Something strange happened when they started paying creators to stick around. The platform discovered how to align incentives in ways that "serious" Web3 projects are still struggling with.

This isn't a redemption story about Pump.fun getting respectable. It’s about:

• Why chaos might be the best teacher for platform economics

• The surprising lessons from paying creators in a speculation economy

• What Pump.fun's success reveals about Web3 incentives

It's a case study in how the most chaotic environments often produce the clearest lessons about human behaviour and platform design.

🎭 What Happens When You Pay the Speculators?

Evolution.

Let me start with a confession: I thought Pump.fun was a net negative for crypto. A platform where anyone could launch a token in 30 seconds, most of which would promptly dump to zero? It felt like digital gambling with extra steps.

Read: When Pump.fun Is No Longer Fun 🥵

Turns out they've been tinkering with the formula.

Pump.fun has quietly been building something more interesting than a memecoin slot machine. Since launching creator revenue sharing in May, they've distributed $3 million to token creators in just three weeks.

That's not "we're changing the world" money, but it's "we might have fixed our rug pull problem" money.

The numbers are what they are:

• Creators get 0.05% of all trading volume on their tokens

• Top creator earned $93,780 in three weeks from a single token (MOONPIG)

• Even spam creators are making decent money—one wallet launched 320 mostly failed tokens and still earned $73,300

Here's the thing: Pump.fun didn't set out to build a creator economy. They built a casino, and when the house realised that constant rug pulls were bad for repeat customers, they started paying dealers to stick around longer.

Whether this actually solves anything remains to be seen.

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🚀 The Uncomfortable Truth

Most Web3 platforms start with grand theories about decentralisation, community ownership, and revolutionary economics. They spend months crafting tokenomics that look perfect on paper and fail spectacularly in practice.

Pump.fun took the opposite approach: they built a crude casino and iterated based on what actually happened when thousands of people started using it. The result is more honest about human nature than most "thoughtfully designed" platforms.

But here's the timing issue: Pump.fun is launching their $PUMP token just as memecoin mania shows signs of cooling off.

This feels familiar—Blur launched their token right at the peak of NFT volume in February 2023, watched it spike to $5, then crash below $1 as the NFT market collapsed. History has a habit of repeating itself, and platform tokens launched at market peaks rarely end well.

Consider what they've learned by watching $700 million flow through their system: creators need ongoing incentives, not just upfront rewards.

Communities form around shared financial outcomes. Quality matters less than timing and marketing. Simple mechanics work better than complex ones.

Not revolutionary insights, but they're insights that emerged from real behaviour rather than theoretical models. The platform has become an laboratory for studying how people actually interact with token economies when the stakes are real but not life-changing.

📊 The Incentive Experiments

Every change they've made reveals something about human behaviour in crypto markets.

August 2024: Eliminated the $2 token creation fee, shifting the cost to the first buyer instead of the creator.

Result: token creation volume exploded because the barrier to experimentation dropped to zero.

March 2025: Launched PumpSwap, their own DEX. Tokens now automatically migrate there after completing bonding curves.

Result: they gained control over the entire token lifecycle and could capture more value from successful projects.

April 2025: Re-launched live streaming with heavy moderation after dangerous content forced a shutdown.

Result: they learned that giving people cameras and financial incentives requires guardrails, no matter how "decentralised" you want to be.

May 2025: Introduced creator revenue sharing: 0.05% of all trading volume goes to token creators.

Result: creators now have incentive to maintain communities rather than just dump and disappear.

June 2025: Planning to launch $PUMP token with a $1 billion raise at $4 billion valuation. Result: TBD, but it's the ultimate test of whether they can apply their platform learnings to their own token without becoming what they've been profiting from.

Each change was a response to observed behaviour, not philosophical principle. The platform evolved by watching what happened and adjusting accordingly.

But what’s really happening?

Pump.fun has created a system where speculation and creator economics exist in symbiosis rather than opposition.

Traditional creator economy thinking says you need to eliminate speculation to build sustainable communities. Pump.fun suggests the opposite might be true. That speculation can actually fund creator economies if you structure the incentives correctly.

Take the case of NEET coin community funding a Wall Street protest with their creator fees. The speculative trading on their token generated real money that the community used for real-world activities. The speculation wasn't separate from the community building—it was funding the community building.

Or consider the creator who launched 320 mostly failed tokens and still earned $73,300. Traditional thinking would call this spam. But from a platform perspective, this creator provided liquidity, experimentation, and volume. They performed a service even if 99% of their tokens failed.

This challenges the assumption that quality should be rewarded over quantity in early-stage markets. Maybe quantity is quality when you're trying to discover what works.

🎯 The Lessons

The most valuable thing about Pump.fun is what their model reveals about platform design in crypto:

Embrace chaos as data: Instead of trying to prevent "bad" behaviour, design systems that make bad behaviour expensive and good behaviour profitable. Let the market teach you what works.

Align incentives with reality, not ideals: Creators want to make money. Traders want to speculate. Communities want entertainment. Design for what people actually want, not what you think they should want.

Simple mechanics compound: Giving creators 0.05% of trading volume is trivially simple but creates complex emergent behaviours. Complex tokenomics usually create simple behaviours (people dump and leave).

Iteration beats optimisation: Pump.fun's model works not because they designed it perfectly, but because they designed it adaptably. They can experiment with fee structures, creator incentives, and platform features because the core system is simple enough to modify.

The broader lesson is that Web3 platforms might be trying too hard to be respectable. The most interesting innovation often happens in the spaces that traditional finance would consider disreputable.

Most Web3 projects are still trying to build perfect systems. Pump.fun built an imperfect system that learns. In a space moving as fast as crypto, the ability to learn might matter more than the ability to optimise.

That's a lesson worth considering, even if you'd never touch a memecoin with someone else's wallet.

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The Week That Was 🗓️

• Meta is partnering with defense contractor Anduril to develop AI-powered mixed-reality headsets for the US military.

• Crypto gaming startup Orange Cap Games (OCG) has acquired the intellectual property (IP) for the Moonbirds, Mythics, and Oddities NFT collections from Yuga Labs.

• Polygon-based NFTs have achieved over $2 billion in all-time sales volume, showing consistent monthly growth throughout 2025.

• A Manhattan federal court has temporarily frozen approximately $57.65 million worth of USDC stablecoin, allegedly tied to the controversial Libra memecoin.

• Bubblemaps has launched the public version of its v2 product with new tools to help detect insider activity and prevent memecoin scams.

• Performance art duo Operator is using NFTs to make "movement collectible" as an art object.

• Guests and registrants of the recent Trump memecoin gala dinner received limited-edition Solana-based NFTs as "historic collector's items."

Art of the Day 🖼️

Voronoi Variegata by autoeclectus

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But Pepe? This green croaker refuses to die.

Trading at $0.00001377 with a $5.7 billion market cap, it's still the third-largest memecoin after surviving every "memecoin winter" thrown at it.

Even billion-dollar Bitcoin traders are now aping into Pepe positions. Is this frog actually immortal, or just the beneficiary of the internet's shortest attention span?

And why are whales suddenly treating a cartoon amphibian like a legitimate investment?

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📣 The Promise

Back in April 2023, some anonymous devs launched Pepe coin as a "tribute to the most memeable meme in internet existence." No team, no roadmap, no utility. Just pure unadulterated meme energy built on Ethereum.

The pitch was beautifully honest.

"PEPE is a meme coin with no intrinsic value or expectation of financial return. The coin is completely useless and for entertainment purposes only."

At least they were upfront about it being pointless.

Where does it get mental?

Within weeks of launch, it surged 7,000% and hit a $1.6 billion market cap by May 2023. The internet collectively lost its mind over a cartoon frog. Pepe absolutely exploded.

Fast forward to May 27, 2025, and Pepe is still here, still trading, still somehow relevant.

• Price: $0.00001376

• Market cap: $5.7 billion

• 24-hour volume: $1.2 billion

• Ranking: #32 overall, #3 among memecoins

The frog refuses to die.

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🔍 The Reality

Let's be brutally honest about what happened in 2025.

The memecoin sector got absolutely rekt in Q1, with the overall market cap declining 50% and trading volume dropping 63%. Most memecoins got sent to Valhalla.

But Pepe? Maintained a market cap between $5.3-5.78 billion throughout the chaos. Whilst other memecoins were getting liquidated into oblivion, Pepe holders were... well, still holding worthless frog JPEGs, but valuable worthless frog JPEGs.

Read: Game, Set and Death for Memecoins?💀

From May 2024 to May 2025, the total memecoin market cap peaked around $110 billion in late 2024 before dropping to $50-60 billion by early 2025, mirroring the 50% crash we mentioned. While Dogecoin and Shiba Inu still dominate in raw market cap, Pepe’s share of the memecoin pie has stayed resilient, often outperforming the sector’s overall trend.

Unlike flash-in-the-pan tokens like GHIBILI, which hit $30 million before crashing to nothing, or Conor McGregor’s memecoin that couldn’t even raise $400K from 668 bidders, Pepe’s consistency is what sets it apart. It’s the benchmark that keeps croaking while others croak.

Read: The Knockout: McGregor's Token Failure 🥋

What's keeping this frog alive?

• Cultural juggernaut: Pepe the Frog, born in 2005, isn’t just a meme. It’s a cultural icon that started the memecoin craze. Its community thrives on X, where influencers and fans keep the hype alive, making Pepe a “lindy meme” that grows stronger with time.

• Major exchange listings: Listings on Coinbase and Robinhood in November 2024 gave Pepe legitimacy it probably didn’t deserve. Retail investors love clicking buttons on familiar apps.

• Whale activity: Massive players keep accumulating. Recent data shows 2 trillion PEPE tokens withdrawn from Bybit, coinciding with a 4.44% price rise. Someone with serious money believes in cartoon frogs.

• Market savvy: Pepe hit the scene early enough to ride the memecoin wave before it got crowded, cementing its spot as a beta play that thrives when crypto markets pump.

• Simplicity and adaptability: No complex tokenomics here; just a straightforward coin that evolves with market shifts, dodging regulatory traps and sentiment swings.

🧠 The Verdict

Whilst everyone was writing obituaries for memecoins, some absolute mad lad calling himself “James Wynn” made headlines by closing a $1.2 billion Bitcoin position (with a $17.5 million loss) and immediately aping into... Pepe. This trader put $1 million into PEPE at 10x leverage, immediately making $500,000 profit as the coin pumped 6%. After walking away from billion-dollar Bitcoin trades, he chose a cartoon frog as his next play, a move that screams confidence in Pepe’s unkillable vibe.

What does this tell us?

Either this trader has completely lost his mind, or Pepe’s reputation as a memecoin benchmark is drawing sophisticated money. The frog is setting the standard for what memecoins can be: a cultural and crypto industry milestone.

Because Pepe is the coin that made 4-digit percentage gains in hours seem possible. It's the memecoin benchmark, the cultural milestone, and the bar all frogcoins try — and fail—to reach.

Pepe has survived multiple “death” cycles already. Every time someone declares memecoins finished, this frog croaks its way back to relevance, often mirroring the memecoin market’s swings but holding stronger demand than its peers.

The reality is that Pepe has achieved something rare in crypto: genuine brand recognition beyond the crypto bubble. When traditional media mentions memecoins, they talk about Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and increasingly, Pepe. Its cultural roots, community buzz on X, and early-mover advantage make it a “lindy meme” that feels unkillable: the longer it lasts, the stronger it gets.

In a space full of governance tokens, utility coins, and world-computer blockchains, sometimes the market just wants to trade cartoon frogs. That’s exactly what Pepe provides — a cultural milestone that started a trend and refuses to croak. The meme coin that promised to be completely useless has become one of the most persistent tokens in crypto, setting the standard for memecoins everywhere.

Ribbit.

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The Week That Was 🗓️

• GameStop has officially announced its first Bitcoin acquisition, purchasing 4,710 BTC.

• A social media prankster who attended Donald Trump's memecoin holder dinner criticised the food as "worst food ever" and Trump's speech as "bullshit."

• Nvidia is developing a new, lower-cost AI chip for the Chinese market, after US export restrictions limited sales of its more advanced chips in China.

• Standard Chartered views Solana as potentially becoming a "one-trick pony" due to its heavy reliance on memecoin trading.

• Web3 developer platform Alchemy has acquired HeyMint, a no-code NFT launchpad, for an undisclosed sum.

• Luxury fashion brand 9dcc, known for linking physical apparel to NFTs via NFC chips, is ceasing operations at the end of May.

• Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev predicts that AI will lead to the rise of "single-person companies.”

Upcoming Launches 🔍

• Isabelita Virtual's "Soledad" NFT: Short Film Explores Disconnection.

  Galerie Met presents "Soledad" by Isabelita Virtual, a 7-item NFT collection featuring a short film. The work explores themes of solitude and the human need for connection in a hyperconnected society.

• Off the Grid: Avalanche Shooter Plots June Steam Launch. Avalanche-powered battle royale shooter Off the Grid is gradually moving players to its GUNZ mainnet, enabling real crypto trading of in-game items. The game is slated to expand to PC platform Steam in June, despite Steam's 2021 ban on blockchain games.

• Upcoming Token Unlocks: May 28 - June 1. This week's notable token unlocks starting today include: $IOTA (May 28th, $3.19M), $FET (May 28th, $2.82M), $OP (May 31st, $23.98M), $SUI (June 1st, $159.26M), $ZETA (June 1st, $11.28M), and $DYDX (June 1st, $5.08M). One unlock already occurred: $EIGEN (May 27th, $1.94M). Investors should monitor these events.

Art of the Day 🖼️

We Made It by Infiniteyay

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The catch? Blockchain analysis suggests most attendees won't be American.

With wallets linked to exchanges like Binance that don't serve US customers and $148 million collectively spent to secure invites, this dinner represents an intersection of crypto, politics, and foreign influence.

Who exactly scored an invite to break bread with the President?

Are they speculative traders, strategic influence buyers, or something else entirely?

And what happens when a world leader invites anonymous internet strangers to dinner based solely on how much of his token they've purchased?

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👨‍💼 The Guest List

If you dropped serious cash on $TRUMP tokens before May 12, congratulations, you might be dining with the President this Wednesday.

“From April 23 to May 12, hold as much $TRUMP as you can. Your average holdings during this period will determine your ranking. The more $TRUMP you hold — and the longer you hold it — the higher Your Ranking will be” says the website.

Who exactly made the cut?

Let's peek at the seating chart.

Table 1: The Whales

At the head of this table sits the confirmed king of $TRUMP ocean: Justin Sun, who just officially announced on Monday that he is indeed the top holder on the leaderboard. The Tron founder holds more than 1.4 million TRUMP tokens worth approximately $20 million.

Sun didn't just hold — he doubled down after the dinner was announced, adding 359,000 more TRUMP tokens (about $4.72 million) during the qualification period.

The Tron founder is no stranger to controversy — he's currently negotiating with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over fraud charges. But in a stroke of curious timing, the SEC, led by Trump appointees, asked a court to suspend the lawsuit against Sun in February.

Joining him at the whale table: Singapore-based MemeCore with another $18 million investment. They've been extremely vocal about their quest for dinner access, practically live-tweeting their token buying spree.

Table 2: The International Brigade According to Bloomberg, 19 of the top 25 wallets belong to individuals outside the US.

• Kain Warwick, Infinex founder (Australian), who told reporters he'll "wear a suit" to the dinner and doesn't expect much face time with the President

• Vincent Liu from Kronos Research (Taiwan)

• "Ogle," a pseudonymous attendee with more than 250,000 tokens who refused to disclose his citizenship saying "This is crypto man. If I wanted to have my info doxxed, I wouldn't use a pseudonym"

• Various anonymous wallets linked to Asian exchanges

Table 3: The "Just Barely Made It" Crew

The final qualifier for dinner held 4,196 tokens, worth about $60,000 at the cutoff. That makes the actual "cost" of attending this dinner about $6,000 if they sold immediately after qualifying (accounting for the 10% price drop), a steal compared to the $1 million "candlelight dinner" tickets Trump's Super PAC sold in March.

Noticeably absent: Freight Technologies, a Houston logistics company that spent $2 million trying to influence US-Mexico trade policy by buying tokens. They finished 250th, missing the cutoff by 30 spots. Ouch.

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💰 The Price Tag

The numbers behind this dinner party are absolutely mind-boggling.

For the guests:

• $148 million: Combined spending by all 220 qualified wallet holders

• $4.8 million: Average amount held by VIP attendees (top 25)

• $20 million: Justin Sun's confirmed holdings (1.5 million TRUMP tokens)

• $60,000: Amount held by the last qualifier (#220) at the cutoff

For comparison

• $1 million: Cost of "candlelight dinner" with Trump, sold by Super PACs in March

• $5 million: Price for one-on-one meetings with the President through traditional channels

• $15 billion: Peak market cap of $TRUMP token on January 19 after launch

• $2.9 billion: Current market cap

• $320 million: Amount already collected in trading fees by Trump-affiliated entities

• 80%: Percentage of token controlled by Trump Organisation and affiliates (specifically CIC Digital and Fight Fight Fight LLC)

The wealth transfer here is staggering. For every winner celebrating their dinner invite, there are thousands of losers who helped fund the party without getting an invitation.

🧩 The Complications

Just dinner with the president? No. It's a diplomatic, legal, and ethical minefield:

Identity crisis

Because crypto wallets are pseudonymous, nobody knows exactly who bought these tokens. Some wallets can be traced to known individuals, but others remain completely anonymous.

The Secret Service must be having an absolute meltdown trying to vet these guests. "Sir, all we have is a wallet address starting with 0x4f9..."

The VIP experience

The dinner itself is just part of the package. The top 25 VIPs also get an exclusive reception with Trump before dinner and a "special VIP tour" (though of what, exactly, remains unclear). That's something normally reserved for $5 million Super PAC donors.

Foreign influence

Sen. Richard Blumenthal warned that the Trump family's crypto ventures could become a "backdoor for foreign and corporate interests seeking access to the president."

When most of your dinner guests are foreign nationals who paid hundreds of thousands (or millions) for access, it's hard to argue against that characterisation.

Legislative impact

Despite initial concerns, the dinner controversy didn't ultimately derail crypto legislation. The Senate has actually advanced the GENIUS Act stablecoin regulation bill on a bipartisan vote, with Democrats joining Republicans to move the legislation forward.

While some Democrats had initially expressed reservations, the bill's progress indicates that crypto regulation is becoming a truly bipartisan priority that transcends the controversies surrounding the memecoin dinner.

Investigation brewing

Democratic lawmakers have requested all suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed since 2023 related to World Liberty Financial and the $TRUMP token.

The request specifically asks for any mentions of WinRed, America PAC, Elon Musk, Trump, WLF, TRUMP, MELANIA, and Justin Sun. This investigation train is just leaving the station.

🔍 The Aftermath

What happens after the plates are cleared? Here's what to watch for:

Market Movements: Expect a classic "sell the news" dump after the dinner. Those who bought tokens purely for access have no reason to hold once the meal is over.

Media Coverage: How much access will press have? Will attendees share details, or will NDAs keep it all quiet? The level of transparency will tell us a lot about the real purpose of this event.

Political Fallout: Democrats are already using this dinner as ammunition against the administration. Expect hearings, investigations, and possibly legislation targeting similar crypto-for-access scenarios.

Copycat Events: If this works for Trump, other politicians will likely follow. Imagine Cabinet Secretaries hosting token holder lunches or Senators doing NFT meet-and-greets.

Whether you see this dinner as innovation or corruption depends largely on your politics. But one thing's certain: the line between crypto and political influence has never been blurrier.

Just remember — in crypto as in politics, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Especially when the lunch costs millions of dollars in meme tokens.

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The Week That Was 🗓️

• The founder of Hashling NFT and a connected Bitcoin mining operation, Jonathan Mills, is facing a lawsuit from former business partners.

• President Donald Trump signed the "TAKE IT DOWN Act," making it a federal crime to publish or threaten to publish nonconsensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes.

• Haliey Welch, known as the "Hawk tuah girl," stated that the FBI briefly investigated her following the "disastrous" launch of a memecoin named after her.

• An AI-powered Darth Vader character in Fortnite's "Galactic Battles" event began spouting racist and homophobic slurs, along with profanity, shortly after its introduction.

• SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce clarifies that NFTs, even those with creator royalties, generally aren't considered federal securities.

• Blockchain gaming saw a 10% drop in user activity in April, hitting a 2025 low of 4.8 million daily Unique Active Wallets (dUAW).

Upcoming Launches 🔍

• Rare Fish Market NFT by cydr + bagdelete: Launching May 26. "Rare Fish Market," a project by @cydr and @bagdelete, launches Monday, May 26 on Fellowship. This collection features 78 unique 1 of 1 NFTs priced at 0.1 ETH, offering a satirical take on digital assets.

• Pixelmon's Warden's Ascent: Mobile RPG Coming to Avalanche. Pokémon-inspired crypto gaming franchise Pixelmon will launch its flagship mobile RPG, Warden's Ascent, on Avalanche in the second half of 2025.

• Upcoming Token Unlocks: May 19 - May 25. This week's notable token unlocks include: $MRS (May 22, $176.50M), $MURA (May 23, $3.94M), and $VENOM (May 25, $6.08M). Two unlocks already occurred: $PYTH (May 19, $307.84M) and $EIGEN (May 20, $1.75M). Investors should monitor these events.

Art of the Day 🖼️

Exit Vectors by Keke

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After briefly touching a $100 million market cap, DOOD plummeted nearly 50% in its opening days.

Now the team is pivoting from "memecoin" to "universe token" while building an AI storytelling platform called DreamNet.

Is this just another NFT cash grab before the bull market ends, or could this blend of cute characters, AI, and decentralised storytelling actually work?

And what does this teach us about the new playbook for NFT collections trying to stay relevant in 2025?

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🎨 The Mint

The Ethereum-born "blue chip" NFT collection Doodles debuted its DOOD token last Friday (May 9), completing its transformation from 2021-era PFP project to... whatever it's trying to be now.

The token structure follows the familiar NFT playbook:

• 10 billion DOOD total supply

• 30% airdropped to Doodles NFT holders

• 13% going to "New Blood" community members on Solana

• 25% reserved for the "Ecosystem Fund"

• The rest (32%) split between team, advisors, and liquidity

Holders of the original Ethereum Doodles collection and other ecosystem NFTs (like Doodles 2) had to pre-register by connecting both Ethereum and Solana wallets before the token generation event.

Major exchanges quickly lined up to support the token, with Bybit, Binance Alpha, Gate, KuCoin, and MEXC all announcing listings.

The anticipation was palpable. Doodles NFT sales surged dramatically in the 24 hours before the airdrop, with trading volume hitting approximately $1 million on May 8, then skyrocketing to $2.5 million on May 9 - roughly a 188% increase in daily volume. This marks a significant increase in weekly volume compared to the previous week.

This pre-launch hype is a familiar pattern, but Doodles is attempting to position DOOD as something more significant than just another memecoin.

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😱 The Panic

The market didn't exactly shower DOOD with confetti after its debut.

According to Doodles' head of strategy Austin Hurwitz, the token briefly touched a market cap of over $100 million at launch, then promptly tanked to around $52 million. As of Wednesday morning (May 14), it was hovering around $45 million with a price of about $0.005 per token.

Hurwitz tried to spin the dramatic drop as totally normal and expected: "We expect those tokens to rotate into the hands of people who want to hold for the long run. Would not judge the performance of the token based on launch."

Translation: "Please don't sell, guys."

To be fair, Doodles isn't the only NFT project to see its token crater after launch. Both Pudgy Penguins' PENGU and Azuki's ANIME are down 79% and 87% from their all-time highs, respectively.

Just as DOOD launched, the broader NFT market hit $126 million in weekly sales, a 27% increase from the previous week. A teeny tiny "bull market" energy.

🔄 The Pivot

As prices dropped, the Doodles team quickly reframed the narrative. DOOD is not just another Solana token.

Then?

It’s a "universe token" for something called DreamNet.

What's DreamNet? According to their marketing materials, it's an AI-powered storytelling platform with:

• Agent Tokens (characters)

• Place Tokens (settings)

• Reference Fees (payments for using story elements)

The DOOD launch comes just months after a January leadership shakeup, with artist Scott Martin (Burnt Toast) taking over as CEO to move away from what he termed "extractive corpo" initiatives.

When asked about the price drop, Martin said: "We launched DOOD not to follow trends but because we believe in building real, long term, value for our community."

"Web3 is the infrastructure powering what we do, but we're building experiences that resonate far beyond the typical crypto crowd."

Currently, the only concrete utility mentioned is that DOOD will be usable in the Doodles shop "in a few days." The rest of the DreamNet vision? Purely theoretical.

The project is spreading itself across multiple chains, starting on Ethereum, launching its token on Solana, and planning to bridge to Base later. As Martin put it: "Doodles is chain-agnostic. We build wherever it makes the most sense."

Translation: We'll follow whatever chain has the hottest money.

💡 The Lesson

Doodles' DOOD launch offers a clear view of where we are in the NFT cycle: projects that rode the 2021-2022 wave to prominence are desperately trying to find sustainable business models beyond simply selling JPEGs.

The current NFT project playbook appears to be:

1. Launch a token (preferably on Solana where listing is easier)

2. Give a big chunk to your existing holders (to keep them happy)

3. Talk about AI integration (because it's 2025 and you have to)

4. Pivot to "storytelling" and "worldbuilding" (since gaming is hard)

5. Promise utility that's always just a few months away

The initial price action suggests the market is getting wise to this formula. To Doodles' credit, they do appear to be thinking more expansively than many of their peers.

The concept of tokenising narrative elements that can be composed together might genuinely have applications beyond just storytelling. Imagine game assets that earn their creators royalties when used in different games.

For gaming, this approach could eventually offer an interesting alternative to traditional IP management. Instead of a single company owning all elements of a game world, individual creators could own and monetise specific characters, settings, or concepts.

For now, DOOD joins the growing pile of NFT tokens that launched with a bang and then promptly cratered. The test will be whether they can deliver a compelling DreamNet experience that actually makes people want to use DOOD for something other than speculation.

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The Week That Was 🗓️

• A judge dismissed a lawsuit from buyers of the Caitlyn Jenner (JENNER) memecoin, finding their claims of securities violations and fraud were not adequately supported.

• Yuga Labs has sold the intellectual property (IP) of the CryptoPunks NFT collection to the Infinite Node Foundation (NODE).

• Frank DeGods, the creator, has stepped down as CEO of the DeGods NFT project after three years at the helm.

• Square Enix is expanding its blockchain game Symbiogenesis from Polygon to Soneium.

• DappRadar reports a significant increase in user activity for AI DApps, suggesting they could soon rival gaming and DeFi in the Web3 ecosystem.

• Nasdaq-listed GD Culture Group (GDC) intends to raise up to $300 million to establish a cryptocurrency treasury reserve. The company plans to use the funds to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) and the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin.

• Arbitrum has committed $10 million to blockchain gaming projects through its newly established Arbitrum Gaming Ventures initiative.

Upcoming Launches 🔍

• CyberBrokers Drifters: Launching Today on TPL. CyberBrokers' customisable 3D avatars, Drifters, launch today, Wednesday, May 14th at 3 PM EDT on TPL Drifters [Base]. Mint DNA Packs (7,777 supply) starting at 0.048 ETH to collect G.E.A.R. and BioCanvas to create your evolving metaverse identity.

• Adidas & Xociety: NFT Drop for Sui Game. Apparel giant Adidas is collaborating with the Sui-based game Xociety to release 2,600 limited-edition NFT mystery boxes starting May 16th. Priced at $129 each, these boxes contain Adidas-branded virtual clothing and accessories for player avatars in the "pop shooter" game.

• Upcoming Token Unlocks: May 14 - May 18. Key token unlocks include: $STRK (May 15th, $23.20M), $SEI (May 15th, $14.44M), $IMX (May 16th, $17.77M), $ARB (May 16th, $42.23M), $AVAX (May 17th, $41.59M), $APE (May 17th, $10.54M), $FTN (May 18th, $87.20M), and $MELANIA (May 18th, $10.31M). Investors should monitor these events.

Art of the Day 🖼️

Auntiverse by Niceautnies

Token Dispatch is a daily crypto newsletter handpicked and crafted with love by human bots. You can find all about us here 🙌

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It came from a court battle between two titans that, on the surface, had nothing to do with crypto at all.

Epic Games, the creator of online video game Fortnite, has been waging a legal war against Apple since 2020. After nearly five years of litigation, they've finally secured a victory that could reshape not just gaming, but the entire mobile crypto landscape.

The details of the ruling are complex, their implications — straightforward.

The fortress walls of Apple's ecosystem have been breached. For an industry that's long been relegated to the sidelines of the world's most important computing platform, this represents an unexpected turning point.

Today’s edition looks at why this legal battle matters so much for crypto's future, and what might bloom in the absence of Apple's policies that have historically suffocated innovation.

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🎮 Play

After nearly five years of legal warfare, Epic Games just landed a decisive blow to Apple.

In an 80-page ruling, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found that Apple "willfully violated" a previous court injunction by maintaining anti-competitive barriers around its App Store.

She referred Apple and one of its finance VPs to federal prosecutors for criminal contempt charges.

The ruling strips away Apple's ability to:

• Charge commissions on purchases made outside apps

• Monitor or track external purchases

• Prevent developers from linking to external payment options

• Restrict how those links are designed or placed

Epic's CEO Tim Sweeney couldn't contain himself: "NO FEES on web transactions. Game over for the Apple Tax," he tweeted, presumably while doing Fortnite victory dances in his office.

The biggest winner might not be Epic at all. It could be crypto.

Under Apple's new guidelines, apps in the US can now include buttons, external links, or other calls to action when allowing users to browse NFT collections owned by others.

And most importantly: The prohibition on encouraging users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase does not apply on the United States storefront.

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🔄 Rewind

Since the App Store's inception, Apple has maintained an iron grip on how developers can monetise. The rules were simple yet draconian: if you wanted to sell anything through your app, you had to use Apple's payment system and surrender 30% of revenue.

For most traditional apps, this was burdensome, still manageable. For crypto applications, it was often a death sentence.

Read: Apple can breathe 🍎 🫣

Imagine trying to run an NFT marketplace where Apple takes a third of every transaction.

While the typical gallery or auction house might charge 15-20% commission, Apple's additional 30% would push the total take rate to 45-50% — an economic impossibility.

Or consider play-to-earn games, where thin margins and complex token economies simply couldn't absorb Apple's cut. The mathematics just didn't work.

The result? A bifurcated ecosystem where mobile crypto experiences were severely crippled.

OpenSea's iOS app let you browse NFTs, not buy them.

MetaMask's wallet had to resort to a clunky in-app browser workaround.

Most blockchain games either avoided iOS entirely or created watered-down versions that stripped out their most innovative features.

In essence, Apple's policies forced one of the most promising new technologies to largely bypass the world's most important computing platform.

⏸️ Pause

Before we all start building the next Axie Infinity for iPhone, let's pause and acknowledge some limitations:

First, this only applies in the United States. If you're targeting global audiences, you still face Apple's restrictions elsewhere (though the EU has its own Apple-taming regulations).

Second, Apple is definitely appealing this ruling. Their lawyers are probably working overtime brewing some legal potion to delay implementation.

Third, Apple still maintains other crypto restrictions. Their guidelines still prohibit:

• Offering crypto rewards for completing tasks

• Facilitating initial coin offerings

• Mining crypto with users' devices

And finally, this ruling doesn't magically solve crypto's usability challenges.

The most painful truth? Most users still don't have crypto wallets, and onboarding remains about as pleasant as a root canal. The ruling creates space for innovation, but we've still got work to do.

🔋 Power-Up

What happens now?

1/ NFT Marketplaces go mobile for real

OpenSea, Magic Eden, and Blur can now create actual functional iOS apps where you can browse AND buy NFTs without Apple's 30% tax. No more "view only" mobile experiences or clunky browser workarounds.

2/ True play-to-earn on mobile

Mobile games can now properly integrate with token economies, allowing in-game NFT purchases and token transactions through external links. Research from Game7 found that mobile games already make up about 30% of blockchain gaming – that number could explode.

3/ Stablecoins become a payment alternative

Consider the math: Credit cards charge 2-3% plus fees. Apple's in-app purchases take 30%. Meanwhile, stablecoin transactions cost pennies. For developers, accepting USDC or other stablecoins directly could dramatically improve margins while simplifying global payments.

"Such high fees made it unviable for most Web3 games to target mainstream audiences on the US App Store but now the friction is gone. We've still got a long way to go before Web3 gaming is truly mass-market but a huge source of friction just got removed," Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson said.

Dodging fees? Big win. It's about removing artificial barriers that have been holding back an entire category of applications from reaching the most important computing platform on the planet.

For years, we've all wondered what crypto's "killer app" might be. Ironically, what the industry needed most wasn't a killer app, but the freedom to actually distribute those apps without getting killed by platform fees.

The irony? Crypto's biggest mobile breakthrough came from a video game company fighting for its V-Bucks. Epic wasn't trying to help crypto – they were just trying to avoid paying Apple's tax on Fortnite skins.

Sometimes the most significant advancements come not from technical innovation but from changes to business rules. Epic vs. Apple wasn't about crypto, but for an industry constantly searching for mainstream adoption, it may have just provided the platform where crypto gaming can finally thrive.

Now, we just need to build something normies actually want to use. No pressure.

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The Week That Was 🗓️

• Mattel will wind down its Hot Wheels Virtual Garage NFT series, with no new releases or feature drops planned for 2025 and beyond.

• Coinbase has launched x402, a new payments protocol designed for instant stablecoin transfers directly over the internet's HTTP protocol.

• Notcoin co-founder Vladimir Plotvinov believes the tap-to-earn gaming model is likely "dead" due to a lack of sustained player interest.

• Gala Games is shutting down its Ethereum NFT-based role-playing game, The Walking Dead: Empires, with the last playable date set for July 31, 2025.

• OpenAI is restructuring its for-profit arm into a "public benefit company," removing the previous cap on investor returns while aiming to serve the public good.

• Michael Saylor, founder of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), revealed that artificial intelligence played a significant role in building the company's $52 billion Bitcoin treasury.

• Hailey "Hawk Tuah" Welch has expressed remorse for the investors who lost money in the Solana-based meme coin named after her viral interview.

Upcoming Launches 🔍

• Fellowship's Daily Highlights: 24H Reserve Auctions Start Tomorrow. Fellowship Daily presents its May collection on Thursday, May 8th at 1 PM EDT. Featuring new works from numerous Resident Artists via 24-hour reserve auctions and "Buy It Now" options.

• MapleStory N: Blockchain-Integrated Game Launching Soon. MapleStory N, a blockchain-integrated version of the popular 2D side-scrolling game, from Nexpace (backed by Nexon), is set to release on May 15th. Running on its own Avalanche L1 chain called "Henesys," the game will allow players to own and trade in-game assets as NFTs.

• Upcoming Token Unlocks: May 7 - May 11. Key token unlocks starting tomorrow include: $KAS (May 7th, $13.68M), $MOCA (May 9th, $217.48k), $MOVE (May 9th, $8.79M), and $LAYER (May 11th, $71.87M). Investors should pay attention to these events.

Art of the Day 🖼️

Memories of Qilin by Emily Xie

Token Dispatch is a daily crypto newsletter handpicked and crafted with love by human bots. You can find all about us here 🙌

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Disclaimer: This newsletter contains analysis and opinions, not financial advice. Trading crypto involves substantial risk - your capital is at risk. Do your own research.

Nike's facing a massive lawsuit after their highly-hyped NFT venture collapsed, leaving collectors with digital assets worth less than a pair of knockoff Jordans from a flea market.

What happens when the world's largest sportswear brand gets accused of pulling the rug on its Web3 community?

Has Nike just delivered the final blow to what's left of NFT credibility? Or will this case actually force some accountability into the Wild West of digital collectibles?

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💰 The Bag

When Nike acquired RTFKT in December 2021 for an undisclosed (but certainly massive) sum, it was cannonballing into the deep end.

Over the next two years, the sportswear giant unleashed a dizzying array of digital assets:

• CloneX avatars with artist Takashi Murakami

• CryptoKicks virtual sneakers

• "Mintvials" that generated digital wearables

• Quests and challenges with promised rewards

This wasn't pocket change. The CloneX "Mintvials" alone generated over $80 million in revenue according to blockchain analytics dashboards. Some RTFKT NFTs initially traded for 3.5 ETH each, about $8,000 when they dropped in April 2022.

Nike positioned these digital assets as the future of the brand, with vague promises of metaverse integration, physical product tie-ins, and an ecosystem of rewards that would make holders feel like they were part of Nike's digital inner circle.

As the lawsuit puts it: "Plaintiff and others would never have purchased the Nike NFTs at the prices they did, or at all, had they known that the Nike NFTs were unregistered securities or that Nike would cause the rug to be pulled out from under them."

Clearly, people believed the swoosh wouldn't ghost them. That trust just went up in smoke.

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🧳 The Drag

Without warning, RTFKT posted on X in December 2024: "Today we're announcing the plan to wind down RTFKT operations."

No explanation. No transition. No compensation for holders.

Just three years after acquisition, Nike pulled the plug on its entire NFT strategy, leaving investors holding digital dust.

• CryptoKicks: From $8,000 → $16 (a 99.8% loss)

• The entire RTFKT ecosystem: Effectively worthless

• All those promised quests and rewards: Vaporised

And, it gets worse!

Last week, just a day before the lawsuit was filed, the actual images for RTFKT's NFTs disappeared entirely. Owners logged in to find their expensive digital assets replaced with a black screen saying "This content has been restricted."

Samuel Cardillo, RTFKT's "last man standing" (his words) and Head of Technology, claimed a Cloudflare hosting issue caused the outage. He later migrated the NFTs to Arweave for "permanent storage" on Monday. The damage was already done.

The Australian plaintiff leading the class-action isn't buying the technical explanation. The 42-page lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of New York accuses Nike of:

1. Selling unregistered securities (the NFTs)

2. Engaging in "deceptive acts" across four state jurisdictions

3. Conducting a "brazen rug pull" of epic proportions

4. "Unjust enrichment" at NFT buyers' expense

Nike, predictably, has gone radio silent. No comment. No response. Not even a generic "we value our digital customers" PR statement.

😎 The Swag

Who's actually coming out ahead in this dumpster fire? Certainly not the NFT holders.

The only winners appear to be:

1. Nike's accountants: They got to book $80 million+ in revenue during the NFT boom and then cut losses when the market tanked. The NFT market has cratered, with sales plunging 63% year-over-year to $1.5 billion in Q1 2025, down from $4.1 billion in Q1 2024.

2. Nike's lawyers (for now): They're billing premium hours defending against what could become a precedent-setting case for how traditional companies handle Web3 projects. The lawsuit is seeking more than just money; it explicitly argues that RTFKT NFTs were unregistered securities, which could have huge implications.

3. Other NFT lawsuit plaintiffs: This isn't the only NFT "rug pull" lawsuit making its way through the courts. Logan Paul's CryptoZoo NFT game disaster is still being litigated, and Nike's case could strengthen other claims.

Just last month, SEC Crypto Task Force lead Hester Peirce suggested certain NFT projects could soon be exempt from securities classification. This case might accelerate that timeline or send it in an entirely different direction.

The lawsuit alleges additional violations too.

• New York Deceptive Acts and Practices Unlawful Act

• California Unfair Competition Law

• Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act

• Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act

So, even if the judge doesn't buy the securities argument, the lawsuit has four other counts to fall back on.

⚖️ The Verdict

This isn't just about one company abandoning its NFT strategy, it's a pivotal moment for the entire space.

If Nike, a $50 billion global brand with armies of lawyers and PR teams, can execute what plaintiffs call a "brazen rug pull" with minimal consequences, then what hope is there for accountability anywhere in Web3?

The brutal truth is that NFTs have entered their zombie phase. Trading volume has collapsed, floor prices are in the gutter, and even blue-chip projects are struggling to maintain relevance.

Nike's RTFKT debacle feels like the final nail in the coffin for the idea that mainstream brands would bring legitimacy to NFTs. Instead, they've proven they're just as willing to abandon digital communities as any anonymous dev team—they just have better press releases when they do it.

For anyone left holding Nike NFTs, the outlook isn't good. But hey, at least you finally have your images stored on Arweave. Your worthless JPEGs are now worthless JPEGs... forever.

Just Rug It™ indeed.

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The Week That Was 🗓️

• OpenSea has regained its position as the leading NFT marketplace, capturing over 40% of trading volume and engaging nearly 70% of active wallets.

• AI-linked crypto tokens are surging, with some categories gaining over 40% this week and the total AI market cap nearly doubling to $26 billion.

• The FTX estate has sued NFT Stars and Delysium, alleging both firms failed to deliver millions of tokens owed under investment agreements, despite repeated attempts to resolve the issue outside court.

• Zed Run returns as Zed Champions on Coinbase’s Base network, featuring automated races and a new economy built around the ZED token.

• Nasdaq has filed with the SEC to list 21Shares' Dogecoin ETF, joining Bitwise and Grayscale in seeking approval for DOGE-based funds.

• Senator Jon Ossoff advocates for Trump's impeachment, citing the president's plan to host a private dinner for top TRUMP memecoin holders as an impeachable "pay-for-access" scheme.

• AI models favor Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as the next pope, while prediction markets lean toward Cardinal Pietro Parolin, highlighting a split in forecasts ahead of the May 7 conclave.

Upcoming Launches 🔍

• Off-Kilter by Lemonhaze: Limited Edition BTC NFT on Gamma Prints. A dynamic mixed-media piece, launches on May 1. This public launch features 11 editions at 0.00169 BTC, marking a new phase in the artist's work.

• Battle of Three Kingdoms: Global Launch Today. April 30, 2025, releases on iOS, Android, and PC. Featuring English, Japanese, and Traditional Chinese language support for a worldwide audience.

• Upcoming Token Unlocks: April 30 - May 4. This week features token unlocks for $IOTA (April 30, $3.30M), $OP (April 30, $24.08M), $SUI (May 1, $259.72M), $ZETA (May 1, $11.04M), $DYDX (May 1, $5.29M), and $ENA (May 2, $13.84M). Keep an eye on these releases.

Art of the Day 🖼️

Botto - 2025 by Botto on Highlight.xyz

Token Dispatch is a daily crypto newsletter handpicked and crafted with love by human bots. You can find all about us here 🙌

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Disclaimer: This newsletter contains analysis and opinions, not financial advice. Trading crypto involves substantial risk - your capital is at risk. Do your own research.

Those days are gone.

Dead Bruv, the creators behind the Solana-based narrative NFT project Meatbags, have announced their most ambitious plan yet: selling 100,000 NFTs to fund the purchase of a decommissioned nuclear bunker in Rutland, England.

In a space where "community" and "utility" have become meaningless buzzwords, this crew is taking the physical ownership game to subterranean levels.

When the mushroom clouds appear, will your blockchain access pass even work?

And more importantly, can a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) actually run a doomsday resort without imploding first?

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🚨 The Crazy Plan

100,000 NFTs. Why?

The goal is to raise enough money to win an auction for the bunker, which is listed at a guide price of 650,000 British pounds ($862,257).

The auction is scheduled for April 24, which gives the project precious little time to mobilise capital from NFT enthusiasts worldwide.

Holders of these NFTs will gain entry into a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) called the "Billionaire Bunker Club." This DAO will vote on what happens with the bunker if the purchase is successful.

The NFT mint is structured in tiers.

Existing Meatbags holders will be airdropped 10,000 of the new NFTs, with the remaining 90,000 available for public purchase starting April 21 at $14 each. If all sell at the minimum price, that would raise $1.26 million – comfortably above the guide price for the bunker.

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🧠 The Path to the Bunker

The bunker in question isn't exactly Mar-a-Lago.

Built in 1960 as a monitoring post during the Cold War and decommissioned in 1968, it was one of 1,500 facilities tasked with reporting nuclear bursts and monitoring radioactive fallout. The property sits on 1.4 acres near a former reservoir and already has permissions for conversion into a house.

What makes this story particularly intriguing is the casual way it came about. Robert, the pseudonymous co-founder of Dead Bruv, described the initiative as an attempt to "make NFTs fun again," sparked by a joke that turned into a "lightbulb moment."

"When something comes from a place of, this is completely insane, we gotta do it, that's when I know we're onto something," Robert explained on X.

This raises the question: Is buying a nuclear bunker with NFT proceeds insane in the way that all great ideas initially seem insane, or is it just... well, insane?

🏗️ The Hopium Facilities

The proposed uses for the bunker, should the purchase succeed, are as creative as they are improbable. Ideas being floated include:

• A "members-only survival resort with Doomsday DJ"

• A venue for end-of-the-world festivals

• "An Airbnb with caviar tastings and canned bean room service"

There's a delightful absurdity to planning luxury amenities in a Cold War relic designed to monitor nuclear annihilation. A bit tone-deaf, but you can't fault the ambition.

🥽 The Physical Asset Rush

Dead Bruv's bunker acquisition plan isn't occurring in isolation. It's part of a broader trend of DAOs pursuing real-world assets (RWAs).

• LinksDAO bought an actual golf course in Scotland

• CityDAO purchased land in Wyoming

• ConstitutionDAO almost bought a copy of the U.S. Constitution for $47 million

After years of being dismissed as purely speculative digital collectibles, NFT communities are desperately trying to prove they can own real stuff too.

These initiatives face significant challenges. Legal structures for DAO property ownership remain murky in most jurisdictions. Operating costs for physical properties can quickly drain treasury funds. And community governance over physical assets introduces complexities that digital-only projects don't face.

If the Billionaire Bunker Club succeeds in purchasing their nuclear shelter, they'll confront these challenges head-on. Who will maintain the property? Who handles legal liability if someone is injured during one of those apocalyptic DJ sets? How will they fund ongoing costs if NFT interest wanes?

These practical questions often get overlooked in the initial excitement of community ownership. The difference between owning a JPEG and owning real estate is that real estate doesn't live rent-free on the blockchain – it requires constant attention and resources.

The irony is that in the event of an actual nuclear catastrophe – the scenario the bunker was originally built for – digital assets and the blockchain would likely be among the first casualties of technological infrastructure collapse. Your nuclear bunker access pass exists on a network that probably wouldn't survive an actual nuclear event.

In true crypto fashion, they're solving a problem nobody had with a solution nobody asked for?

Got questions about a hot crypto topic that you want help understanding? Ask your question using the form and our crypto experts may answer it along with your name in our weekly News Rollups.

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The Week That Was 🗓️

• Solana DEX Meteora is facing a class action lawsuit in New York over alleged fraudulent activities related to the M3M3 meme coin launch.

• Gibraltar's Supreme Court has lifted a 2-month freeze on 542 million PLAY tokens, citing insufficient evidence for the freeze.

• Polygon-based NFTs have overtaken Ethereum in sales, achieving a 20% increase in the last week.

• Burwick Law warns Metaplex that its plan to sweep unclaimed SOL into its DAO treasury could lead to litigation.

• El Salvador partners with Nvidia to develop sovereign AI infrastructure aimed at national development.

• CZ (Changpeng Zhao) received 90 million fake Grok tokens amid a resurgence of Elon Musk impersonation scams.

• GoMining's Bitcoin mining game, Miner Wars, has introduced new features including welcome packs for beginners and clan leagues for competitive players.

Upcoming Launches 🔍

• Angels & Killers by Katie Morris: Fixed Price NFT on Heft. This curated project features 133 unique topographic artworks reimagined as beings, with each purchase including a physical archival pigment print.

• LOL Land: YGG's Crypto Board Game. Yield Guild Games' LOL Land, a digital crypto board game, launches on Abstract May 2. Play in your browser, earn Abstract XP, exclusive NFTs, and $YGG.

• Upcoming Token Unlocks: April 23 - April 27. This week features token unlocks for $MURA, $OM, $MOCA, and $VENOM.

Art of the Day 🖼️

LUCI: Chapter 5 - The Monument Game by Sam Spratt on OpenSea

Token Dispatch is a daily crypto newsletter handpicked and crafted with love by human bots. You can find all about us here 🙌

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Disclaimer: This newsletter contains analysis and opinions, not financial advice. Trading crypto involves substantial risk - your capital is at risk. Do your own research.

Plummeting user numbers and skyrocketing acquisition costs have left most crypto game developers struggling.

But when you've got 100 million followers and the presidential seal, do market realities even matter?

Is the president about to ‘Make Gaming Great Again,’ or is this just another Trump-branded cash grab?

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🎺 The Entrance

Trump just can't get enough of crypto these days and has now dropped his latest blockchain venture. A Monopoly-styled real estate video game set to launch in late April.

It's basically MONOPOLY GO! with a Trump twist, letting players earn in-game tokens while building their own digital cities and properties, sources tell Fortune.

The mastermind behind this project? Bill Zanker – the same dude who helped Trump launch his previous NFT collections and has been a key player in the President’s crypto ventures.

It adds to Trump's growing crypto portfolio.

• Trump NFT collections ✅

• TRUMP token (with $1.5B market cap) ✅

• World Liberty Financial (DeFi project) ✅

• Bitcoin mining company (co-owned by his sons) ✅

• Trump-branded metaverse trademarks ✅

• And now, a blockchain property game ✅

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💸 The Market Reality

While Trump's riding high on his crypto wave, the rest of the Web3 gaming world is struggling a little.

DappRadar just dropped some brutal Q1 numbers.

• Daily active users: ↓ 6%

• Investments: ↓ 71% quarter-over-quarter

• Total raised: Just $91 million (down from $313 million in Q4 2024)

DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas didn't sugarcoat it: there's "growing pressure on early-stage startups" and "2025 may prove more challenging than previous years."

And it's getting expensive to onboard new players. Crypto gaming campaigns have the highest cost-per-wallet in the entire industry at $8.74 median CPW. That's 3x more expensive than DeFi/CeFi projects.

In simpler terms, it costs almost $9 to get someone with an existing crypto wallet to try your game. Imagine the cost for complete crypto newbies.

Why so expensive? "Higher churn, speculative behaviour, and intense competition" according to marketing firm Addressable.

Translation: people try games, get bored, and move on to something else.

🧩 The Disconnect

Here's where Trump's venture idea has an edge. He doesn't need to care about any of these market realities.

While regular crypto game studios are sweating bullets over user acquisition costs, Trump can leverage:

• His massive built-in audience (100 million followers on X and 9 million on Truth Social)

• Free media coverage

• Existing crypto community from his NFTs and $TRUMP token

The man could launch a pet rock and still get millions in free publicity.

There's still a massive disconnect between Trump's crypto ambitions and the actual state of Web3 gaming.

1/ Infrastructure problems persist

Most of the limited investment in Q1 went to infrastructure projects, not actual games. The pipes are still being built while Trump's trying to sell beachfront property.

2/ The crypto gaming onboarding cliff

New users need to: get a wallet, buy crypto, bridge it to the right chain, connect to the game, and understand tokenomics... all before they can even play. That's not exactly Candy Crush simplicity.

3/ The "fun" factor is still missing

Let's be honest – most crypto games still feel like economic simulators with bad graphics slapped on top.

Will Trump's Monopoly-esque crypto game succeed?

🔮 The Prediction

Short term: The game will launch with massive hype and probably mint money for the Trump team. His base will ape in, just like they did with his NFTs and TRUMP token.

Medium term: User retention will be the real challenge. Will people stick around once the novelty wears off? The game's actual mechanics and tokenomics will determine if it has staying power beyond the initial Trump pump.

Long term: This is either a clever stepping stone toward Trump's broader Web3 ecosystem (metaverse + NFTs + games + DeFi) or it's just another quick cash grab that will fade away after the initial surge.

What this means for crypto gaming overall? Trump's entry legitimises the space in the eyes of his supporters, but it doesn't solve the fundamental problems facing Web3 gaming.

The industry still needs to figure out how to make onboarding seamless, gameplay engaging, and economics sustainable. Until then, even Trump's "very tremendous, very beautiful" game won't change the difficult road ahead for crypto gaming.

At least we'll get some memes out of it.

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The Week That Was 🗓️

• The Ethereum gaming project CyberKongz announced that the SEC has concluded its investigation into the project.

• Chipmaker stocks, including Nvidia and AMD, experienced a decline in after-hours trading.

• OpenAI is reportedly developing a new social media network similar to Elon Musk's X, aiming to enter the social networking space.

• NFT trader Waylon Wilcox faces up to six years in prison for tax fraud involving $13 million in profits from CryptoPunk sales.

• Pump.Fun’s PumpSwap DEX processed a staggering $2.5 billion in trades last week, marking a 40% increase from the previous week.

• Phantom Wallet is facing a lawsuit over a $500K theft of Wiener Doge tokens linked to alleged security flaws.

• OpenSea is advocating for NFT marketplaces to be excluded from SEC regulation under federal securities laws.

Upcoming Launches 🔍

• RAGE FREAKS by Lors: Free Mint on Magic Eden. Drops on April 20th on Magic Eden, offering a 1 of 1 NFT in a free-plus-fees public launch..

• WorldShards: Early Access Launch on Steam. WorldShards, a sandbox MMORPG, launches Early Access Phase 2 on Steam, May 30th, 2025 at 4:30 PM. Explore shattered islands, battle wargs, and restore a fantasy world.

• Crypto Token Unlocks: April 16-20. Key token unlocks this week: $ARB, $APE, $TRUMP, $FTN, $UXLINK, $IMX, $ZKJ . Watch for potential market impact.

Art of the Day 🖼️

Fidenza by Tyler Hobbs on OpenSea

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Our weekly feature on what’s happening in crypto-powered culture — from NFTs and games to memecoins and AI. A clear and concise take on the projects, trends, ideas and moments shaping digital culture in Web-3, every Wednesday.

UFC champion Conor McGregor just learned the hard way that building hype for a token is nothing like hyping a fight.

His $REAL token raised just $392K of its $1 million minimum, getting KO'd before it even hit exchanges.

Is this the death blow for celebrity tokens, or just another round in the fight?

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🥊 The Hype Train

UFC superstar Conor McGregor stepped into the crypto ring last week with his REAL token ($REAL), promising to "change the crypto game" and be "different from other celebrity-endorsed cryptocurrencies."

The pitch was classic McGregor - bold, brash, and confident: "This isn't some celebrity-endorsed bullshit token. It's a REAL game changer that will improve the crypto ecosystem as well as make REAL change in the world."

With 47 million Instagram followers and a UFC legacy, McGregor aimed to raise $3.6 million through a 28-hour sealed-bid auction that kicked off April 5, with 60 million REAL tokens (3% of the total 2 billion supply) at a starting price of $0.06.

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💥 The Faceplant

By the time the final bell rang on April 6, REAL's reputation was in ruins.”:

• Only 668 participants placed bids

• Raised just $392,315 in USDC

• Hit only 39% of the $1,008,000 minimum requirement

• Achieved a mere 10.9% of the overall $3.6 million target

McGregor's three-word response to the failure might as well have been "Tap out, mate" as Real World Gaming (RWG) announced all bids would be refunded in full.

🔍 The Autopsy

Three major factors sent McGregor’s $REAL to the shadow realm.

1/ Market timing disaster

The launch coincided with the largest two-day stock market loss ever ($6.6 trillion wiped out) as Trump's tariff announcements sparked recession fears. Even Bitcoin took a beating, dropping below $75K.

2/ The great memecoin cooldown

The once-$100 billion memecoin market has shrunk to below $43 billion. After the Trump coin launch in January and the LIBRA token scandal with Argentina's president, investors have memecoin PTSD.

3/ Red flags everywhere

Industry experts called the tokenomics "trash" with a 12-hour unlock window. Even worse, 97% of tokens were held in a single wallet address according to Etherscan. Investors smelled a potential rug pull from across the room.

🧠 The Lessons

The era of slapping a celebrity name on a token and watching the money roll is likely over. McGregor may be a beast in the octagon, but in crypto, even the strongest fighters need more than a famous face.

RWG claims "This is not the end" and plans to relaunch, but the first-round knockout doesn't bode well for round two. At least they did the right thing by refunding everyone - unlike many celebrity token disasters that simply vanish with investors' money.

In 2025's bear market, projects need real utility, transparent tokenomics, and perfect timing - three things McGregor's token was sorely lacking.

The final scorecard?

Celebrity tokens-0, market reality-1.

The Week That Was 🗓️

• Virtuals Protocol's daily revenue has plummeted to just $500, a stark decline from over $500,000 in January.

• The "Hawk Tuah Podcast" returns with influencer Haliey Welch, aka "Hawk Tuah Girl," after a hiatus since December 2024.

• A defendant in New York attempted to use an AI avatar to represent himself in a legal appeal regarding an employment dispute.

• DeFi TVL dropped 27% to $156 billion in Q1 2025, influenced by economic uncertainty and a major crypto exchange hack.

• The pandemic-simulation crypto game Infected has switched from Ethereum's layer-2 network Base to Solana due to high demand issues.

• The US government is implementing AI policies across various agencies to enhance public services.

• Fanton, a Telegram-based fantasy football platform, has teamed up with the Russian Premier League (RPL) to integrate licensed NFTs into its gameplay.

Upcoming Launches 🔍

• William Mapan's Études: Generative art NFT collection. Sale opens April 16 at 9:30pm. Generate unique digital art seeds and collect original works.

• Blue Prince: rogue-like puzzle adventure. Available April 10 on PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Build a unique mansion room by room, solving puzzles and crafting your own unpredictable adventure.

• Crypto Token Unlocks: April 9-13. Key tokens to watch: $MOVE, $OP, $RENDER, $APT, and $AXS prepare for scheduled token releases this week.

Art of the Day 🖼️

ANIMAL INSTINCT by Roger Haus on Highlight.xyz

Token Dispatch is a daily crypto newsletter handpicked and crafted with love by human bots. You can find all about us here 🙌

If you want to reach out to 200,000+ subscriber community of the Token Dispatch, you can explore the partnership opportunities with us.

Fill out this form to submit your details and book a meeting with us directly.

Disclaimer: This newsletter contains analysis and opinions, not financial advice. Trading crypto involves substantial risk - your capital is at risk. Do your own research.