Maker’s rebrand hasn’t deterred Framework
Vance Spencer says Framework won’t be going anywhere
Framework Ventures co-founder Vance Spencer
This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.
Framework’s Vance Spencer is a fan of Maker’s Sky rebrand.
I don’t know about you, but until I chatted with Spencer, I really hadn’t seen or heard anyone come out in favor of the rebrand. Most folks were either ambivalent or critical.
For Spencer — after speaking with various stakeholders — the “brand equity is actually relative to the value of a redenomination, which is just a lower unit bias. There’s a reason that stocks do this in the stock market,” he explained.
As for the naysayers, it’s simply “too early” to determine if the strategy’s even worked yet, given that no major exchange has listed SKY.
“The brand has been confusing so far, but there hasn’t been enough adoption to tell you know, one from the other in terms of, do people not like the brand, or do people not like one big fund selling their MKR, and then a general market pullback, because, right now, MKR is ripping again, and I think people you know care less about the brand or about what their perspective is when that’s the case,” Spencer said.
The tradeoff of having “something that’s more retail-oriented and lower unit bias,” is more important when it comes to the rebrand. And, to add to that, the lower retail participation so far makes it hard to get a read on success down the line.
However, this rebrand could change the story, especially paired with the potential market rally we could see if there’s regulatory clarity (and firms aren’t at risk of sudden lawsuits).
“If we assume Wall Street institutions and retail get in and they value certain things, like fundamentals, I think they’re also going to value a brand that makes sense within the context of what the project’s trying to do, which is kind of start over for this next chapter of crypto, redenominate. Fresh chart, completely transition the token to the next one, there’s probably going to be a lot of lost tokens,” Spencer said. But it’ll end up being a “clean slate.”
Despite criticisms of the rebrand, Framework won’t be going anywhere.
“This is something that we have a venture perspective on, and we’re going to hold for a long time. And I think what they’re doing is in the spirit of growing the fundamentals, which is really what we care about, because at a certain point, if you’re holding some of the last MKR, like, they’re gonna be buying it from you, and that’s kind of the market you want to create in the future,” Spencer added.
Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.
Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.
Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.
The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.
