The cryptocurrency market has gone through a lot in the past few years, giving birth to many sub-niches, perhaps the most prominent one of which is meme coins.
Dogecoin – the original meme coin – was developed as a joke. It had no purpose. In fact, here are five things that you might not know about it. Despite that, people flocked to buy the meme coin, turning it into a billion-dollar project with millions of holders.
Since then, many other meme coins have tried to achieve the same, but few have had similar success. Shiba Inu (SHIB), for once, came the closest.
Crypto traders and meme coin enjoyers rushed to buy SHIB at the beginning of 2021 – much later compared to Dogecoin, turning the cryptocurrency into a force to be considered. Unlike its predecessor, though, Shiba Inu’s team had great plans to develop a vibrant ecosystem of usable applications that would bring real value to SHIB holders.
Unfortunately, many of those plans failed to come to fruition, while others were underwhelming. In any case, SHIB remains the second-largest meme coin, with hundreds of thousands of followers and holders.
One of those holders was a developer that would later become known as Golden Takeishi – the founder of Golden Inu.
CryptoPotato has already had the chance to chat with him, and you can find the full interview here.
Credit: Golden Inu Team, not Affiliated with CryptoPotato
What is Golden Inu?
Golden Inu has quickly become one of the hottest topics of conversation in 2023 amid meme coin aficionados. In June 2023, the token that underpins its ecosystem – $GOLDEN – outpaced the majority of meme coins in terms of returns on investment, while the team behind it is working on expanding its reach further.
In essence, the project aims to build a vibrant ecosystem of tools that its community to use and benefit from.
$GOLDEN is the token that underpins this ecosystem, and it’s at the forefront of the project. It will be the f0ule of the Golden Inu Ecosystem.
The Golden Inu Ecosystem
The vibrant community of Golden Inu is not just one that holds a token in hopes of future growth. Through a series of implementations, the team has found a way to involve community members in a way they can all help create a thriving crypto ecosystem.
The Golden Quest
The Golden Quest is a collaboration between Golden Inu and QuestN. It’s designed to allow users to earn money to help build the project’s ecosystem, market it, and so forth.
Through the official dashboard, or that of QuestN, everyone is free to join the community and start working on various tasks and earn money while also supporting the project.
As seen in the above screenshot (real-time), there are numerous tasks that anyone could pick up. It’s worth noting that the levels of expertise tend to range from primary social media and online marketing skills to more complex levels of coding or design. In essence, there’s room for anyone – a beginner or novice.
This powerful method of building a solid and united community is also part of the reason why the project was able to raise over $400,000 during its ICO for the two tokens.
The Golden Dashboard
To make it easier for users to track everything Golden Inu-related, the team has also created a powerful dashboard – the Golden Dashboard.
It provides detailed information in Layman’s terms for everything associated with the project, spanning from branding, tokenomics, roadmap, and whatnot.
It’s made in a way that even a novice user or a seasoned veteran would understand. It helps build the proper cryptocurrency trading habits with anyone by allowing users to see what a legitimate coin should be doing.
This is what it looks like:
As you can see, there’s all the fundamental information available, including the performance of the token, the most recent stories associated with the brand, upcoming launches, and much more.
The Golden Inuverse
In a clever wordplay, the team has introduced what’s planned to be the first of a few planned play-to-earn (P2E) games that will drive gamers into the Golden Inu universe.
The game’s intended to structure the $GOLDEN tokens subculture and help thousands of people get acquainted with both the tokens and the ecosystem of Golden Inu.
The game will be ever-evolving and immersive, allowing users to both explore and battle. It will start with a number of planets, but more of them will be created as certain milestones are reached with the counts of users that have joined in on the game.
To develop their characters, players will be able to make in-game purchases. These will range from special characters as well as offensive or defensive weapons and cross-planetary travels.
You can find more information about the game, as well as its release timeline, here.
Meanwhile, that’s how one of the NFT characters presented on the website look like:
Users are able to gain complete access to their profiles as they play in the Inuverse. The more they play, the stronger their character becomes. This allows them to unlock specific weapons and advance further into the world.
The Golden Bazaar
The Golden Bazaar will be an e-commerce trading platform that’s inspired by the likes of Amazon and Shopify – of course, throughout their humble beginnings.
The plan for it is to start as a simple application where users can freely buy and sell various products and services. They will be able to transact in crypto.
However, as time goes on, developers are hoping to integrate a cross-chain swapping application that would allow users to complete transactions with any commonly used cryptocurrency.
More importantly, buyers will be able to use any crypto of choice, while sellers can receive any crypto of choice, and $GOLDEN will be the middle-man token that allows the swap to happen. The fees will be absolutely minimal.
The Golden Decentralized Exchange (DEX)
The DEX is yet another product in the pipeline that will further complement the ecosystem of Golden Inu.
The goal is to protect the right to anonymity of users by creating a truly decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. The launch will target Latin America with a clear understanding of the economic challenges that the locals are facing.
Golden Inu developers hope to help lower the gas fees for traders who want to carry out cross-chain trades by using the $GOLDEN token as an intermediary.
Before we dive into the specifics of the $GOLDEN token, please have a look at the journey ahead – the project’s roadmap.
The $GOLDEN Token
The $GOLDEN token is the beating heart of the thriving ecosystem. It’s purpose is to seamlessly connect Ethereum and the BNB chain.
That’s right – it’s a dual token that’s deployed on both networks.
The primary purpose of the token is to revolutionize the global cryptocurrency landscape in a way that pioneers a bright and interconnected future.
Whenever assessing a token, it’s critical to look at its tokenomics, and for $GOLDEN, there are two sides to it because of its dual nature.
As general information, here’s a chart that summarizes some of the basics:
Ethereum $GOLDEN Tokenomics
BNB Chain $GOLDEN Tokenomics
The Golden Inu Team
A critical part of every project is its team. The founder of Golden Inu has chosen to remain anonymous for the wider audience but has been verified on two separate cryptocurrency verification systems.
He is known as “Golden Takeishi”- a technology whiz that was once a bag holder of Shiba Inu. CryptoPotato has a dedicated fully-fledged interview with him. We encourage you to take a look at the full interview to find out exciting details about both the founder and the project.
Speaking of Golden Inu’s goal, he said:
Our goal is to merge the infectious appeal of Inu tokens with robust, branded crypto technology and an effective economic model. A model that ensures sustainable growth, utility, and passive income. We are confident that our actions will speak louder than the perceptions tied to our brand name.
In an effort to prevent competitors from reverse-engineering, the entire team cannot be revealed. However, here’s a list of the current members:
Founder (French)
Six web application developers (Romanian/Serbian)
1 web application security specialist (Romanian)
3 Contextual Content Creators (US American)
3 Graphic Designers (Asian)
1 NFT specialist (Asian)
1 Media Content Creator (Central European)
Credit: Golden Inu Team, Not Affiliated with CryptoPotato
Conclusion
All in all, Golden Inu aims to capture the appeal of Inu tokens but also build on it through verifiable transparency, openness, and the true spirit of cryptocurrencies.
By building a myriad of valuable products, Golden Inu strives to upkeep and create a thriving ecosystem of supporting users who are engaged with the project on a level beyond just holding a token.
The market is currently in a news-driven environment where the prices of cryptocurrencies have been determined by news agenda rather than fundamentals.
Bitfinex analysts have warned crypto investors to be cautious as bitcoin’s (BTC) recovery over the weekend is not a sign that its correction is over; the asset could witness more bloodshed in the near term.
In the latest Bitfinex Alpha report, experts deemed the market’s reaction this week critical, especially as supply alleviated over the weekend could return when traditional markets open.
“No Man’s Land”
Since Saturday, bitcoin has risen almost 10% from $57,600 to $63,000, closing last week in the green. The asset has surged above the 125-day range low of $60,200, which it broke through earlier this month after news of the German government’s massive BTC selling hit the market.
Market sentiment began to improve after reports that wallets linked to the German government were almost empty. However, the positive sentiment may not be sustained for long as the BTC the German authorities moved to trading desks and exchanges are yet to be sold.
While the supply from Germany appears to have been factored into bitcoin’s market price, Bitfinex analysts believe the end of selling pressure depends on how the involved trading desks execute their trades in the coming days.
Although the shift in sentiment underscores the market’s capacity to integrate new information and adjust expectations quickly, analysts think the market’s reaction over the first two trading days of the week cannot be overlooked for two reasons.
First, the low support level in the $60,200 range has now become a potential resistance line. Second, trading patterns over the past three months suggest that weekends are usually favorable for markets, especially on Saturdays when supply pressure seems to subside.
“We are now in no man’s land until we get clear resolution above or below this level,” the analysts said.
A News-Driven Environment
Besides the potential resistance level and three-month weekend trading pattern, the market is currently in a news-driven environment, where the prices of cryptocurrencies have been determined by news agendas rather than fundamentals.
Since selling pressure concerns are not yet completely obsolete due to upcoming Mt Gox creditor distributions, Bitfinex analysts expect such headlines to continue to have some impact on price movements. As such, the analysts urged investors to exercise caution in their trading strategies.
BlackRock’s IBIT led with $117.25 million in inflows on July 15, also being the most traded Bitcoin ETF.
The US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a daily net inflow of $301 million on July 15th. This extended their winning streak to seven consecutive days amidst a broader market recovery.
None of the ETFs recorded outflows for the day.
Bitcoin ETFs Rake in $16.11B in Net Inflows Since Jan
According to the data compiled by SoSoValue, BlackRock’s IBIT, the top spot Bitcoin ETF by net asset value, recorded the largest net inflows of the day at $117.25 million. IBIT was also the most actively traded Bitcoin ETF on Monday, with a volume of $1.24 billion. Ark Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB came in close behind with net inflows of $117.19 million.
Fidelity’s FBTC experienced net inflows of $36.15 million on Monday, while Bitwise’s BITB saw $15.24 million in inflows. VanEck’s HODL, Invesco and Galaxy Digital’s BTCO, and Franklin Templeton’s EZBC funds also recorded net inflows. Meanwhile, Grayscale’s GBTC and other ETFs, such as Valkyrie’s BRRR, WisdomTree’s BTCW, and Hashdex’s DEFI, registered no flows for the day.
A total of $2.26 billion was traded on Monday. The trading volume for these ETFs was less than in March when it exceeded $8 billion on some days. Meanwhile, these funds have collectively attracted $16.11 billion in net inflow since their January launch.
What’s Next For Bitcoin?
Earlier this month, bitcoin’s price decline was mainly due to fears of massive selling pressure from Mt. Gox and the German government’s BTC sales.
But the assassination attempt on pro-crypto former US President and presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump at Saturday’s rally seemed to spark a recovery in the world’s largest digital asset, and experts are bullish on the asset’s price trajectory going forward. Bitcoin surged more than 9% over the past week and was currently trading slightly below $64,000.
Veteran trader Peter Brandt discussed bitcoin’s price outlook, suggesting a potential major rally. He referred to a pattern he terms “Hump->Slump->Bump->Dump->Pump” and highlighted that the July 5 double top attempt was a bear trap, confirmed by the July 13 close. He sees a likely continued upward trend but warned that a close below $56,000 would negate this bullish view.
“Bitcoin $BTC could be unfolding its often-repeated Hump…Slump…Bump…Dump…Pump chart construction. Jul 5 attempt at the double top was a bear trap, confirmed by Jul 13 close. Most likely scenario now is that bears are trapped. Close below $56k negates this interpretation”
PeckShield alert reveals LI.FI’s protocol vulnerability is similar to a March 2022 attack, with the same bug recurring.
The decentralized finance (DeFi) platform LI.FI protocol has suffered an exploit amounting to over $8 million.
Cyvers Alerts reported detecting suspicious transactions within the LI.FI cross-chain transaction aggregator.
LI.FI Issues Warning After $8 Million Exploit
LI.FI confirmed the breach in a statement on July 16 via X: “Please do not interact with any http://LI.FI powered applications for now! We’re investigating a potential exploit.” The team clarified that users who did not set infinite approval are not at risk, emphasizing that only those who manually set infinite approvals seem to be affected.
According to Cyvers Alerts, more than $8 million in user funds have been stolen, with the majority being stablecoins. According to on-chain data, the hacker’s wallet holds 1,715 Ether (ETH) valued at $5.8 million and USDC, USDT, and DAI stablecoins.
Cyvers Alerts advised users to revoke relevant authorizations immediately, noting that the attacker is actively converting USDC and USDT into ETH.
Crypto security firm Decurity provided insights into the exploit, stating that it involves the LI.FI bridge. “The root cause is a possibility of an arbitrary call with user-controlled data via depositToGasZipERC20() in GasZipFacet, which was deployed 5 days ago,” Decurity explained on X.
“In general, the risks behind routers, cross-chain swaps, etc. are about token approvals. Raw native assets like (unwrapped) ETH are safe from these kinds of hacks b/c they don’t have approvals as an option. Most users & wallets also no longer do “infinite approvals” which gives a smart contract total control on removing any amount of their tokens. It’s important to understand which tokens you’re approving to which contracts.
This dashboard looks for all transactions of a user that intersects Lifi. Not all of these transactions indicate risk- but you can see how, broadly, integrations & layers of tech (like how Metamask bridge uses Lifi on BSC) can complicate how users do or don’t put their assets at risk. Revoke Cash is the most well known approval manager app.
But it’s also good security practice to simply rotate your address. New addresses start with 0 approvals, so starting fresh by moving your tokens to a fresh address is another good security practice.” – commented Carlos Mercado, Data Scientist at Flipside Crypto.
Recent Exploit Mirrors March 2022 Attack
Further analysis by PeckShield alert revealed that the vulnerability is similar to a previous attack on LI.FI’s protocol that occurred on March 20, 2022. That incident saw a bad actor exploit LI.FI’s smart contract, specifically the swapping feature, before bridging.
The attacker manipulated the system to call token contracts directly within their contract’s context, making users who had given infinite approval vulnerable. This exploit resulted in the theft of approximately 205 ETH from 29 wallets, affecting tokens such as USDC, MATIC, RPL, GNO, USDT, MVI, AUDIO, AAVE, JRT, and DAI.
“The bug is basically the same. Are we learning anything from the past lesson(s)?” PeckShield Alert said in a July 16 X post.
Following the 2022 incident, LI.FI disabled all swap methods in its smart contract and worked on developing a fix to prevent future vulnerabilities. However, the recurrence of a similar exploit raises concerns about the platform’s security measures and whether adequate steps were taken to address the vulnerabilities identified in the previous breach.
LI.FI is a liquidity aggregation protocol that allows users to trade across various blockchains, venues, and bridges.
