NOT triggers a wave of "mining flow" projects, TON may become the dark horse of the ecosystem

Author: Wenser, Odaily Planet Daily

According to Coingecko data, the price of the NOT token from the popular TON ecosystem project Notcoin broke a new high at around $0.0283 at 2 AM today, and has now retreated to around $0.021, with a market capitalization stabilizing at $2.1 billion, ranking 62nd in the cryptocurrency market, surpassing ONDO and closing in on LDO. Moreover, the 24-hour trading volume of NOT has far exceeded many mainstream coins, reaching an astonishing $4.7 billion.

After NOT "fired the first shot for the token launch of the TON ecosystem on Binance," NOT experienced a 60% crash followed by a remarkable "7-fold achievement" in just about a week. Odaily Planet Daily will provide a brief introduction to NOT and the underlying project Notcoin in this article, along with some new projects as references in light of the current development status of the TON ecosystem.

Latest Project Progress: Phase 3 Has Begun

According to information from Notcoin's official account, the project has now entered Phase 3. As a click-based game built on the TON blockchain, Notcoin has attracted over 35 million participants in just a few months due to its low entry barrier and direct reward incentives, with daily active users exceeding 6 million. The Tap2Earn game model and referral-based growth have also made Notcoin one of the top 5 channels by user count on the Telegram platform.

The game officially launched in January this year; in early March, it allowed advanced players to convert in-game currency into NFT vouchers, facilitating trading before the token launch, at which time the price for 10 million NOT was only around $100; in early April, it briefly suspended service to prepare for the token launch, originally planned for April 20, but ultimately delayed; on May 9, OKX and Binance announced they would list NOT and start staking mining; on May 16, NOT officially launched on several mainstream exchanges, and within an hour of its launch, its market capitalization surpassed $800 million.

Now, NOT has achieved a remarkable market capitalization approaching $2.2 billion in about two weeks, paving the way for the TON ecosystem.

However, the classification issue regarding the NOT token has become a focal point of debate for many.

Notcoin Official Channel Document Information

NOT Dilemma: Is It a Meme Coin or a Game Token?

The reason for this debate mainly lies in the significant differences between meme coins and game tokens, which to some extent determines the upper limit of NOT's future development.

Generally speaking, if a token is classified as a game token, the main influencing factors include:

1) The token is generated based on a game application;

2) The token has corresponding use cases within the game;

3) The token has a certain consumption loop within the game.

Although NOT meets the first requirement, the second and third requirements are difficult to fully correspond, as the current use case of NOT is more inclined towards application incentives, and the token consumption is mainly controlled by the project party, including donations, destruction, etc., which are mostly unrelated to user operations.

If it is regarded as a meme coin within the TON ecosystem, it may better align with NOT's current market positioning and user perception.

Moreover, if the role of a meme coin is solidified, NOT's market capitalization and individual token price are expected to maintain an upward trend, becoming a significant hope for breaking into the Web2 user group within the TON ecosystem. After all, the market education effect of meme coins on Web2 users is evident.

Additionally, the operational style of the Notcoin project team behind NOT is very similar to that of meme coin project teams. Previously, their release of a blank white paper, along with the repeated mention of "Probably Nothing," a well-known phrase in the crypto industry, in their official account's background image and announcements, all reflect the "meme-style absurdity" of the Notcoin project team.

Notcoin Official Account Homepage Background Image

Overview of Potential Projects in the TON Ecosystem: Tap2Earn Becomes Mainstream

It is worth mentioning that the significance of NOT for the TON ecosystem goes far beyond just increasing some TVL or new users. In a certain sense, NOT has opened up the "imagination ceiling" for other projects in the TON chain ecosystem, allowing many project teams and users to realize for the first time: "Oh, it turns out that a simple Tap2Earn model in the TON ecosystem can create such a large-scale and high-market-cap project."

In addition, there are other potential projects on the TON chain. Based on the award list provided by the official The Open League, here is a brief overview:

Hamster Kombat

Hamster Kombat is a Tap2Earn management simulation game, reportedly covering over 60 million users. Additionally, Hamster Kombat's YouTube channel achieved the remarkable feat of "over 10 million subscribers in just 7 days." Its official Telegram channel has nearly 24 million followers.

CatizenAI

CatizenAI is a new mini-game center platform + on-chain metaverse cat-raising game developed by the Web3 mini-game publishing studio Pluto Studio based on past experience. The Beta test version is set to launch in March 2024; in April, Catizen's on-chain users reached 260,000, making it one of the fastest-growing projects in the TON ecosystem; in June, according to official news, its user count has surpassed 12 million, with on-chain users exceeding 730,000, winning first place in The Open League twice. Previously, it officially announced support for Notcoin (NOT) as a payment method in the game, and within 3 days of supporting NOT payments, it achieved over 50 million NOT in revenue, subsequently announcing the destruction of 5 million NOT from the revenue in collaboration with Notcoin.

Tapswap

Tapswap is a Tap2Earn-style mining game similar to Notcoin. Notably, search engine results indicate that this game seems to have gained considerable popularity among Nigerian players, allowing users to earn game coins by tapping the screen, which can then be exchanged for real fiat currency. This move is reminiscent of how Axie Infinity once supported the economic backbone of many Southeast Asian families. Currently, its Telegram channel has around 17.5 million followers.

Yescoin

As the name suggests, this is another imitation of Notcoin, and it has just secured second place in the App competition rankings of The Open League. According to its official channel description, the project is currently in the first phase, which is the fair mining phase; the channel has around 4.43 million followers.

Ston.fi

Ston.fi is an AMM DEX built on the TON chain, offering almost zero fees, low slippage, an extremely simple interface, and direct integration with TON wallets. It previously announced a new round of financing in May, with CoinFund participating, although the specific financing amount and valuation data have not been disclosed. According to the official statement, the funds will be used for further operations to expand financial services for Telegram users, allowing them to trade crypto assets across multiple blockchains without bridging or wrapping. Currently, its official channel has around 300,000 followers.

Conclusion: Web2 Viral Strategies Fueling Ecological Miracles

After NOT completed the "exchange debut" of the TON ecosystem through wash trading and pump, it seems that the TON ecosystem has found an alternative development path of "Web2 mini-programs + H5 mini-games + Web3 manual mining + referral-based growth." Perhaps in the near future, we will see the TON ecosystem network achieving new highs in TVL and active on-chain user counts, realizing the long-desired vision of Mass Adoption.

We can only hope that the users who have "traveled through mountains and rivers" from Web2, after tasting the "sweetness" of Web3 airdrops, can continue to find fun and value, becoming part of the builders of the TON ecosystem in the future.