Wallpaper from the Official Safemoon Website

**Some may categorize this article as “TLDR,” meaning “too long, didn’t read.” If you would prefer to watch a short video instead, click here.**

I first wrote about Safemoon in August 2021. I was a verifiable crypto-newbie, and Safemoon was my introduction to cryptocurrency. I remember furiously trying to comprehend blockchain technology and googling every buzzword on the internet. I am still a verifiable crypto-newbie, but now, I can at least reflect on some lessons learned.

Warning for the reader: If you dare discuss Safemoon publicly, prepare to endure an onslaught of derision.

Safemoon remains a popular but somewhat toxic token to support. Some of this nastiness is justified, some not. It is up to you to decide which side of the line you occupy. Do not make the mistake of thinking you can be an innocent bystander.

The crypto industry has seen significant changes, setbacks, and improvements since 2021. We saw the rise and fall of FTX and Luna. Ethereum (ETC) finally merged, and silly NFTs earned billions.

The Safemoon protocol also experienced significant changes that are viewable as setbacks or improvements.

• Only 1 Core Team member remains since my first article- CEO John Karony (@CptHodl)- I will let the masses argue about whether this is a setback or an improvement.
• V1 stopped receiving support as SFM transitioned to V2- Improvement
• Swap and Liquify was scrapped in favor of Swap and Evolve- Improvement
• Whale Dominance is nearly non-existent (Top 100 Wallets hold less than 13% of circulating supply)- Improvement
• CoffeZilla unloaded on Safemoon relentlessly. An exceptional amount of circumstantial evidence was presented, but the nail in the coffin was decidedly missing- Minor setback- did not have much long-term impact on price- SFM does a fine job of staying low by itself.
• The Gambia, Windmills, and project Pheonix (sic) have disappeared from the SFM lexicon-Improvement
• Wallet Release- Improvement

There are more, but for the sake of brevity, I will move this article forward.

  Photo by OSPAN ALI on Unsplash

Reasons to Cringe

Former employees take near-constant shots at their former company.

There are times when this seems reasonable, such as critiques on the development of products. Often though, thinly-veiled allegations are repeated without proof. This causes issues since many people make knee-jerk and inappropriate judgments based on limited information (I have been guilty of this.) Though if I told the world every day that I have evidence that Trump is conspiring with Russia, but never publish the evidence, it is reasonable to assume I am not being 100% truthful.

The product development has been painfully slow, or at least communication of product development has been horrid.

The Safemoon subreddit has devolved into a vortex of supreme loyalty vs. sworn enemies. It is useless to believe you can have a nuanced conversation about Safemoon on any social media platform. The team has only recently begun to update holders appropriately through the Safemoon Newsletter and Captain’s Log.

The price never seems to bottom out.

I personally thought .0003 would be the bottom, but the hits keep coming. This is not a problem unique to Safemoon, but not encouraging, considering the lack of released products.

  Photo by Jacqueline Munguía on Unsplash

Reasons to be Hopeful

The Safemoon exchange has been built, according to CEO Karony. In the latest update to the Captain’s Log, he mentions that it is undergoing testing, and compliance issues are a point of focus. No release date exists- only the knowledge that it will be released “in the future”

One reason for the delayed development of the SFM Blockchain is they scrapped their initial plans and decided to build a Proof-of-Authority chain that uses Solidity as the programming language. The desire to release Orbital Shield (SOS) first is critical to future products working as intended.

Proof of Authority (POA) is a blockchain system that uses a “reputation-based consensus algorithm” to process transactions more efficiently than Proof of Stake (PoS) or Proof of Work (PoW). It also uses less energy to process these transactions. One disadvantage that needs to be answered by Safemoon is how they plan to ensure the trustworthiness of validators on the network. Karony mentioned a “special twist,” but it is up to our imaginations to know what that means.

It still exists. Many projects continue to fail as scams are consistently exposed. Safemoon is a registered company (LLC) that provides at least some protection for its users. The stated desire of Safemoon to be compliant is a fair indicator they intend to be transparent with government regulators as Defi continues the slow grind to regulation.

Semi-Final Thoughts

I believe Safemoon will be successful. They will accomplish this through the successful release of products or the sheer will of the Safemoon Army. Barring any significant proof of malfeasance, I am confident the price will return to respectable levels within the year.

Kindly note that I am likely wrong.

There is a significant amount of people much smarter than me who disagree. Just as there are intelligent people who do agree. It is always important to do your own research (DYOR) and only invest what you are comfortable losing.

Being an analyst in Crypto is like being a weatherman- you don’t really know- you give it your best, somewhat educated guess. The author of this article should not be considered a crypto analyst.

All the best,

Gideon 6ix