Recently, the well-known grid trader HAZE has been nicknamed "Dumbass" after he lost $350,000 trading meme coins. In this podcast, we talked with him about the process of trading memes and the professional meme blockchain tool GMGN that he helped establish. With the meme market booming, GMGN, an internally developed product, has become a hot project with considerable daily revenue. Whether GMGN will establish a "Dumbass Index" based on HAZE's experience and its future development plans were also key points of discussion in this podcast.
According to @adam_tehc's Dune data panel, the on-chain MEME trading tool GMGN reached its current trading volume peak on November 17, with a single-day trading volume of $72 million, second only to PHOTON ($330 million), surpassing BULLX ($67 million), making this product line the second in ranking, with daily fee income of $710,000 and daily user count of 25,000.
Please note that the content of this article reflects the personal views of the interviewee and does not represent the views of Wu Says. Wu Says does not endorse any tokens or projects; readers should strictly comply with local laws and regulations. On-chain tools carry significant security risks; readers should use them cautiously.
Why is HAZE called the "Dumbass" of meme coins?
Colin: Hello everyone, welcome to this episode of our podcast. This episode features a familiar friend, HAZE. He has been quite popular on Twitter recently, and this time we have a relatively relaxed topic. HAZE, can you start by telling us why you are called the "Dumbass Indicator" in meme coin trading? Please share with everyone.
HAZE: Hello everyone, I am HAZE, an advisor for the GMGN project. The so-called "Dumbass" is quite simple, it's just constantly trading meme coins on-chain, regardless of the scale of capital. But I think to break the conventional thinking, you still need to pay tuition. If you go into trading meme coins with some traditional secondary market mindset or value coin investment mindset, you will basically end up with a lot of losses. The tuition you owe is not a penny less, all of it was paid to the on-chain, becoming liquidity for various trading groups. That's why I lost $350,000. But this account was the first used for trading meme coins; it's a typical "tuition account." Recently, I have still been making profits. If you aren't making money recently, then you really are a dumbass, hahaha.
The origin and naming of the GMGN product
Colin: I remember that when we talked before, meme coins weren't very popular yet. You started working on this product then, right? Can you introduce the history of this product?
HAZE: It is like this; last year, I was more focused on new products, and my entire investment thinking system is product-driven. During the DeFi period, my investments were quite smooth, but this year value coins have been performing poorly. So I have been looking for new narratives. But initially, I saw the product UniBot. It solved the transaction speed problem for users on the Ethereum chain, allowing users to get some project's early costs in advance. I felt this product solved some pressing needs of users, and the business model was also good. However, after experiencing it, I always felt that products like TG Bot definitely do not offer a popular user experience.
So at that time, I was thinking, can we create a product with a great experience that allows everyone to quickly jump into projects while also making the entire visualization and experiential data intuitive and smooth? In July of last year, there was an independent team with the capability to do this, but they asked me what the product should be named. I said, let’s call it GMGN.
In terms of naming, I believe a good name is half the success. GMGN itself is something Crypto native in the on-chain community. I wanted to use some vocabulary originating from community language to name this product. I think GMGN is a very friendly, catchy, and simple name. When playing with NFTs, everyone often uses greetings like GM (Good Morning) and GN (Good Night). So we hope this product provides an excellent user experience for community users and is a friendly and approachable product, which is why we named it GMGN. Our slogan at that time was: GMGN, Degen every day.
This is a very native slogan, hoping everyone can open GMGN every day, trade on-chain, and also make money. The product's positioning and name come from this.
Migrating from the Ethereum chain to Solana, the "Mouse Warehouse" feature exploded in popularity.
Colin: Since last year, how have you slowly developed?
HAZE: Actually, we initially focused on the Ethereum chain. Because I have confidence in the Ethereum cycle. At that time, meme coins like MOG and emerging coins like BITCOIN (HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu) were rising. I thought, could we do this based on the Ethereum chain? However, during the process, I found that there were indeed some contradictions regarding user sentiment on the Ethereum chain, the effect of asset issuance, and transaction speed. Originally, we aimed for quick entry and exit with high risks and high returns, but the trading experience was not smooth enough; there were still issues. So at that time, we started considering whether we needed to switch chains. Our target chain options included Blur's Blast, Coinbase's Base, and Solana.
In January, there happened to be a wave of excitement for Solana. At that time, I observed the trend of Solana and felt that choosing Solana was more appropriate. Because Solana is more mature compared to other chains and has been around longer. After discussion with the team, we decided to prioritize entering Solana while taking Blast and Base as alternatives and fully supporting a multi-chain model. Thus, we entered Solana. However, during the wave of BOME in March, we actually didn't reap much benefit. Because the initial layout was still on Ethereum, and we didn't deploy fully to Solana in time.
Later, around April or May, after GMGN launched, I promoted it on Twitter, and users provided feedback that the board function was quite useful. Users could continuously dig into smart money addresses, analyze the operations of large holders, and conduct address assessments and data analysis. In this stage, we gradually accumulated some seed users. With seed users, the updates and iterations of product needs were more aligned with actual user needs.
What really made GMGN explode widely is the "Mouse Warehouse" feature. The inspiration for this feature came from user feedback and our intuitive feelings. On-chain asset data is so transparent, we thought we should better utilize this transparency. Therefore, we launched the mouse warehouse labeling feature. For example, when trading the same project, users are most concerned about whether this project has a mouse warehouse. After adding this feature, we could clearly label which projects have mouse warehouses.
In April and May of this year, after the launch of the "Mouse Warehouse" feature, it further propelled explosive growth based on the already good reputation of searching for smart money. Many users screenshot discussions in the community about how GMGN labels mouse warehouse data, such as how many mouse warehouse addresses a project has. This level of discussion quickly increased GMGN's popularity.
The addition of more users has also made our previous smart money address feature more popular. We have clearly labeled the data for addresses and even matched some information from Twitter. Users can also follow and annotate features.
Many users have started writing tutorials, such as "I found a smart money address, and this address made how much money," and then share how to use GMGN for data mining deeply. After this content was posted on Twitter, the results were unexpectedly good. Thus, more and more creators are making content based on GMGN's functionality. Whether in Chinese or English, many high-traffic posts on Twitter now use GMGN's board functionality.
Recently, as the meme coin market has become increasingly hot, more and more people are recommending GMGN. In the past few days, GMGN's server has been overwhelmed six times in four days.
Colin: So there were several days of downtime?
HAZE: Haha, yes, yes, yes. Server traffic surged, and there was a high demand for meme coin trading using GMGN. At that time, our development team basically didn't sleep and was working overtime to expand capacity, but still couldn't keep up with the speed of user engagement. So, the server was overwhelmed six times in just four days.
This is entirely an unexpected situation. According to our operational experience, we've actually done quite a bit of redundancy for traffic data. One can only say that the meme coin market is much hotter than we expected and also proves everyone's recognition of GMGN products. Here, I would also like to thank all the users of GMGN; it is your support that has led to this result. Of course, we will continue to work hard to optimize the server.
Colin: What is the current growth trend of user numbers? Are there any significant growth milestones?
HAZE: Overall data shows that everyone can check on-chain. Our data from the last half month indicates that trading volume soared by 600%.
Colin: What is the current team size of GMGN? How many people are there?
HAZE: About 30 people.
Reviewing safety incidents from other platforms, we will optimize our security plan.
Colin: Recently, a certain product had a security incident. What improvements will you make regarding security?
HAZE: Recently, there has been much discussion about security incidents related to a certain meme product, with various analyses and evidence surfacing on Twitter. Based on the current information, it appears that it adopted plaintext transmission for private key transfers, which is essentially a lack of security protection. Additionally, from the leaked theft process, funds were transferred one-to-one from user addresses to hacker addresses, indicating that the server was likely hijacked. Because the private key was in plaintext, once the server was breached, users' private keys were fully exposed, allowing hackers to easily transfer funds.
Regardless of the situation, security is the top priority for custodial platforms. For products like TG Bot, custodial user private keys essentially means custodial user funds. If you do this, you need to take various technical measures to ensure security, such as encrypting private key storage, establishing a comprehensive internal control system, and ensuring strict isolation measures between business servers and secure storage servers. You also need offline solutions and real-time monitoring to ensure platform security.
Assuming funds are indeed stolen, the first step is to quickly detect the problem and stop losses at sensitive nodes in a timely manner. If the scale of the theft is small, the platform can quickly compensate users with its own income. Because there is no 100% secure system, the key lies in the ability to respond quickly and compensate users. These measures can enable the platform to achieve a higher standard of security.
Our team has been very focused on security from the beginning, forming a complete professional security team. We have experienced internet waves, traded coins, and seen large capital movements, deeply aware of the "dark forest rule" of the blockchain industry. We also understand that platform security is the most basic guarantee.
GMGN provides two user experience modes. One is the TG Bot mode, where user private keys are hosted on the server to meet the strategy and speed needs of advanced users. The other is where users connect directly to GMGN's website for trading interactions through extended application wallets like Phantom or MetaMask, requiring user authorization for each operation, making this method relatively safer.
We have invested significant effort in both front-end and back-end, continuously optimizing our security mechanisms. Based on the recent security issues of certain products, we will further learn from the lessons and fill in the gaps. We will adopt a more cautious attitude to enhance the overall security of the platform.
Future development strategy: continuous entry into stable services and hot narratives.
Colin: Have you collected statistics on your market share? What is the rough ratio?
HAZE: In terms of overall market share, we should be in a relatively leading position globally. Our main competitor is Photon, which has a clear first-mover advantage on Solana. During the BOME wave, it reaped the largest benefits.
Colin: How are your future products and development strategies planned?
HAZE: Our product thinking is very simple: first, ensure that the service is stable enough; second, pursue faster and more extreme operational experiences; third, carefully record the needs raised by users and update them according to the urgency of those needs. Our goal is to make the user experience smoother and smoother, basically that's the idea.
Colin: Are you worried about the decreasing popularity of meme coins? Or after the hype fades, will there be long-term issues with your products?
HAZE: I believe GMGN initially entered from the meme coin track, but its essence is an on-chain product. Its positioning is how to closely follow on-chain hot spots and major trends to provide users with good trading opportunities and help users seize on-chain benefits. This is GMGN's core positioning. Therefore, even if meme coins gradually lose popularity or do not have the current momentum, our key lies in how to determine what the next narrative hot spot is, and the team will consider how to quickly enter.
However, it is not to say that we only focus on meme coins; it is a part of GMGN and currently the main part, but definitely not the only part. I think in the blockchain world, the switching of hot spots is very fast, and the speed of innovation is also rapid. Therefore, we cannot be biased, nor can we remain stagnant. We need to try more, explore more, and find good entry points. If we can solve users' pain points, we will enter and execute. At the same time, we will constantly correct and adjust our understanding.
If you remain immersed in your current comfort zone without breaking it, regardless of your position on any platform, over time, you may be surpassed.
Development details: "Dumbass Wallet," segmented tracks, "conspiracy groups," and trading experience.
Colin: Understood, OK. Next, there are two friends participating in the discussion, one is defioasis and the other is Yiyi. They have in-depth observations and practical experience in the meme coin industry and can further discuss some questions with you.
defioasis: I have a few questions. The first is about the indicators of the "Dumbass Wallet." Is it possible to launch a tool similar to reverse smart money, such as labeling wallets with extremely low win rates that buy at peaks?
HAZE: I think this is feasible. If we have time, we can label these wallets as ones with very low win rates. First, put me in, hahaha.
Colin: This idea seems pretty interesting, haha.
HAZE: Yes, many users who chase highs often buy at peaks, after which the price starts to fall. Thus, it can serve as a supplementary indicator for trading decisions.
defioasis: Yes, this might be a good selling indicator. The second question is, meme coins are a big track, which is further divided into many sub-tracks, such as the recent AI meme coins and DeSci. Is it possible to optimize sector classification and sector rotation functions in GMGN so that users can easily see hot spots?
HAZE: The demand for sector classification has indeed been mentioned before. Some users do not trade meme coins every day; they might hear that a certain sector is hot and want to buy in. At this time, providing intuitive displays of market capitalization and prices will be very helpful. We will consider adding these classifications in functional updates.
defioasis: There's another question. GMGN has two entry points, one is the TG Bot, and the other is the extended application wallet. Have you tracked which entry point has more users and higher transaction volume?
HAZE: We haven't done such data statistics recently.
Yiyi: I have two questions. First, the community is now particularly interested in two things besides smart money: the first is discovering "conspiracy groups," and the second is guessing who will be listed on Binance. GMGN's data analysis capabilities are very strong, especially in the smart money area. Do you have plans to further explore these related addresses, such as labeling which addresses may be involved in conspiratorial behavior?
HAZE: We have partially implemented this. We initially launched the mouse warehouse feature and later added the 'fish' label. We label suspected conspiracy wallets as 'red fish,' and the labeling logic includes: operations on multiple wallets at the same time, consistent fund transfer behaviors, etc. For example, I recently tested an address, and the data clearly showed that this address is a distribution address, labeled as 'red fish,' with an added red exclamation mark for alert.
HAZE: Additionally, we also have wallet distribution analysis features, such as labeling DEV wallet distribution behaviors with a "sniper" icon. For conspiracy groups mentioned by users, we will continue to identify and determine them through on-chain data but will try to avoid subjective labeling.
Yiyi: Understood, then my second question is, can K-line tools be combined with on-chain data? For example, if I set a time window, I want to know who is driving the rise and who is making money during a primary surge. Could this be a development direction for GMGN?
HAZE: We currently prefer to provide data functions that are universally applicable to large platforms. The needs you mentioned belong to customized functions, which require more resource investment. Our current priority is to meet the most widespread needs, but if more users propose similar needs in the future, we will evaluate and consider adding these functions.
Yiyi: What will be the focus of GMGN's next iteration? Will you launch other exciting features?
HAZE: We already have chip distribution functions, as well as wallet labeling and dispersion chart functions. The future focus will still be on improving the overall stability, speed, and experience of trading. For example, the highly requested "wallet monitoring" feature will expand from supporting 100 wallets to 500. Additionally, the monitoring and push needs of the TG Bot and channel will also be optimized. Currently, GMGN's push function experiences delays when user numbers are exceedingly high, and we will prioritize resolving this issue.
Our goal is to help users discover information faster, keep up with dynamics quicker, and complete transactions faster. Currently, updates are mainly focused on these core needs.
[Disclaimer] The market has risks, and investment requires caution. This article does not constitute investment advice; users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article fit their specific situation. Investing based on this is at your own risk.
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Original author: Wu Says Blockchain
'The new artifact for trading meme coins! GMGM tool's trading volume has exceeded 70 million, can it also help you with mouse warehouses?' This article was first published in 'Crypto City.'
