It was only fitting for the cherry blossoms to bloom early this year, as if it signaled perhaps the coldest of crypto winters is over making way for the thaw of spring. This past year had its trials and tribulations and at times it may have felt like the world was ending. But an end is never an end, only a new beginning and those who stuck around are writing the first chapters.
Tokyo was a fitting choice for Ethereum festivities. The land of the rising Sun has been on the tip of Crypto Twitter’s tongue for years and the week did not disappoint. In fact, to speak bluntly, those who weathered the bear and made the trip out here are likely some of the most promising builders around and their resolve should give them the proper mindset to overcome challenges moving forward. Personally, a few projects really caught my eye. Although this may be the first time you are hearing about them, I can guarantee you it won’t be the last.
ZK3
ZK3 is a zero-knowledge proof kit that allows users to prove identifiers on web 2 and web 3 platforms in a privacy-preserving manner. By building on top of Semaphore, a zero-knowledge protocol for activities such as private voting, whistleblowing, anonymous DAOs, etc. and the decentralized social protocol Lens, ZK3 allow users to signal in a private way. Some interesting use cases include token-gating conversations, data authenticating proof-generation for anons who do not want to reveal their identity, and more. As more individuals have their wealth concentrated on-chain, maintaining privacy has become a matter of utmost importance and projects such as ZK3 will be to verify individuals while maintaining and respecting their privacy.
Caviar
Caviar is an NFT AMM that permits liquidity providers to customize their bonding curve based on characteristics such as rarity. Classic shared NFT pools have a x*y=k bonding curve is that it treats everything as a floor NFT. This is fine in collections with little variety but limits its scope. Caviar offers LPs both the option for a shared pools or custom pools. Already there is a custom market for mid-rarity Miladys. As RWAs make their way on-chain and require a method of making a proper market, custom pools can allow for distinct assets to be priced in the appropriate range.
Bonkler
Coming from the Remilio Collective that launched Miladys and Remilios, Bonkler is an experimental reserve-backed NFT with a capped supply being auctioned off daily for the next year. With only 400 Bonklers destined to be minted in existence, the traits and rarity of each one will be revealed over time which makes price discovery much different than standard pfp collections. The novel NFTs are deflationary and are burned to redeem shares in the treasury, allowing holders to ragequit when they see fit. Unlike Milady Maker which is meant to be a display of identity, Bonkler is more akin to a digital artifact; its figurine design is intentional as it is meant to be a collectible cherished with pride. The first Bonkler auction kicked off with an in-person event to close out a week of Remilia-con activities in Tokyo and as of writing it has a 60 ETH bid.
HomeDAO
HomeDAO is a startup society of young and hungry crypto builders that have been building across a variety of different fields. Based in the Oxford Crypto Village at Oxford University, the group has racked up hackathon wins at ETH Amsterdam; ETH Bogotá; ETH Vietnam; 1kx; ETH Denver; ETH Beijing; and now ETH Tokyo. HomeDAO has established itself as a force to be reckoned with and counts its current membership consisting of Caviar (NFT AMM), Footium (football management game), and Rhinestone (plug-and-play account abstraction).
Not financial or tax advice. This article is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This post is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
