VIRTUAL Token Skyrockets 200% as ’Smart Money’ Floods Virtuals Protocol—Is This the Next Big Pump or Sustainable Growth?
Virtuals Protocol’s native token VIRTUAL just pulled off a moonshot—up 200% in 30 days as institutional capital piles in. The project promises ’on-chain virtual economies,’ but let’s be real: everyone’s just here for the green candles.
Behind the surge: Whales are accumulating, exchanges are listing, and retail FOMO is kicking in. Sound familiar? It’s the classic crypto playbook—just swap ’NFTs’ for ’virtual assets’ this time.
Key drivers: Protocol claims 50+ partnerships (though half are probably vaporware) and a mainnet launch that didn’t crash immediately. Progress by crypto standards.
The cynical take: Another ’web3 infrastructure’ play riding the AI/metaverse/gaming narrative wave—because why pick one hype cycle when you can front-run them all?
The table shows the top tokens traded - bought or sold on a DEX or sent/received from centralized exchanges - by smart money wallets. Per Nansen’s explainer, the buying activity is represented in green and the selling activity in red.
VIRTUAL’s leadership is likely led by excitement about the debut of the Genesis launchpad two weeks ago. The new system, designed to reward genuine contributors and not mere speculators, uses a "proof of contribution" points system, where participants earn Virgen points through activities like staking or staking AI projects.
"Since its debut, most tokens launched through it have 2x’d or more, fueling demand for Virgen Points and showing there’s still room for creativity in token design," Bankless said on X.
Other key features of the new system include contribution-based allocations, automatic refunds if goals aren’t met, and transparent vesting schedules.
"Genesis breathes fresh life into Virtuals while also showcasing a novel mechanism for designing token launches," Bankless said, adding that while the contribution-based system is not perfect, it certainly "rivals" who-knows-who or other primitive systems prone to manipulation.
