Empyreal: The Gateway to Blockchain Innovation - A 22/7 Investment Perspective
With the increasing adoption of blockchain technology, the demand for efficient and user-friendly tools to harness its potential has grown significantly. However, despite the growing demand, it's evident that most of these tools remain lacking in usability and functionality. At 22/7 we believe that the next big investable opportunity in Web3 are projects that aim to dramatically reduce friction for developers and users alike by providing such types of toolkits.
This insight is what drives EmpyrealSDK, an innovative project that aims to bridge the gap between the rapidly expanding Web3 landscape and traditional developers. EmpyrealSDK offers an intuitive interface for developers who may not be familiar with blockchain-centric languages like Solidity, thus driving widespread adoption and fostering innovation within the crypto space. Additionally, it streamlines the creation and management of decentralized applications through a modular approach, real-time data streaming, flexible automation, and end-to-end privacy features.
Simplicity and Versatility: EmpyrealSDK aims to democratize the crypto space, much like how Shopify revolutionized ecommerce and Stripe streamlined payment processing for everyday users. With this SDK, Empyreal empowers developers, irrespective of their blockchain knowledge
Modularity: EmpyrealSDK takes a unique modular approach, employing distinct modules within the SDK. These modules function as self-contained units of execution and can be stacked as needed to create or support individual products. Each module simplifies and encapsulates a specific functionality, such as the swapping mechanism in the DEX module. This approach minimizes the requirement for users to possess extensive knowledge of smart contract architecture or specialized domain expertise.
Use cases: The versatility of EmpyrealSDK goes beyond specific use-cases like bots and applies to any blockchain application that requires automation. While existing frameworks may not provide comprehensive solutions for certain tasks, such as setting limit orders, EmpyrealSDK aims to offer a robust framework. This framework enables users to develop trading strategies or automate any blockchain interaction. Empyreal’s ultimate goal is to create a framework that is comparable to Apache Airflow in Web 2.0 development. It will be capable of managing automation for users and facilitating the creation of complex, potentially interconnected pipelines. These pipelines can trigger actions within a Web3 environment, empowering developers to build larger-scale applications.
Security: The toolkit is enhanced by the Enclave, a product that prioritizes wallet abstraction, privacy, and security. EmpyrealSDK and the Enclave work together to make Web3 development more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective.
While Empyreal is a fantastic product, it also offers enormous investment potential. Here’s why.
Product Market Fit: Empyreal’s unique offering creates value for both developers and users. Its SDK rapidly accelerates development, removes complexity and provides delightful user experiences. As the ultimate ‘picks and shovels’ infrastructure project, it has the potential to transform many wide-ranging areas such as trading, user privacy, yield management and automations.
Experienced Team: Ex-FAANG, worked on blockchain projects both independently and within larger organizations. Extremely fast-moving and laser-focused on delivering on the roadmap.
Partnerships: The partnership strategy has two distinct but symbiotic approaches: integrate-in and integrate-out. The former addresses onboarding other protocols into the SDK to improve its versatility (e.g. Orderly for perps). While the latter, is naturally focussed on driving adoption of the SDK in the market. Imminent release of the SDK will drive ‘bottom-up’ adoption, while current discussions with some of the top projects and protocols are geared at establishing ‘flagship’ partnerships from the outset.
Community & Marketing: Empyreal has built a smart, loyal and supportive community. This organic growth has been amplified by strong hires to increase frequency, quality and transparency of comms. We’ve been especially impressed by the recent rebrand paired with the white paper release.
As a sign of our conviction in the Empyreal team and product, 22/7 are actively supporting Empyreal in their strategic, operational, business development and marketing efforts. 22/7 brings a wealth of business expertise and experience to the table, and we are excited to leverage that knowledge alongside the Empyreal team. A member of our team is an integral part of the day-to-day running of the project, helping accelerate it across key strategic and operational workstreams.
In conclusion, 22/7's commitment to Empyreal extends far beyond a financial investment. We view ourselves as key partners in Empyreal's evolving journey to success..
We couldn’t be more excited for what’s next!
Stargate: A Native Asset Bridge Revolutionizing Cross-Chain Transactions
In the rapidly evolving world of blockchain technology, seamless interoperability between different chains has been a long-standing challenge. Traditional methods of bridging between chains often come with significant drawbacks such as high fees, bridging risks, and slow transaction times. However, in 2022, a groundbreaking solution emerged in the form of Stargate, a native asset bridge built on LayerZero.
Before Stargate, bridging assets between different chains was far from ideal due to downsides like costly fees, bridging risks (exploits), and lengthy transaction times. One of the key strengths of Stargate lies in its utilization of LayerZero, a powerful infrastructure that unifies liquidity across all chains. As a result, assets transferred from Chain A are received on Chain B, mitigating the risks associated with cross-chain transactions. Features such as speed, the ability of participants to stake their assets into single-sides pools and the ability for transacting in native assets (eliminating the need for intermediary tokens such as WETH) give this project a competitive edge and make it an interesting proposition for 22/7 LP.
The project is led by Bryan Pellegrino, the CEO, and Co-Founder, along with Ryan Zarick, Co-Founder, and CTO. Their expertise and commitment have driven the platform's innovation and growth which has been remarkable. Revenue has been surging throughout 2023, reaching an ARR of $20.83 million. Additionally, active daily users have surpassed 52,600 users. The platform's daily transactions have skyrocketed from under 4,000 in March to over 200,000 currently, accompanied by a surge in daily volume from $4 million to $100 million.
Having garnered support from reputable investors, including Sequoia Capital and a16z, the platform's native tokens, $STG and $veSTG, play a crucial role in its ecosystem. $STG token holders have governance rights over the protocol and can participate in providing liquidity.
In summary, Stargate has revolutionized cross-chain transactions, providing a solution that addresses the shortcomings of traditional bridging methods. As the platform continues to expand its capabilities and reach, it promises to shape the future of cross-chain liquidity. With its impressive growth, dominant position in the market, and strong team of supporters, Stargate Finance is poised to lead the way in the rapidly evolving blockchain landscape.
Immutable: A Good Fit for the 22/7 Portfolio
Immutable, a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, has rapidly gained recognition for its ability to enable fast, secure, and gas-free NFT trading, built on StarkWare's StarkEx technology. With a strong foundation, scalability, user-friendliness and potential for long term growth, we are bullish and believe that Immutable aligns well with the 22/7 LP portfolio.
A Well-Funded Project with a Strong Team: Immutable has successfully raised over $500 million from reputable investors, including Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm, and Temasek. This substantial funding is a testament to the project's credibility and positions it for future success. Led by experienced entrepreneurs with a proven track record in the blockchain space, the team brings expertise, innovation, and a shared vision to driving them forward.
Large and Growing User Base: With over $1 billion in NFT transactions already processed, Immutable boasts a rapidly expanding user base. Major NFT projects like Gods Unchained, Sorare, and Decentraland have already embraced the platform, further solidifying its position in the market. As more NFT projects adopt Immutable, the platform's user base is expected to continue growing, creating ample opportunities for investors.
Scalability to Meet Growing NFT Demand: Scalability is a critical factor in the success of any blockchain solution. Immutable stands out by offering impressive scalability capabilities. With the ability to process up to 9,000 transactions per second, it outperforms Ethereum's mainnet in terms of speed and efficiency. This scalability ensures that the platform can effectively handle the growing demand for NFTs, providing a seamless experience for users.
Cost-Efficient Transactions: Investment transactions often come with a host of intermediaries and associated fees. Immutable offers a cost-efficient alternative by minimizing transaction costs. By eliminating gas fees and reducing the involvement of intermediaries, the platform provides a more cost-effective solution for investors.
User-Friendly Interface: A user-friendly platform is essential for attracting and retaining a diverse range of users. Immutable excels in this aspect with its intuitive and streamlined interface. Buyers and sellers can easily navigate the platform, facilitating smooth transactions and enhancing the overall user experience. This user-friendliness opens up opportunities for widespread adoption and broader market reach.
Immutable is a well-funded, well-run, and scalable solution for NFT trading. Their native token $IMX integrates well into the 22/7 portfolio. With an impressive founding team and track record, and growing user base it offers a compelling investment opportunity. While acknowledging potential risks, the long-term upside of investing in Immutable aligns with 22/7s objectives and our limited partners. By embracing this innovative technology our fund is well positioned for success in the evolving NFT market.
OP, Arbitrum, Starknet , ZK - and the battle for L2 domination
Blockchain technology has revolutionized the way we transfer value and store information. However, the current infrastructure of most blockchains, including the first-generation blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, suffer from scalability issues and high transaction fees. This has given rise to the development of layer 2 solutions, which aim to address these limitations while still utilizing the security of the underlying blockchain.
Layer 2 solutions are designed to operate on top of existing blockchain networks, offering faster and cheaper transactions while maintaining the security of the underlying blockchain. These solutions use various techniques such as off-chain transactions, sharding, and side chains to increase the transaction speed and lower the cost of transactions.
One of the most promising layer 2 is the Ethereum scaling solutions, which aims to increase the transaction speed and lower the cost of transactions on the Ethereum network. Some of these solutions include the Optimistic Rollup, Zk-Rollup, and Validation as a Service. These solutions use various techniques such as off-chain transactions and sharding to increase the transaction speed and lower the cost of transactions on the Ethereum network.
Investing in layer 2 solutions is a good opportunity for us at 22/7 as this technology has the potential to drive mass adoption of blockchain applications. With faster and cheaper transactions, layer 2 solutions will make it easier for businesses and individuals to use blockchain technology for various use cases, such as remittances, micropayments, and decentralized finance applications.
Taking the example of Optimism - funded by a16z and seeing strong developer adoption, we can see an increase in projects deployed, developers on the platform and transaction volume. All of these signals are leading indicators for us as 22/7, signaling protocol adoption and subsequently potential to unlock investment opportunities in Optimisms native token $OP.
