Morning Minute | Pudgy Penguins Parent Raises $11M from Peter Thiel's Fund
TylerD's Market Summary
💰 Igloo Raises $11M For Abstract Chain
We have known about Luca Netz's plans for the new consumer crypto L2 Abstract for a few weeks now.
But we didn't know just how big their backing was.
And it's about as big as it gets for web3.
What Happened?
Yesterday Igloo, Inc (the Pudgy Penguins parent company) announced a raise of over $11M to develop Abstract chain.
The funding was led by Founders Fund (Peter Thiel's fund), along with 1kx, Everest Ventures Group and more.
Igloo plans to use the funds to build out Cube Labs, a new group which will oversee the development of Abstract.
What Is Abstract?
Luca and team took the opportunity yesterday to more formally introduce Abstract to the world.
In quick summary:
- What: Abstract is the new "blockchain for consumer crypto"
- Who: The teams behind Pudgy Penguins, Ethereum, Frame, and Kubernetes
- How: They plan to win consumer crypto via culture & community, along with dedicated brand & builder support
- Why: Builders will be incentivized via marketing support, connections to partners, tech assistance, proven mass distribution & other incentives
- Where: Abstract will use zksync tech stack and Eigen to provide cheap, fast & secure transactions
They will be launching the Abstract Builder incubator soon (form available now) for interested builders.
Luca commented on the vision:
"Our vision is to change the dynamic of how users interact with blockchain technology and easily merge both the real and digital worlds."
A big vision indeed.
Why It Matters
We knew the Abstract chain had some heavy hitters behind it, with Luca and the Frame team involved.
And now we know they have heavy hitting investors behind them as well.
This team will have all the resources they need to build and market Abstract.
Builders will face a real choice now with respect to where to build consumer apps (existing L2s like Arb, new ones like Blast, or Abstract). And Abstract will be a sexy choice.
As for users - they are already ready to move on. And as soon as they can engage with Abstract apps, my bet is they will.
Abstract's future is bright...
🎢 ETH ETFs Debut
The price was a roller coaster, currently down 1% at $3,460 and bouncing between $3,400 and $3,500.
But overall, the ETH ETF debut was strong.
The net inflows were $107M on day 1, which included $484M of outflows from ETHE which were totally absorbed.
That's nearly 5% of ETHE holdings.
If the ETHE outflows continue at this pace, the main sell pressure will be gone in a month (similar to BTC ETFs) and then...up only time.
It was a strong start. Now let's see how today goes.
🚚 What else is happening in NFTs?
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
- Ethereum led NFT trading volume with $7.2M (+60%) on the day; Solana was next with $3.2M, and then BTC with $1.8M
- ETH NFT leaders were mixed on the day; Pudgy +1% at 10.65 ETH, Milady -1% to 5.6, Azuki -3% to 3.92 and BAYC -1% at 9.24
- Alpha Kongs Club (+100%) and Doodles Genesis Boxes (+70%) were notable top movers on the day
- BTC NFT leaders were mostly red; NodeMonkes -7% at 0.146 BTC, Puppets -10% at 0.113 BTC, Quantum Cats -1.5% at 0.295, OMB -2.5% at 0.21; Boldinals +15% to 0.16
- The Runes leaders were mixed; DOG -2% at $405M mc, RSIC even at $75M mc, PUPS even at $51M
- Solana NFTs were mixed; Mad Lads -2% at 66.5 SOL, SMB Gen 2 even at 28.6, Bando Kids +150% at 2.9
- Doodles introduced "Doodles TV," a direct-to-community media platform allowing artists and communities to "own" cultural moments, with their Super Pass launching on Base next week
- Garga and The Otherside dropped new teasers and info for the Project Dragon: Event 1 taking place this Saturday, including the need for a Yuga ID
- Forgotten Runiverse dropped a new trailer
- Chimpers dropped their first ever Plushie toy Master Chimp, for sales for $29.99
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Here's a rundown of major token or airdrop news from the day:
- ApeCoin introduced the "Banana Bill," which offers 100M $APE ($81M) to those who can help "fuel commercial agreements that would bring a positive ROI for the APE ecosystem"
- $900B asset manager Hamilton Lane launched a private credit fund on Solana, partnering with web3 protocol Libre for issuance and distribution of funds on-chain
🌎 Around Crypto and Web3
A few other Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
- Crypto majors are mixed this morning; BTC -1% at $66,400; ETH -1 at $3,465, SOL +1% at $178
- Memecoin majors are mostly green with DOGE -1%, PEPE +4%, WIF +1%, BONK even, MOG -5%; MEW soars 15% to $750M
- Solana flipped ETH in 30 day DEX volume for the first time in history this past month
- Kamala Harris is now in talks with the BTC Nashville team to speak at the conference
- VanEck launched a promotional video for its ETH ETF featuring Pudgy Penguins
🚀 Memecoin Movers
- $HARRIS (+150%, $12M market cap, ETH)
- $HARAMBE (+58%, $32M market cap, SOL)
- $KAMA (+47%, $34M market cap, SOL)
- $MANEKI (+23%, $105M market cap, SOL)
- $GIGA (+23%, $189M market cap, SOL)
📈 NFT Floor Price Increase (ETH)
- Alpha Kongs Club (100%, 0.09 ETH Floor)
- Genesis Box (70%, 0.05 ETH)
- Mint ID (35%, 0.4 ETH)
- MightNet (25%, 0.2 ETH)
- CryptoPhunks (23%, 0.12 ETH)
🗓 Upcoming Mints and Events
Today is a busier day of mints.
Arthur Hayes is dropping a PFP on BTC called Airhead along with Oyl Wallet.
BTC Machine is back with Mr. Burnz and P1A is the meme card artist.
See the full list and dive in for more details with Swizzy's daily mint monitor.
- Kaisar Network - Genesis NFT (8:00 a.m. ET)
- Arthur Hayes - Airhead (9:00 a.m. ET)
- Memes by 6529 (11:00 a.m. ET)
- BTC Machine - Mr. Burnz (12:00 p.m. ET)
- Floor - ICONS Series 4 Drop 1 (1:00 p.m. ET)
Enjoy this write-up and/or want to sponsor the Morning Minute? Follow along with me on Twitter @tyler_did_it or reach out via email to tyler.warner@luckytrader.com.
