Sponsored by

GM. Wake up and smell the NEO.

Here is what happened in N3 the past week:

• 976 new wallet addresses were added. [ndapp.org]

• 5,494 average daily transactions. [ndapp.org]

• 981 average daily active addresses [onegate]

  • We’ve got a long way to go on the Road to 100K

What a week it was! Between February 29 and March 4, $NEO increased from $12.77 to $18.76. After the 47% increase, the price dropped dramatically on March 5 from a high of $17.85 to a low of $15.67. Overall, the price of $NEO ended the 7 days from February 28 to March 5 up 22.53%

The high price of $18.76 marks the highest price for $NEO since early May of 2022. The price action certainly got a lot of attention on X. Between all the memes and noise on crypto Twitter, something may have been lost on most people: the fact that $NEO outperformed most of the market during the Bitcoin-led pump.

Throughout the week, the total market cap for cryptocurrencies increased from 2.2 T to 2.5 T. At one point, the market cap hit 2.6 T. Bitcoin sensationally rose from a low of $56,819.29 on February 28 to a high of $68,465.44 on March 5. This was followed by a dramatic drop from the high to $62,017. The world watched as BTC pumped and pulled the rest of the market along. Meme coins made a roaring comeback and are among the top 5 best-performing assets for the week.

So why did NEO pump more than BTC and ETH?

“Sir, this is a casino” . . . who knows, right? It would be nice to be able to point to a single cause or even a definitive couple of reasons. We aren’t that lucky, though. Some of the reasons may be:

• The world saw Dylan Grabowski of Neo News Today, Tyler Adams of COZ, Guil Machado of AxLabs, and Steven Liu of Neo Global Development at ETH Denver. [Nice NEO hats!]

• All the NEO memes on X got the attention of token speculators once again [Here’s an example]

• Item Systems made a splash with a real-world use case for Web3 and NEO [@item-systems]

• Da Hongfei made a compelling use case for the dBFT consensus mechanism of Neo in solving the problem of toxic maximum extractable value bots plaguing DeFi. [See Da’s article here]

• Coin Telegraph featured Neo X in an article.

Could it be a combination of all the factors mentioned above? Sure, that could be the case. OR, they like the coin. Who knows 🤷‍♂️? Seeing NEO among the top assets in terms of weekly gains was lovely. It’s been a long while since there was a good pump. Let’s hope for more soon.

What’s the Neo narrative?

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak with a crypto fund manager. This person manages the money of high net-worth individuals and family offices looking for investment opportunities within the crypto space. It was an interesting conversation because it provided insight into the institutional investors' criteria when choosing projects to invest in.

What stood out to me was the guiding inquiry used when investing. The main question this fund manager asks when researching a crypto project or token is, “What is the narrative?” Does the project behind the token have a compelling use case, and are there users attracted to it? Ultimately, this investor looks at the history and whether it has created a flywheel effect of growth.

We likely all ask ourselves this question when looking for crypto investment opportunities. It’s also a question that has caused a lot of introspection concerning Neo. What is the Neo narrative?

“Chinese Ethereum?” A dual token mechanism blockchain with superior tech? A once popular blockchain that had its moment in 2017 and is now in zombie mode?

When I mentioned Neo to the fund manager, he said I wasn’t the first to bring Neo up in the past few weeks. However, he said, “Yeah, I admittedly haven’t looked into Neo much. I recall it being Antshares back in the day. I had some but then punted it back in 2018.”

Herein lies the dilemma with Neo. Is the narrative simply the history of a blockchain that had its moment in the sun and is now fading away in the shadows? Or is the narrative what many of us in the Neo community believe it to be now: a new blockchain with a tremendous use case that hasn’t been showcased or appropriately marketed?

I believe that N3 is a new blockchain and different from Neo Legacy and Antshares. I also think that Neo has missed significant marketing opportunities from the timing of the launch of N3 to the naming of the chain itself (not to mention the naming of Neo X 🤦‍♂️). These are factors in the accounting of the Neo narrative.

To better understand the narrative, I intend to explore all the factors that play a part in the history of Neo: the marketing, the tech, the people, and the community.

There is a Neo narrative to tell. It’s just not an obvious one. The fact that a crypto fund manager thinks Neo is a rebranded Antshares 7 years later is problematic.

We don’t know enough about Neo. Let’s change that. Let’s learn and spread the word.

What to expect from Flamingo Joe

This newsletter is, first and foremost, an initiative to help spread the word on Neo. To do that, I want to educate as many people as possible about the Neo blockchain and the compelling use cases for the underlying tech. I am not a dev nor an expert. But I am curious and willing to find answers to what I don’t know. Along the journey of discovery, I will share my findings.

As a subscriber to this newsletter, you're also on this journey of discovery with me. Together, we can help spread the good word on Neo. You can also help me do this by sharing this newsletter.

The more readers, the more people that know about Neo. As a thank you for sharing, there will be rewards for referrals. There will be plenty of options, from stickers to coffee mugs to Neo merchandise. Share Flamingo Joe and find out.

Thank you!

Wouldn’t it be cool if I could buy NEO apparel?

Yeah, it would be. So we decided to make it happen. Visit the Flamingo Joe store and check out the merch.

I know what you’re probably thinking. Is this anon asshole trying to shill me t-shirts to make a quick buck?

OF COURSE, I AM! Just kidding. There is a better reason why the merch store exists.

I plan to use the store sales profit to fund the Flamingo Joe Public Wallet. The wallet will be an educational tool to show (1) how to invest on Neo and (2) different investment methods.

What exactly does that look like? For example, I’d like to show how people can earn $GAS by participating in N3 governance. I want to compare that to $NEO delegated to Neo Burger, Neo Compound, and council members. I’d also like to show what earnings would look like from Flamingo Finance FLUND and upcoming FLOCKS.

The store is a place to find cool Neo merchandise and a chance to represent your favorite blockchain IRL. Still, more importantly, the funds generated from sales will go directly into the Public Wallet and be used for community education.

Also, there is international shipping on most items. So do your part. Buy Neo merch and support the Flamingo Joe Public Wallet!

A word from our sponsor

These stories are presented thanks to beehiiv, an all-in-one newsletter suite built by the early Morning Brew team.

Fully equipped with built-in growth and monetization tools, no code website and newsletter builder, and best-in-class analytics that actually move the needle.

The top newsletters in the world are built on beehiiv, and yours can be too. It's the most affordable option in the market, and you can try it for free — no credit card required.

Get started →