VanEck has launched a new financial product backed by SUI, allowing millions of investors to access the Sui network.

The S&P 500 rose by 0.02%, led by gains in consumer discretionary and energy stocks, while technology and healthcare lagged. Coindesk Indices, an index measuring broader cryptocurrency market performance was up by 1.97%, with Bitcoin rising by 0.31% and Ether dropping by 3.86%, in the past 24 hours.

Today’s top performer is PEPE, which surged 76.7% following Robinhood Crypto's expansion of U.S. offerings to include Solana, Cardano, XRP, and Pepe.

Pepe (PEPE), launched on April 2023, is a deflationary meme coin on the Ethereum blockchain, inspired by the Pepe the Frog meme. It aims to stand out as a meme-based digital asset with no taxes and no utility, emphasizing its unique connection to the Pepe the Frog character. Robinhood Crypto 

 Solana, Pepe, Cardano, and XRP to its U.S. platform, expanding its offerings to 19 cryptocurrencies. The platform aims to increase accessibility while prioritizing safety and compliance in its listings.

Check Out the Latest Prices, Charts, and Data of 

 a new financial product backed by SUI, allowing millions of investors to access the Sui network. The product, held in a regulated custodian environment, offers investors exposure to SUI without the need for a digital wallet. This move highlights institutional confidence in Sui, following significant growth in its total value locked (TVL) and DeFi volume. The product mirrors the value of the SUI tokens it represents, enabling easy investment and divestment.

Yesterday, BTC Spot ETF data showed that non-GBTC flows totaled $279.3 million, while GBTC saw no flow, bringing the total flow to $279.3 million.

 on the Layer3 launchpad, offering a chance to earn XP for their loyalty program and potentially qualify for a $ZERION airdrop. Three quests are available, with more to come.

Beginner

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VanEck Launches SUI-backed Financial Product, Expanding Institutional Access to Sui Network

Sleepless AI is a web3 relationship game platform. Users virtually date AI companions and create entertaining and engaging relationships. Learn more here.

The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) products has had a huge impact on the 

 space. More and more projects are becoming interested in exploring the intersection of AI and crypto. One intriguing new system is the Sleepless AI program, a project that aims to create virtual boyfriends and girlfriends with whom players can interact. It incorporates a variety of cryptos to let users interact with their virtual partner's world more thoroughly. 

 is a web3 relationship game platform. Users virtually date AI companions and create entertaining and engaging relationships. Sleepless AI tokens can be used to purchase a variety of clothing, accessories and foods for a user’s partner.

Sleepless AI was co-founded in 2023 by CEO John Cliff, a game developer with over 15 years of experience in the industry. After his past history of working on relationship games, Cliff decided to take the popular genre of dating “sims” and integrate it with new technology. This project is supported by a variety of reputable venture capitalists, including Binance Labs, Folius Ventures and Foresight Ventures. 

Sleepless AI aims to tackle a new sphere of the web3 world. In the digital age, most projects are based on appealing to people's love of competition, exploration or creation. Sleepless AI plans to focus on the field of emotions instead, and it hopes to use AI-generated content to craft meaningful stories capable of providing emotional support to players. 

Ultimately, Sleepless AI’s team believes that this project can build meaningful connections between users and game characters. In addition, the project hopes to create an efficient ecosystem based on 

Unlike some previous virtual companion platforms, Sleepless AI doesn't charge top dollar up-front or offer a confusing fee structure. Instead, it uses blockchain tokens to provide a clear and simple system in which you can pay as you play.

Sleepless AI uses a combination of blockchain and AI technology. The system is built on the 

 tokens for its currency. Another key blockchain feature on Sleepless AI is its use of 

. In Sleepless AI, each virtual companion is represented as a nontransferable soulbound token. This allows a companion to reside in the player's wallet and hold their own set of digital assets.

Meanwhile, AI-generated content is used to create realistic conversations and interactions between players and their companions. Depending upon the type of companion you choose, you can access a variety of compelling story options and features.

HIM is the main system of Sleepless AI. It includes 10 separate boyfriend characters, each one of whom has their own unique personality. Once players select a boyfriend, they can customize him further to match their appearance and personality preferences. In addition to talking with their virtual boyfriend, users can browse the in-game store to buy items for their digital companion. The game also includes a compelling story with secret interactions and mini games that you unlock as you progress through the story.

HER offers a new set of digital girlfriends that Sleepless AI is developing. Just as with HIM, a player can chat with their virtual girlfriend and customize her to suit their preferences. HER also offers a helpful personal assistant feature. Players can set it up so that their AI companion wakes them up, tracks their nutrition or encourages them to follow fitness goals.

Sleepless AI is currently in the process of building its gaming landscape. It started in 2023 with its HIM and HER games and NFTs. Starting in 2024, Sleepless AI began plans to expand its virtual partner selection. For the rest of the year, Sleepless AI will be expanding character choices and digital partners. With 

, players can more easily find the person that mimics their ideal real life relationships. 

The Sleepless AI road map also includes plans for increasing the popularity of the game. Sleepless AI plans to collaborate with major brands in the gaming industry, partner with comic conventions and hold offline events. It also aims to appeal to anime fans with a variety of anime-themed marketing. 

AI is the utility token for Sleepless AI. Users can purchase an in-game currency called diamonds with AI if they want to buy items in the game, or pay for interactions with their digital partner. The AI token also functions as a 

 that players can use to vote on things like new boyfriend types and game modes. 

AI’s total supply is 1 billion tokens. Of these, 

 in a long-term treasury fund, and will not be released into circulation. The remaining tokens will be distributed as follows:

The AI token has experienced a lot of price movement since its release in January 2024. After reaching an all-time high of around $2.34 this past spring, its price has gradually been declining, ranging (as of mid-November) from $0.30 to $0.50. CoinCodex predicts short-term losses for AI followed by long-term growth that will see it 

Looking to trade Sleepless AI tokens? Bybit now offers the AIUSDT Perpetual contract for trading. To get started, you’ll first need to create a Bybit account, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the 

Sleepless AI is an intriguing investment opportunity for fans of AI entities and digital partnerships. The AI token has a lot of utility, which has helped it maintain some of its value even after the initial hype for the project faded. However, it's worth noting that most cryptocurrencies need a lot of demand in order to increase in value, and Sleepless AI's token has struggled to generate interest. Until the game releases more exciting news, the token's value is unlikely to soar. 

Ultimately, this token may be best for investors who like undervalued coins and long-term investments. Data suggests that investors who decide to hold onto it for a while may be able to capitalize on new updates for the game. But if you prefer popular coins with dramatic price swings, AI might not be the right investment for you. No matter your investment strategy, keep in mind that some volatility is inevitable, so you 

Sleepless AI is a timely project that combines companion games with blockchain technology. Those looking to explore the applications of AI or find a virtual partner will find Sleepless AI quite appealing. While the game still needs to attract more players, it has a promising model that could prove to be successful.

Intermediate

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Sleepless AI (AI): Forging Emotional Bonds in AI Gaming

GUNZ’s Off The Grid game allows players to play with or without NFTs, combining cyberpunk gameplay with optional blockchain ownership for a flexible Web3 experience.

 space is filled with diverse games that apply different mechanics and gameplay through blockchain technology. With most of these games, you get to play, earn and keep your assets.

But what if you just wanted to play for fun and not earn assets? This is the approach taken by the popular gaming platform GUNZ, whereby players can opt out of the 

 (NFT) aspect of gaming. In short, you can choose simply to stick with the non-crypto aspect of the 

 (OTG) game — or opt to engage in the NFT aspect of gaming.

Let’s look deeper into the GUNZ platform and the way its unique optional NFT ownership can be a catalyst for the next wave in blockchain gaming.

 is a blockchain-based gaming platform that provides a user-friendly ecosystem for developers to create games, and for players to engage in various games without gameplay limitations while trading gaming assets. 

Powered by Gunzilla Games, GUNZ is designed by gaming developers to allow a simple, flexible and rewarding gaming experience.

 blockchain subnet. By running on Avalanche, the GUNZ gaming ecosystem remains eco-friendly through lower energy consumption, using 0.0005% of the energy other networks use. This savings is further enhanced by using

 (PoS) consensus mechanism, rather than the 

 (PoW) consensus that’s heavy on computational power.

GUNZ is designed with developers in mind. They can conveniently launch games via the GUNZ platform, which provides them with innovative industry tools to integrate and deploy games. Gaming developers can use GUNZ’s minting engine API to create tokens and NFTs, and can trade or create their own NFT marketplace, offer users a mobile app or integrate a wallet without incurring transaction costs.

. Players can loot items on a fault drone and collect rare NFT items, which earns them bragging rights in the larger GUNZ gaming community. 

Additional features of the GUNZ platform include an NFT marketplace, a custom-made blockchain scanner and a companion mobile app to access assets safely and securely.

The in-game currency of GUNZ is GUN, which is used to trade items on the marketplace and reward players for completing different challenges.

 (OTG) is a battle royale 2.0 free-to-play AAA game developed by Gunzilla in which players immerse themselves in cyberpunk battles. The unique thing about OTG is its optional NFT element: players can either opt out of receiving NFTs in the game, or choose to convert their assets into NFTs if they wish. The game is available for play as an early access launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series 

Vlad Korolev, CEO of Gunzilla Games and co-founder of the project, expressed enthusiasm about the potential of the 

 game, which he believes expands the horizons for AAA games by providing an innovative approach to 

 has been under development for over four years, building on the foundation of battle royale and pushing the boundaries by integrating new technology with more advanced mechanics.

 runs on Avalanche’s subnet, GUNZ blockchain, which allows the game to deliver high performance and scalability.

 achieved significant milestones. On October 13, 

 recorded over 3 million transactions on the Avalanche blockchain and was 

 on Epic Games' store, surpassing popular titles such as 

The game has also gained growing visibility through its viewership on streaming platform Twitch. A partnership with Twitch streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins — who has skin in the game — has further 

 was also recognized as one of Twitch's top three most viewed games, with 156,000 concurrent viewers worldwide.

 is an innovative third-person shooter that redefines the battle royale genre by integrating deep narrative elements and dynamic gameplay mechanics. Directed by visionary filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, known for science fiction films like 

 offers players a unique blend of player-versus-player (PvP) and player-versus-environment (PvE) experiences within a dystopian cyberpunk setting.

Set on Teardrop Island, a once-thriving locale now transformed into a battleground by the machinations of three mega corporations, 

 immerses players in a world where corporate greed and technological advancements collide.

The game's narrative unfolds through a 60-hour campaign, allowing players to engage in story-driven missions that run concurrently with traditional battle royale matches. This seamless integration ensures that every match contributes to the overarching storyline, providing depth and context to the high-stakes combat.

 introduces the "Extraction Royale" mode, a fresh take on the battle royale formula, in which a maximum of 60 players split into teams of three to engage in intense PvP skirmishes while simultaneously undertaking PvE objectives. The primary goal is not only to be the last team standing, but also to extract valuable resources, known as Hexes. These are scattered across the map, and are guarded by AI-controlled adversaries, adding layers of strategy and risk to each match.

 is the extensive customization available to players. Characters referred to as Zeroes can be enhanced with cybernetic limbs (“cyberlimbs”), which provide unique abilities and advantages on the battlefield. These enhancements can be acquired during matches, either by looting or by defeating opponents and claiming their cyberlimbs. This real-time customization allows players to adapt their strategies dynamically, tailoring their abilities to the evolving challenges of each encounter.

The weapons system in OTG is equally robust, featuring over 300 combinations achieved through various attachments and modifications. Players can customize their arsenal to suit their preferred playstyle, whether it involves long-range engagements, close-quarters combat or tactical versatility. The ability to modify weapons and cyberlimbs mid-match adds a layer of depth, encouraging players to think strategically and adapt to the ever-changing battlefield conditions.

Teardrop Island's diverse terrain offers numerous traversal options, enhancing both combat and exploration. Players can utilize vehicles, such as trucks and cars, for rapid movement across the map. Additionally, advanced equipment like grappling hooks and jetpacks enables vertical mobility, allowing for surprise attacks and quick escapes. These tools not only facilitate strategic positioning but also add a dynamic element to engagements, as players can approach objectives and confrontations from multiple angles.

 delivers stunning visuals that bring its cyberpunk world to life. The game's environments are richly detailed, featuring neon-lit cityscapes, industrial zones and desolate areas that reflect the island's tumultuous history. Character models and animations are meticulously crafted to keep players invested in the characters they play. The use of advanced lighting and particle effects creates a visually stunning experience, enhancing players' overall immersion.

GUNZ offers players a platform on which to truly own the assets they earn in the game via NFTs. Benefits of owning GUNZ NFTs include the following.

On traditional gaming platforms, players' in-game items are typically controlled by the games’ developers, limiting players' rights over these assets. GUNZ changes this dynamic by allowing players to fully own their in-game items as NFTs, granting players complete control and the ability to trade or sell these assets as they see fit.

2. Seamless Trading on Established Marketplaces

Through integration with major NFT marketplaces such as 

, GUNZ allows players to trade their in-game NFTs with a broader audience. This integration provides a transparent and secure platform for transactions, enhancing the liquidity and value of players' assets.

By incorporating NFTs, GUNZ offers a more immersive and personalized gaming experience. Players can acquire unique items, customize their characters and participate in a dynamic in-game economy, contributing to a richer and more engaging gameplay environment.

The ability to trade NFTs means that players can potentially earn real-world value from their in-game activities. By selling rare or valuable items, players can monetize their gaming skills and time investment, adding a financial incentive to their gaming experience.

The GUNZ platform is designed to support multiple games, thus allowing NFTs to be utilized across different titles. This interoperability means that players' assets can retain value and utility beyond a single game, providing a cohesive and expansive gaming ecosystem.

GUN is the official token for the GUNZ ecosystem. You can use it to buy and trade in-game items on GUNZ’s marketplace. GUN token is also used to reward players for completing various in-game challenges on the platform. Here are some of the challenges you can complete to earn GUN tokens:

GUNZ provides an innovative approach to gaming. The optional NFT element for players is unique, creating flexibility for those who don't want to explore the blockchain aspect. The platform’s 

 game has already recorded remarkable success, gaining popularity among Web 2.0 and web3 gamers.

With the capability for gaming developers to easily create and integrate games, GUNZ is strategically placed to influence blockchain gaming. Its in-game currency, GUN, is a token to watch as this AAA game continues to make its mark on the web3 gaming industry and beyond.

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GUNZ (GUN): Optional NFT Ownership in Off The Grid’s Cyberpunk World

In this article, we'll go through how you can use bbSOL on Save.

Exploring new opportunities to expand your investment horizons with 

 (bbSOL)? Look no further than Save, a leading 

 blockchain. This article will guide you through the nuances of leveraging Save’s robust features to enhance your investment strategy using bbSOL.

, a decentralized protocol on the Solana blockchain, revolutionizes lending and borrowing dynamics within the DeFi ecosystem. Known for its high-speed transactions and cost-efficiency, Save offers users an algorithmic approach to manage their investments seamlessly. 

, the platform underwent a strategic rebranding to Save. This change reflects its expanded capabilities beyond simple lending and borrowing, aiming to encompass a broader range of DeFi strategies. The rebranding is part of Save’s commitment to innovation and adaptability in the rapidly evolving DeFi landscape.

Go back to the Save dashboard and click on 

Stake your SOL by entering the amount and clicking 

Save provides a comprehensive suite of tools for bbSOL holders seeking to expand their DeFi activities. Whether you’re interested in simple lending and earning passive income or engaging in more complex financial strategies, Save offers a secure and efficient platform to manage your digital assets. With its commitment to innovation and user-friendly design, Save is an excellent choice for optimizing your investment strategies in the decentralized finance space.

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How to Use bbSOL on Save

Bybit Learn

Tech Deep Dive

From constant outages to heavy VC backing, find out why critics are becoming increasingly concerned with Solana's claims of being decentralized.

Most financial transactions occur based on a centralized model, where a third party has the authority to manage any issues. However, having one party in charge is a double-edged sword, because if that intermediary is compromised, then all client transactions can be impacted. Cryptocurrencies promise to decentralize control of a network so that there’s not one single point of failure. Does this mean that decentralized crypto is immune? And what qualifies as decentralized?

 network suffered another outage — the 12th this year. The blackout shut down the network for four hours and ten minutes, and stopped a potential 975 million transactions from occurring. In a tweet, Anatoly Yakovenko, Solana Labs co-founder, explained the downtime: “As a result of the long nonce instruction, part of the network considered the block invalid, and no consensus could be reached.”

Stability issues on the Solana network caused its value to dip this year, and raised serious questions about the network’s decentralization.

This article examines the issues surrounding the Solana blockchain, and the ways in which its decentralization (or lack thereof) affects the network’s performance.

Blockchain decentralization is a governance system wherein decision-making rights are dispersed across the charge of shareholders or token holders in the majority. It’s designed to keep the network impartial, secure and accessible.

Blockchain decentralization transfers control, decision-making and supervision from a centralized entity, which could be an individual or a group, to a distributed network. The idea of decentralization is to reduce the need for trust among participants, and to lessen their capacity to influence one another to the detriment of the network’s functionality.

Decentralization is what makes the ”permissionless” and “censorship-resistant” qualities of blockchain networks possible. This means that networks can be accessed by all, and anyone can build on them without fear of undue influence or coercion. Decentralization also ensures the security and stability of the network.

The degree to which a blockchain network is decentralized is apparent in the number of distinct groups responsible for validating transactions, the number of developers building on it, and the distribution of the network’s token.

 is a method of measuring the extent of decentralization of a blockchain. It considers the unique properties of blockchain networks to get a more accurate picture of how decentralized a subject network is.

Created in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, Solana was designed to push past the throughput limitations of mainstream blockchains while keeping transaction costs low. It boasts a theoretical throughput of 710,000 transactions per second, an impressive speed achieved through the implementation of a unique hybrid proof of history (PoH) consensus mechanism that utilizes a proof of stake (PoS) synchronization engine.

However, for many industry watchers, the Solana network’s lightning-fast speed comes at a cost — namely, centralization. Despite counterclaims, detractors continue to pile up evidence that Solana lacks decent decentralization. This has caused many to wonder if Solana is truly decentralized. To answer this concern, let's examine some of the factors and unique characteristics of the Solana blockchain that lead to doubts about its degree of decentralization.

In PoS networks, security relies on staked tokens which power transaction validation. Stakers are rewarded with transaction fees and voting power. Currently, about 77.7% of all SOL tokens in circulation are staked. Since the amount of SOL allocated to the public is comparatively small, the majority of these staked SOL will belong to insiders.

Invariably, this small group of insiders wields considerable network validation power, a situation that seems to make a case for the lack of decentralization of the Solana Blockchain. 

Critics have also pointed out that the Solana Foundation is the only entity developing core nodes on the blockchain, making them a central control point and reducing the network’s decentralization. Validator nodes are a key component of a blockchain network, and are primarily responsible for reaching consensus, verifying, and updating transactions.

To understand the impact of the validator node concentration on the Solana network, it’s important to consider the number of operational nodes and who owns them. Solana scored a relatively high Nakamato Coefficient of 19. Out of the current 1,161 validators, the top 19 validators control sufficient staked Solana (and therefore voting power) to launch a coordinated attack on the network — if they wanted to.

Validation on the Solana blockchain has a higher barrier to entry, due to expensive hardware requirements for running a validator node. Since few people can afford the thousands of dollars these high-end computers cost, the Solana network inevitably tilts toward centralization.

The Solana network's decentralization is further reduced by the high amount of SOL a validator needs to break even. According to rough estimates, a validator will have to stake about $1 million worth of SOL just to break even. To ease this burden, the Solana Foundation has subsidized validators who meet specific criteria to the tune of 25,000 SOL. However, this further reduces the network’s decentralization, as it means they choose many of the validators, rather than validators choosing to operate nodes by themselves.

With a $314.2 million investment in Solana Labs (through his trading firm Alameda Research), FTX Chief Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and a few other VCs have a significant stake in the project. This has led to fears of Solana being a venture capitalist-funded project that sacrifices decentralization and security for transaction speed. In fact, the VCs control virtually half of the staked SOL, creating a single point of control that increases vulnerability and detracts from its claim of decentralization.

As previously mentioned, the latest Solana outage was on June 1, 2022, when the network went down yet again due to a bug in the "durable nonce transaction feature," according to Solana Labs developers. Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated event, as the network has been hit with a string of outages. This latest one, which lasted for four-and-a-half hours, was the fifth blackout in 2022 alone. 

Solana developers have always given a reason for each outage, ranging from attackers attempting to overload the network with excess transactions to bots running rampant and bugs in the network’s systems. 

But is there a link between Solana's perceived lack of decentralization and these outages? 

While the outages are likely due to unresolved bugs inherent in the network's novel hybrid consensus mechanism, the ease with which node validators restarted the network after the outages exposed an uncomfortable degree of centralization. 

In circumstances similar to Solana’s network outages, another incident inadvertently exposed the soft, centralized underbelly of the Solana ecosystem. 

Trouble started when the whale risked auto-liquidating the 5.7 million SOL deposited as collateral for a $108 million stablecoin loan — in this case, a mix of USDC and Tether — if the slipping SOL price dropped to $22.30. The forced liquidation threatened to wipe out all of the SOL in the liquidity pool and trigger massive liquidations, potentially crashing the Solana network (again). 

Reacting hastily, the protocol unanimously proposed a solution dubbed “SLND1.” This fix sought to hijack the whale’s account, and strategically liquidate the collateral in an orderly manner, in order to avert another Solana meltdown.

However, the Solend team was forced to rescind the decision — in the face of a strident public outcry that questioned the validity of a vote suspiciously concluded within a mere 24 hours. A protocol that could make such a critical, game-changing move without adequate input from all users still has a lot of decentralizing to do. 

Solana is often referred to as the “Ethereum Killer.” Ethereum, however, is still a more popular blockchain than Solana, behind only Bitcoin.

By several indications, Ethereum proves to be more decentralized than Solana. The first is the percentage of Ethereum insiders who own assets, compared to that of Solana.

According to Messari, a mere 15% of Ethereum tokens are allocated to insiders, and the other 5% are for foundations and incentives. So, in total, 80% is available for public sale. Solana has essentially half of its tokens allocated to insiders.

However, just like Solana, Cardano also falls short of being decentralized in its governance. Both blockchains are still heavily influenced by their parent companies — Solana by Solana Labs, and Cardano by IOHK, a Hong Kong software development company. 

One point where Cardano seems to be more decentralized than Solana, however, is in its validation system. Cardano has over 852,000 delegators on its blockchain, while only about 1,811 validator nodes support Solana. Cardano seems to have made more of an effort to create transparency and decentralization.

Ripple is believed to be heavily centralized, as the project's creators hold the majority of XRP. This means they also have a significant amount of decision-making power. Ripple can easily make changes to its blockchain without a system consensus, as the company has complete access to nodes. Ripple also decides when to create new nodes.

Solana’s 1,811 validators number over twelve times the 150 validators on the Ripple blockchain network.

Investing in SOL is easy. With Bybit, one of the fastest-growing crypto exchanges in the world, you can easily buy, sell, trade, stake and hold SOL. To buy Solana, follow these few easy steps:

Among all other cryptocurrencies tagged as "Ethereum Killers," Solana is one challenger that has vastly improved transaction processing times. However, the network has come under fire for being too centralized. Solana’s string of outages may create renewed motivation to continue improving their network.

Is Solana Decentralized? Outages, VC Ties and More Worries

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