案品質也可能變差,整個價值發行體係被扭曲。
針對這個問題,我們希望探索一種新的發幣和融資模式,目的是讓專案方的籌碼既不是死死握在自己手裡,也不是優先流向英文圈的大機構,而是能夠真正留給那些相信專案、願意長期支持專案的普通投資者手中。我們正在思考該如何設計這樣一個新的發行機制,來解決這個根本問題。
BlockBeats:新模式的具體想法會是什麼樣子呢?
empty:關於資金這一塊,其實我們目前還沒有完全想透。現階段來看,最直接的方式還是去找 VC 融資,或是採取公開預售等形式進行資金募集。不過說實話,我個人對傳統的公開預售模式並不是特別認同。
在「公平發售」這件事上,我們正在嘗試換一個角度來思考-希望能從「reputation」出發,重新設計機制。
具體來說,就是如果你對整個 Virtuals 生態有貢獻,例如早期參與、提供支持或建設,那麼你就可以在後續購買優質代幣時享有更高的優先權。透過這種方式,我們希望把資源更多留給真正支持生態發展的用戶,而不是由短期套利的人主導。
BlockBeats:您會不會考慮採用類似之前 Fjord Foundry 推出的 LBP 模式,或者像 Daos.fun 那種採用白名單機制的模式。這些模式在某種程度上,和您剛才提到的「對生態有貢獻的人享有優先權」的想法是有些相似的。不過,這類做法後來也引發了一些爭議,例如白名單內部操作、分配不公等問題。 Virtuals 在設計時會考慮借鏡這些模式的優點,或有針對性地規避類似的問題嗎?
empty:我認為白名單機制最大的問題在於,白名單的選擇權掌握在專案方手中。這和「老鼠倉」行為非常相似。專案方可以選擇將白名單名額分配給自己人或身邊的朋友,導致最終的籌碼仍然掌握在少數人手中。
我們希望做的,依然是類似白名單的機制,但不同的是,白名單的獲取權應基於一個公開透明的規則體系,而不是由項目方單方面決定。只有這樣,才能真正做到公平分配,避免內幕操作的問題。
我認為在今天這個 AI 時代,很多時候創業並不需要大量資金。我常跟團隊強調,你們應該優先考慮自力更生,例如透過組成社區,而不是一開始就想著去融資。因為一旦融資,實際上就等於背負了負債。
我們更希望從 Training Fee的角度去看待早期發展路徑。也就是說,專案可以選擇直接發幣,透過交易稅所帶來的現金流,支持日常營運。這樣一來,專案可以在公開建設的過程中獲得初步資金,而不是依賴外部投資。如果專案做大了,自然也會有機會透過二級市場流動性退出。
當然最理想的情況是,專案本身能夠有穩定的現金流來源,這樣甚至連自己的幣都無需拋售,這才是真正健康可持續的狀態。
我自己也常在和團隊交流時分享這種思路,很有意思的是,那些真正抱著「搞快錢」心態的項目,一聽到這種機制就失去了興趣。他們會覺得,在這種模式下,既無法操作老鼠倉,也很難短期套利,於是很快就選擇離開。
但從我們的角度來看,這其實反而是個很好的篩選機制。透過這種方式,理念不同的專案自然會被過濾出去,最後留下的,都是那些願意真正建立、和我們價值觀契合的團隊,一起把事情做起來。
BlockBeats:這個理念可以發展出一些能夠創造收益的 AI agent。
empty:我覺得這是很有必要的。坦白說,放眼今天的市場,真正擁有穩定現金流的產品幾乎鳳毛麟角,但我認為這並不意味著我們應該停止嘗試。事實上,我們每天在對接的團隊中,有至少一半以上的人依然懷抱著長遠的願景。很多時候,他們甚至已經提前向我們提供了 VC 階段的資金支持,或表達了強烈的合作意願。
其實對他們來說想要去收穫一個很好的社區,因為社區可以給他們的產品做更好的回饋,這才是他們真正的目的。這樣聽起來有一點匪夷所思,但其實真的有很多這樣的團隊,而那種團隊的是我們真的想扶持的團隊。
BlockBeats:您剛才提到的這套「AI 華爾街」的產品體系-從融資、發行到退出,建構的是一整套完整的流程。這套機制是否更多是為了激勵那些有意願發幣的團隊?還是說,它在設計上也考慮瞭如何更好地支持那些希望透過產品本身的現金流來發展的團隊?這兩類團隊在您這套體系中會不會被區別對待,或者說有什麼機制設計能讓不同路徑的創業者都能被合理支持?
empty:是的,我們 BD 的核心職責其實就是去鼓勵團隊發幣。說得直接一點,就是引導他們思考發幣的可能性和意義。所以團隊最常問的問題就是:「為什麼要發幣?」這時我們需要採取不同的方式和角度,去幫助他們理解背後的價值邏輯。當然如果最終判斷不適合,我們也不會強迫他們推進。
不過我們觀察到一個非常明顯的趨勢,傳統的融資路徑已經越來越難走通了。過去那種融資做大,發幣上所的模式已經逐漸失效。面對這樣的現實,很多團隊都陷入了尷尬的境地。而我們希望能從鏈上和加密的視角,提供一套不同的解決方案,讓他們找到新的發展路徑。
BlockBeats:明白,我剛才其實想表達的是,您剛剛也提到,傳統的 AI 模式在很大程度上仍然依賴「燒錢」競爭。但在 DeepSeek 出現之後,市場上一些資金體積較小的團隊或投資人開始重新燃起了信心,躍躍欲試地進入這個領域。您怎麼看待這種現象?這會不會對目前正在做 AI 基礎研發,或是 AI 應用層開發的團隊產生一定的影響?
empty:對,我覺得先不談 DeepSeek,從傳統角度來看,其實到目前為止,AI 領域真正賺錢的只有英偉達,其他幾乎所有玩家都還沒有實現盈利。所以其實沒有人真正享受了這個商業模式的成果,大家也仍在探索如何面對 C 端打造真正有產出的應用。
沒有哪個領域像幣圈一樣能如此快速獲得社群回饋。你一發幣,用戶就會主動去讀白皮書的每一個字,試試你產品的每個功能。
當然,這套機制並不適合所有人。例如有些 Agent 產品偏 Web2,對於幣圈用戶而言,可能感知不到其價值。因此,我也會鼓勵做 Agent 的團隊在 Virtuals 生態中認真思考,如何真正將 Crypto 作為自身產品的差異化要素加以運用與設計。
BlockBeats:這點我特別認同,在 Crypto 這個領域 AI 的迭代速度確實非常快,但這群用戶給予的回饋,真的是代表真實的市場需求嗎?或者說這些回饋是否真的符合更大眾化、更具規模性的需求?
empty:我覺得很多時候產品本身不應該是強行推廣給不適合的使用者群體。例如 AIXBT 最成功的一點就在於,它的用戶本身就是那群炒作他人內容的人,所以他們的使用行為是非常自然的,並不覺得是在被迫使用一個無聊的產品。 mass adoption 這個概念已經講了很多年,大家可能早就該放棄這個執念了。我們不如就認了,把東西賣給幣圈的人就好了。
BlockBeats:AI Agent 與 AI Agent 所對應的代幣之間,究竟應該是什麼樣的動態關係?
empty:對,我覺得這裡可以分成兩個核心點。首先其實不是在投資某個具體的 AI Agent,而是在投資背後經營這個 Agent 的團隊。你應該把它理解為一種更接近創投的思路:你投的是這個人,而不是他目前正在做的產品。因為產品本身是可以快速變化的,可能一個月後團隊會發現方向不對,立即調整。所以,這裡的「幣」本質上代表的是對團隊的信任,而不是某個特定 Agent 本身。
第二則是期望一旦某個 Agent 產品做出來後,未來它能真正產生現金流,或者有實際的使用場景(utility),從而讓對應的代幣具備賦能效應。
BlockBeats:您覺得有哪些賦能方式是目前還沒看到的,但未來可能出現、值得期待的?
empty:其實主要有兩塊,第一是比較常見的那種你要使用我的產品,就必須付費,或者使用代幣支付,從而間接實現對代幣的「軟銷毀」或消耗。
但我覺得更有趣的賦能方式,其實是在獲客成本的角度思考。也就是說,你希望你的用戶同時也是你的投資者,這樣他們就有動機去主動幫你推廣、吸引更多用戶。
BlockBeats:那基於這些觀點,您怎麼看 ai16z,在專案設計和代幣機制方面,似乎整體表現並不太樂觀?
empty:從一個很純粹的投資角度來看,撇開我們與他們之間的關係,其實很簡單。他們現在做的事情,對代幣本身沒有任何賦能。從開源的角度來看,一個開源模型本身是無法直接賦能代幣的。
但它仍然有價值的原因在於,它像一個期權(call option),也就是說,如果有一天他們突然決定要做一些事情,比如推出一個 launchpad,那麼那些提前知道、提前參與的人,可能會因此受益。
開發者未來確實有可能會使用他們的 Launchpad,只有在那一刻,代幣才會真正產生賦能。這是目前最大的一個問號——如果這個模式真的跑得通,我認為確實會非常強大,因為他們的確觸達了大量開發者。
但我個人還是有很多疑問。例如即使我是使用 Eliza 的開發者,也不代表我一定會選擇在他們的 Launchpad 上發幣。我會貨比三家,會比較。而且,做一個 Launchpad 和做一個開源框架,所需的產品能力和社群運作能力是完全不同的,這是另一個重要的不確定性。
BlockBeats:這種不同是體現在什麼地方呢?
empty:在 Virtuals 上我們幾乎每天都在處理客服相關的問題,只要有任何一個團隊在我們平台上發生 rug,即使與我們沒有直接關係,用戶也會第一時間來找我們投訴。
這時我們就必須出面安撫用戶,並思考如何降低 rug 的整體風險。一旦有團隊因為自己的代幣設計錯誤或技術失誤而被駭客攻擊、資產被盜,我們往往需要自掏腰包,確保他們的社群至少能拿回一點資金,以便專案能夠重新開始。這些項目方可能在技術上很強,但未必擅長代幣發行,結果因操作失誤被攻擊導致資產損失。只要涉及「被欺騙」相關的問題,對我們來說就已經是非常麻煩的事了,做這些工作跟做交易所的客服沒有太大差別。
另一方面,做 BD 也非常困難。優秀的團隊手上有很多選擇,他們可以選擇在 Pumpfun 或交易所上發幣,為什麼他們要來找我們,那這背後必須要有一整套支援體系,包括融資支援、技術協助、市場推廣等,每個環節都不能出問題。
BlockBeats:那我們就繼續沿著這個話題聊聊 Virtuals 目前的 Launchpad 業務。有一些社群成員在 Twitter 上統計了 Virtuals Launchpad 的整體獲利狀況,確實目前看起來獲利的項目比較少。接下來 Launchpad 還會是 Virtuals 的主要業務區嗎?還是說,未來的重心會逐漸轉向您剛才提到的「AI 華爾街」這條路徑?
empty:其實這兩塊本質上是一件事,是一整套體系的一部分,所以我們必須繼續推進。市場的波動是很正常的,我們始終要堅持的一點是:非常清楚地認識到我們的核心客戶是誰。我一直強調我們的客戶只有兩類——團隊。所以市場行情的好壞對我們來說並不是最重要的,關鍵是在每一個關鍵節點上,對於一個團隊來說,發幣的最佳選擇是否依然是我們 Virtuals。
BlockBeats:您會不會擔心「Crypto + AI」或「Crypto AI Agent」這一類敘事已經過去了?如果未來還有一輪多頭市場,您是否認為市場炒作的焦點可能已經不再是這些方向了?
empty:有可能啊,我覺得 it is what it is,這確實是有可能發生的,但這也屬於我們無法控制的範圍。不過如果你問我,在所有可能的趨勢中,哪個賽道更有機會長期保持領先,我仍然認為是 AI。從一個打德撲的角度來看,它仍然是最優選擇。
而且我們團隊的技術架構和底層能力其實早已搭建完成了,現在只是順勢而為而已。更重要的是,我們本身真的熱愛這件事,帶著好奇心去做這件事。每天早上醒來就有驅動力去研究最新的技術,這種狀態本身就挺讓人滿足的,對吧?
很多時候,大家不應該只看產品本身。實際上很多優秀的團隊,他們的基因決定了他們有在規則中勝出的能力——他們可能過去在做派盤交易時,每筆規模就是上百萬的操作,而這些團隊的 CEO,一年的薪資可能就有 100 萬美金。如果他們願意出來單幹項目,從天使投資或 VC 的視角來看,這本質上是用一個很划算的價格買到一個高品質的團隊。
更何況這些資產是 liquid 的,不是鎖倉狀態。如果你當下不急著用錢,完全可以在早期階段買進一些優秀團隊的代幣,靜靜等待他們去創造一些奇蹟,基本上就是這樣一個邏輯。