Smile Coin - Algorand Deep Dive

Smile Coin on Algorand

We're back with this weeks hot topic - Smile Coin on Algorand! Smile Coin (SMILE) was one of the first officially approved Algorand Standard Assets (ASA). If you're not sure what an ASA is then check this post out. I'll try to answer some questions in this article like "What is Smile Coin?" and "How to buy Smile Coin?". This is basically the first part of a new series called "Algorand Deep Dive" where I research deeper into officially verified ASA's and then try 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.

What is Smile Coin on Algorand?

In a nutshell Smile Coin aims to decentralize gaming (not the video games sort of gaming, but betting & gambling) - or rather the gaming activity. The SMILE team is developing the infrastructure for a open and public platform where users can view, manage and track their gaming activity. Smile Coin was founded by Nick Bucheleres, Taj Tarsha and Robert Burden in early 2021. 

Decentralized Gaming

Right now individuals who participate in betting and gambling are under the rule of the gaming platform they use. These platforms are usually not compatible with each other, and the end-user is subject to the company controlling and (potentially) limiting the amount of data that is available to them. Some platforms do it better, some worse - but in the end it's a centralized system, which can not provide full transparency to the extent a fully decentralized platform would. The gambling and betting industry is notoriously shady and a decentralized system would be a break-through in the gaming ecosystem. 

Seamless transactions and low fees

This is where the Algorand blockchain technology shines in! 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 own gaming data, the Algorand blockchain-based network will allow AI-tools to optimize performance for the end-user. Why is this exciting? In the Smile Coin Portfolio the AI will be used to analyze profits and losses from all platforms where you use Smile Coin, so that you can optimize your prediction strategy and increase profitability. Every gambler wants better odds.

Streamlined Finance for Betting Companies

Now let's stray away end-user benefits for a second and talk about why SMILE platform is interesting for gaming companies. The Smile Coin team are preparing to offer streamlined financing for gaming companies, as well as enabling alternative payment solutions and processing. 

Where can I buy Smile Coin?

Smile Coin can be obtained or purchase in 3 different ways, as described below:

1. MEXC Exchange SMILE/USDT

Smile Coins can be bought through the exchange MEXC (allows non-KYC registration for up to 5 BTC total withdrawal every 24h). However you can only trade SMILE/USDT, which means that you'd have to first send another crypto currency supported by the platform (e.g ALGO or LiteCoin) to the MEXC wallet, then trade it for USDT, which can subsequently be used to buy SMILE.

2. Tinyman liquidity pool

Tinyman is a decentralized trading protocol (a DeFi liquidity pool) which allows all ASAs on the Algorand protocol to be swapped in-between each other swift and safely. Smile Coin is an officially verified token by the Algorand Foundation - you can swap ALGO for SMILE on Tinyman here. The pool liquidity seems healthy at the moment of writing this article.

3. Staking on the Yieldly platform - SMILE for SMILE, or Yieldly for SMILE

The Yieldly Finance app allows users to earn Smile Coin. Do note that the APY is prone to fluctuation and given numbers are estimates for the time-period when this article was posted.

1. Stake Yieldly token -> Smile Coin (est. 30% APY)

2. Stake Smile Coin -> Smile Coin (est. 101% APY)

Future out-look

Since it's origin in early 2021 there has been plentiful of improvements on SMILE, though the project is still in it's infancy, being only a couple months old. Nonetheless it has it's support by the Algorand Foundation.

That being said one point of criticism have been low-rate of interaction and outreach on social media by the team. Lately this is progressively increasing, and those who are interested should be sure to read the Telegram group and follow Smile Coin on twitter, where interaction is more frequent than on the subreddit. 

At the moment Smile Coin is used on one betting platform known as Grin Gaming. They offer prediction possibilities for both traditional sports and e-sport. At the moment it's only available to US citizens.

The most interesting up-coming news should be the launch of the SMILE dApp (decentralized application) planned for Q4, which will greatly improve user experience and use case for the Smile Coin. See the roadmap below. 

Social Media - Smile Coin

You can follow the project on the official Social Media platforms. Most activity is seemingly taking place on Telegram and Twitter.

Twitter - Smile Coin (@SmilecoinUS)

Telegram - Telegram @Smilecoin invite

Reddit - Smile Coin Subreddit

Discord - Smile Coin (Discord Server)

Conclusion and Discussion

The Smile Coin project is building a platform to decentralize the betting & gambling industry, and in order to achieve this they have chosen the Algorand protocol to allow for cheap and secure transactions. SMILE is still in its infancy and at the moment use case is unsurprisingly limited, but the idea and project itself is unique and provides plenty of benefit and usage down the road. It's in active and constant development, and we can expect interesting news short-term in Q4. This puts SMILE in the group of other top ASA projects to closely follow, among the ranks of Headline, Opulus and Algogems.

While the Smile Coin price as been on recent decline, it does not seem to reflect the true value of a project of this size, given it's constant progression while being backed by the Algorand Foundation. With the upcoming release of the dApp and more partnerships to be announced, it's a Algorand token that should be on everyone's radar.

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I hope you found the first post of my new series "ASA Deep Dive" interesting. If you enjoy the blog consider buying me a coffee with ALGO, which supports further research and articles for the Algorand community.

Happy Sunday to all my fellow Algoneers - Algo and Out!

AlgoDaddy