It's been too long!

Well hello again!!!

Today we bring you a well overdue CEN update including:

• Let Us* Explain…

• What We Have Learned So Far…

• The Future, What To Expect…

• A Final CEN Token Distribution Update…

Let Us* Explain…

Or rather let me explain, this is the Editor in Chief at CEN.

I started CEN as a career pivot from my role as a professional cyclist.

For over 20 years I have enjoyed the lifestyle of attending cycling events through the summer and using the winter months to indulge my passion for investing.

I started my investment journey in 2004. I had passed my training, learned some strategies and had some smooth gains. I remember closing my laptop to go ride my bike after making a months wages in a few hours, I was winning at life.

Later that day I returned from my smug bike ride to a margin call from my broker, literally a phone call from an annoyingly cheerful woman saying that all my trades had been closed and my account balance didn’t cover the losses.

This genius went broke in the space of a single bike ride. That was the day I learned never to use leverage.

In following years I managed to place some sound investments. I also developed several trading bots able to produce a profit, although meaningful gains were hard to achieve in slow moving traditional markets.

Then I found crypto, which offered strong gains potential without the need for leverage.

Buy and hold felt so safe, it seems strange to consider holding crypto as ‘safe’ but it really does feel safe to know I’ll never get margin called again.

After studying crypto for some time I had built up some knowledge and assets, experienced painful bear markets and euphoric bull runs.

Tribalism was strong in crypto with people passionately championing their favoured projects. Then, along came Flare, a project to unite all, to complement not only other crypto projects but to enhance the whole space by connecting Web 2 data, connecting everything.

My passion was ignited for Flare and so I decided to launch the Connect Everything Newsletter. I was ready to take a step back from my cycling career and my team were more than capable of running things without me.

Then a spate of injuries and bad fate hit the team, I had no choice but to get back on the bike and on tour.

The Cycling World Championships in Glasgow further added to my hectic schedule and I am only now finding time to reflect on CEN and ponder the future. The cycling season comes to a close in mid November and I plan to be very much retired once again!

I would like to thank you all for your support so far, the future is bright for CEN and I hope you’ll find value in our content.

^{*When I write the CEN newsletter I always refer to ‘We’, ‘Us’ and the CEN team. I conduct most of the day to day running of CEN alone, I have 2 devs and writers that I collaborate with, together we are CEN.}

What We Have Learned So Far…

We started CEN to deliver Flare news in an irreverent, easy to digest format. However, we quickly got wrapped up in the challenges of managing the CEN token distribution.

News content took a back seat as we managed bad actors. This was a mistake, we should have focused on the mission of creating content.

Still, the format showed great promise, we had over 50,000 subscribers very quickly and secured $1 per click advertising deals.

With a potential income of $50,000 per advertisement we envisaged regular price pumps of the CEN token as we allocated advertising revenue towards open market buy orders.

Monetisation of the newsletter would have come from a strong CEN token price and transparent sales of the team allocation.

However, very few clicks came through and therefore not enough advertising revenue was generated to move the token price.

Our next attempt to monetise was a subscription model, here’s the announcement if you would like to understand our logic. This option was voted against by subscribers.

Meanwhile, arbitrage bots were draining the CEN tokens value, we looked at how to fight that but all the options stinked of market manipulation.

Wash trading and market manipulation would likely have increased the CEN token value but we aren’t in that game.

In summary, we tried business models that didn’t gain traction. We had a steep learning curve around being token creators and couldn’t help but notice how easy it would be to manipulate token values if we were enticed into the seedy side of crypto.

So what now?

The Future, What To Expect…

The CEN newsletter will build momentum once again, with a fixed goal of sharing Flare news in an irreverent but informative format.

Expect content to increase as we head into November and beyond.

Advertising revenue from the newsletter will be used to finance rewards for subscribers. No longer in a structured token distribution format, instead we will issue rewards manually to individuals.

Previous advertising revenue may not have been lucrative enough to deliver token pumps but similar amounts can offer excellent rewards to individual subscribers on a regular basis.

This reward approach navigates regulatory hurdles we faced previously and allows us to apply for exchange listings for the CEN token once again.

Newsletter metrics and block explorers will allow us to reward those most engaged with the newsletter and the CEN token in various ways.

We will tweet you on X to inform you of your reward, explaining what metrics made you stand out.

With engagement in mind referrals are once again active, please find your link below.

A Final CEN Token Distribution Update…

The CEN token distribution is now complete;

Since the CEN token launch on March 16th 2023 we have distributed a total of 46,733,013 CEN tokens.

There are 21,532 CEN token holders and CEN currently sits in 13th place on the Songbird Tokens list.

On August 9th we doubled your bags to thank you for sticking with us throughout our silent summer.

On Wednesday October 18th we delivered the final CEN airdrop.

Just over 1.8 million CEN remains in the distribution wallet, this will be used to deliver CEN rewards manually for honest referrals.

Should newcomers to the newsletter wish to gain access to rewards and prizes then they’ll have to purchase CEN tokens from you guys on the open market.

Ooosh that was a heavy one! Thank you for letting us bend your ear. Next time we invade your inbox it will be with delightful nuggets of bitchin banter.

Until then old friend!