In this issue:

• This Week in Neo Tokyo: Seize This Opportunity (by PhoenixxDown)

• The friend.tech Trainwreck (by Flower83)

• Why This Crypto Correction is a Golden Opportunity For Founders (by Koko)

• Meet Your Neo Tokyo Community Council: ButWouldYa (by Block Editor)

A huge Grand Rising to Elite Citizen, Maxmerro, who joined us earlier this year but stepped into the limelight with much fanfare only last week. Maxmerro is the founder of Nyan Heroes, the most recent investment opportunity from CitCap which took place a few days back.

What lies ahead? Game nights, perks, and likely more, according to Maxmerro himself. Delighted to have you with us!

Maxmerro is just one of many S-Tier gaming founders who proudly call Neo Tokyo their home. The Citadel is well known for its commitment to supporting its creators in their endeavors through player feedback, early access play-tests, events, and more!

Community Lead, Fauve, has been leading an exceptional initiative where Citizens engage in play-testing games. This initiative has proven highly beneficial for both studios and citizens, fostering valuable feedback in exchange for early access and player rewards.

But it wouldn't be fair to keep all this goodness to ourselves! We are a benevolent illuminati. Thus, the logical next step is to extend the opportunity to the Meatbags among our circles to join in on the action too.

If you know a non-Citizen who would be a good fit, there are 20 slots available for Meatbags to join the pilot, please refer them to this form.

And if you’re a game builder looking to take advantage of the program, tag Fauve in the #gaming-chat channel.

Content wise, this is how things shaped up:

Interlinked Episode #27 featured NT Dev Team Lead and founder of Yurei & Mure, Felix Norden. Ben, Nick and Jarred discuss topics such as Felix’s past, his work with the NT Dev team, BYTES 2.0, and Play 2.0 airdrop.

ChronosWorlds AMA: Co-Founder, PHAN, joined the team to discuss what this post-apocalyptic RPG is set to offer. Listen back here.

Vallarok AMA: Co-Founder, Aiem, alongside Community Lead, SaintsNFT, enlighten us on why you should take notice of this AI-powered survival game ahead of their scheduled token launch and alpha testing. Listen back here.

Meet Your Citizens: Neo Tokyo News’ own ZeHI is in the hot seat opposite Block Editor this week, discussing all things to do with his unique and interesting life including his Amazon adventures, and his commitment to mental and spiritual health.

NFT Market Monday: this week's discussions focused on the news amidst a turbulent few days in the markets, plus are NFTs back? (again), are Runes dead? (again) and much more. Listen back here.

Also, if you missed it, our April Townhall took place on 4/29, and you can listen back here for all the announcements, updates, and Q&A feedback that took place.

Applications are currently open for positions on the Community Leads and Council table. We have two openings for Leads and one for the council, eagerly awaiting the most visionary candidates to step forward. If you harbor a vision for The Citadel, seize this opportunity to turn it into reality by applying today via the form in this announcement.

A special thanks to Danor and lawyer.eth for their service and contributions these past two years as they step down and return to civilian life.

Lastly, a reminder to get your applications in on this opportunity below, spearheaded by Felix and MHL, if you’re a game developer or studio. You have until May 5th to get those in.

Until next week, citizens.

It's never a dull week in crypto.

And rest assured, this one is no different, with a bunch of interesting news to report on ranging from:

• CZ getting a 4 months prison sentence

• DeGods bridging back to Solana

• EllioTrades starting a project of gem hunters and alpha callers on telegram

• Martin Shkreli becoming a crypto AI & Memecoin expert

We even had a 15 year old kid and his mom live stream how they rug a coin, which they pumped up by livestreaming her breasts. You know, the usual degen behaviour. Oh, and the ruggers of zkCasino were supposedly arrested. Oh! And Eigenlayer was successfully bullied (by CT crying at them) into giving people more allocation.

But this week is special for another reason - it wraps up 8 months of “hard work” from the team over at FriendTech - a topic that has been of a particular interest amongst avid readers of the Neo Tokyo newsletter for quite some time now.

After they teased it for quite a while, they actually airdropped the token. Here is what the chart looks like post TGE:

What could explain this marvellous price action?

Well, the FUD on the timeline, of course.

Some of the posts are quite hilarious and a true comedic relief in these turbulent times. Yet, amidst all the memes and jokes, we can actually find valid and well thought out reasons for why the newly launched token looks like a rugged memecoin on its deathbed. Apparently, it has to do with:

• Not timing the markets correctly.
  The team at Friend.tech delayed the launch until BTC was well below 60k. Speculation ensued that the team, much like the rest of CT, at are also gamblers who thought the bull market is going higher. Also, they forgot to launch on time.

• Not providing enough liquidity.

• Giving huge allocations to influencers that have no incentive to stick around once they get their payments.

• A bunch of other issues related to platform functionality, bad updates for V2, a supposedly missing claim button and an unstable website connection timing people out or not loading properly.

And there you have it. A quick story about how you can fumble a billion dollar idea into the ground.

See you next week 🫡

My team and I have been wondering lately: did we miss the boat? Are we launching our token too late in the bull cycle for success? Crypto Twitter, with its herd mentality, seems to think so. They’ve sunk too much money into a bajillion different gaming, AI, meme, and DEPIN projects and now panic at the first sign of a correction. For a project yet to launch its token, it's easy to feel like you've missed the boat.

The recent surge in token launches, particularly within the web3 gaming sector, hasn't helped. The crypto space feels more like a crowded marketplace than a frontier of innovation. This saturation has led to a fierce competition for attention, web3’s very own rat race where social media clout and exchange listings determine success.

The reality is, social clout and CEX listings are important metrics in crypto. It's a simple equation: attention = followers = better chances at a CEX listing = token numba go up = everybody gets rich. And while the current market correction may feel like the party's over, with cries of "NO mORe LiQuIDity LeFt!" echoing through Crypto Twitter, I believe it presents a golden opportunity for quality projects to shine.

This quieter period provides a unique opportunity for high-quality projects to capture attention. The absence of rampant FOMO allows for more thoughtful consideration and evaluation of projects based on their merits and long-term potential. This benefits both builders and investors, fostering a more sustainable and healthy ecosystem.

So, how do we stand out?

Firstly, we must constantly innovate our go-to-market strategy. Relentlessly observing others is a great way to find new pathways forward. Secondly, staying on top of the narratives and identifying gaps in the market for thought leadership is crucial. While "left curve thinking" can be valuable, we all eventually deviate back to and rely on mid-curve fundamentals.

We need only look at projects like Chainlink, which launched during a bear market and became a cornerstone of the DeFi ecosystem, or Pepe (even memecoins have hierarchies!), or consider Bored Ape Yacht Club, launched in June 2021 shortly after the first major extended correction for Bitcoin that year. These projects demonstrate the potential for success even during challenging market conditions through innovative approaches and a focus on strong fundamentals.

Launching during a corrective phase encourages a focus on substance over hype. It also reminds the punters in the space of the fundamental factors that lead to success. As a builder, I embrace this challenge and believe that achieving success during these quieter periods is a testament to a project's true quality and potential.

So, while the current market may appear daunting, remember that it also presents a unique opportunity for great teams to make waves. Let's get to work.

• Discord ID: butwouldya

• Background: Engagement

• Entered Crypto: 2014

• Joined NT: S2 Mint

• Expertise: Engagement, Community Building

• Dislikes Working on: Paperwork

• Most Known For: The Crypt, Degen Digest

• Reason for Joining Leads: S2 Representation

• One Word: Trying

• Outside Interests: Golf and Family

After finishing up with college, ButWouldYa was a bartender in Dewey Beach before heading west to Los Angeles in 2016. His initial exposure to crypto came on the Silk Road where he needed Bitcoin to transact. His second exposure came in line at a club where a fellow clubber introduced him to Ethereum and some other coins. ButWouldYa didn’t take it too seriously until the pandemic hit and he needed a new focus. He read Master Bitcoin and Token Economy, and those led him down a crypto rabbit hole that he hasn’t left to date. 

After entering Neo Tokyo as an S2, things started to take off. For the past two years, he had been working for a publicly traded marketing company called Izia. ButWouldYa ran their web3 department but after some downsizing he had to move on. His current focus is on meme coins and the general market, and he’s finally having some success.

Within Neo Tokyo, ButWouldYa runs The Crypt channel, keeping traders excited and engaged, and he is looking for his next opportunity. He started that back in August of 2023 and grew it from about 4 members to 150.

ButWouldYa also hosts the Degen Digest alongside Shamsi and ZeHI. That is where his personality shines through. The show focuses on the normal guy in the market discussing opportunities and strategies. “What I kind of came to the conclusion of was like, hey, let's take 5-10 percent of our portfolio and just go degen with it,” ButWouldYa said. And that is what they’ve been doing on the show.

ButWouldYa specialized in engagement and community building so citizens looking for help on those items should connect. His goal is always to try and bridge the gap between different platforms and helping users feel comfortable.

There is a hierarchy within Neo Tokyo and ButWouldYa has always been out to show people that you don’t have to be on top or the most experienced to participate. He joined the council to represent the S2s and keep them engaged. 

His tagline, Shoulda, Coulda, ButWouldYa, sums up his strategies behind being a trader and in Neo Tokyo. He’s always trying to learn more and do more and contribute in any way he can.

Outside Neo Tokyo ButWouldYa enjoys his family and spending time with his fiance. He also enjoys golfing, gaming, and hopping into new entrepreneurial ventures.

Follow @Outer2294 on X to stay up to date with what Butwouldya is cooking.

This newsletter is sponsored by Virtue Poker. Take a look at the list of scheduled tournaments for this week, and follow them on X:

All content from Neo Tokyo News is for entertainment purposes only, and not financial advice.

That’s it for our 45th edition of the Neo Tokyo Newsletter. Be sure to subscribe and share with your friends so you don’t miss out on future content.

Make sure to also follow Neo Tokyo News on Twitter.

And check out our Neo Tokyo News Website.