Solana Flips Ethereum’s DEX Volume, Charting Solana’s Future & More

Welcome back!

This is J264G and this week I’ve got these titbits for you:

• Solana MEV: Jito registers all-time highs across the board.

• Cold Storage: Ryder, Keystone & GridPlus might be safer alternatives.

• Charting Solana’s Future: Anatoly releases 2 new blog articles. 

In case you missed it, Solana’s newest movie trailer just dropped ⬇️

Vibe check ⬇️

The message is clear ⬇️

Let’s get going! 😏

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Starry-Eyed

Earlier this year, I received blank stares and never-ending questions from my friends when talking about Solana:

• “Venmo works perfectly fine, why do we need crypto?” 

• “For pump & dumps we have Wall Street, why do we need NFTs?”

• “Bitcoin and Ethereum exist, why would we use Solana?” 

But as soon as the first BONK articles came out and Jito's airdrop hit it out of the park, those same friends couldn't stop asking me about all things Solana — starry-eyed.

Life imitates comedy.

I'm not complaining, though.

Having said that, we've only achieved the first step: We've piqued the interest of the wider crypto community and a handful of normies. 

That was the easy part. 

The more difficult part will be to fully onboard everyone to Solana, make them feel welcome, and help them upskill. 

Solana's community and peer-to-peer onboarding are unrivalled — so we got that covered. 

What I'm more concerned about is upskilling. 

As soon as we've made people accustomed to e.g. their Phantom wallets and Jupiter, they're well on their way to farming airdrops and trading BONK and WIF.

But as soon as airdrop/meme coin season is over, we'd ideally want those people to stick around — because self custody is important (I know, I know, I can't stop harping on and on about this 😳). 

In order to avoid new Solana users churning, we need to constantly highlight OPOS use cases which they can integrate into their everyday life. 

• Cross-border transfers? Use Decaf!

• Christmas presents? TipLink got you!

• Hyperinflation? Park your savings in USDC! 

• Remote work? Parallax FTW!

• You're a creator? Join DRiP & get paid!

• Dusty bank account? Enjoy Kamino instead!

• Bullish on risk assets & the Nasdaq? Visit Jupiter & buy SOL — 24-365!

The list of OPOS use cases is endless. 

So the question becomes, are we doing enough to avoid new Solana users churning? 

• Platforms: Just because someone trades BONK on Coinbase doesn't mean they have a Twitter or Discord account. In order to increase user stickiness, we need to meet people where they are: Google, YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and so on. Claynos have been killing it on TikTok, and even JPOW is flexing on IG. 

• Education: Apart from platform availability, we also need to continuously provide value to users through educational resources, guides, and tutorials. Helping users get the most out of Solana products/services will increase loyalty. In this context, Phantom's crypto discovery flow is setting the benchmark; nonetheless, educational resources remain a scarce commodity.

• Incentives: Speaking of loyalty, programmes, discounts, or rewards for continued usage — outside of the airdrop meta — are equally important. Incentives can encourage users to stay engaged within the Solana ecosystem — check out Drift Draw for inspiration.

• Service: Moreover, we also need to offer responsive and helpful support that addresses queries, issues, and complaints promptly — ensuring a positive experience. As such, I reckon many can take a leaf out of Armani's book with his Twitch livestreams. 

• Security: Lastly, everything stands and falls with security. Open sourcing can help, as well as multiple audits of the Mainnet code, continued and regular audits of Mainnet code updates, frameworks against economic attacks, and communication. I haven't seen any protocols as of now giving regular updates on their security posture, audits, and security outlook.

We've worked tirelessly to get here and have come too far; let's not fumble the ball.

Number Of The Week

News Bites

Crypto Discovery: Phantom is currently rolling out a new way to discover and stay on top of all the latest app, token, and NFT trends — all in one place. This is one of the wallet's many steps towards becoming the go-to crypto destination.

Solana MEV: MEV on Solana is picking up steam, with Jito registering all-time highs in tips, unique tippers, and MEV going to JitoSol stakers.

Euro Stablecoin: Circle has rolled out its Euro stablecoin — EURC — on Solana incl. near instant settlement and extremely low fees. This does not only ring in on-chain FX, but is also the first step to instant remittances in any currency around the world.

Shorting NFTs: NFT borrowing is now live on Texture, allowing users to lend and earn yield on NFTs they are bullish on, and short NFTs they are bearish on. Lastly, users can also hedge their NFT portfolio on Texture, depending on whether they are bullish or bearish on a specific collection.

Cold Storage: Trezor doesn't fully support Solana, Ledger keeps losing trust. So we need new ideas and better options when it comes to self custody. Ryder and Keystone might be suitable alternatives, and GridPlus is looking to launch Solana support in 2024. Additionally, cold storage setups can always be further enhanced by adding Squads. 

ZK Anchor: The team at Light has introduced ZK Anchor — a zero knowledge extension of Anchor, a framework for Solana's Sealevel runtime for writing smart contracts.

Charting Solana’s Future: Anatoly has released his first 2 articles on his blog: “Multiple Concurrent Leaders” and “Asynchronous Execution”. If you’d like to take a peek into the future of Solana, these might be worth your time!

Caught In 4K

Weekly Take

Keks & Giggles

And that's a wrap!

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Talk soon!

J264G

_{DISCLAIMER
None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research. Lastly, please be advised that we discuss products and services from our partners from which our team members may hold tokens/equity.}