Dialogue GMGN HAZE: How did the "dog fighter" go from a loss of 350,000 USD to becoming a consultant in the Memecoin trading paradise?

Editor: Wu Says Blockchain

Recently, the well-known grid trader HAZE has been dubbed the "Dumbass Indicator" after losing $350,000 trading meme coins. In this podcast, we talked with him about the process of trading memes and the professional meme on-chain tool GMGN that he co-founded. With the meme market booming, GMGN, an internally developed product, has become a hot project with impressive daily revenue. Whether GMGN will create a "Dumbass Index" based on HAZE's experience and its future development plans is also a key topic of this podcast.

According to @adam_tehc's Dune data dashboard, the on-chain MEME trading tool GMGN reached its current peak trading volume on November 17, with a single-day trading volume of $72 million, second only to PHOTON ($330 million) and surpassing BULLX ($67 million). This product line ranks second, with daily fee income of $710,000 and daily users of 25,000.

Please note that the content of this article reflects the personal views of the interviewee and does not represent Wu Says' views. Wu Says does not endorse any tokens or projects, and readers are advised to strictly comply with local laws and regulations. On-chain tools carry significant security risks, and readers should use them with caution.

Why is HAZE Called the Memecoin "Dumbass"?

Colin: Hello everyone, welcome to this episode of our podcast. This time we have a familiar friend, HAZE. He has recently gained some attention on Twitter, and today we have a more relaxed topic. HAZE, can you tell us why you are called the "Dumbass Indicator" in the Memecoin trading scene?

HAZE: Hello everyone, I am HAZE, an advisor for the GMGN project. The so-called "Dumbass" is quite simple; it means constantly trading low-quality coins on-chain, with both large and small funds involved. However, I believe that to break the conventional mindset, one must pay tuition. If you approach Memecoins with traditional secondary market thinking or value coin investment strategies, you will likely end up with a lot of losses. In the end, the tuition fee is fully paid to the on-chain, becoming liquidity for various dog coin groups. That's why I lost $350,000. But this account was initially used for trading dog coins; it's a typical "tuition account." Recently, there have been profits. If you aren't making money lately, then you really are a dumbass, haha.

The Origin and Naming of GMGN Product

Colin: I remember when we talked before, Memecoins weren't very popular yet, and you started working on this product, right? Can you tell me about the history of this product?

HAZE: That's right. Last year, I was quite interested in new products, and my entire investment mindset is product-driven. During the DeFi era, I was investing quite successfully, but this year, value coins haven't performed well. So I was always looking for new narratives. Initially, I saw the product UniBot. It solved the transaction speed issue for users on the Ethereum chain, allowing users to access early costs for some projects. I thought this product addressed some essential user needs, and its business model was great. However, after experiencing it, I felt that TG Bot products were not suitable for mass usage.

So I was thinking, can we create a product with a great user experience that allows everyone to quickly engage with projects while making the entire visualization and experience data intuitive and smooth? In July last year, there was an independent team that had the capability to do this, but they asked me what the product should be named. I said, let's call it GMGN.

Regarding naming, I believe a good name is half the success. GMGN itself is something Crypto native in the on-chain community. I wanted to use some vocabulary originating from community language to name this product. I think GMGN is a friendly, catchy, and simple name. When people were playing with NFTs, they often used greetings like GM (Good Morning) and GN (Good Night). So we hope this product provides an excellent user experience for community users and is friendly and approachable, which is why we named it GMGN. Our slogan at the time was: GMGN, Degen every day.

This is a very native slogan, hoping everyone can open GMGN every day, trade on-chain, and make money. The product's positioning and name came from this idea.

Migration from Ethereum to Solana, "Mouse Warehouse" Function Explodes

Colin: Since last year, how have you gradually developed?

HAZE: Initially, we started on the Ethereum chain because I was confident in Ethereum during this cycle. At that time, new Memecoins like MOG and BITCOIN (HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu) were emerging. I thought, could we do this based on the Ethereum chain? However, during the process, I found that there were indeed some contradictions regarding user sentiment, asset issuance effects, and transaction speed on the Ethereum chain. Originally, we aimed for quick entry and exit with high risks and high returns, but the transaction experience wasn't smooth enough; there were still issues. So we began to consider whether we needed to switch chains. Our target chain options included Blur's Blast, Coinbase's Base, and Solana.

In January, a wave of excitement for Solana emerged. After observing the trend of Solana, I felt that choosing Solana was more appropriate because Solana is more mature and has been around longer than other chains. After team discussions, we decided to prioritize Solana while keeping Blast and Base as alternatives and fully supporting a multi-chain model. Thus, we entered Solana. However, during the BOME wave in March, we didn't benefit much because our initial layout was still on Ethereum and we didn't fully deploy to Solana in time.

Later, around April and May, after GMGN launched, I promoted it on Twitter, and users provided feedback that the dashboard feature was quite useful. Users could continuously explore smart money addresses, analyze the operations of large holders, and conduct address assessments and data analysis. During this stage, we gradually accumulated some seed users. With seed users, the product's demand updates and iterations became more aligned with actual user needs.

What truly made GMGN explode widely was the "Mouse Warehouse" function. This feature was inspired by user feedback and our intuitive feelings. With on-chain asset data being so transparent, we thought we should better utilize this transparency. So, we launched the mouse warehouse labeling feature. For example, when users are rushing into a project, they are most concerned about whether there is a mouse warehouse involved. After adding this feature, we could clearly label which projects had mouse warehouses.

In April and May of this year, after the "Mouse Warehouse" feature launched, it further propelled explosive growth based on the already good reputation of finding smart money. Many users in the community shared screenshots discussing how GMGN labeled mouse warehouse data, such as how many mouse warehouse addresses a project had. This discussion quickly increased GMGN's popularity.

The influx of more users also made our previous smart money address feature more popular. We clearly labeled the address data and even matched some information from Twitter. Users could also add follow and note features.

Many users began writing tutorials, such as "I found a smart money address, and this address made how much money," and then shared how to use GMGN for data mining. When such content was posted on Twitter, the results were unexpectedly good. As a result, more and more creators began producing content based on GMGN's features. Whether in Chinese or English, many high-traffic posts on Twitter now utilize GMGN's dashboard feature. At this stage, GMGN's popularity truly exploded.

Recently, as the Memecoin market has gradually heated up, more and more people are recommending GMGN. In the past few days, GMGN's servers have crashed six times in four days.

Colin: So there were a few days when the servers were down?

HAZE: Haha, yes, yes, yes. The server traffic surged, and everyone had a high demand for buying and selling Memecoins using GMGN. At that time, our development team basically didn't sleep and was working overtime to expand capacity, but we still couldn't keep up with the speed at which users were rushing in. Thus, the servers were overwhelmed six times in just four days.

This was completely unexpected. Based on our operational experience, we had already made a lot of redundancy in traffic data. We can only say that the heat of the Memecoin market far exceeded our expectations, and it also proved everyone's recognition of the GMGN product. We also want to thank all users of GMGN; it is your support that led to this result. Of course, we will continue to work hard to optimize the servers.

Colin: What is the current user growth trend like? Are there any significant growth milestones?

HAZE: Overall data can be queried on-chain. Our data from the past two weeks shows that trading volume has skyrocketed by 600%.

Colin: What is the current team size of GMGN? How many people are there?

HAZE: About 30 people.

Reviewing Security Incidents on Other Platforms and Optimizing Security Solutions

Colin: Recently, a certain product had a security incident. What improvements will you make regarding security?

HAZE: There has been a lot of discussion about a recent meme product's security incident, with various analyses and evidence surfacing on Twitter. From the current information, it appears that they used plaintext transmission for private key transfers, which basically shows a lack of any security protection. Additionally, from the leaked theft process, funds were transferred one-to-one from user addresses to hacker addresses, indicating that the server was likely hijacked. Because the private keys were in plaintext, once the server was breached, the user's private keys were fully exposed, allowing hackers to easily transfer funds.

Regardless of the situation, security is paramount for custodial platforms. For products like TG Bot, hosting user private keys is equivalent to hosting user funds. If you do this, you need to employ various technical measures to ensure security, such as encrypting private key storage, establishing a comprehensive internal control system, and ensuring strict isolation between business servers and secure storage servers. You also need to ensure platform security through offline solutions and real-time monitoring.

If funds are indeed stolen, the first step is to quickly identify the problem and stop losses at sensitive nodes. If the scale of the theft is small, the platform can quickly compensate users with its own revenue. Since there is no 100% secure system, the key lies in the ability to respond quickly and compensate users. These measures can elevate the platform's security standards.

Our team has always placed great emphasis on security, establishing a complete professional security team. We have experienced the internet wave, traded coins, and witnessed large capital flows, fully aware of the "dark forest rule" in the blockchain industry. We also understand that platform security is the most fundamental guarantee.

GMGN offers two user experience modes. One is the TG Bot mode, where user private keys are hosted on the server, meeting the strategy and speed needs of advanced users. The other is where users connect directly to the GMGN website for trading interactions through plugin wallets like Phantom or MetaMask, requiring user authorization for each operation, which is relatively safer.

We have invested a lot of effort in both the front-end and back-end to continuously optimize security mechanisms. Based on the recent security issues of a certain product, we will further learn from the lessons and fill in the gaps. We will adopt a more cautious attitude to enhance the overall security of the platform.

Future Development Strategy: Stable Services and Continuous Engagement with Hot Narratives

Colin: Have you ever calculated your market share? What is the approximate ratio?

HAZE: In terms of overall market share, we should be in a relatively leading position globally. Our main competitor is Photon, which has a clear first-mover advantage on Solana. The BOME wave benefited them the most.

Colin: What are your plans for future products and development strategies?

HAZE: Our product philosophy is quite simple: First, ensure that the service is stable enough; second, pursue a faster and more extreme operational experience; third, carefully record user needs and continuously update based on the urgency of those needs. Our goal is to make the user experience smoother and smoother; that's basically the idea.

Colin: Are you worried that the popularity of Memecoins will decline? Or, after the hype passes, will there be issues with the long-term viability of your product?

HAZE: I think GMGN initially entered the Memecoin track, but its essence is an on-chain product. Its positioning is about how to closely follow on-chain hotspots and major trends, providing users with good trading opportunities and helping them seize on-chain dividends; this is GMGN's core positioning. Therefore, even if Memecoins gradually cool down or lose their current momentum, our key lies in how to identify what the next narrative hotspot is, and the team will consider how to quickly engage with it.

It's not that we only focus on Memecoins; they are a part of GMGN and currently the main part, but certainly not the only part. I believe that in the blockchain world, hotspots switch very quickly, and innovation happens rapidly. So, we cannot be biased or stagnant. We need to try more, explore more, and find good entry points. If we can solve users' pain points, we will engage and execute. At the same time, we will continuously correct and adjust our understanding.

If we remain immersed in our current comfort zone without breaking it, regardless of our platform position, over time, we may be surpassed.

Development Details: "Dumbass Wallet," Segmented Tracks, "Conspiracy Groups," and Trading Experience

Colin: Understood, OK. Next, two friends will join the discussion, one is defioasis, and the other is Yiyi. They have in-depth observations and practical experience in the Memecoin field and can further discuss some issues with you.

defioasis: I have a few questions. The first is about the "Dumbass Wallet" indicator. Is it possible to launch a tool similar to reverse smart money, such as labeling wallets with extremely low win rates that buy at high points?

HAZE: I think this is possible. If we have time, we can label these wallets as having very low win rates. First, include me in that list, haha.

Colin: This idea seems quite interesting, haha.

HAZE: Yes, many users who chase highs often buy at high points, and then the price starts to drop. So it can serve as an indicator to assist trading decisions.

defioasis: Right, this could be a good selling indicator. The second question is, Memecoin is a large track, which also has many segmented tracks, such as the recent AI Memecoins and DeSci. Is it possible to optimize the sector classification and sector rotation functions in GMGN so that users can easily see the hotspots?

HAZE: The demand for sector classification has indeed been raised before. Some users are not trading dog coins every day; they might hear that a certain sector is hot and want to buy in. At this time, providing an intuitive display of market cap and price would be very helpful. We will consider adding these classifications in future feature updates.

defioasis: One more question, GMGN has two entry points, one is TG Bot, and the other is the plugin wallet. Have you ever calculated which entry has a higher user volume and more trading volume?

HAZE: We haven't done such data statistics recently.

Yiyi: I have two questions. First, the community is now particularly interested in two things besides smart money: discovering "conspiracy groups" and guessing who will be listed on Binance. GMGN has strong data analysis capabilities, especially in smart money. Do you have plans to further explore these associated addresses, such as labeling which addresses might be involved in conspiratorial behavior?

HAZE: We have partially implemented this. We initially launched the mouse warehouse feature and later added "fish" labeling. We will label suspected conspiracy wallets as "red fish," with labeling logic including operations on multiple wallets at the same time and consistent fund transfer behaviors, etc. For example, I recently tested an address, and the data clearly showed that this address was a distribution address, labeled as "red fish," with an additional red exclamation mark prompt.

HAZE: Additionally, we have wallet distribution analysis features, such as the distribution behavior of DEV wallets being labeled with a "sniper" icon. For the conspiracy groups mentioned by users, we will continue to identify and determine them through on-chain data, but we will try to avoid subjective labeling.

Yiyi: Understood. My second question is, can the K-line tool be combined with on-chain data? For example, if I set a time window, I want to know who was driving the price up and who was making money during a major uptrend. Could this be a development direction for GMGN?

HAZE: Currently, we are more inclined to provide data functions that are universally applicable to large platforms. The demand you mentioned belongs to customized features, which require more resource investment. Our primary task now is to meet the most popular needs, but in the future, if more users propose similar demands, we will evaluate and consider adding these features.

Yiyi: What will be the focus of GMGN's upcoming iterations? Will there be any other exciting features released?

HAZE: We already have chip distribution features, as well as wallet labeling and dispersion chart functions. The focus for the future will still be on improving overall trading stability, speed, and experience. For example, the highly requested "wallet monitoring" feature will expand from supporting 100 wallets to 500. Additionally, the monitoring push needs for TG Bot and channels will also be optimized. Currently, GMGN's push function experiences delays when user volume is too large, and we will prioritize resolving this issue.

Our goal is to enable users to discover information faster, stay updated on dynamics quicker, and complete transactions more swiftly. Current updates are mainly focused on these core needs.