Why am I Getting Bullish on ICP?
Welcome to another Crypto Weekly Digest brought to you by VirtualBacon.
This week, we dive into the world of decentralized internet, highlighting five key projects leading the way. These projects, often called Web 3.0 altcoins, aim to create a web where no single entity has control, moving beyond just finance to offer decentralized web hosting, cloud storage, and more. Even though this area of crypto isn’t explored much, its potential is big. Today, we’ll introduce the top players in this field and share some investment thoughts. Wrapping up, we’ll also look at notable altcoin market shifts and important project updates from the past week.
What is Web3 Crypto?
Major firms like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft control about 80% of the internet through cloud computing. This centralized control poses a problem; if one shuts down its cloud service, a chunk of the internet goes offline.
Web3 crypto aims to tackle this by promoting a decentralized internet model where interactions happen directly between clients and servers, reducing reliance on central servers. This shift makes the internet less prone to censorship and control.
Decentralized cloud providers are making it simpler to host servers independently, paving the way for a more open internet. As we delve into key projects in this sector, we aim to highlight the innovations steering this decentralization wave, not to endorse any specific crypto.
Filecoin (FIL)
Filecoin is a project with a vision to decentralize the way we store and access data.
It comprises two key parts; Filecoin blockchain and the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). Filecoin blockchain, fueled by proof of work mining, enables individuals to connect their computers to the network, assisting others in storing files and earning Filecoins as rewards. On the other hand, IPFS, a creation of the Filecoin team, is a peer-to-peer storage and hosting layer, paving the way for decentralized web hosting. Together, these technologies allow users to host websites in a decentralized fashion. For instance, a decentralized version of Wikipedia and a Uniswap frontend version are already hosted on IPFS, ensuring they remain accessible even if regulatory challenges arise.
However, a limitation arises when it comes to hosting back-end logic, which still relies on centralized cloud providers, especially for more complex platforms like YouTube or Facebook. Filecoin has introduced the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) to tackle this, though it's not yet live.
Despite its promising tech, Filecoin’s tokenomics presents a challenge. With a circulating supply much lower than the total supply, and an initial overvaluation, it's hard to foresee Filecoin revisiting its previous all-time high in price soon. Nonetheless, the project stands as a noteworthy contender in the movement towards a decentralized web, with potential to evolve as its technologies mature and tokenomics issues get addressed.
Arweave (AR)
Arweave aims to revolutionize data storage by offering a blockchain-based solution where users pay once to have their data stored forever, alleviating concerns over long-term hosting costs.
This feature sets it apart from Filecoin. Though the tokenomics are sound with most tokens in circulation, Arweave has faced a downward trend in price over the past year, possibly due to a lack of regular updates from the team and limited retail adoption.
Despite being used as a backup layer for other blockchains like Solana and Cosmos, its potential for hosting websites hasn't been fully realized. A promising development is the ar.io project, a decentralized gateway and domain system for Arweave, aiming to ease the process of onboarding data onto the platform, similar to the IPFS layer on Filecoin.
With ar.io’s testnet already live, it brings hope for increased functionality and adoption for Arweave in the decentralized web space.
Internet Computer (ICP)
ICP is surfacing as a robust contender in the world of decentralized cloud services, standing out from others like Filecoin and Arweave.
What makes ICP special is its ability to host a variety of applications, similar to well-known cloud services like AWS or Google Cloud. Unlike others, ICP uses something called 'canisters' to provide a flexible hosting space for decentralized applications. This setup is similar to the usual cloud setup, where you go through a gateway to reach the services you need.
One of the cool things about ICP is that it supports both the visible part of websites (front-end) and the behind-the-scenes operations (back-end), a feature that others are still struggling with. This all-in-one cloud platform could potentially move any application from a regular cloud to a decentralized one on ICP smoothly.
However, ICP had a bumpy start with its token pricing, being initially overvalued. But, after a big price drop and with most of its tokens already out in the market, ICP now seems like a good deal with a lot of tech-driven potential in making the internet decentralized.
TomiNet (TOMI)
TomiNET aims to build a decentralized internet focusing on freedom of speech, data ownership, and anti-censorship amid growing concerns over internet surveillance.
The Tomi ecosystem comprises four main sectors: the browser, domain, payment system, and nodes. With the Tomi browser, users can access TomiNET, an alternative to the current internet, hosting websites through a decentralized domain name system.
Tomi also introduces a payment system, TomiPay, and a cloud infrastructure via nodes, facilitating a decentralized web.
An upcoming addition, the Data Ownership Protocol (TOP), plans to launch its token in Q1 2024, using Tomi tech, with 50% of its revenue directed towards acquiring and burning Tomi tokens, displaying a bullish outlook for Tomi tokens.
TomiNET, although a newcomer, shows promising potential in the decentralized internet realm, with favorable tokenomics and price performance.
Toncoin (TON)
The TON Network, created by Telegram, recently unveiled the TON wallet, integrating 800 million Telegram users with the TON blockchain.
https://watcher.guru/news/ton-up-15-telegram-integrates-crypto-wallet-for-800-million-users
This network aims to establish a decentralized web similar to the Tor Network, offering private, unstoppable domains through TON sites. Currently, basic TON proxy and TON storage are operational, with plans to extend support across all major Operating Systems. One key feature is the ability to run HTML, CSS, and JavaScript web apps within Telegram via TON, allowing developers to reach Telegram's extensive user base.
While TON's Virtual Machine enables DeFi applications and token functionality similar to Ethereum, it doesn't yet support broader cloud hosting capabilities like ICP does.
https://docs.ton.org/learn/tvm-instructions/tvm-overview
The TON token economics are a concern due to a potentially large, unreleased circulating supply, urging caution for potential investors until a clear token release schedule is provided.
Altcoin Market & Project Updates
Now, let's check out the major altcoin gainers and losers from the past week, and catch up on key project updates.
Best Performing Coins of The Week
Worst Performing Coins of The Week
🟠 GMX partners with Bitget Wallet for crypto trading with up to 50x leverage. Post a hefty bug bounty payout, GMX boosts security measures.
https://x.com/BitgetWallet/status/1707606125145935884?s=20
🟠 Celestia announces genesis airdrop of 60M TIA tokens for devs, early adopters, and validators in its upcoming modular data network launch.
https://blog.celestia.org/genesis-drop/
🟠 Uniswap Foundation proposes $62.37M fundraising for ecosystem support and Hooks ecosystem development, with a vote set for October 4th.
🟠 Google Cloud joins as a validator on Polygon PoS, enhancing security with its infrastructure, alongside 100+ validators. Now securing Polygon protocol.
https://twitter.com/0xPolygonLabs/status/1707747034973757815
🟠 Buenos Aires to launch QuarkID, a blockchain-based digital identity protocol, to ease access to public services, in collaboration with Extrimian and Matter Labs.
https://blockworks.co/news/buenos-aires-government-id-ethereum-zksync
🟠 Play Beyond launches on Sui, offering a gateway to immersive gaming and much more all in one hub.
🟠 MakerDAO boosts RWA assets by $101M via Monetalis Clydesdale, BlockTower Andromeda, and New Silver, totaling over $3.1B in assets.
https://makerburn.com/#/rundown
🟠 Walmart to sell Pudgy Penguins NFT toys in 2000 US stores, granting access to digital platform Pudgy World on Ethereum L2 network zkSync Era.
https://www.theblock.co/post/252987/walmart-pudgy-penguins-nft-toys
🟠 Tottenham Hotspur FC launches SPURS fan tokens on Chiliz blockchain, integrating them into loyalty program, with existing members getting free tokens.
https://twitter.com/alex_dreyfus/status/1707379622931730656?s=20
This week, we dived into the evolving space of decentralized web, shedding light on projects like ICP, TomiNet, TON and their ambitious strides towards a new internet era. We then shifted our focus to the Altcoin market, highlighting the notable gainers and dissecting the latest project updates that are stirring the crypto waters. The journey towards a decentralized web is on a promising track. These innovations are reshaping our digital realm and opening new investment doors. The altcoin market movements reflect these exciting changes. I'm optimistic about the decentralized digital future unfolding before us!
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