After much deliberation and careful thought Neptune Mutual decided to close the cover marketplaces.
After much deliberation and careful thought Neptune Mutual decided to close the cover marketplaces. Below the reasons for the decision as well as what it means for the community.
The marketplaces will be closed using an emergency withdrawal process whereby the liquidity provided to cover pools by LPs will be returned to the wallet addresses from which the liquidity was supplied. In addition to protecting cover pool LPs, there will also be refunds to all cover policy purchasers with an existing and valid policy who have paid over 10 USD in policy fees in one transaction.
For veNPM holders, please fill out this form to receive a refund for your veNPM to NPM conversion penalty.
From the end of June there will no longer be NPM emission incentives for LPs i.e. Epoch 3 of the liquidity gauge emissions will be canceled.
Unused funds raised from financial backers will be returned to those backers; this includes DEX liquidity that has now been removed from SushiSwap and Uniswap. A small amount of liquidity on SushiSwap Arbitrum has been left to enable a minimum amount of NPM trading.
The protocol will be open sourced, and become a true public good. Enabling the community to fork the code developed by the Neptune Mutual team such that others might use the existing resources to further our mission to make the blockchain space better protected against smart contracts and other risks.
There are numerous factors that have led to this difficult decision, some of which are external factors which are uncontrollable or unforeseeable. A few factors summarized below:
“Given Neptune Mutual’s Tier 1 backers, why have you not listed on a top CEX?”
This is perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions. In short, the answer is that for a variety of reasons Neptune Mutual was not able to achieve the diverse set of performance metrics (community size and engagement, marketplace user activity, DEX 24 hour trading volume, TVL growth etc.) required to list on top tier CEX. The CEXs that are prepared to list NPM token do not have the depth of liquidity or breadth of user-base to offer good prospects for NPM tokenholders.
“Why has Neptune Mutual not achieved strong growth?”
It is tempting to take a shortcut to answer this question by pointing a finger at one specific factor, but the reality is that there are many contributing factors. A few summarized below:
Since the outset of engaging with the community we have endeavored to highlight the need for DeFiInsurance; Neptune Mutual built a comprehensive dataset of on-chain hacks available, anywhere, and each week we highlight the many millions of dollars that are stolen as a result of smart contract hacks. Despite this, we have consistently been confronted by projects unwilling to spin up cover pools in our marketplace because of the sentiment that audits of their code are sufficient to persuade their community that their protocol is safe. Less than 0.3% of all digital assets are protected with some form of DeFiInsurance, and yet despite all the media reports of hacks, the conference discussions about the importance of governance or CEX proof-of-reserves, it continues to be the case that it is extremely difficult to get media attention to focus on the need for a fast and efficient means of mitigating smart contract risk.
A variety of approaches have been taken by different DeFiInsurance protocols to address this, from attending multiple conferences throughout the year and significant marketing spend, to the leaner approach that Neptune Mutual took (in part as a result of the bear market in 2023). What can be said is that no DeFiInsurance protocol has managed to achieve significant growth over the last 18 months, sadly the overall TVL of the sector has shrunk a lot.
For all the reasons above, at this moment the best course of action is no longer to double-down on investing in growth, but rather to refund unused capital and close the marketplaces.
The consequences are very tough for the Neptune Mutual team who have spent the past 3 years of their time on the mission to facilitate safer environments within DeFi. The team has delivered products according to the roadmap and the fact that the protocol was never hacked, despite attempts being made on the darkweb, is testament to the expertise, passion and absolute focus on security. The team survived the FTX and UST crisis unscathed, and believed that the continued growth in hacks would lead to growth in the demand for a good solution to mitigate these risks, but sadly, as can be seen right across the DeFiInsurance category, this is not yet in sight. So we would like to thank the team for all the dedication, skill and passion invested into the Neptune Mutual project since the outset.
The team will open source the protocol, including blockchain indexing protocol (subgraph alternative), frontend, middleware, database, and backend code, to make it a true public good. This will allow anyone to fork the code and create covers by defining parameters and premium ranges, potentially leading to innovative covers and organic usage.
The Discord channel will be closed to reduce the risk of phishing and other types of cyber attack, any questions / queries will be responded to in the Telegram channel.
We want to take this final opportunity to thank you all for your support.
Neptune Mutual will contact only its financial backers, with whom a signed agreement exists, in relation to next steps (i.e. holding NPM tokens does not qualify you for any form of refund). Contact will be made only from a neptunemutual.com domain email address so please check the source of any email you may receive very carefully. Please ignore any messages from any other email or social media accounts in relation to token/cash refunds.
What exactly is web3 and is metaverse and web3 same? Learn about the evolution of web.
The term "Web 3.0" is one of the key phrases to appear in any self-respecting social media post about the future of blockchain. It is used to describe Internet sites that support blockchain transactions, often in a peer-to-peer decentralized context. At the heart of Web 3.0 is the idea of an alternative approach to transactions, trust, and data. This new model offers the prospect of moving away from the highly concentrated power of centralized tech firms wielded by the likes of Google, Youtube, Netflix, Facebook, and Amazon.
But what exactly is it, how is it different, and why does it matter? Let's dive into the details.
When blockchain technology started making waves in 2008, no one could predict the extent of its use cases. It started with recording transaction data on an immutable public ledger where miners were incentivized to validate transactions and add blocks of data to the blockchain; these proof-of-work incentives were, and still are, the basis of many digital cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Blockchain has been responsible for numerous projects with good use cases in the Internet space. Aside from cryptocurrency, blockchain has been the technology underlying NFTs (non-fungible tokens), DeFi (decentralized finance), Metaverse, and the revolutionary Web 3.
To understand Web 3.0 better, let's do a quick review of the evolution of the web.
The World Wide Web (www) was reportedly developed by a computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee, in 1990. He coined the name and referred to it as a "global web of interconnected digital links of information and resources."
Web 1.0 was the first generation of the web as created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990. In this form, the web is a “static” form of content publication whereby hosts push information out to readers who are passive in the way they “consume” this content.
It is basically a one-way information highway from publisher to reader.
This was consistent with Berners-Lee's concept of a portal to enable fellow scientists to document and publish their ideas. As web browsers and Internet infrastructure evolved in the mid-'90s, so access to content publishing opened up to a much wider group of users, leading eventually to what we now call Web 2.0, dominated by user-generated content platforms.
The concept of Web 2.0 was introduced around 2004/2005 bringing with it a paradigm shift in how people used the Internet.
Web 2 enabled users to interact and communicate with fellow users and become the principal producers of content and, in so doing, exponentially increased the amount of content published to the web. The interactions of users with content created data. It is the “acquisition” and use of free data that launched the growth of a few companies that now occupy such a dominant and powerful position in online activity.
Web 2 saw the emergence of new programming languages and web technologies, such as HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS. Web 2 also enabled the much faster trajectory for adoption and growth of e-commerce.
The data that became available to Web 2 companies helped fuel the rise of the FAANG companies (Facebook (now Meta), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google) companies. This is why these same companies are its biggest promoters.
With Web 2, users can socialize, interact, and communicate via voice or video calls and other web-related communication that hasn't been possible with Web 1. Web 2.0 innovations were further driven by the developments in mobile applications, games, and social media.
For all its features, Web 2.0 is not without its limitations. These include:
Centralized Point of Failure: Web 2 operates using a client-server model. If these servers go down at any time, people cannot access or interact with the Web 2 site or app. An example of this is the Facebook outage of October 2021.
Permission Issues: You can only access Web 2 websites and apps if the company or server lets you. Also, these companies have access to your data and can sell it to advertisers who then flood your browsing experience with annoying ads left and right.
Hacks and exploits: What’s worse than websites using your data to target you for ads? Having that data in the hands of hackers and criminal elements on the web. Essentially, you’re trusting the Web 2 app to safeguard your data, but in the event of a breach, you’ve got everything to lose.
These limitations, along with the emergence of blockchain technology, led developers to start thinking of even better ways to improve web experience in the digital age. This led to what we now call Web 3.0.
Web 3.0 (or Web 3) is the third generation of the web that is touted to replace Web 2.0.
In Web 3, content creators and web users own their data, as well as other digital assets, stored in a variety of ways either on or offline.
As users create content on the Web 3, different business models are emerging that allow them to use this digital asset and to monetise it, rather than allowing the data to be centralized and monetised by the highly dominant companies of Web 2.
Imagine you're playing an online game on a Web 3 application and you have lots of in-game collectibles. Such collectibles are recorded as yours on the immutable blockchain network. Even if you delete your game account , such collectibles can be transferred or sold outside of the gaming environment.
In contrast, if you're playing a game on Web 2 platform, if the game developer stops the game, or you close your game account, all in-game collectibles will be lost.
Web 3 might integrate Web 1 and Web 2 features, but it symbolizes a smart, open, privacy-controlled, and decentralized web made possible by blockchain technology, smart contracts, and crypto assets.
Even as Web 3 incorporates the core features of the previous web models, it has added other exceptional utilities like machine learning (ML) alongside decentralization. This blending of remarkable tools in Web 3 will make it more exceptional in processing information.
Many people incorrectly think that Web 3 is a synonym of Metaverse.. The two are, however, quite different, even if they have a common ground.
The Metaverse is a 3D virtual space on the Internet where users can experience different worlds or environments without leaving their immediate environment. It uses technology solutions alongside VR & AR to create virtual worlds.
As the Universe is our physical world, so the Metaverse is our virtual world. It is one in which imagination takes precedence over the laws of physics that govern our own Universe. In the Metaverse users can socialize, attend seminars, classes, symposia, and other events with their virtual persona (avatar). From this, it is evident that Web 3 differs widely from Metaverse.
Web 3 will ultimately disrupt the economies of the centralized web if fully adopted by users and enthusiasts. This is because it enables users to own data, it decentralizes governance, and disintermediates the power of Web 2 companies built off the back of free user data. A variety of Web 3 projects across different sectors are appearing that may challenge the incumbent and dominant power of the Web 2 giants:
Neptune Mutual seeks to provide value and exceptional service to Web 3 projects and users alike through its parametric cover marketplace. Even with the added security features brought about by decentralization and smart contracts, Web 3 projects are still subject to a number of risks that can, and often do, cause significant loss of digital assets.
Chief among them is the risk of hacks as a result of code manipulation. If you’ve been keeping up with blockchain events, you probably already know that hacks of blockchain and Web 3.0 projects have been on the rise in recent years.
What’s even more worrying is that most of these hacks were carried out on dApps and protocols that had undergone code audits, in addition to other industry-standard security measures.
Parametric cover policies have been mitigating risks in real-world events like earthquakes, wildfires, and flooding for decades. Its underlying attributes make it a new and scalable solution for the protection of digital assets.
In the parametric model, payouts are made based on the occurrence of a predefined event. If the event did occur, policyholders receive a payment. If the event did not occur, there is no payout. It’s that simple!
This approach helps eliminate many of the limitations that plague traditional insurance policies, such as lengthy claims process, individual proof of loss, unclear scope of policy coverage, and more.
We invite you to come be a part of the Neptune Mutual community. Whether you’re a policy purchaser looking to protect your digital assets with a custom cover policy; a liquidity provider looking to earn income and other rewards by funding liquidity pools; or as an incident reporter looking to earn staking rewards from validating the occurrence of trigger events.
