SINGAPORE — Proof-of-liquidity network Berachain has grown in popularity, despite running only on testnet. It has already attracted an active community and spawned a lively culture, as demonstrated by side events at this year’s Token2049 crypto conference.
On Monday, Berachain hosted a party that ended at 3 a.m. local time at Marquee, Singapore’s biggest nightclub. According to the online invitation, 10,115 people had signed up to attend, and a video circulating on social media showed a line of people snaking through more than one level of an upmarket shopping mall waiting to enter the venue.
At what point can we officially classify Token2049 as the side-event to the Berachain party main-event
— 0xWenMoon 💙🧡 (@0xWenMoon) September 16, 2024
The party inside Marquee was heaving, with at least two floors packed with revelers and figures such as high-profile crypto trader Ansem dancing as South Korea’s DJ Soda and other mixmasters manned the decks.
Read more: Buterin at Token2049: ‘We’re Not Early to Crypto, But We’re Early to Crypto Being Usable’
One infamous X shitposter who goes by the handle @based16z wrote: “I hope Berachain never makes a blockchain so we get cool parties forever.”
Two days after the bash, the blockchain’s pseudonymous co-founder, Smokey the Bera, decked out in a full-head panda mask, got into it onstage with Michael Anderson, the co-founder and general partner of crypto investment firm Framework Ventures.
Smokey described the Berachain ecosystem’s origins, saying its co-founders had not initially intended to build a blockchain.
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“We intended to make a funny NFT collection of bears smoking weed that kind of evolved out of control very quickly,” Smokey said.
Named Bong Bears, the NFT collection was created in August 2021. It currently has a floor price of 112.8 ETH, or around $280,000, according to NFT marketplace OpenSea.
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After talking to users and developers in the Berachain ecosystem, Smokey and the other co-founders realized there were problems with the way many chains worked — specifically, “a lack of incentive alignment across liquidity and security at the chain level.”
How It Works
Berachain runs on proof-of-liquidity, with liquidity serving as a source of security for the chain and also powering applications built on top of it.
“What proof-of-liquidity tries to optimize for is to allow those who have contributed the greatest amount of tangible value for the ecosystem to actually have the greatest say in its direction over time,” Smokey told attendees at a Token2049 panel discussion on Wednesday.
Practically, that means Bera’s non-transferable governance token is generated when blocks are produced.
“[The] only way to earn it is by providing liquidity to governance-approved or whitelisted sources of liquidity on the chain,” Smokey explained.
Read more: Battle of the Blocks: PoW vs. PoS
Key players in the Berachain ecosystem typically use pseudonyms. Calitoshi, who leads ecosystem deals for validator infrastructure firm Nocturnal Labs, told Unchained that the use of pseudonyms reflected a desire for privacy and security.
“Beras aren’t afraid to voice their opinions, and it’s not the best to have your full doxxed name out there,” he said. “You don’t want people showing up to your house.”
A Culture Less Conventional
The technical workings of Berachain are unique, but its community appears to be its true source of strength.
“It’s never been us saying, ‘Hey, go throw this event, or hey, go build this application, or hey, go do this,’” Smokey said. “It’s been, ‘Hey, this person’s pretty cool, let’s talk to them… let’s create a fun environment in which people can actually try things that are a bit less conventional.
“Beras are approachable, but there’s actually some really interesting tech under the hood, and I think that combining that with the community ends up being this incredibly high-potential launchpad for these network effects,” he said.
Smokey’s appearance at Token2049 comes nearly 17 months after Berachain disclosed that it had raised $42 million for a valuation of almost $420.69 million — a figure that’s a cannabis culture term for the time of day people smoke weed (an activity that comes with up to 10 years of jail time, fines, and caning in strait-laced Singapore) and engage in sex.
The blockchain’s current valuation is unknown, although it disclosed a $100 million series-B fundraise in April.
To round out the week in the city-state, some Beras participated in a basketball tournament on Friday, giving them and other basketball fans a chance to compete for the “Beracup.”
The basketball showdown comprised three events: a five-on-five face-off, a three-point contest, and a half-court shot competition. The winners of each event were awarded cash prizes, courtesy of tournament sponsors building in the Berachain ecosystem such as Nocturnal Labs and vape-to-earn project Puffpaw (although no vaping was taking place, as it’s illegal in Singapore and punishable by a fine of up to $1,545).
Why basketball? Calitoshi praised the sport as a great way to get away from party culture and let off steam in a different way.
Kai, who works in business development at blockchain-powered e-cigarette platform Puffpaw, and who attended a Beracup basketball tournament in Brussels at the EthCC conference in July before reprising his skills in Singapore on Friday, echoed that sentiment.
“Offline events are really important,” he told Unchained. “A basketball game is a really good way for you to engage with people, in a very competitive way… You have to fight, then you make friends, and eventually you talk on the higher-level stuff. That’s something you cannot do in other events.”
UPDATE (Sept. 21, 2024 00:20 AM EST): This story was updated to include information on Berachain’s most recent disclosed capital raise.
