What is the BALD crypto?

BALD is a cryptocurrency launched only a few days ago. 

Technically it is a token, and it was issued on a new blockchain, the Base blockchain. 

BALD’s blockchain

The blockchain on which the BALD crypto token was issued is the Base blockchain, which is the new blockchain developed by Coinbase. 

In reality, it is still only a testnet, as Base’s mainnet has not yet been launched. 

The announcement of the Base project was made in February, and in May its roadmap was announced. 

However, the problem is that the SEC has since gone after Coinbase, which has been accused of allowing the buying and selling of unregistered securities. 

Since Base’s native blockchain cryptocurrency could also have been considered an unregistered security, it is possible that the development of this new blockchain has slowed down in recent months, although after the ruling in favor of XRP, and against the SEC, the problem seems to have been somewhat mitigated. 

Base is a layer-2 for Ethereum, which is a new chain that, similar to Polygon, would like to make transactions cheaper. 

Indeed, even for Ethereum it is now clear that layer-2s will be the main solution in the short and medium term to reduce high transaction costs, and it may be exchange users in particular who will benefit most from these new scalability solutions. 

Therefore it makes perfect sense for Coinbase to work on its own layer-2, based on its own blockchain. Tokens, such as indeed BALD, could of course be created on the Base blockchain. 

The BALD crypto token

Although Base is still only in the testnet stage, tokens can already be freely created on its testnet. 

One of these is BALD, and although it has not been issued on the mainnet, it is nonetheless already tradable on crypto markets. 

In particular it is available for trading on the DEX LeetSwap, where it has already had an eventful life, even though it is still in its infancy. 

In the last few days it has also been listed on SushiSwap and SwapBased. 

It is worth mentioning that anyone can list tokens on any DEX freely, and it is not possible to prevent it from being done. 

Therefore, not only could no one prevent the BALD token from being created, but it could not even be prevented from being put up for sale on decentralized exchanges. 

It is worth noting that the BALD “project” does not even have a website, but only a Twitter profile with less than 10,000 followers. 

The problems

There have been problems with BALD tokens on LeetSwap practically from the beginning. 

Even as early as 31 July, the creators of the token were in fact calling the project a kind of survivor. 

The thing is, after an incredible initial price boom, there was a collapse afterwards. 

During the previous weekend it registered an incredible +4,000,000% in just a few hours, from the time it was issued until it reached its maximum price. 

Afterwards, it lost 99% from its highs, although then in the following days it would seem to have recovered somewhat. 

This trend suggests to many that this was a classic fraudulent pump-and-dump scheme, probably also involving someone connected to Alameda Research, i.e., the speculative arm of the failed FTX group in November. 

It is enough to think that on the day of the peak it had a trading volume of more than $100 million on a little-known DEX. 

Is the Bald crypto a scam?

According to some it would be a rugpull, or scam, organized specifically to try to damage Coinbase and its new blockchain in the works. 

However, the profile on X (formerly Twitter) is still active, denoting that its creators have not simply run off with the loot. 

However, the fact remains that the pump appeared to be manipulated, and the subsequent dump could be due to large sales of this token after it reached a very high price. 

What is certain is that it is a token that is far from transparent, since it is not known who issued it, who is behind it, or what the real purpose of its creation was. 

In theory, BALD would be a kind of meme token, dedicated to the CEO of Coinbase named Brian Armstrong. His initials are BA, and bald maybe refers to Brian Armstrong’s lack of hair. 

All this is very little to claim that this is a serious project, and this only fuels the hypothesis that it is a scam. 

Moreover, among the early holders of this token some made millions of dollars by selling it after the initial boom, which is why it is believed to have been a trivial pump-and-dump scheme to siphon off as much money as possible from the unwary speculators who bought it after the price boom on 31 July. 

On the other hand, if that was indeed all it was, the Twitter profile would probably have been abandoned, but instead it was found to be active until yesterday. 

Perhaps it was both a fraudulent pump-and-dump scheme and a plan to launch a memecoin targeting the CEO of Coinbase. 

Now that trading volumes have dropped below $3 million daily, if the price implodes again, then the project can be said to have failed. But if it were to endure, it could be described as a project that suffered a pump&dump on its inception, organized by a currently unknown figure. 

There are obviously doubts about this, if only because someone connected to Alameda Research seems to be part of the project.