Smile Coin - Algorand Deep Dive
Last Reviewed: August 2023
This article is about Smile Coin on Algorand. Smile Coin (SMILE) was one of the first officially approved Algorand Standard Assets (ASA). If you weren't sure what an ASA was, you can check this post out.
In this article, I'll try to answer some questions like "What was Smile Coin?" and what happened to it. This was the first post of a series called "Algorand Deep Dive", where AlgoDaddy researches deeper into officially verified ASAs and then tries to mediate the information in an easily-digestible way to the reader, as well as presenting a short discussion or comment on the project at hand. Let's get started.
What Was Smile Coin on Algorand?
In a nutshell, Smile Coin aimed to decentralize gaming (not the video games sort of gaming, but betting & gambling) - or rather the gaming activity. The SMILE team was developing the infrastructure for an open and public platform where users could view, manage, and track their gaming activity. Smile Coin was founded by Nick Bucheleres, Taj Tarsha, and Robert Burden in early 2021.
Decentralized Gaming
Back then, individuals who participated in betting and gambling were under the rule of the gaming platform they used. These platforms were usually not compatible with each other, and the end-user was subject to the company controlling and (potentially) limiting the amount of data that was available to them. Some platforms did it better, some worse - but in the end, it was a centralized system, which could not provide full transparency to the extent a fully decentralized platform would. The gambling and betting industry was notoriously shady, and a decentralized system would have been a breakthrough in the gaming ecosystem.
Seamless transactions and low fees
This was where the Algorand blockchain technology shone! The development of Smile Coin was initially started using the Ethereum blockchain ERC-20 system, however, due to high transaction fees and congested systems, they migrated to the Algorand platform in Q2 2021.
AI-System to improve user performance
In addition to letting the user manage and control their gaming data, the Algorand blockchain-based network would have allowed AI tools to optimize performance for the end-user. Why was this exciting? In the Smile Coin Portfolio, the AI would have been used to analyze profits and losses from all platforms where you used Smile Coin, so that you could optimize your prediction strategy and increase profitability. Every gambler wanted better odds.
Streamlined Finance for Betting Companies
Now let's stray away from end-user benefits for a second and talk about why the SMILE platform was interesting for gaming companies. The Smile Coin team was preparing to offer streamlined financing for gaming companies, as well as enabling alternative payment solutions and processing.
What Happened To Smile Coin?
Despite its promising beginnings, Smile Coin faced a series of challenges that ultimately led to its demise. As of the last update in February 2023, the project had stopped posting on Twitter, and its website was no longer operational. The project's removal from the Algorand Foundation's website further indicated its decline.
Notably, the cryptocurrency downturn through 2022 hit Algorand and all its projects hard, causing significant financial difficulties. The damage from Algorand's price plunge likely played a crucial role in cementing the project's death. It's unfortunate to see such potential go unrealized, but the volatile nature of the crypto space can be unforgiving, even to creative initiatives like Smile Coin.
Previous Roadmap, Before The Collapse
Since its origin in early 2021, there had been plenty of improvements on SMILE, though the project was still in its infancy, being only a couple of months old. Nonetheless, it had its support from the Algorand Foundation. That being said, one point of criticism had been the low rate of interaction and outreach on social media by the team.
At the time, Smile Coin was used on one betting platform known as Grin Gaming. They offered prediction possibilities for both traditional sports and e-sports. However, it was only available to US citizens.
The most interesting upcoming news should have been the launch of the SMILE dApp (decentralized application) planned for Q4, which would have greatly improved the user experience and use case for Smile Coin. The previous roadmap below.
Conclusion and Discussion
The Smile Coin project was building a platform to decentralize the betting & gambling industry, and in order to achieve this, they had chosen the Algorand protocol to allow for cheap and secure transactions. SMILE was still in its infancy, so what happened to Smile Coin? It most likely collapsed due to the downturn of the market.
Additionally, the use case was unsurprisingly limited, but the idea and project itself were unique and provided plenty of benefit and usage down the road.
