🚀 Metaverse’s 2008 moment

Kem cho degens. This is the Doodhwala. The crypto newsletter that feels like a proper Zoya Akthar film. A little funny, a little drama but mostly filled with memes.

Let’s get down to clown:

• Real-world problems in the metaverse

• Hodlnaut succumbs and then does a Mr. India!

• Milky Meme Of The Day

• Taaza Tweet Of the Day

Real-world problems in the metaverse

The metaverse was initially envisioned to be a place filled with possibilities and hope.

A place different from reality.

And to some…a place BETTER than reality. (nerds)

But definitely a place away from the horrors of the real world.

Or so we hoped.

Much like the 2008 US housing market crisis that brought the world to a standstill, a housing crisis is happening in the…METAVERSE

The virtual land prices in the popular metaverses have dropped by a whopping 85%!

• Decentraland land prices fell from a peak of $37,238 (Rs 30 lakh) in Feb 2022 to an average of $5,163 (Rs 4.1 lakh) in August.

• Sandbox prices dropped from $35,500 (Rs 28 lakh) in January 2022 to $2,800 (Rs 2.2 lakh) in August.

• Average price of land across 6 major ETH metaverse projects fell from $17,000 (Rs 13.5 lakh) to $2,500 (Rs 2 lakh).

Yikes. 😬

The market cap of both Decentraland and Sandbox has dropped from $10 billion to $2 billion and $8.4 billion to $1.7 billion respectively.

What is the reason behind this?

The main reason for the price drop is the looming bear market blues.

User interest has been dropping in metaverse projects because…people are just out of dough! Unlike doodh, which you can get right here.

The market has been brutal for all of us. We are all down real bad.

Our wallets look sadder than SRK in Devdas.

But despite the current problem, our homies at McKinsey believe that the metaverse market will be a $5 TRILLION market by 2030.

This is the belief we need in life.

This is the belief I wish my teacher had in me in 5th grade.

I would have been a Paisawala, instead of a Doodhwala. 🥲

Hodlnaut succumbs and then does a Mr. India!

Crypto lending platforms are falling like RCB’s middle order.

It started with American lending platform Celsius, then apna very own Vauld, now Hong Kong based lender Hodlnaut is likely to follow.

What’s Hodlnaut?

• Founded in 2019

• Offers <4.5% interest on BTC, ETH + 5 cryptos

• $500 million (Rs 4,000 crore) in estimated AUM

But like most lending platforms, Hodlnaut has been reeling since the collapse of Terra.

In fact, there are reports that it lost $187 million (Rs 1,500 crore) in the Luna crash.

And on August 8, the lender told users that it’s stopping withdrawals.

Not in a cute Kuch Kuch Hota Hai way either.

This is what Holdnaut had to say:

“To all users, we regret to inform you that we will be halting withdrawals, token swaps and deposits with immediate effect. We have reached this difficult decision due to recent market conditions.”

The lender is working on a “recovery plan.”

Having been a customer of Vauld, we know this playbook.

Here’s what we think is going to happen:

• Hodlnaut files for a moratorium

• Assures users the funds are safe

• Looks for ways to raise cash (fundraise, acquisition, token sale, etc.)

• Pays back users in part or in full

The last part even we aren’t so sure about.

But there’s one BIG difference between Hodlnaut and Vauld.

While Vauld’s founders are informing users about their moratorium status, Hodlnaut’s founders are playing Mr. India.

In case you missed it, the web pages missing are — Why Trust Hodlnaut | Our Team | Careers | Demo |

Now, why would they want to keep their team and their trust statement hidden? 🤔

Not sure, ask the founders.

Oh, wait, the founder — Juntao Z (JZ)— has made his Twitter profile private.

Talk about a PSA from Jay-Z!

But wait…there’s more!

Hodlnaut has been planning this for over 3 freakin weeks.

The blog post announcing the pause of withdrawals was published on July 15 and only UPDATED yesterday.

The date has since been changed, but not before a Twitter degen took a screenshot:

In fact, there have been loads of reports about the wheels falling off Hodlnaut’s wagon since June.

But the founder JZ was too busy tryna sue Twitter anons.

Doodhwala’s take: CeFi markets are tough, but founders going poof is not a good sign. We really hope Hodlnaut’s users get their funds back. In the meantime, it’s best to get your funds off centralized exchanges. You never know who’s gonna go under!

Taaza Tweet Of The Day

Milky Meme Of The Day

That’s all for today bhaiyo aur bheno! Naale Sigona!

Aakash "Dahi Cheeni" Athawasya & Arvind "Doodh Peda" Krishna

Yo! Our legal and financial advisors (aka our good ol’ conscience) have asked us to add this boring disclaimer.

None of what you read here is financial advice. We aren’t here to get to buy or sell a crypto. We’re only here to tell you what’s up in crypto today and make you laugh. So, if you screwed up on a trade, that’s on you G. Stay safe in the markets.