There’s been some confusion regarding the way we’re building our protocol. This is understandable, as it’s also difficult to draw comparisons between AngelBlock and other projects and protocols on the market. This confusion is also partly due to the way we’re going about blockchain integrations and how we’re prioritizing them. AngelBlock is Ethereum first. That is our priority and it has always been. Our protocol is, however, multichain by design, and it has always been. So what does this all mean?
Since starting the raise for AngelBlock, one of the most recurring questions I received from funds was “so, why build on ETH?”. I always found this question odd. I found it strange that I had to explain our reasoning for choosing this chain as if it were some eccentric option that was rarely used while building protocols. My answers and reasoning have remained the same, cemented in hard data, rather than what the new “ETH killer” of the cycle was.
Ethereum is the largest layer 1 blockchain with smart contract functionality, with a current market capitalization of 216 Billion USD. Just in Q1 of 2022, ETH has hosted 105.58 million transactions on-chain. 1.45 million Smart Contracts were created on Ethereum in Q1 of 2022 alone, with approximately 330,000 active addresses for the same time frame.
When viewing TAM (total addressable market), it’s hard to deny Ethereum as a chain is currently the industry standard for the majority of builders. Since the start, our mission at AngelBlock has been to create a crypto-native solution for fundraising. We see this as the largest blocker in the space, and therefore to the continued rise in adoption that we’re all building towards. In order to have maximum impact on the crypto space, having an “ETH first” mindset is a must. This does not, however, mean we will limit ourselves to be Ethereum exclusive.
AngelBlock x Aleph Zero
As many of you know, we announced a partnership with Aleph Zero at the beginning of this year. Our COO, Max Torres, and myself proudly serve as advisors to Aleph Zero, and AngelBlock has gained much from having the Azero co-founding team as advisors in what we’re building. You can read more about the partnership here. These advising arrangements and the official partnership are not merely cosmetic; there is a very good reasoning for having the two so heavily intertwined. AngelBlock will in fact be integrating the Aleph Zero tech stack and allow for native fundraising using the Aleph Zero blockchain while using $AZERO as the raise currency.
We’re all incredibly bullish on what the Aleph Zero team is building and we believe that a promising layer 1 solution deserves a decentralized, transparent and dedicated fundraising solution and we will do all we can to deliver for the good of the Azero ecosystem. This does not, however, mean that we will be migrating our solution to be solely available on the Aleph Zero blockchain. What it means is that we will offer similar functionality for both chains (ETH and Azero) with dedicated smart contracts offering the same features and mechanics, making the AngelBlock protocol more chain agnostic.
Our native token, $THOL, will be launched on Ethereum and Ethereum only. We do not have any plans to migrate the whole protocol or the token itself to be only available on Aleph Zero. We have discussed a potential bridging solution to make $THOL available on the Aleph Zero blockchain in the future as well, but at this point, it’s simply too early to give any concrete dates or plans. This information is incredibly important as we get closer to the $THOL TGE and Aleph Zero smart contract functionality hitting mainnet — $THOL will only be available on ETH, and everything else that may be deployed on any other chain should be seen as fraudulent and not associated with AngelBlock in any way. Please stay safe.
The Risk of Hype Chains
There’s an old adage in crypto: 6 months in crypto is like 10 years in any other industry. If we apply that mindset to ETH, it’s a chain that’s been around for 140 in crypto-years. Despite chains like BTC and ETH getting a lot of heat for being slow, inefficient, etc. there is a reason that they’ve been around for so long. When building on ETH, we have a high degree of certainty that our protocol will be around for years to come, and instead of worrying about chain health, we can focus on building, upgrading, and helping startups.
This is not a luxury that the thousands of projects that took the time to build on chains such as Terra had. Some just quit outright, but others are now scrambling in order to find a new home for their teams and products (many choosing to migrate to ETH). My goal here is not to bash chains that have fallen on hard times, such as Terra (we wish Terra and their community all the best), but rather to highlight the fact that despite its issues, Ethereum is a mainstay in the crypto landscape. Our duty at AngelBlock is to do right by the users and community — implementing solutions that we view as high risk would be detrimental to our users’ well-being long term and that is something we cannot accept.
A Glimpse of a Multichain Future
Hopefully, 2023 will be the year where we bury the single-chain maximalist thesis. Maximalism in crypto has been more of a hindrance than anything else. At AngelBlock, we see the necessity for different blockchains, with different use-cases, all being used for their specific purposes and market sectors. AngelBlock is determined and focused to solve the fundraising issues on Ethereum first, with later Aleph Zero functionality integrated to become the go-to fundraising solution for the Azero ecosystem. We will implement other highly promising chains in the future, but for now, our roadmap is focused on the two. The true goal and mission of crypto is accessibility, adoption, decentralization, openness, and fairness, regardless of chain. We will work with, integrate, and support any and all chains that share these ideas and values.
Written by:
Alex Strzesniewski is the CEO and Founder of AngelBlock — a DeFi protocol focused on fixing fundraising within crypto through on-chain vesting, governance, and transparent dealflow. Alex is also an advisor to Aleph Zero, a privacy-enhancing public blockchain with instant finality.
Sources:
https://www.alchemy.com/overviews/ethereum-statistics
