Hackernoon Meet the Writer Anndy Lian: “Let’s work together to make crypto better”

Hackernoon Meet the Writer Anndy Lian: “Let’s work together to make crypto better”

This story is a part of Hacker Noon’s Meet the Writer series of interviews. The series is intended for tech professionals contributing the most insightful Hacker Noon stories to share more about their writing habits, ideas, and professional background (and maybe a hobby or two).

If you too would like to start contributing to Hacker Noon, you can do so here.

 

So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.

My name is Anndy. I’m a business strategist and experienced serial entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in Asia. I’ve worked in various industries for local, international, and publicly traded companies. I am currently Chairman of BigONE Exchange and Chief Digital Advisor at the Mongolian Productivity Organisation.

I’ve also written a best-selling book titled “Blockchain Revolution 2030”. With my co-authors, we share insights on how blockchain technology plays an important foundation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

I recently joined the EG Association, a social impact-driven organization that aims to use cryptocurrency to do good. To date, we have deployed more than $3 million supporting social impact initiatives on the ground.

 

Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about?

My recent article focused on the rise of so-called reflective tokens, which are starting to be used more and more by crypto startups, such as SafeMoon. The tokenomics model differs significantly from that of other DeFi tokens. In simple terms it works by automatically charging a tax, which is usually 10% on each transaction.

The reflection mechanism is a relatively new concept in cryptocurrency circles, and it still requires a lot of fine-tuning before it can be widely adopted by other projects. However, in principle, it reduces panic selling to a bare minimum, which could be significant for the DeFi industry.

 

Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about?

I think it’s important to write about the diversity of subjects in the blockchain and crypto industry, as it’s a sector that growing so quickly and with a lot of opportunities. I’m fascinated about ‘connecting the dots’ between business and technology, a great example being the use of DeFi and NFTs in developing an open metaverse.

 

Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?)

Before starting to write I believe it’s important to have a routine for reading each day. I try to find time to catch up with the main news headlines, as well as the main crypto news sites like Cointelegraph. Then when I come to writing I find that reading helps make my articles both accessible and valuable. I also get my inspiration from the governments that I am advising, their problems and questions become part of my writing content too.

 

Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing?

The challenge is often one of translation, explaining technical details around say a new form of tokenomics to an interested but non-technical audience such as crypto investors.

 

What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career?

I want to share the right kind of crypto knowledge with people. Right now many of the people I see in various communities are not being real. Some of them want their government to be decentralized, others want to be rich overnight by doing nothing, then some others are just here to create FUDs. If proper information is being shared and the users are aware of what is really happening, such ‘behaviours’ would be minimised.

Maybe this is not a career goal, it is more like an industry-wide goal that I set for myself.

 

Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice?

Since getting grounded and not being able to travel, I have been very involved in donations and charitable works. In fact, those who know me, know that I am donating more than I spend. My guilty pleasure, for now, is walking into Hermes, buying a few pairs of shoes instead of donating. Then again, Zoom meetings did not need me to travel much, maybe a comfortable Uniqlo t-shirt would do just fine.

 

Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it?

I enjoy travelling, meeting new people from all walks of life, and sharing ideas.

 

What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next?

I’m always on the lookout for new topics in crypto and blockchain that illuminate and inspire my readers! I might be talking more about metaverse and gameFI. Let’s see.

 

#Thanks for taking the time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words?

“The time is always right to do the right things.” I hope to gather more like-minded people to do that together for the crypto industry. Let’s work together to make crypto better!

Lastly, it’s great to join the Hacker Noon community and to share my writing on crypto and blockchain.

 

Original Source: https://hackernoon.com/meet-the-writer-anndy-lian-lets-work-together-to-make-crypto-better

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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Hackernoon: Meme Tokens With Real Utility

Hackernoon: Meme Tokens With Real Utility

The cryptocurrency market can be extremely unpredictable due to its volatility rate of change, with new products and services arising from DeFi to NFTs to name but two key growth areas.

Even so, there are innovations that would be laughed off as something that could never happen even in the diverse cryptocurrency space. The unprecedented rise and rise of meme tokens in the cryptocurrency space are one such paradigm-shifting phenomenon. Meme tokens, led by DogeCoin created in 2013 as a joke version of Bitcoin, were dismissed in the cryptocurrency space as worthless tokens that were not worth holding, as they had no real utility.

However, fast forward to 2021, and meme tokens have taken over the virtual currencies space, as evidenced by the presence of the first meme token created, DogeCoin, in the top ten list of cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization. And when top crypto analysis company Chainalysis announced recently it would now cover Dogecoin, highlighting that on August 9, 2021, Dogecoin had its fourth-largest 30-day trading volume of all cryptocurrencies, with close to $200 billion in transfers. “Our coverage of the asset is good news for the continued global adoption of digital assets,” it concluded.

This newfound popularity of meme tokens has been heavily influenced by respected figures and celebrities such as Elon Musk, popularly referred to on social media platforms as ‘The DogeFather’ due to his constant tweeting and promoting of DogeCoin since 2019.

Another noteworthy aspect is the influencer culture, which has become a mainstay in the cryptocurrency industry. Various cryptocurrencies are being ‘shilled’ by individuals with a large social media following, and meme tokens appear to be benefiting massively from this recent wave on social media platforms.

Skeptics in the industry see meme tokens as a new “get-rich-quick” scheme with no inherent utility and advise people not to trade meme tokens. This is a widespread misconception exacerbated by the ‘rug pulls’ and ‘pump and dump’ mechanisms used by some meme token creators, which has resulted in many people losing a lot of money. This impression was no doubt exacerbated by Elon Musk’s appearance on the US comedy TV show Saturday Night Live in May when asked “what is dogecoin?”,

Musk replied, “It’s the future of currency. It’s an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world.” And when an SNL comic Michael Che asked, “So, it’s a hustle?”, Musk replied, “Yeah, it’s a hustle,” and laughed. Despite this Elon Musk has contacted Doge developers and is now collaborating with them to improve the platform, reduce its carbon footprint, and optimize it as a payment method. To try to correct the misconception about meme tokens, we must therefore first understand the concept of meme tokens, and then look at meme projects that have real utility and solve real problems.

 

What Exactly Are Meme Tokens?

As the name implies, meme tokens, meme coins, or cryptocurrencies are created around internet memes, an image, video, or text that is usually humorous and quickly shared across social media platforms. Meme coins are frequently regarded as coins with no real utility and are thus considered worthless by many. For example, Dogecoin, the first meme token created, was based on a popular Doge meme viral on social media. Typically, meme tokens have an eye-watering huge circulating supply – often in the quadrillions.

Meme tokens have recently become extremely popular, owing to the ease with which they can be created and the massive influencer culture that surrounds some of these meme projects.

Creators of some meme tokens have capitalized on celebrity social media activities such as tweets and Facebook posts. For example, in May 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a picture of his pet goats on social media. As a result, a meme token called ‘Aqua Goat’ increased in value by 300% in less than a day based on Zuckerberg’s social media post.

 

Are There Meme Tokens With Real Utility?

A few days ago, I sent out a tweet asking crypto enthusiasts who follow me to tell me about meme coins that they believe have real utility. I received some very interesting feedback and took the time to investigate some of the coins mentioned to see if they truly had the utility claimed. I made some very interesting discoveries and found that contrary to popular belief there are meme coins with real utility. I’ve highlighted a few of these tokens below to emphasize the point:

 

Ninja Doge is a charity utility token on the Binance Smart Chain Network, with plans for a mobile game and NFT, all in one nifty ninja package! Like other Doge tokens its designed with a 5% reward to encourage ‘hodling’, and a 5% set aside for liquidity to ensure price stability, as well as a 2% burn to maintain its value. But what’s also built into the token mechanism is 1% for charity for local animal charities. As the team explained in its whitepaper, one of the key reasons for creating this token is the desire to raise funds for local animal charities: “We believe the funds donated to smaller organizations will have a bigger impact on the surrounding communities. $5000 or even $10,000 for a conglomerate animal charity may not do much, however donating to that ‘mom & pop’ local animal charity across your street will make a difference.”

What’s nice about the charity donation mechanism, as well as it is targeted specifically at local animal charities, is that the Ninja Doge community gets to vote on which charity to select at every 3,000 holders’ increment. With the winner being randomly drawn after all entries all received, and confirmation of the donation is shared to their community and social channels. Also, part of the Ninja Doge’s exciting plans for the is a mobile game, created by the same people that designed Fortnite. A portion of the revenue from the game will be used to benefit Ninja Doge holders, the team confirmed. The aim is to have the game ready for distribution to users by the end of August. Finally, there are plans for limited edition NFT’s that will have attributes that benefit the token holders, though no date has been set for their release yet.

 

DogeCola: Dogecola, a meme token that debuted in late July, has as the name suggests its own soft drinks brand, as well as an essential feature known as auto-boost. The DogeCola team’s plan is to have the ‘MoonTaste’ soft drink in the hands of consumers by the festive season in December. It would also be the first cryptocurrency to enter the food sector, expanding the reach of the cryptocurrency market. To help reduce plastic pollution caused by corporations like Coca-Cola, DogeCola will be launching a community-led vote, to decide which eco-charities to donate to, along with partnerships with charities worldwide.

The auto-boost function is another distinguishing feature of DogeCola. This is done to avoid the ‘pump and dump’ type mechanisms common with some meme tokens on the market. To maintain stability, DogeCola uses auto boost to repurchase and burn tokens based on transaction volume. Another noteworthy feature is the high commission on selling DogeCola tokens, which was implemented to discourage selling and encourage holders by utilizing the ‘reflection mechanism’. DogeCola is currently available on the BigONE exchange.

“It’s really exciting to be listing such a creative meme coin, and not just simply as it has real utility as a soft drink beverage, but due to its ‘reflective’ token functionality,” said BigONE Chairman Anndy Lian. “We kicked off with an outreach program to bring in more users, as we want as many people as possible in our global community to enjoy becoming a token buyer with DogeCola!” he added.

 

BabyCake: BabyCake is the first CAKE reflection token launched about 3 weeks ago. The concept is simple, hold their native token and get a reward in CAKE on every transaction. Their auto claiming feature gets you CAKE automatically in your wallet every 60 minutes too. Tokenomics are clear: 7% of every buy/sell is taken and redistributed to all holders in Cake. 3% of every transaction is added to their liquidity pool. An extra 1% fee is applied to all sales and the game-changing function. 5% of every transaction is allocated to marketing.

Their ambition to become mainstream can be seen in some of the recent plans that they have rolled out. In their roadmap, it is also clearly stated that they will be launching their very own BabyCake AR gaming app too. Monk, CEO of BabyCake also told his community that they should be expecting animations, toys, and their own merchandise as well.

 

Closing Thoughts The meme tokens industry is currently worth $38 billion and comprises just under 3% of the total crypto market cap. With the latest crop of meme tokens providing real utility and with the support of social media influencers and their engaged communities, it is not far-fetched to predict that meme tokens will be widely adopted shortly. Meme.com, for example, is a new marketplace where people can compare meme tokens and mint their own “memetic tokens”, whose worth is based on the trends or memes they represent.

Clearly, there is still a lot of work to address the remaining issues in the meme tokens industry, but I believe that as more meme tokens with real utility are created, it will only be a matter of time before these issues are resolved and the meme sector within the crypto industry grows further.

 

 

 

Author: Anndy Lian

Anndy Lian is a business strategist with over 15 years of experience in Asia. Anndy has worked in various industries for local, international, and publicly traded companies. His recent foray into the blockchain scene has seen him manage some of Asia’s most prominent blockchain firms. He believes that blockchain will transform traditional finance. He is currently Chairman of BigOne Exchange and Chief Digital Advisor at the Mongolian Productivity Organisation.

 

 

Source: https://hackernoon.com/anndys-opinion-meme-tokens-with-real-utility

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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