Authors: Misaki, Lila, BlockBeats
"In recent months, the popularity of tokens with high valuations and low initial circulating supply has been a topic of discussion in the crypto community. This stems from a concern that after the Token Generation Event (TGE), this market structure has left traders with almost no sustainable upward space." - This is the opening statement in the article "Binance Research: Why are tokens with low circulation and high FDV prevalent in the market today?" released by Binance Research this week. Suddenly, the reasons and discussions regarding the prevalence of high FDV and low circulation tokens have become the headlines in the cryptocurrency media and have been frequently mentioned in the topics discussed by community members. On May 20th, Binance announced that it would be the first to support small and medium-sized cryptocurrency projects. It hopes to promote the development of the blockchain ecosystem by strengthening support for small and medium-sized cryptocurrency projects with good fundamentals, community base, sustainable business models, and industry responsibility.
This article aims to list some small and medium-sized cryptocurrency projects based on financing data, investment institutions, project progress, user data, etc., to find potential stocks in the current market environment. Some of them have also received investments from Binance Labs. Although Binance has previously stated that Binance Labs' investments and the listing review department operate independently and do not interfere with each other, obtaining related investment projects may also indicate that they more closely align with Binance's standards, so they are temporarily referenced in this article. This article does not provide any investment advice, only for readers' learning and reference.
GoPlus security
Financing of about 15 million US dollars
Project introduction:
GoPlus is a powerful Web3 user security data platform that has developed a real-time, dynamic, and automated security detection platform, including token detection, NFT detection, malicious addresses, secure API approval, and dApp contract security.
Team background:
The GoPlus team has rich experience in data security, with members mainly from China, Turkey, the United States, Greece, and other countries, most of whom have worked in Web2 security-related positions.
Project progress & user data:
On April 30th, GoPlus launched the RPC service GoPlus SecNet centered on user security and the on-chain personal security center GoPlus SecHub. According to official information, the monthly active independent IP user count of the full-scenario security service platform SecWareX has reached 1.8 million, with over 50,000 paid subscribers for advanced security services and a total of over 9 million chain addresses. In addition, in the Q2-Q3 stage of 2024, GoPlus has clear plans:
Launch of GoPlus SecNet: The first version has covered the Ethereum and BNB chains, allowing SecWareX users to access and experience real-time on-chain risk control on a large scale.
Launch of SecHub: Introduce the personal security center module to provide users with various security risk preference settings, allowing them to personalize their security strategies.
Open SecWare protocol: Aim to build the GoPlus network developer ecosystem, allowing more services to serve users through SecWare X.
Security gas service model: Introduce the project token $GPS and energy blocks as the gas for security services, thereby achieving the circulation of the economic system.
LayerZero
Financing of about 260 million US dollars
Project introduction:
LayerZero is a trustless cross-chain communication protocol. It essentially utilizes the technology principles of light nodes and designs a mechanism for super light nodes, splitting the intermediate trust link into two through relays and oracles, in exchange for better security at lower costs.
Financing situation:
LayerZero has completed a total of 3 rounds of financing, with a total financing amount exceeding 2.5 billion US dollars. The investment lineup is luxurious, including Andreessen Horowitz, Binance Labs, Sequoia Capital, Samsung Next, Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, and others.
On September 16, 2021, LayerZero completed a Series A financing of 60 million US dollars at a valuation of 500 million US dollars, with Multicoin Capital and Binance Labs leading the investment.
On March 30, 2022, LayerZero completed an additional Series A financing of 135 million US dollars at a valuation of 1 billion US dollars, with Andreessen Horowitz leading the investment.
On April 4, 2023, LayerZero completed a Series B financing of 120 million US dollars at a valuation of 3 billion US dollars, with Andreessen Horowitz leading the investment.
Team background:
Caleb Banister serves as the co-founder of LayerZero Labs, graduating from the University of New Hampshire in 2010. He has previously served as the co-founder of 80Trill (a crypto company specializing in writing and auditing smart contracts for blockchain-related projects) and Minimal AI (an ML/AI company).
Bryan Pellegrino is the co-founder and CEO of LayerZero Labs. Before founding LayerZero, Pellegrino was a professional poker player and successfully sold a set of machine learning tools he wrote to a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. He has also published reports in the field of artificial intelligence.
Ryan Zarick is the co-founder and CTO of LayerZero Labs. He was also a co-founder of 80Trill and Minimal AI before joining the LayerZero team in 2021.
Project progress:
LayerZero announced that it may launch its token in June. On May 11th, the token distribution information was released, with 50% allocated to users of the cross-chain OFT, 20% to LP, 15% to token holders, and 15% to community members. At the same time, the LayerZero Foundation will screen based on the final witch report, and addresses identified as witches will automatically lose their allocation eligibility.
User data:
In May, the co-founders of LayerZero stated that the actual number of users exceeds 6 million and indicated in the community that they expect 6.67%-13.33% of the 6 million addresses to be eligible for airdrops.
Puffer Finance
Financing of about 24.15 million US dollars
Project introduction:
Puffer is a native liquidity re-staking protocol built on EigenLayer, which lowers the staking validator's entry threshold from 32 ETH to below 2 ETH and has received funding from the Ethereum Foundation. Puffer aims to serve three main groups: node operators (NoOps), re-staking operators (ReOps), and ETH stakers, with ReOps primarily responsible for running AVSs and possibly also being NoOps. Nodes in the protocol use Puffer's anti-slashing technology to participate in node validation and run AVSs at a cost as low as 2 ETH, accumulating PoS rewards and re-staking rewards through AVSs.
Financing Situation:
In June 2022, Puffer Finance received a pre-seed investment of $650,000, led by Jump Crypto, with Arcanum Capital and IoTeX participating.
In August 2023, Puffer Finance announced the completion of a $5.5 million seed round, led by Lemniscap and Lightspeed Faction.
In January 2024, Binance Labs made a strategic investment in Puffer, with the specific investment amount undisclosed.
On April 16, 2024, the Ethereum re-staking protocol Puffer completed a $18 million Series A financing, jointly led by Brevan Howard Digital and Electric Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Lemniscap, Franklin Templeton, and other investment institutions.
Team Background:
The Puffer Finance team consists of five core members with expertise in Python, C language, Java, SolidWorks, JavaScript, blockchain, and other fields. Their professional backgrounds include computer science, electrical engineering, and marketing.
Amir Forouzani is the co-founder and CEO of Puffer. He holds a master's degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Southern California and has a background in data science and NASA.
Jason Vranek is the co-founder and CTO of Puffer, with a master's degree in computer science and engineering. He has experience in market design and blockchain front-running transactions and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in verifiable computing.
Project Progress:
As of April 16, 2024, according to Puffer Finance's official website, the total TVL of the protocol reached $1.179 billion, generating 20.02 billion Puffer points, 550 million Eigenlayer points, and a composite APY of over 3.3%.
On May 9, 2024, Puffer Finance's mainnet went live, marking the start of the fourth chapter. Users can now deposit ETH, stETH, or wstETH, with detailed tasks for the fourth chapter set to be released soon, bringing improvements to the points system.
On May 15, 2024, during an AMA event, Puffer Protocol revealed plans to launch a new Chapter 4 activity, enhancing rewards for pufETH holders and collaborating with Trust Wallet, Scroll, and their ecosystem project Pencils Protocol to conduct multiple incentive activities for Puffer users. In the future, Puffer plans to launch its own AVS to continue providing higher sustainable rewards for its stakers and node operators through re-staking and validation services.
Puffer's mechanism includes two tokens, the liquidity staking token pufETH and the governance token PUFI. Users staking ETH on Puffer can receive the liquidity staking token pufETH, while PUFI will be used for governance voting in the Puffer DAO, with the specific token economic model yet to be disclosed.
User Data:
As one of the top 10 EigenLayer node operators, Puffer has registered AVS on EigenDA. As of May 20, 2024, there are 8,690 stakers, with assets including approximately 1.786 million EIGEN and 3,372 ETH, with ETH mainly coming from Lido and Swell.
Myshell
Financing of about 16.6 million US dollars
Project Introduction:
MyShell is a fair and open-source AI ecosystem that covers a wide range of AI agent/APP creation platforms for open and closed-source AI models, allowing creators to build applications and easily capture users. Its ecosystem includes robots such as OpenVoice (an instant voice cloning program), Melo TTS, a multilingual text-to-speech (TTS) library, and Alice, an AI agent capable of performing various tasks, including topic research, coding, and literature reviews.
Financing Situation:
In October 2023, MyShell received a $5.6 million seed round investment, and in March 2023, it received a $11 million Series A financing led by Dragonfly, with participation from Delphi Digital, Bankless Ventures, Nascent, Foresight Ventures, OKX Ventures, GSR, Maven11, Nomad Capital, and Animoca Brands.
Team Background:
Myshell co-founders Rick and Ethan have over 10 years of experience in the AI field, with most of the research team coming from top institutions such as MIT, Princeton University, and the University of Oxford. Rick, one of the co-founders, has rich entrepreneurial and management experience in AI and robotics, while Ethan Sun, the other co-founder, has extensive experience in entrepreneurship and R&D, focusing on technical architecture design and core algorithm innovation.
Project Progress & User Data:
Myshell is an AI project incubated by Binance Labs in its sixth phase. On April 19, MyShell launched the world's first AI consumer Layer2 network, supported by EigenDA and Optimism, and partnered with AltLayer. As of mid-April, over 50,000 creators have built innovative AI applications on MyShell, with over 1.2 million users using Myshell.
MyShell
On April 29, MyShell launched the first phase of the testnet, deployed by AltLayer, and the project will release NFT MySoul at the end of May, with a total supply of 3333. Of these, 65% will be allocated to testnet users, 10% to the community, 15% to Myshell Treasury, and 10% to NFT launch boards and community collaborations.
Ultiverse Electric Sheep
Financing of about $13.5 million
Project Introduction:
Ultiverse is an AI-driven Web3 game creation and publishing platform that connects different game worlds in a generative AI manner based on the Bodhi protocol.
Financing Situation:
Ultiverse has completed three rounds of financing, with a stellar lineup of investors including Binance Labs, Sequoia Capital, IDG Capital, and Animoca Brands. On March 18, 2022, it completed a $4.5 million seed round at a valuation of $50 million. On March 25, Binance Labs made an additional $5 million investment in Ultiverse in the form of equity acquisition. On February 14, 2024, Ultiverse completed a $4 million strategic round of financing at a valuation of $150 million, led by IDG Capital.
Team Background:
The team consists of over 100 full-time game developers and artists with previous work experience at companies such as Gameloft, Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Tencent. The team has developed popular games such as the "Prince of Persia" and "Assassin's Creed" series, as well as "Elden Ring."
Project Progress & User Data:
On January 3, 2024, Ultiverse released its token economics, with 8% of the tokens airdropped to Electric Sheep NFT and SOUL holders and ecosystem asset holders. The specific allocation of the remaining ULTC tokens is as follows: 30% for the Ultiverse ecosystem, 20% for investors, 17% for the team, 15% for the community, and 7% for initial exchange liquidity.
Ultiverse Gold Chip NFT was released on April 29, and as of the time of writing, the NFT floor price is 0.33 ETH according to Blur data.
Currently, Ultiverse supports integration with over 300 games, with an active community of over 7 million users, including over 1 million Web3 game enthusiasts, and approximately 10,000 content creators on the platform.
Thruster
Financing of about $7.5 million
Project Introduction:
Thruster is the native DEX of the Blast ecosystem, providing fair launch mechanisms and liquidity tools for developers, as well as supporting yield tools, social, and analytical functions for users. Thruster has confirmed that many native Blast projects are looking to utilize Thruster's infrastructure and community to guide their tokens.
Team Introduction:
The team is currently in an anonymous state, and there is no related information available at the moment.
Financing Situation:
On April 18, Thruster completed a $7.5 million seed round of financing at a valuation of $70 million, led by Pantera Capital, with participation from OKX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, ParaFi Capital, Manifold Ventures, and Arche Fund (formerly Coin98 Ventures).
Project Progress & User Data:
On May 1, Thruster Credit Dashboard went live, tracking loyalty data such as liquidity, swaps, and social contributions. On May 10, Thruster decided to distribute 2.7 million Blast Gold Points to loyal platform users in phases, primarily to platform liquidity providers. As of May 16, over 2 million points have been distributed.
Official data shows that Thruster has been used by over 100,000 unique wallets, with close to $300 million in funds deposited. On May 22, Thruster announced on the X platform that its TVL has surpassed $500 million for the first time.
Analog
Financing of about $16 million
Project Introduction:
Analog is a blockchain interoperability project that is building cross-chain communication tools for interoperability across multiple blockchain networks. Its core products include the Rust-based blockchain network Timechain, the developer-focused product Analog Watch, and the Timegraph SDK and API suite, allowing application builders to compose applications across multiple chains. Analog has also introduced a novel, fast PoT protocol that creates verifiable event data on the time chain, allowing DApp developers to build next-generation event-based applications.
Financing Situation:
In March 2024, Analog announced the completion of a $16 million seed and strategic round of financing to improve its developer-focused cross-network communication tools. The round was led by Tribe Capital, with participation from NGC Ventures, Wintermute, GSR, NEAR, Orange DAO, Mike Novogratz's alternative asset management company Samara Asset Group, and Balaji Srinivasan. The financing was implemented through the Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT), raising Analog's fully diluted valuation to $120 million.
Team Introduction:
Victor Young is the founder of Analog and a partner at X Fund, with years of experience in blockchain development. Eric Wang is the team's business lead, with previous roles at Injective Labs and a Polkadot ecosystem development organization. Avneet Singh is the team's product lead, with previous experience as a product manager at Chainlink. Another product manager, Sanchal Ranjan, was a Y Combinator-supported entrepreneur. Some team members have previously worked at the Polkadot ecosystem development organization Parity Technologies.
Project Progress:
The official has confirmed that participants in the testnet can receive airdrops, and according to the token economics released by Analog, 26% of the total token supply will be used for airdrops. In 2024, amidst the frenzy of many full-chain interoperability protocols issuing coins, Analog, which has attracted investments from a star-studded lineup, is also worth paying attention to. On May 9, Analog announced the opening of the second phase of the testnet to community members. The Analog Discord community has over 110,000 members, indicating high community engagement.
NGRAVE
Financing of about $21 million
Project Introduction:
NGRAVE is a hardware wallet manufacturer that provides a complete self-custody solution, including the air-gapped and highest security-certified (EAL7) hardware wallet ZERO, the mobile app LIQUID that connects users to the blockchain in real-time, and the encrypted and recoverable key backup GRAPHENE. In 2022, NGRAVE raised a total of $21 million, with participating institutions including Binance Labs, Woodstock Fund, Morningstar Ventures, DFG, Spark Digital Capital, Moonrock Capital, Mapleblock Capital, and others.
Team Background:
NGRAVE was founded in Belgium in 2018, with a founding team consisting of Ruben Merre, Xavier Hendrickx, and Edouard Vanham. Ruben Merre serves as the CEO and is a serial entrepreneur. Xavier Hendrickx serves as the CTO and is a self-taught computer scientist. Edouard Vanham serves as the COO and has a background in banking and entrepreneurship.
User Data:
As of December 2022, NGRAVE's flagship product Zero has been sold in 90 countries/regions, with total sales reaching $2.2 million. Recent data has not been disclosed.
Since NGRAVE is a hardware wallet product, it is highly unlikely to issue tokens, so this information is provided for reader understanding purposes only.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
