A revamped version of Bubblemaps, a blockchain analysis and visualization app, aims to help cryptocurrency plebs identify the whales, using AI and other new features.
Bubblemaps was launched in 2021 to provide blockchain users with a simplified way to understand the supply distributions of various digital assets. The platform’s latest update seeks to increase transparency in the crypto market by uncovering token ownership patterns that could indicate centralization or manipulation.
“On-chain data deserves more attention,” said Nicolas Vaiman, CEO of Bubblemaps, in an interview with CoinDesk. “It is the lifeblood of the system. However, it is widely overlooked by the majority of crypto users because traditional tools are complex and overwhelming.”
Bubblemaps occasionally publishes its research online. In a widespread investigation, the platform revealed how venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has disproportionate control over the supply of UNI – the governance token for Uniswap, a popular decentralized exchange – and is positioning it to significantly influence the development of the project.
When influencers Andrew Tate and Iggy Azalea launched speculative tokens, Bubblemaps published reports showing that the tokens were more centrally controlled than claimed. In many cases, the platform showed how creators of popular meme coins spread their ownership across multiple wallets to evade accusations of insider control.
What’s new
Bubblemaps displays the top holders of crypto tokens as nodes in a graph: ‘bubbles’ whose size corresponds to the ownership stake. The platform analyzes transaction histories to find connections between wallets and form ‘clusters’ that approximate individual entities.
The new version of Bubblemaps adds a “time machine” that allows users to view snapshots of how tokens were distributed at different times. The upgraded app also uses AI to power the ‘magic nodes’ feature, which discovers links between blockchain addresses that would have gone unnoticed in older versions of Bubblemaps.
The AI “cleans the data,” Vaiman says, allowing the platform to “reveal clusters that were hidden” in Bubblemaps V1.
Another major update in Bubblemaps V2 is the addition of cross-chain support, allowing users to analyze asset supply across multiple blockchains. For example, the stablecoins USDC and USDT exist on multiple chains, and there are ‘packaged’ versions of bitcoin on the Ethereum and Base networks. Previously, Bubblemaps displayed ownership of a given item in one chain at a time; The new version allows users to view the ownership of multiple chains at the same time.
“Version 2 is essentially the vision we’ve had for a long time,” Vaiman said. “I don’t think we’re going to expand this much further.”
Now that Bubblemaps has achieved its vision, the CEO says his team is turning its focus to expanding into new blockchains. The Bubblemaps V2 tool is launched with support for blockchains based on Ethereum’s Virtual Machine (EVM). Support for Solana is coming soon, and other chains will follow.