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The markets are moving fast these days. Fortunes are being made, and lost, in the blink of an eye. Mati Greenspan Click to tweet
Just this morning we got reports that some lucky individual turned $17 into $5.9 million by investing in the Dogecoin-killer known as Shib. The memes intensify.
On the other hand, we have projects that are building real value and utility that are being completely passed over by investors.
It’s a very strange marketplace indeed where social sentiment is often valued over value itself, but here we are.
One project that seemed to find itself on the receiving end of investor adoration is The Internet Computer, or ICP.
Its newly launched token, called The ICP utility token, has seen what has to be the most successful debut in the short history of crypto, quickly climbing to be the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
The thing is that for all the pundits in this space, nobody seems to be able to concisely explain why.
For my part, after researching it for most of the day, there are a number of contributing factors, but this was no fluke.
The hype
Though it would be easy to pass this off as “successful marketing,” and the team does seem to be good at that, there does seem to be something under the surface instilling confidence in investors of alternative assets.
Messari has put out a 12-page report on the new protocol, and even the Financial Times published an article calling it a rival to Amazon Web Services.
Near as I can tell, ICP is supposed to be everything Ethereum is, but it works at the speed of the internet. In spite of this, the team has gone to great lengths to clarify that ICP is not an Ethereum killer. I’m not sure exactly how that works.
There’s no doubt that if they live up to even half the hype, the valuation that they have right now would be considered soft.
However, even though they’re extremely well-funded and well-staffed, becoming the primary base layer of Web 3.0 seems extremely ambitious. Similar to the way Cardano has skyrocketed lately without any real-world adoption, the same seems to be happening for ICP, only a lot quicker.
The reason for that is most likely due to the seamless multiplatform launch. It’s rare to see new projects listed so quickly by the top crypto exchanges.
Yet somehow, ICP managed to trade fluidly on Binance, Huobi, OKEx and even Coinbase Pro. Opening this type of access to global investors in such a short space of time does tend to have an outsized impact on the price.
We’ve seen plenty of times when even a single listing can cause a pump. A quadruple listing is pretty rare.
Even with all the above, seeing a brand-new coin anywhere in the top ranked cryptocurrencies is mind-boggling and only speaks to the desire investors have to find the next undervalued investment vehicle.
Inflation print
As you know, we’ve been watching inflation statistics very closely as of late.
With all the money that’s been printed lately, it’s the number one thing to watch for in all markets, including crypto. Even though the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t really tell the whole story, it will be watched enthusiastically by investors and policymakers.
The latest figures, for the month of April, will be released at 8:30 A.M. tomorrow on Wall Street, most likely before the daily newsletter is sent.