This community letter was first published in Jame’ Twitter.
A Message to the Community
The recent FTX crisis is unsettling for many of us in Web3. I’d like to take this opportunity to say something about the current events and the future outlook of blockchain and the crypto market.
SBF and FTX presented themselves as audacious and whizzy. This industry, however, never lacks mavericks or daredevils. Yet it is rare to have someone who’s courageous and highly diligent like CZ. Many people, not just FTX investors but also FTX customers, have suffered significantly from this crisis. Undoubtedly, SBF has made his contribution, but now he has brought a huge crisis to the blockchain space. In this ever-changing industry, if not “Sam”, there would be “Tam” doing the same.
Thus, one rule that we should always bear is: Assets are only safe when they’re in your own wallet. You are your own bank. Treat CEX as ATMs only. Do not deposit any funds on any CeFi/CEX or leave your funds on any exchange just because it is a hassle to go through the transfer.
The crypto market is highly volatile. Take any product or anyone’s pitch on fixed-income investment with a grain of salt. As of the 2017 ICO mania, many people chose to follow the “OGs” to go with the ICO craze ending up bankrupt. In the dynamic yet also highly volatile crypto world, everyone should DYOR, and believe in facts, instead of others’ opinions, even if it’s from an “expert”.
Now we can see many SBF / FTX invested projects are suffering from the FTX aftermath. A popular cross-chain project – LayerZero is one of them. After the FTX collapse, LayerZero CEO Bryan sent out their clarification on buying back its equity from FTX/FTX Ventures/Alameda and purchasing back locked $STG. Although it sounds promising, we cannot guarantee how valid Bryan’s statement was, especially since some investors believe this is just a PR show for LayerZero. Yet it is possible that maybe SBF really needs money at the moment and LayerZero has to do what they have to do.
LayerZero is not so heavily invested in technology. Losing the financial support from SBF/FTX, or shall we call it the unethically and illegally misused customer assets, means it will lose its edge on investment support. With more issues to fix, projects like LayerZero may face a deadly end.
Having been in the crypto market for a very long time, I’ve seen how crypto has evolved and how star projects and KOLs ebb and flow. One key observation is that projects focusing on technology innovation and true decentralization are the ones with true potential to drive the world with real changes. Technology innovation and decentralization are what MAP Protocol is. Perhaps we’ve been even too devoted to technology innovation and building towards decentralization instead of joining the buzzworthy fundraising game that could make us an overnight sensation.
However, as the maverick in the cross-chain space, MAP Protocol believes in longtermism and commits itself to a truly decentralized omnichain future by empowering every Web3 application with the secure, seamless and truly decentralized cross-chain solutions. We embark on the journey of continuous innovation so that what we’re building now will be the core needs of the future blockchain world.
I know this is a tough time for many. But if there’s one silver lining to this huge crisis, it would be the reminder of how decentralization matters. Always has, always will. MAP Protocol will continue to be the guardian and the key force of true decentralization. Now it’s time for the market to refocus on the true nature of blockchain technology — decentralization. Together, we can and will build the future of Web3.
–James XYC, co-founder of MAP Protocol