Annual Recap Newsletter
Emerging from a parabolic rise in the crypto market almost a year ago, we've come a long way from our meme coin origin. We are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished in a short eight months. Millions of dollars donated and countless lives impacted, all powered by the community and the pursuit of a revolutionary vision: to forge a social impact ecosystem on the blockchain. However, the journey is just beginning; let’s look back at 2021, and see what we have planned for 2022.
Last year's rapid influx of capital flowing into the cryptocurrency market led to the largest boom in crypto to date. New investors flooded the market to pursue the next 'moon shot.' Influential personalities such as billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk helped put meme-coins like Doge on the map as investors flocked to whatever stock or crypto he mentioned. Then on March 25th, Musk tweeted, "If there's ever a scandal about me, please call it Elongate," and so the Elongate Token was born.
A community quickly formed around our token as we followed the parabolic market trends. However, rather than lining our pockets and running like many other predatory projects in the space, we formed a team with a radically new vision and mission. A team determined to leverage the newfound success and rapid community growth for positive social impact. Our mission to merge earning and giving was laid out to the community and quickly proven through initial partnerships with and donations to Children International, Action Against Hunger, and The Ocean Cleanup. By June of 2021, we donated over $3 million to non-profit organizations around the globe, listed on two reputable exchanges, and received praise from the philanthropist Kimbal Musk.
As the market quieted down, our team focused on utility and use-case for long-term sustainability. The hype that had started it all was not going to bring intrinsic value to the token, nor was it sustainable for long-term social impact. The company was officially incorporated, and the team got to work delivering on both short-term and long-term value for investors. A major shift began to occur, from a charitable meme-coin project to an incorporated tech development company building a social impact tech ecosystem - one that would support our mission to merge earning and social impact on the blockchain.
With incorporation completed, we began teasing our vision for the ecosystem in the lead-up to Crypto Expo Dubai 2021. We revealed the entire ecosystem in a keynote speech that earned us the Best Social Impact Project award. We had already released some small pieces of the ecosystem by this time, such as Elongate Swap and the Community Vote platform. Although we targeted the releases at the community, the major parts that targeted creators, corporations, and charities were still to come.
Throughout this entire journey, we donated large sums to some of the most impactful non-profits and organized social impact initiatives with our community volunteers across all continents. Our work with charities and initiatives never ended with just a donation. We offered a new path to exposure through our community as we showcased and highlighted their cause, forging long-term partnerships and onboarding charities to accept cryptocurrency.
As the year came to a close, we sponsored a major charity event, listed on our third exchange, founded the Blockchain Alliance (BAGG), and launched staking functionality. Tom Holland hosted a fundraiser and even called out Elon Musk to donate to our Crypto For Cures fund. Overall, this event saw EB Research reach a new milestone of $2.25 million raised, with Elongate featured alongside their CEO in a segment on LifeTime TV. Then came our listing on MEXC Global, our third exchange listing. With all the hype, December came fast; In that month alone, we finalized over five social impact initiatives worldwide. For tech releases, we ended off the year with the launch of the Elongate Staking Vault.
The team is more focused than ever on what lies ahead. We started this year with a brand and website overhaul and a fresh new vibe. Our blockchain department is expanding with new hires as we prepare for ramped-up development, and we're building out our marketing and content that goes along with it. Some of the main focuses are Spark development, Salesforce exchange launch, NFT collection, cross-chain bridge development, expansion of the Blockchain Alliance, and exploring our options for smart contract upgrades and potential token consolidation.
