Dialogue with bitsCrunch CEO: From a newcomer in Web3 to a rising star in the data field, an in-depth interpretation of the origin journey

Mia, ChainCatcher

Vijay Pravin, bitsCrunch CEO; Chris, Web3Port

As the concept of Web3 continues to advance, more and more startups are beginning to venture into the Web3 space. Compared to the traditional Web2 sector, the emerging Web3 field offers startups more opportunities and challenges. This new blue ocean of Web3 is attracting a large number of investors and companies, which means that a "Web3 resource war" is imminent.

According to data from RootData, as the crypto market warms up, the investment and financing market is also showing signs of recovery. Just last month, the investment and financing data in the crypto field once again reached impressive figures, with total financing amounting to $1.18 billion and over 90 financing rounds. The overall improvement in the market also means that more startups that have been "keeping a low profile" during the bear market will begin to fully launch. However, in the face of the increasingly fierce "Web3 resource war," startups are clearly at a disadvantage compared to established projects with their inherent industry advantages, and they will face challenges and risks including technological innovation, market promotion, and financial support.

In this context, Web3 accelerators play an important role, becoming the "best way" for startups to gain more resource support, and Web3Port is one of them. As a leading innovative Web3 accelerator, Web3Port has been actively cultivating in the Web3 field for years, successfully becoming a bridge between startup projects and industry resources. The decentralized NFT data platform bitsCrunch has successfully partnered with Web3Port, becoming one of the lucky ones in this "Web3 resource war." What kind of product appeal led Web3Port to extend an "olive branch" to bitsCrunch?

Today, we are fortunate to invite bitsCrunch CEO to join Web3Port in a series of discussions about "the origin story of bitsCrunch."

First, we will invite the innovative Web3 accelerator Web3Port to explain how the serendipitous encounter led bitsCrunch to walk alongside Web3Port.

1. Mia: bitsCrunch is a project that collaborates with Web3Port for acceleration. Can you introduce Web3Port's positioning and the criteria for discovering early-stage projects, as well as how bitsCrunch initially established cooperation with Web3Port?

Chris "Web3Port": Sure, Web3Port is an innovative Web3 accelerator aimed at providing full lifecycle, multidimensional support to startups to accelerate their innovation. Web3Port's excellent acceleration capabilities have attracted over 1,200 startups, more than 500 VCs, over 60 mentors, 20 universities, 10 public chains, and 100 media clients to join the accelerator network.

Web3Port has an innovative funnel model screening mechanism that evaluates project potential, team capability, product progress, and complementarity with Web3Port, categorizing and grading projects to ultimately select those we believe have potential. Only screened projects will be included in the accelerator, ensuring the quality of selected projects.

bitsCrunch established contact with Web3Port in 2022. In the same year, Web3Port successfully held a training camp in winter 2022 in collaboration with Republic, HashKey Capital, BNB Chain, Spark Digital Capital, and Geekcartel, with 25 outstanding projects selected, including bitsCrunch. Through in-depth acceleration cooperation, bitsCrunch stood out from the training camp. Web3Port recognized bitsCrunch's immense potential and subsequently engaged in deeper cooperation, including financing, marketing, and listing.

2. Mia: Can you take bitsCrunch as an example to elaborate on how Web3Port selects early-stage projects through user data and demand analysis, as well as the specific process of matching and follow-up for bitsCrunch?

**Chris "Web3Port": When screening early-stage projects, user data is not very significant; we mainly observe the overall capabilities of the team. As mentioned earlier, we have already discussed how we discovered bitsCrunch, so I won't repeat that. When collaborating with bitsCrunch, we comprehensively understand the project's current status and advancement plans, and based on our experience, we provide them with professional advice. For example, when the project reaches the stage of needing market visibility, we help design a marketing plan tailored to the project's progress and characteristics, matching corresponding market resources to achieve the goal. Additionally, we have activities like Demo Day to help project parties connect with multiple VCs at once, improving financing efficiency.

In summary, the support we provide to acceleration cooperation projects mainly includes:

Customized support: Providing tailored support and guidance for each acceleration project, including expertise and resources in technology, strategy, operations, etc., to help improve project quality and effectiveness.

Regular evaluation and adjustment: Conducting regular evaluations of acceleration projects and making timely adjustments and optimizations based on project progress and feedback. This helps ensure that projects can be completed according to the expected plans and quality.

Community participation and feedback: Encouraging community participation and feedback to provide diverse perspectives and suggestions for acceleration projects. Through interaction with the community, projects can better understand market demands and trends, allowing for timely adjustments and optimizations.

Continuous learning and innovation: Encouraging continuous learning and innovation, providing training and development opportunities for team members. This enables the team to maintain sharp market insights and advanced technical capabilities, providing more professional guidance and support for acceleration projects.

Next, we will return to the main character of this issue------the decentralized NFT data platform bitsCrunch, and chat with the CEO about the origin journey of bitsCrunch.

As we all know, bitsCrunch aims to enable developers to quickly and easily build reliable NFT applications (dApps). By leveraging artificial intelligence technology, the network provides accurate and in-depth analysis of NFTs, helping users make informed investment decisions. The bitsCrunch Network also offers detailed forensic data on NFTs, allowing users to identify potential risks, fraudulent activities, and maintain security.

In fact, as early as January of this year, the decentralized NFT data platform bitsCrunch received strategic investment from Tykhe Block Ventures. Recently, bitsCrunch has also been active, launching its token sale on CoinList on December 15. Currently, according to official data, the bitsCrunch token sale was completed in just 24 minutes, setting a record for the fastest token sale on CoinList.

Having received support from Web3Port and Tykhe Block Ventures, and partnered with CoinList, what has allowed this Web3 startup to have such a "blessed life" right from the start? The CEO of bitsCrunch will explain it all to us.

1. Mia: According to your LinkedIn profile, you have been focused on the field of data science. What sparked your interest in cryptocurrency and NFTs? Can you share the founding story of bitsCrunch?

Vijay Pravin: I am Vijay Pravin, the founder and CEO of bitsCrunch, a blockchain analytics and forensics company focused on protecting the NFT ecosystem. I am originally from India but have been living in Munich, Germany for the past 10 years. Ten years ago, I obtained a master's degree in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Munich. Since then, I have delved into data-related matters and have worked for well-known companies in the Web2 space, such as Volkswagen and Siemens. I founded bitsCrunch during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like most founders, I have been a retail investor in cryptocurrency. As a team, we discovered many malicious activities in the NFT space, so we wanted to protect the ecosystem at the data level.

2. Mia: Please briefly introduce bitsCrunch and its current business focus.

Vijay Pravin: Currently, blockchain is often prioritized in financial aspects, which overshadows the analysis and forensics field in centralized systems. This centralization not only limits critical insights into emerging Web3 projects but also creates barriers to breakthrough innovations.

Entering the bitsCrunch network signifies a new era of blockchain analytics. This decentralized, AI-enhanced data network provides unparalleled analytics and forensic data for NFTs, wallets, and other digital assets on public blockchains. The platform is accessible via a user-friendly API, laying the foundation for diverse application development. bitsCrunch is known for its commitment to a community-driven ecosystem, enabling individual users to contribute code or content, thereby continuously enhancing and expanding the network's capabilities.

bitsCrunch Product Design and Iteration

1. Mia: What products do you offer for NFT companies and individual users, and what advantages do you have in comparison?

Vijay Pravin: In the vibrant and rapidly evolving digital art market, the success of artists and creators depends not only on their creative talents but also on their ability to solve problems in the NFT space. Data becomes crucial here. bitsCrunch offers a range of data-driven insights and tools that can significantly enhance the capabilities of artists and creators within the blockchain ecosystem.

Market insights: bitsCrunch provides valuable market trend data to help artists and creators understand which types of NFTs are more popular.

Pricing strategy: Insights into pricing trends can help artists appropriately price their works.

Fraud detection: Tools to identify counterfeit NFTs can protect the originality and value of creators' works.

Audience engagement: Data on buyer preferences and behaviors can inform marketing and community engagement strategies.

By leveraging the insights and tools provided by bitsCrunch, artists and creators in the NFT space can make more informed decisions, protect their intellectual property, and effectively engage with fans, which is crucial in the vibrant and rapidly evolving digital art market.

2. Questioner: You mentioned that bitsCrunch evaluates NFT collectibles and provides investment advice based on "good/bad" judgments. What criteria do you use for such evaluations, and are there quantifiable metrics?

Vijay Pravin: We have blue-chip clients like DappRadar and Unstoppable Domains using our Estimated NFT Price APIs (https://dappradar.com/blog/dappradar-bitscrunch-nft-price-estimations). To derive the fair price of an NFT, bitsCrunch uses over 50 KPIs, such as the NFT's past history, previous owners, transaction history, money laundering transactions, etc.

3. Mia: What changes has bitsCrunch experienced from its early development to now?

Vijay Pravin: We initially focused on the NFT space, but now we have expanded beyond NFTs, such as bitsCrunch starting to provide historical prices for over 220,000 tokens on the Ethereum chain.

4. Mia: What are the biggest challenges when dealing with large amounts of on-chain data, and how do you overcome them?

Vijay Pravin: Data availability and data storage are major challenges. Other challenges include cleaning data for input into AI/ML models, requiring the creation of robust back-end and front-end systems to handle the large data load from clients.

5. Mia: bitsCrunch is an AI-enhanced data network. How does AI contribute to the entire bitsCrunch product development process? What are your views on the future prospects and trends of "AI + Web3"?

Vijay Pravin: AI is clearly a pillar. We are not using AI just for the sake of using it because it is a hot topic; we have been using AI since 2021. The NFT space largely relies on floor prices, but to be honest, floor price is not the right metric to examine NFTs. We started using over 50 KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to estimate NFT prices, and some blue-chip companies using our AI price estimates include: DappRadar and Unstoppable Domains.

6. Mia: Will the ongoing slump in the NFT market affect bitsCrunch? What are your predictions for future trends in the NFT market?

Vijay Pravin: More brands will enter the NFT space in the future. As RWA becomes a potential market, digital assets will certainly be an area of focus for web2 brands. Moreover, bitsCrunch has already begun to expand beyond the NFT space. We are now providing historical prices for over 220,000 tokens on the Ethereum chain.

7. Mia: Recently, the surge of the Bitcoin ecosystem Ordinals seems to overshadow the NFT market. Some blue-chip NFT projects have also undergone significant restructuring. How do you view the distinction between the "non-fungible" market of NFTs and Ordinals? Is bitsCrunch considering incorporating Ordinals into its database in the future?

Vijay Pravin: Ordinals are part of our roadmap, and we hope to see more markets and infrastructure before entering that space.

8. Mia: What typical well-known clients does bitsCrunch currently have? How do they utilize your API data?

Vijay Pravin: DappRadar - https://dappradar.com/blog/dappradar-bitscrunch-nft-price-estimations (they use our AI capabilities for price estimation)

Unstoppable Domains (premium domain analysis)

Some large companies like Polygon (NFT dashboard) and over 50 startups are on our client list.

Future Expectations and Important Updates

1. Mia: Recently, bitsCrunch announced the expansion of blockchain data analysis beyond NFTs. Can you talk about the specific non-NFT data types you are expanding into? In terms of token price data and similar metrics, there is fierce competition. What competitive advantages does bitsCrunch have?

Vijay Pravin: We provide historical prices for over 220,000 tokens on the Ethereum chain, and this is just the beginning. We plan to use our AI/ML algorithms to detect on-chain fraudulent activities in the DeFi space.

2. Mia: bitsCrunch announced plans to launch the BCUT token. When is the specific launch time for this token? What value will this token bring within the bitsCrunch ecosystem?

Vijay Pravin: The token sale will take place on December 14 on Coinlist (https://sales.coinlist.co/bitscrunch).

The TGE (Token Generation Event) and listing will occur from mid-January to the end of January.

3. Mia: In addition to the launch of the BCUT token, what specific development plans does bitsCrunch have in its roadmap?

Vijay Pravin: We have detailed bitsCrunch's development plans for the next four years in the white paper, which users can refer to on page 21 of the white paper.

Summary

The prosperity of the Web3 field relies on startups like "bitsCrunch" emerging like mushrooms after rain, and the development of startups is also inseparable from the support of Web3 accelerators. Therefore, bitsCrunch's success is supported by industry resources including Web3Port, Tykhe Block Ventures, and CoinList, as well as its unique product positioning rooted in the NFT field.

As the NFT market heats up again, the value of its market trend data will also be amplified. Undoubtedly, bitsCrunch will become one of the "beneficiaries." As Vijay Pravin stated, "Entering the bitsCrunch network signifies a new era of blockchain analytics." We also look forward to bitsCrunch showcasing greater market potential with the support of market factors, becoming a "dark horse" among Web3 startups and leading blockchain analytics into a new era.