Frost

Hi Believe Community, and to those potentially considering joining us, I’ve been told my posts can feel a bit impersonal, even “ChatGPT-ish.” That’s just my natural writing style, but for this one I’m going to make more of an effort to be more open / vulnerable. When Believe launched it was very much built as an experiment, we built the first version of Believe in two weeks. It took off immediately, which we did not expect. I was still learning the basics of crypto when I suddenly found myself leading the ICM meta, an acronym I had never even heard of prior to launching. On a personal level, I went from an intentionally private life to the center of CT almost overnight. Within weeks of launching Believe, I was running a platform processing a billion dollars a week. The shift was intense. Suddenly I was being stopped on the street and had to worry about the security of myself and those close to me. I want to address the idea that I am “extractive.” When the Evelyn memes started, I leaned into them because they were absurd and I found them to be funny. Over time, the joke turned into a narrative that I might actually be one of those crypto founders who cashes out and immediately spends on extravagant things. That is not the reality. I had money before starting Believe, and I have always prioritized living comfortably because my work is so high stress and high stakes. Evelyn’s job means part of my life is public, but much of what people see is exaggerated or staged for the entertainment of her audience. In truth, our lives are pretty ordinary. We spend 90% of our time working. We have dinner together sometimes. In nearly two years of dating, we have never been to a party together. Neither of us drink alcohol. I have never bought her a handbag and I do not understand the appeal of them. I do not own a fancy watch and probably never will. My phone tells the time perfectly well. Wherever I am, I am working. This is how I have been my entire life. I do not work to live. I live to work. I am building Believe because it’s something I truly believe in! On Believe, my thinking evolves the more time I spend here. Right now, I see a coin as a representation of an idea. A community of believers forms around that idea and collectively works to make it successful. When an idea is especially powerful, it can evolve into a real product or service. In those cases, the coin can move beyond the idea stage and gain additional functionality such as utility, revenue sharing, or burning mechanisms. Believe’s role is to make that process as easy as possible for creators (starting with our API). A healthy platform should work in a loop: Investors → Creator / Platform → Investors I am a strong believer in the power of flywheels. They are one of the most beautiful things crypto enables. I know the community has been frustrated with how long it has taken us to launch a Believe flywheel. It is very much underway. We are at least 80 percent finished. The only reason for the slow launch is that we want to build it the right way and ensure it is designed to last forever. When we launch the flywheel, it will be paired with a significantly improved product. Believe will be built so that creators can turn ideas into enduring ecosystems. I know trust comes from action. Until these things are live, many will wait to see results before believing my words. That is fine with me. I simply want these intentions to be on record. I am going to ensure my personal incentives are aligned with the best outcome for Believe. Thank you to our incredible community for standing with us through the waves of doubt. Your support means everything. This project exists because of people who want to see crypto advance, and we are building every day with you in mind.

My BASE Case for where the puck is going next Since Trump's win on 11/5, COIN and BTC have led the way forward (+70% and +16%, respectively). My bias remains in ETH and adjacent to a thread I wrote back in October around memecoins (following tweet), I believe that multiple points of strength are aligning for the BASE L2 ecosystem to: - "win" the battle against competing L2s and even ETH MN itself as the de facto ecosystem of choice to house memes, consumers dApps and attention - compete as the premier EVM-aligned ecosystem in parallel to SOL's "all-in-one" robust casino ----------------- My core belief is simple; ETH is still an integral center of the digital asset ecosystem, with all & any spin-offs to-date reliant on two key principles to drive positive network effects: a) the "underlying" coin must see relative strength to its competitors, and b) the "underlying" coin must have "scarcity" (more on this later) Therefore - in this race for attention - in most cases you are mostly betting on one coin (even if just a simplifying measure) to visualize strength. In the following weeks (and this has already started), you will see an argument made from the CT populace on why a given individual coin MAY win (SOL killer, meme) or why an app supported by a coin MAY win (utility-token, DEFI governance, etc). I am here to present an argument for why a strong risk-adjusted option from today is to bet on the ecosystem WITHOUT a coin. ------------------ In my view, the way BASE has organized itself creates the strongest potential for sustained adoption, with the double-edged sword being that it is likely reliant on an ETH resurgence. However, given that I believe ETH is currently under-utilized - if/when relative value between BTC <> ETH <> SOL lifts over the coming weeks, there must & will be a sink to house this newly created & recycled wealth. BASE should win this as: 1) The interconnection of "faucets" on BASE has greatly evolved this year - and is underappreciated, 2) BASE is of key strategic value to COIN, with an actual balance sheet to create support, 3) BASE has been battle-tested this year - and the response has been sterling I have positioned myself accordingly and will discuss in the following thread what my rationale is, and the risks/mitigants involved in re-directing on-chain flows toward what I believe is the most vibrant playground: BASE.