In yesterday’s edition we mentioned that there may be a trend towards more protocols deploying their own chain, even if their initial value add isn’t necessarily that of a blockchain.
This is abundantly clear with the rise of Degen chain, which doesn’t really even need to be a chain at all. In fact the founder of Degen explicitly acknowledges that unlike chains like Solana, Monad, etc. which aim to bring new methodologies of scaling to the table, Degen doesn’t aim to be “technologically different”, but rather aims to be an “application layer chain” (an appchain). Certain usecases of the Degen L3 chain could include embedded Warpcast usecases. This could be interesting but it is obviously a minor feature compared to what other chains offer; the aim of the chain is a place for fun, speculation, memes, etc. and this is enough to eclipse chains that are trying to work on innovative scaling techniques.
Today, we’ll be briefing you on AnimeChain, another social adoption focused Arbitrum Orbit chain that may be a good example to study for a glimpse of new chains to come.
Stay alert in these markets ⬇
Background on Animechain
AnimeChain is an upcoming Anime-focused chain, by AnimeCoin. The team has opted to develop the chain in collaboration with Arbitrum (using the Arbitrum Orbit chain techstack) and the Azukis NFT team. NFTs themselves are a culture and social-driven assetclass, sort of like memecoins although with much more institutional interest and VC funding.
This isn’t Arbitrum’s first foray into the realms of gaming, NFTs, etc. Treasure DAO, a decentralized gaming platform and publisher, originated on Arbitrum. There was even talks of the publisher potentially migrating to Optimism following a proposal from the Optimism Foundation, and a competing offer from zkSync. This shows the demand for these kinds of initiatives and that chains want to attract them to their ecosystems.
This specific venture is fueled by Weeb3, the organization behind AnimeCoin. These are all very recent developments, and there isn’t too much to break down in terms of background. The chain aims to serve as an infrastructure for Anime creators and fans alike, with “shared upside in the ecosystem”, likely through the $ANIME token (not live yet), a points program, and other project initiatives.
The chain will notably be partnering with Azuki, an established NFT collection. The genesis collection is still down some ~86% from it’s ATH, though this is actually still less that BAYCs are down. This lack of positive price action may be attributed to some controversy around the Azuki Elementals launch, a subsequent collection that users complained looked more or less identical to the original Azuki genesis collection. Azuki is the premiere anime brand among NFTs, and like Pudgy Penguins, is expanding into the physical realm via IRL trading cards.
While appchains built on the Cosmos SDK and Tendermint technology may have more optionality and sovereignty, Arbitrum Orbit chains or chains built on the OP Superchain via the OP stack can stand to gain from these respective ecosystems established dApps, developers, and communities, and the network effects of the EVM as a whole. Cosmos has long championed for appchains, even seeing top dApps like dYdX relocate to the Cosmos; but teams may decide to use appchain-adjacent solutions that are closer to home, as is the case with Degen chain.
The use of Arbitrum Orbit in this equation can’t be understated, as accessing this community may be an important part of this project’s success, something that perhaps would be much harder to generate on the Cosmos stack. dYdX may be able to successfully migrate to an appchain, and institutions or traders that deem it their onchain perps DEX of choice may migrate whether they like the move or not.
Social adoption is completely different, and the host network is arguably much more important when users are using something for fun. AnimeChain is an interesting combiniation of social network effects, combining the powerful narratives of Anime, NFTs, and Arbitrum.
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