The $COOK Thesis 🥂 by @pedrosveiga - Co-Founder of MOIC Digital The bull market is back. When this happens, it’s time to find the hidden gems. We believe @mETHProtocol, a Liquid (Re)Staking protocol built on @0xMantle, with over $1.7B in TVL, is one of those gems. To fully unpack our thesis, we’ll dive into six key topics: 1️⃣ Market Cycle & Capital Rotation 2️⃣ The LSTFi/LRTFi Ecosystem 3️⃣ What is @mETHProtocol, @0xMantle, and the key metrics? 4️⃣ $COOK Tokenomics 5️⃣ Valuation Comparisons 6️⃣ Future Outlook Let’s jump in 👇 1️⃣ Market Cycle & Capital Rotation Financial markets operate in cycles—bullish phases, bearish phases, consolidation, and sideways trends. The crypto market is no different, but what’s interesting is the recurring 4-year cycle we've seen play out so far. If history holds, we’re eyeing a potential market peak around late 2025. Why does this timeline make sense? Consider the current landscape: • Institutional access: $BTC and $ETH are now easily accessible to institutional investors through ETFs, making large-scale participation a breeze. • Political shift: With Trump back in the presidency, expectations are high for a less restrictive regulatory environment, which could benefit crypto. • UX improvements: Crypto apps have made significant strides in user experience, a crucial factor in driving adoption compared to the last cycle. • Lower interest rates: Central banks are starting to cut rates, which could boost risk on assets like crypto • China’s stimulus: A new stimulus package from China could inject massive liquidity into the global market. This could be a game changer with a potential loosening of crypto regulations there. Shoutout to @Delphi_Digital and @Kevin_Kelly_II for providing very good insights about market cycles. If you want to learn more, I highly recommend reading this thread: Indeed, the market looks primed for a MASSIVE bull run, but it’s essential to consider the risks as well. The contra-thesis to this rally could stem from a few key factors: • Inflation surprise: If inflation comes back faster than expected, the Fed may be forced to raise rates again, which could slow the bull run. • Geopolitical risks: Escalating geopolitical tensions could shake global markets, impacting investor sentiment. Another key point to consider: right now, there are hundreds of tokens with multi-million dollar valuations in the market. This suggests that, while there’s optimism, there’s also a potential for overvaluation and market corrections. What's more, a significant portion of the 2024 bull run has been fueled by institutional investors purchasing crypto via ETPs (Exchange-Traded Products). This shift has led to more mainstream capital entering the space. In past bull runs, we’ve seen a fairly predictable capital rotation: BTC → ETH → High Caps → Low Caps → Memes However, this cycle may not play out the same way this time. A lot of the capital coming in is tied to regulated assets, which means it can’t rotate freely into non-regulated tokens. Additionally, we’re already seeing a shift in the memecoin cycle. Unlike previous runs, memecoins are moving up alongside Bitcoin—it’s a new trend! While there are risks and caveats to keep in mind, I still believe we’re set for an exciting ride ahead. But as always, it’s important to stay aware of what could go wrong. 2️⃣ LSTFi/LRTFi Before diving into mETH Protocol, let’s take a quick look at the broader LSTFi/LRTFi ecosystem to set the stage. The staking industry has exploded in recent years, and there are a few key terms you should be familiar with: • Staking: This is what secures PoS blockchains like Ethereum. The more tokens staked, the more secure the network becomes. Validators stake tokens and receive rewards in return. • Liquid Staking: Traditional staking requires you to lock up tokens, which can’t be used elsewhere in the ecosystem. Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) emerged as a solution, allowing you to stake tokens while still utilizing them in DeFi dApps and other platforms. • Restaking: Introduced by @eigenlayer, restaking allows capital that’s already staked (e.g., ETH) to be used to secure additional networks. You can stake ETH or LSTs and help secure multiple blockchains simultaneously. • Liquid Restaking: Similar to liquid staking, liquid restaking offers liquidity while restaking your assets. It allows you to lock up tokens for restaking but still maintain the flexibility to use them in the broader ecosystem via Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs). Now, let’s take a look at the current numbers in the staking space: • Staking Market (Top 10 PoS blockchains): $333 Billion • Liquid Staking TVL: $66 Billion • Restaking TVL: $24 Billion • Liquid Restaking TVL: $16.6 Billion Data via @StakingRewards and @DefiLlama. With that context in mind, let's dive into mETH Protocol and its role within the Mantle Ecosystem. 3️⃣ What is @mETHProtocol, @0xMantle and Metrics. Mantle is an Ethereum Layer 2 solution, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. What makes Mantle stand out is its $3.48 billion treasury, one of the largest in the entire crypto industry. (Though 74% of that is in $MNT tokens, it’s still an impressive figure.) The community has a direct say in the roadmap and how the treasury is allocated. This decentralized approach drives strong incentives for Mantle-based platforms and projects. mETH Protocol is one such initiative. It’s a Mantle-native Liquid (Re)Staking platform that began on Ethereum and is fully governed and powered by Mantle (L2). Let’s break down the key tokens powering mETH: • $mETH: The Liquid Staking Token – $1.7B market cap • $cmETH: The Liquid Restaking Token – It earns rewards from multiple restaking platforms – $890M market cap • $COOK: The recently launched governance token for the platform. When it comes to TVL, mETH is currently in the top 5 liquid staking projects, just behind Lido, Binance, Rocket Pool, and Jito. However, since Binance is centralized and Jito operates on Solana, mETH ranks as the top 3 liquid staking protocol in the ETH ecosystem. One interesting aspect of mETH is the ability to bridge $mETH and $cmETH from Ethereum to Mantle. Most of the Liquid Staking TVL is still on Ethereum, but Mantle is leading the charge with the most LSTs in the Layer 2 space by far. - Mantle's LST Flow: $525M - Arbitrum's LST Flow: $349M - Base's LST Flow: $362M This opens the door for more dApps to develop on Mantle, tapping into this liquidity. In short, Mantle is dominating the L2 LST ecosystem. 4️⃣ $COOK Tokenomics $COOK is the governance token for mETH Protocol. For degens, @TimeswapLabs brought the first $COOK money market, allowing users to lend/borrow using COOK. Additionally, users can earn rewards in $cmETH by locking up $COOK in the Cook Feast campaign. Token Details: • Circulating Supply: 960M • Total Supply: 5B Below is the token distribution 👇 Here’s how the $COOK token supply is vested: • mETH Protocol Community: 14.32% (fully vested) • Mantle Treasury: 4% (fully vested) • Core Contributor Team: 12-month cliff, followed by 3-year linear vesting 5️⃣ Valuation Comparison The reason why I'm bullish on $COOK is its incredibly attractive valuation compared to other Liquid Staking and Restaking protocols—whether on Ethereum or Solana. $COOK (mETH Protocol) • TVL: $2.5B • Market Cap: $20.8M • FDV: $108.5M • Market Cap / TVL: 0.00832 • FDV / TVL: 0.0434 Lido Finance • TVL: $35.28B • Market Cap: $1.6B • FDV: $1.79B • Market Cap / TVL: 0.0454 • FDV / TVL: 0.0508 EigenLayer • TVL: $17.58B • Market Cap: $670M • FDV: $6B • Market Cap / TVL: 0.0381 • FDV / TVL: 0.341 EtherFi • TVL: $8.79B • Market Cap: $527M • FDV: $2.5B • Market Cap / TVL: 0.060 • FDV / TVL: 0.2846 Renzo • TVL: $1.73B • Market Cap: $98M • FDV: $585M • Market Cap / TVL: 0.0566 • FDV / TVL: 0.338 Jito • TVL: $3.47B • Market Cap: $487M • FDV: $3.69B • Market Cap / TVL: 0.1404 • FDV / TVL: 1.064 Sanctum • TVL: $1.84B • Market Cap: $87M • FDV: $488M • Market Cap / TVL: 0.0473 • FDV / TVL: 0.265 6️⃣ Future Outlook Looking at the examples from the previous section gives us some perspective, but it’s important to note that Jito and Renzo are on Solana, which isn’t necessarily the best comparison for Ethereum-focused projects like $mETH and $COOK. That said, the opportunity is clear. I firmly believe that the market will start taking notice of the Mantle ecosystem, especially when they realize the sheer size of their $3.48 billion treasury. $mETH and $COOK are in prime positions to benefit from this growth. Potential Upside for $COOK: • If $COOK reaches the same market cap ratio as Lido, it would see a 5x increase from its current price. • If it reaches EtherFi's market cap ratio, that’s a 7.2x upside. • In terms of FDV, $COOK has even more room for growth. Compared to Renzo, there’s a 7.7x difference! We could EASILY see COOK reaching $0.1, especially considering its low market cap. While the LST/LRTFi narrative may not be at the forefront right now—given that some other narratives and tokens will likely take the spotlight during this alt season—$COOK still presents an interesting play. What’s Next? I’m personally positioned in $COOK while also diversifying into other assets. I think it’s a solid bet for the coming months, especially when the liquid staking and restaking narrative regains the momentum (which it certainly will, sooner or later). Once that narrative comes back into the spotlight, $COOK will be well-positioned to perform strongly. It could become a key asset in any well-rounded crypto portfolio. That’s it for today, guys! Hope you enjoyed the read, and I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments. Cheers! 🥂 ------------ Tagging some DeFi Chads who might be interested in this post: @0xStartt @Defi0xJeff @alpha_pls @Louround_ @DefiIgnas @Dynamo_Patrick @cryptotrader85 @DeFiVoyager_X @stacy_muur @Flip_Research @eli5_defi @Crypt0_Andrew @tombheads @thedefivillain @TheDeFinvestor @Defi_Maestro @AlphaSeeker21 @MacroMate8 @DeFiMinty @CryptoNikyous @thedefiedge @TheDeFISaint @speicherx @joshuacheong @0xjooohn @tyxfran @ricematcha

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