12 Best Crypto Presales & ICOs to Invest in 2023

Hosted by the Algorand Foundation, Decipher, an annual conference on blockchain and Web3 use instances, is ready to be held in Dubai, a burgeoning crypto capital. The second version of Decipher will characteristic prime business voices from SkyBridge Capital, Envision Racing, Napster, Binance, Sino Global Capital, LimeWire, and others. The Algorand Foundation revealed the agenda […]

Dubai to host 2nd Decipher conference from Nov 28-30-Business Journal

Photo: Kaspars Grinvalds (Shutterstock)
Those of us who’ve been paying attention to new blockchain projects over this past year have noticed a strange trend. Failed or failing individuals or businesses are trying to reform their images, and it has everything to do with the still-nebulous idea of Web3. You don’t have to look hard to find news of a “hey, yeah, I forgot that person/company/project existed” suddenly busting through the wall with all the wasted energy of the Kool-Aid Man to say they’re back, and this time they have a project that will really “change the paradigm” (or as Weird Al once put it, “Advance our market share vis-à-vis; Our proven methodology”). At first, you think they would be laughed out of the building. After all, who thinks working with the guy that single handedly built up and tore down WeWork is a good face for investment? Why would I give an old torrent website the light of day when all they promise is NFTs? What’s stranger about these projects is how they all seem to gain at least some traction, whether by users of the blockchain community or investors. Because as silly as it sounds for investors to consider taking advice from the wolf of Wall Street, Web3 projects are inherently enticing for investment firms, which are already practically drooling over the thought of disruptive blockchain technology, especially that which promises to increasingly monetize industries that are already monetized, whether its carbon credits or pharmaceuticals. Who cares if it’s the universally despised “Pharma Bro” who’s making the push? It’s an open question how far investment in crypto will go, since a recent study from Pew Research Center showed that crypto investment among average folk has remained stagnant since last year. That doesn’t mean there aren’t massive crypto firms and even more traditional tech companies pouring millions of dollars into the scene. Seeing dollar signs is one thing. Actually creating utility using blockchain technology is something else, and so far we haven’t seen much or anything that seems useful come from any of these once disgraced businesses or businesspeople. Watch
Jordan Belfort
Jordan Belfort had long been on the talk circuit, trying to convince people that inherent greed really isn’t all that bad. And now the guy’s sunk his teeth into crypto. Photo: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP (Getty Images)
At first glance, the wolf of Wall Street himself, Jordan Belfort, seemed like the perfect incarnation of the crypto evangelist, or at least the Web3 proponents who try to weasel users into bad investments just to expand their projects and their personal portfolio . However, Belfort was first skeptical about blockchain and crypto, even going so far as to call bitcoin “ a fraud ” back in 2017. Well, he’s changed his tune since then. Now,  financial news outlets and desperate crypto hopefuls like to hit up or pay the known huckster who once defrauded people in his own pump and dump schemes to tell them more about how to make money off the crypto scene (which is home to its own massive slate of pump and dumps, mind you). Though Belfort shies away from any outward talk of investing in any one dubious bitcoin project, his heel turn shouldn’t be seen as a good look for an industry that’s trying to battle its way past intense calls for regulation. Advertisement
Adam Neumann
Adam Neumann fell a long way since the 2018 WeWork San Francisco Creator Awards, but even high profile implosion of the company he created didn’t stop major crypto investors stepping up to fund his new Web3 and crypto-adjacent ventures. Photo: Kelly Sullivan (Getty Images)
You might at first think the “WeWork guy,” Adam Neumann, would have trouble finding investment for any new project ever since his co-working space company blew up in spectacular fashion back in 2019. Well, earlier this year, Neuman put himself back in the public eye as the biggest investor for a company called Flowcarbon. What does Flowcarbon do, exactly? It turns carbon credits (created by government-sponsored carbon offset projects) into tokens that can be sold via a blockchain. This, the company says, makes them more transparent, cheaper, and easier to manage. Despite the highfalutin ideals, carbon offsets are a routine joke for most environmentalists, as they often involve planting trees in foreign countries to mitigate carbon released in the atmosphere thousands of miles away. Even John Oliver took carbon credits to task in a recent episode . Of course, pointing out that the biggest crypto tokens are massively wasteful both in terms of energy and resources might make you seem even more of a downer for a project such as this. Still, despite the naysayers, Flowcarbon received $70 million in its latest round of funding from big-name crypto investors like Marc Andreessen and his firm a16z. And even with his past failure, Neumann is still big into real estate. His new goal is to “disrupt” the real estate market with a company called Flow . It’s received a massive amount of investment—nearly $1 billion in valuation from companies like a16z. And guess what? It will apparently have a crypto wallet tied to it, according to Forbes. Though you won’t be able to pay rent with crypto, it would work like any other crypto wallet, a Flow spokesperson told the outlet. Still, a separate report from Forbes showed that Neumann’s description for the company is eerily similar to another company he previously invested in. Neumann’s people have denied they’ll be true competitors. Advertisement
Martin Shkreli
Martin Shkreli was found guilty of securities fraud back in 2017. Now out of jail, he’s looking for a fresh start in Web3. Photo: Drew Angerer (Getty Images)
Martin Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager and CEO of two pharma firms, was once called the most hated man in America for jacking up the cost of a lifesaving antiparasitic drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill. His incredibly short jaunt in prison for unrelated securities fraud has seemed to put him in mind that the best way to make a return to glory is to somehow get the incredibly scummy pharmaceutical industry—in particular the drug discovery side of the business—to install itself into Web3 infrastructure. Last month, Shkreli announced he was at the head of a new company called Druglike . The stated general concept is to “ democratize ” the early drug discovery business by offering tools and software for underfunded groups or developing nations who can’t access more expensive tech. No, they’re not wrong about the expense of drug discovery operations, but it’s still unclear at this early stage how blockchain technology will make tech any cheaper. Will Druglike develop its own software accessible only on the blockchain? How will that be monetized? Why is the man who hiked a life-saving drug up 5,000% the face of this initiative? So many questions, and very few answers. So it probably doesn’t help that this month, Shkreli’s crypto account was reportedly hacked , losing over 160 million MSI (which if you want to know, refers to the token Martin Shkreli Inu), which was to be the token used for the pharma bro’s blockchain initiatives. The funds went to an unknown account, and the head of Druglike has remained mum about what his next steps are. Advertisement
LimeWire
LimeWire, the old torrent site, was bought by Web3 developers and launched its new NFT marketplace in July this year, and expects to start selling tokens in Q4. Screenshot: LimeWire
I was a LimeWire kid. Growing up, I used this service to download music constantly to my oversized, off brand MP3 player with its huge (for the time) 5GB of storage capacity. I dropped off that bandwagon years before the platform went belly up. I might not have much nostalgia for it, but other past users certainly do . Well, this latest blockchained-up version of Limewire is not the version of my youth. It was brought back from the dead earlier this year as an NFT marketplace. The company said it would have a focus on art, but also music. Trying to harken back to the early, cowboy days of the internet where neither the music industry nor courts knew precisely how to handle torrent sites and peer-to-peer downloads, sibling owners Paul and Julian Zehetmayr say they want to connect artists with fans . What that really means is that artists can sell limited editions, pre-releases, and other bundles without having to rely on a record label. Advertisement
Napster
The Web3 firm Hivemind bought the rights to Napsters name in May, planning to turn it into a NFT marketplace focusing on music. Photo: dennizn (Shutterstock)
I never used Napster when I was just a fledgling on the internet. I had other go-to p2p file sharing sites (see the previous slide), but I was well aware when the company found itself in legal trouble because, well, all that obvious copyright infringement . So—surprise, surprise—a Web3 firm bought Napster in May, planning to turn the brand into a blockchain-based site. What will Napster’s brand, which is known more for allowing users to pirate artists’ songs, gain in the process? Well, crypto investment group Hivemind wants to make Napster “ bring blockchain to artists and fans .”
Which of course makes it sound like this is just going to be another NFT project. We’ve had these kinds of promises before (again, see the previous slide), but while there’s been some adoption among a few big names in the music industry like Kings of Leon or Deadmau5, most of the big NFT sales have become based on the digital receipts for derivative pieces of objectively ugly artworks . At the same time, the demand for NFTs overall has cooled dramatically . Which doesn’t necessarily mean that artists won’t have a use for NFTs, or that they don’t have the capacity to take an axe to the music industry. But what exactly is the purpose of designating a singular point of contact for NFT based music? It’s not to become some new, decentralized breaker of chains for music artists, but to become the new industry itself. Advertisement
MoviePass
MoviePass put a lot of attention into its marketing for its monthly subscription movie service, before everything went haywire just a few years later. Photo: Joe Scarnici (Getty Images)
There’s some projects that fail so hard it seems they’ll remain dead from now until the heat death of the universe. Then there are other projects that fail so spectacularly, it seems they’re incapable of remaining in the ground. MoviePass is one of the latter. After years of mismanagement and lying to customers, MoviePass was bought back by once-ousted CEO Tracey Spikes during bankruptcy proceedings. Then, earlier this year, the CEO leaked details about the company’s revival being tied to blockchain technology. Users will apparently be able to trade and transfer “credits,” which can also be earned by watching advertisements. What these credits do, how much you need them, which theaters will be participating, and more details about how these credits are stored and transferred on the blockchain are all still big unknowns. The company now anticipates a beta release set for this Labor Day . Though the service has garnered “ overwhelming demand ” to be a part of this new project, we still have few details to actually make any inference on why blockchain technology is needed in the first place for a project like this. Advertisement
Gamestop
GameStop’s NFT service started out pretty well, but it’s since seen a huge drop in trading volume. Photo: Rokas Tenys (Shutterstock)
Despite the meme stocks , GameStop is still not doing great as a company. Artificially propping up the company’s stock might have given it a little juice in its tank, but its price inevitably comes back down without major overhauls to the company’s prospects. On Thursday, the company announced it would start using its occasionally inflated stock prices as compensation incentives for store leaders and veteran staff. So yes, the company tried for a turnaround with perhaps the strangest move possible, its own NFT marketplace . GameStop’s focus on the community of “gamers” for its NFTs seemed incoherent at first, but at first, things seemed to be going well as its marketplace surpassed comparable outlets in terms of sales. Of course, the company also had to deal with its fair share of controversy . Though now, the NFT marketplace trading volume has softened considerably, with transaction volumes down from $7.5 million to $1 million, according to The Motley Fool . Advertisement
List slides
Blockbuster (or at least they tried)
A DAO tried to buy the rights to the name of Blockbuster, but the current owner did not want to give it up without major concessions. Photo: Scott Olson (Getty Images)
Blockbuster died a slow death, and that’s a shame. Long after it was eclipsed by Redbox and Netflix for easy home video—and later the proliferation of streaming services—it’s become a kind of icon and relic of nostalgia. There’s even a documentary about the last Blockbuster, located in Bend, Oregon, ironically available to stream on Netflix. Well, a few Web3 folks thought that it wasn’t enough to let such a name brand lie low. Earlier this year, the group BlockbusterDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, said it tried to buy the name for Blockbuster from its owner, Dish Network. What could it possibly do with that old IP? Turn it into a blockchain-based streaming network, of course. How would such a project work? How would it fund the rights to stream content through a platform that relies on consensus? We’ll likely never know. The group’s plan was to raise the necessary funds by selling NFTs, but it never managed to hit its $5 million goal, as Dish simply refused to sell . The DAO wrote in a blog post that it changed the name of its project to R3WIND, a kind of blockchain-based video/retail service. “Think Vimeo meets shopify,” the group said, referring to its new project. Advertisement
Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang has long been interested in blockchain technology, but his current Web3 lobbying push truly changes the trajectory of his erstwhile political career. Photo: Noam Galai (Getty Images)
Andrew Yang rose to be the top pick of some political circles (AKA, the “ Yang Gang ”) during the 2020 Democratic primary and the 2021 New York City mayoral primary. He ran on the policy of universal basic income while driving his candidacy through internet-based community organizatio n. He ran into his fair share of controversy throughout his mayoral candidacy, but in the end his high-minded ideals were replaced with complaints against homeless and rising crime , leading to him ending up fourth place in the 2021 primary. But Yang apparently saw his internet-aided rise to public prominence as something that could go even further, or at least more niche. Back in February, Yang announced his own Web3-based lobbying firm called “ Lobby3 .” Anybody who wants to participate in his DAO needs to buy a Lobby3 token. The goal is to promote cash relief and anti-poverty initiatives, two things the candidate lost sight of toward the end of his mayoral candidacy. Fine enough, though the recent decline in the price of crypto likely hasn’t helped much at all. At the same time, other reports showed that his firm wants to “ highlight how beneficial ” crypto has been, trying to angle regulation to be more advantageous toward crypto. Advertisement

Failed Businesses and Tech Bros Keep Trying For Crypto Comebacks

Video game developer Mark Venturelli launched a surprise attack on NFTs at a Brazilian gaming event, and Limewire is trending again following its NFT marketplace launch. 274 Total views
News
GameStop’s new NFT marketplace took home roughly $44,500 from transaction fees in the first 24 hours after it launched via a public beta on Monday . GameStop NFT reportedly generated around $1.98 million worth of NFT sales on its first full day of business. As the platform charges a 2.25% fee on NFT sales, this equates to roughly $44,500 worth of fees. While that sum may seem underwhelming, considering it would represent just 0.27% of GameStop’s daily revenue for 2021, it depends on your perspective. According to gaming news outlet Kotaku, GameStop had 4,816 stores across the U.S. at the start of 2021, which on average accounted for $3,426 worth of daily net sales for the company. To provide further contrast, despite much anticipation in the lead-up to its launch in May, Coinbase NFT generated just $75,000 worth of NFT sales on its first day, and took roughly a month to generate $1 million worth of sales volume. Coinbase NFT also offered zero fees to attract new users that month. GameStop NFT, which is based on Ethereum Layer 2 Loopring , is currently home to a long list of new and unknown NFT projects. However, it will soon be home to several projects from Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution, Immutable X such as Gods Unchained, and Guild of Guardians. The duo partnered back in February to develop NFT games together . At this stage, the MetaBoy NFT project depicting animated GameBoy-like console avatars is the marketplace’s top-selling collection so far, and has generated 989.597 ETH worth of volume, or $1.1 million at current prices. Top 10 selling projects: GameStop NFT
When game devs attack: ‘Why NFTs are a nightmare’
Video game developer Mark Venturelli launched a surprise attack on NFTs during Brazil's International Games Festival on Friday. The event was sponsored by multiple NFT/blockchain companies such as Lakea and Ripio. Venturelli, known for his work on Chroma Squad was penciled in to provide a virtual presentation on the future of gaming, however after introducing himself he promptly switched gears by launching into a tirade about “why NFTs are a nightmare.”
Venturelli’s presentation, which also has an English version , essentially argues that the introduction of speculative economic activity via NFTs will end up ruining the experience for people who just  want to play games for fun. During an interview with PC Gamer on July 11, Venturelli said :
"What's actually going to happen is that organized groups are going to operate and scale with ever-diminishing margins, and just push out everybody else. Because that's what happens. If you play EVE Online or Runescape, or any other game that simulates economy, that's what happens.”
“Organized groups are going to fucking crush you. What actually is going to happen is that if you just naively play a game and have fun—imagine that—then you want to sell your stuff, your stuff is not going to be worth anything,” he added. Tony Hawk drops in… to the Metaverse
Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk has partnered up with The Sandbox to build the “biggest skatepark” in the Metaverse. The move was announced on July 13, and early previews show users socializing at Hawk’s skatepark and the ability to build customized courses their avatars can skate around. Specifics are sparse at this stage, but Hawk noted that it will be the “biggest skatepark” to hit the Metaverse. The deal marks another notable mainstream partnership for The Sandbox this week, after Playboy announced that it was launching the MetaMansion on the platform. Coming soon to The Sandbox: alongside @Autograph , I’m helping to create the biggest skatepark in the #metaverse . Stay tuned for updates. pic.twitter.com/0R2ODsR4qt

Nifty News: GameStop NFT's first day, Limewire trends and game dev attacks!

LimeWire is making a comeback as an NFT marketplace
Back in the early 2000s, when Spotify and other streaming services were yet to make their entry, there was LimeWire. The early 2000s might have been devoid of free streaming services without which survival becomes rather hard. However, the love for music was still a thing, and people had their own ways to get their jam. Peer-to-peer filing sharing services were the vogue back then and LimeWire had an unmatched reputation in that arena. LimeWire is a big name, and today it might seem like a thing of the nostalgic past. Not anymore. Because LimeWire is making a comeback in a brand new avatar. Read along to know more. Back In The Game
If you thought that LimeWire was going to rest peacefully beneath layers of past glory, you were completely wrong. It is finally returning, but with a twist. LimeWire will return as an NFT marketplace, probably to make sure that it doesn’t stumble on the same mistakes that it made in the past. For those who are unaware of LimeWire and its reputation back in the 2000s, LimeWire was a free computer software that allowed peer-to-peer file sharing. It made it easy for people to download and upload songs, videos, etc, often illegally. This aspect was the beginning of LimeWire’s fall as it led to a long-drawn legal battle with the Record Industry Association of America which culminated at the end of LimeWire, or so we thought. Past or present, copyright infringement is still an issue. After it closed shop in 2010, much wasn’t heard about this once big name. And now it is all set to make its reentry as an NFT marketplace. Well, who doesn’t like a change after all? LimeWire has already made an official announcement about the relaunch. People will be able to buy and sell NFTs from different artists on the LimeWire NFT platform. Although the times aren’t exactly pleasant for NFTs at the moment, LimeWire does have an added advantage because it can tap into its past reputation. Nostalgia is very often a great way to get people attracted and LimeWire has got that one equation right. Perhaps LimeWire is all set to polish and rebuild its reputation which was partially stained by the lawsuit. Twitterati is rather astonished about LimeWire’s relaunch as an NFT platform, and quite naturally this has rocketed it to the trending list on Twitter. Let us flip through a couple of reactions and responses on Twitter. Never too late to start again. LimeWire really came back in 2022 with a new relaunch as a NFT marketplace pic.twitter.com/6l0OwCXDS3
Traces of the past are irreplaceable I guess…
Hard to find something funnier than famously unreliable piracy service Limewire becoming a marketplace for a scam https://t.co/sz7oj8sZAy
Well…

LimeWire is making a comeback as an NFT marketplace

The Night League is an event management company. It specializes in providing venue operation, booking management, artist management, marketing solutions, and more. It was founded in 2001 and is based in Islas Baleares, Spain.

Night League

This partnership will see LimeWire NFT collectors benefit from the purchase of LimeWire Original NFT 's with free guest list access in both queues for the whole season .

LimeWire Originals NFT holders to get exclusive access into Ibiza’s leading night clubs
LimeWire Originals NFT holders to get exclusive access into Ibiza's leading night clubs - DummyMag

Universal Music Group (Euronext: UMG) is a music company with three main operating businesses such as the recorded music business, Universal Music Publishing and a merchandising business via its Bravado subsidiary. The company was founded in 1929 and is based in Hilversum, Netherlands.

Universal Music Group

Algorand provides a secure and decentralized digital currency and transactions platform. It offers an open-source protocol that enables even the smallest transactions, regardless of transaction volume or the number of users. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

Algorand

Companies and startups in this collection leverage blockchain technology for crypto trading, decentralized finance (DeFi), NFTs, and more.

Blockchain

Acquired

LimeWire is a marketplace for music-related NFTs. The platform enables creators and collectors to explore, collect, and trade digital collectibles. The company is based in Vienna, Austria. On March 9th, 2022, LimeWire was acquired by Paul Zehetmeyr and Julian Zehetmeyr. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Name	Title	Status
Mark Gorton	Chief Executive Officer	Current
Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more
Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more

Name	Mark Gorton	Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more
Work History
Title	Chief Executive Officer	Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more
Status	Current	Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more

Wells Fargo Success Story

Professional Services

Platform Overview

LimeWire

Executives

LimeWire Management Team

3 Team Members

This profile has not been claimed.

Discover the right solution for your team