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A Deeper Look at Castle, who we are, what we do, and how you can join our collective

The Castle Chronicle: Volume 77

AuthorAuthorAuthor

CJ CJ, Atomist & Francesco
July 10, 2024 • Est. Reading Time: 13 minutes

A bit of a different vibe this week, we are giving you the first scoop on our new dive into what castle really is… with the Key News coming at the end.

⚔️ A Call to Arms

Think you have what it takes to enter the Castle and contribute to funding and advising projects across the space?

What is Castle?

Castle Capital is a research collective deeply rooted in the on-chain world. Our members are not simply market participants, but a blend of on-chain natives who are active contributors to the ecosystem across multiple verticals.

This diversity ensures a solid base of expertise across various sectors in the space, from the technical intricacies of a product stack to the user behavior across different chains. Our niche lies in our deep and unique resonance within on-chain communities and crypto culture in general, paired with the research-focused lens through which we view the ecosystem.

We don't just observe; we engage, interact, and evolve with the space.

We are a community-first collective, and many of our operations are not outward-facing. The client/public-facing organization is empowered by a strong research-focused community. Within these walls, we operate as a meritocracy, where members have the opportunity to contribute, provide value, and be recognized. We reward people for their hard work and accomplishments, regardless of their background.

Here are the core areas members are encouraged to get stuck in (and where you could too):

  • Leading and supporting community initiatives

  • Contributing to advisory services and consultancy

  • Performing due diligence on potential dealflow

  • Writing institutional-grade research or opinion pieces

  • Supporting the growth of our newsletter as an author

  • Representing the collective in governance forums

What's our vision?

Our vision is to embed ourselves as a trusted organization in the crypto ecosystem, consistently delivering high-value research and advisory services to protocols and DAOs while prioritizing openness and transparency.

How did it start, and how did we get here?

Castle was created in November 2021 as a hub for crypto researchers, analysts, and investors to discuss trade ideas and critique investment theses. Formed during a critical period after the second BTC peak and the onset of the bear market, the group focused on excelling through the lows. Over time, we grew by adding impressive members who proved their worth publicly, in private groups, or on-chain.

As 2022 came and went, we evolved from a relatively stealth group into a more visible entity, accelerated by the launch of our newsletter, The Castle Chronicle, in January 2023. Soon after, we began delving into long-form content publications, enhancing our reputation as a research collective.

As the lows of the bear were forming, and the slow crab market was taking hold, the next logical step was to venture into dealflow, recognizing the growing appetite from teams to raise from native communities and DAOs vs. larger VCs in a push towards grassroots and more decentralized fundraising.

Meanwhile, we found success servicing teams in the space, particularly those with strong technical backgrounds but who struggled to communicate effectively with native audiences. Since then, our primary focus has been on advisory, consultancy, and marketing services dedicated to teams across crypto.

Accomplishments and Involvement

Advisory

  • Worked with 10+ clients generating over 6 figures of revenue — including Curvance, Aark Digital, Level Finance, and the Arbitrum DAO

  • Secured an Advisor role in Arbitrum’s Long-term Incentive Program Pilot (LTIPP) and Short-term Incentive Program Bridge (STIP.b), having won over 110M ARB votes

    • Advised 70+ teams in their application and incentive design achieving the highest approval rate of any advisor — we are currently in the process of supervising successful applicants in their distribution to maximise impact during the 12 week incentive period

Newsletter

  • Over 76 volumes over 1.5 years of continuous weekly publishing

    • Grown organically throughout the bear market to 2,500 subscribers with open rates >36% and click rates >20%

  • Had over 20 authors in the publication

Research Reports

  • Published 15 research reports across a range of topics (Governance, Modular, Protocol-Specific, DeFi) from notable researchers

Governance

  • Active delegates in both Arbitrum and GMX governance

  • During the initial Arbitrum Short-term Incentive Program (STIP), we were one of the only vocal delegates in the forums, providing feedback to over 45 teams out of 100+ applicants. From this group, 35 projects engaged with us in the forum, resulting in 21 updates to proposals. Of these updates, 14 lowered their requests, totaling 12.37M ARB saved for other protocols - https://twitter.com/Castle__Cap/status/1721158651161760071

  • Were awarded OP in the RetroPGF 3 for our research and education contributions

  • Successfully secured 1 of 12 positions on the Arbitrum DAO’s Multi-Sig Service (MSS) demonstrating delegates’ trust in Castle

Other

  • Attended events and represented the industry across the globe (Tokyo, Taipei, Paris, Singapore, Milan, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Dubai, Brussels)

Roadmap

  • Advisory: We are currently focused on delivering high impact results for our clients. This mainly consists of supporting teams in their go-to-market and marketing strategies as well as championing the Advisor role within Arbitrum’s incentive programs.

  • Newsletter: We are in the midst of re-purposing our growth strategy and plan to pour more resources into this branch moving forward

  • Research: Currently being revamped, our research arm is expanding to ensure consistent and high-quality content — give us a shout if you want to get involved

  • Governance: Our involvement around the Arbitrum DAO (and other DAOs) continues to grow, and this should see no sign of slowing

What is our objective in the future?

Whilst you can expect to see us making strides in all the above areas, there are a few new avenues you may see us exploring publicly soon enough:

  • Social Graph/Scraper Product: Behind the scenes**,** we have been building one of the most comprehensive social graphs of CT — the exact output of this is TBD and is being discussed internally, maybe this interests you?

  • Open and Competent Data Services: With the plethora of DAOs, incentive programs, points campaigns, trading competitions, and more, it’s hard to keep up with everything on-chain — we believe these opportunities should be clear, open and accessible to everyone

How to get involved?

Castle is always open to new applicants searching for a new home!

We are seeking passionate and dedicated individuals eager to become active members of our vibrant community. At Castle Capital, we believe in the power of collaboration and collective knowledge to drive innovation and progress within the space. If you share this belief and are willing to continually immerse yourself in crypto, we invite you to join our community and actively contribute to its growth.

As a member of Castle Capital, you will have the opportunity to:

  • Engage in meaningful discussions with fellow crypto enthusiasts: Share your insights, exchange ideas, and learn from the expertise of others within our community.

  • Contribute your knowledge and skills to collective projects: Collaborate with fellow members to develop innovative solutions, tools, and resources that benefit the broader crypto community.

  • Share your ideas with the world: Utilise our brand’s platform to showcase your knowledge and expertise and contribute to advancing the crypto landscape.

How can users contribute?

Along with joining the collective, we encourage all members to be active in our growth. This varies depending on each member's skillset and current path in the industry and life as a whole.

These areas are almost too many to list: community operations, dealflow due diligence, client-facing advisory work, sharing and compiling alpha, unlocking new networks, writing in our newsletter and research publications, supporting our data and developer groups, strategising our business operations, and many more!

Want to have a real impact at Castle?

Here’s how to get involved to help us take things to the next level:

  • Writers & Content Creators: Whether short-form or longer, we want more writers and creators in our mix. Many shapes and sizes can fit into our flows, from newsletters to threads and from ghostwritten articles for protocols to institutional-grade research around tech stacks and ecosystems.

  • Newsletter & Social Lead: We are looking for a hungry writer/marketer/strategist to grab the bull by the horns and lead the Castle Chronicle and Castle’s Twitter to new heights and beyond. This would encompass marketing strategy, newsletter collabs, partnerships, referral programs, sponsors, ads, etc., all tied up with creating and publishing content across platforms using the collective and a fountain of inspiration and delegation.

Want to get in touch about any of the above?

Whether interested in joining our community, contributing to Castle or a protocol looking for support, reach out to us here on DMs, or directly with @0xatomist or @francescoweb3

blowing a horn calling on his army

/imagine prompt:A knight in shining armor with sword on a hill looking out over a castle:: Setting is in rural France:: Early morning, golden hour, bright, photorealistic --v 5.2 --ar 2:1 -

🔑 Key News

Major Headlines

  • German government selling BTC again

  • Second largest liquidation day happened after FTX's collapse

  • Mt. Gox started repayments

  • Taiwan Mobile receives crypto exchange license

  • Celsius suing former users who withdrew money 90 days before their bankruptcy

  • Messari going after SEC

  • Tether developing decentralized AI models

  • 21Shares and Vaneck file 19b-4's for spot Solana ETF

Project Updates

Interesting Projects

  • Nudge: Reallocating assets, liquidity, and activity onchain

  • 246: Lending Restaking primitive on Aave

  • Mellow ALM: Permissionless active liquidity management toolkit

  • Babypie: Magpie’s liquid staking services for Bitcoin using Babylon Chain

  • Hyperlend: Money market on Hyperliquid’s EVM chain

  • Demether: Enabling zero-cost access to TVL for blockchains

Courtesy of CJ - check out his telegram channel for daily news, projects updates and new releases

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The central hub for anything crypto:

Thanks for reading, please give us a follow on Twitter at @Castle__Cap to learn more about our services.

Virtually yours,

The Castle

In our newsletter, we may discuss projects or tokens in which we hold positions. While we aim to provide informative content, our views are not financial advice. Please conduct your research and consult professionals before making investment decisions. Crypto markets are volatile, and past performance doesn't guarantee future results. Invest responsibly, and be aware of the risks. Your capital is at risk, and we do not accept liability for any losses.

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