Obsidium’s (OBS) timing may be unenviable, launching in the middle of a large crash in the market. Despite this, they’ve done well and reached a price-per-unit of $0.62 before settling. New token launches became so prolific during the recent boom that many projects struggle to gain any attention whatsoever – making Obsidium’s emergence even more impressive. In part, this is due to a potentially novel mechanism built into their platform. Titled the “Zero Initial Supply” system, it may mitigate one of the many problems associated with new tokens.
Obsidium is a Layer-2 platform built on top of the Binance SmartChain – but one that provides a platform for additional layers. Projects built using Obsidium’s will effectively become Layer-3 tokens, potentially adding a degree of confusion to the process. Considering the stated goals of Obsidium’s development team, the decision to launch as a BSC project seems short-sighted. As a layer-1 protocol, their issues would be alleviated.
Obsidium: Zero Initial Supply
As part of Obsidium’s theoretical ecosystem, new projects would launch with no initial supply – as the title suggests. Users would instead stake OBS to “mine” new tokens, thereby creating supply directly with demand. This would prevent the glut of tokens that new projects create, often hamstringing themselves with overambition.
Obsidium intends to entice developers by offering a library of modular pre-built functionalities. This would allow developers to quickly reach a minimum viable product phase, launching early to the public through the Obsidium platform. These pre-built modules range in use from auctions and staking to lotteries and NFT loot systems.
The Dangers of Feature Creep
The greatest threat to continued success for Obsidium appears to be feature creep. The development team’s stated goal includes layer-2 solutions for cross-chain bridges, decentralized applications, NFTs, exchanges, launchpads, and integration with the ever-nebulous metaverse. While ambition is necessary when launching a product, a narrow focus prevents overpromising.
Currently, Obsidium offers none of these features, harkening back to the 2017 days of smoke and mirrors with new token launches. If Obsidium manages to successfully roll these products out over time, it will easily earn its current market cap. If not, they will follow many of the projects that disappeared during the last crypto-winter.
