All In*
*figuratively. emotionally. not really financially, but kind of? please do not buy this memecoin unless you really know what you're doing
⚠️ Trading has been suspended until we work out an issue with the markets.
Sorry for those looking to trade but we’ve had some unexpected issues with how membership plans and listed offers work and we need to resolve them before we resume trading. Those with paid accounts can still create offers and deposit funds, but will not be able to execute trades.
The Degen Bridge
Speaking of trades… wow, where to begin with this one. There is now a semi-official KmikeyM memecoin.
I know… but hang on a second… There’s a small but active community of people trading it on Bags. They found KmikeyM and see it as a precursor to crypto culture. They move fast, trade memes, and mostly just pump and dump. It’s a chaos casino.
And of course KmikeyM is slow. I try to be more deliberate and we’ve been running for eighteen years. Can these two things coexist?
I think maybe they can? The thesis of both has a lot in common. We’re talking about things like markets as identity infrastructure, prices as signals, and having skin in the game as a filter for who shows up. The degens just got there through a different door (or maybe a better analogy would be… they broke a window and crawled in).
I wrote about this in more detail here: Welcoming the Degens
So I’m embracing this experiment. There’s an active vote right now that is to determine the Degen Community Percent. How much of the money I make from this, will go into a kind of “share buy-back” program?
I’m also testing whether my content moves the price of the coin. While my money comes as a percentage of the trading, I also invested a few hundred bucks in my own token. The current price is $0.00002022.
As the price has tanked (the fate of all memecoins?) I am currently down $357.40. Will this post boost the price by showing folks I’m in for the long haul? I think it might, and maybe that = profits? I’ll report back.
Note: I do not recommend trading this token. There are already copycat accounts and scams galore. The crypto scene is still shady! Be careful.
Blippo+ Update
The game is now available on all platforms! Mac App Store went live January 22nd — Blippo+ is also available on Mac, PC, on Steam and Switch (and of course, Playdate).
And on January 18th, Blippo+ won the Herman Melville Award for Best Writing at the New York Game Awards.
Blippo+ is such an interesting project as it relates to being a Publicly Traded Person. I spent three years working with Jona Bechtolt, Claire L. Evans, Panic, the folks at Telefantasy Studios, the amazing devs Dustin and Mark... And most of it happened in the dark. I mentioned a few things, but we wanted the launch to be a surprise, so some shareholders knew something was happening, but I couldn’t go into details.
That’s the trade off for collaboration. I sometimes have to work in this “black box” model on projects with partners who want confidentiality. The cost is that shareholders don’t get to watch it happen. The benefit is that it actually ships.
But in this case it also led to the Board of Directors, who can act as a bridge between full secrecy and full transparency. Shareholders can’t always know everything, but the board can. I’ll admit I’ve been under-utilizing them! It’s a new muscle and I need to practice it more. That’s something I’m going to work on this year.
🏆 But back to Blippo+… We’ve been nominated for four awards for the 28th annual Independent Games Festival!
We’re going to GDC in March and I’m so excited to return to the world of indie games (back in 2017 my first startup was a game studio that went through many pivots).
The Breakup
Kathryn and I have ended our relationship. It happened earlier this month and we’re still processing everything.
I’m telling you this slightly before I’m comfortable doing it because this is kind of the point of KmikeyM. Shareholders don’t just get the wins.
There is a lot to figure out, and we’re still friends, and we still care about each other.
I’ll share more on the logistics and impact of all this (very likely some votes will emerge from this) but right now I’m just kind of focusing on my immediate needs.
The memecoin really struck at the right time. It created a nice financial windfall that helps navigate all the upcoming changes, and I’m really grateful for that and all the wonderful weirdos I’ve met in that community so far.
Quick Hits
👨💻 Vibes DIY: I’ve grown the Vibes.DIY YouTube page to 509 subscribers. In the world of YouTube that is nothing, but it’s been steady growth since I started and I’m excited to keep this up.
🔰 18 Years: January 26th was the 18th anniversary of the first KmikeyM trade! The experiment is now old enough to vote and join the Army.
🎥 Documentary: A YouTube creator who has done some amazing work is doing a video doc about KmikeyM. I’ve tried to be super open and sharing old artifacts and making introductions. Kind of nervous handing over the reins of my story to a stranger, but also excited to see what happens. Check out some of their work at Atrocity Guide (I loved The Story of Ulillillia and that was done six years ago).
What’s Next
Getting the market issue fixed and back to trading.
Sharing more with you via video (posting more to my own YouTube channel).
Probably more votes as I reconfigure my life (silver lining!).
Profitably Yours,
-K. Mike Merrill