‘Make IOTA Great Again’: Founder Vows to Propel IOTA to New Heights

• IOTA founder Dominik Schiener has pledged to move the network to new heights in a “comeback story like the market has never seen.”
• Schiener has led initiatives to expand IOTA’s imprint in the blockchain world, from participation in EU projects to tokenizing US Treasuries on IOTA.

IOTA founder Dominik Schiener has pledged to “Make IOTA Great Again.” In an ode to Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again maxim that won him his second term as the leader of the free world, Schiener says it’s time to take IOTA back to the ‘big boys’ table it occupied for years.

“I am here to move IOTA forward to new heights. A comeback story like the market has never seen,” Schiener posted on X.

I am here to Move #IOTA forward to new heights. A comeback story like the market has never seen. #MakeIOTAGreatAgain pic.twitter.com/VcGlbvm3H3

— Dominik Schiener (@DomSchiener) November 10, 2024

Making IOTA Great Again

IOTA was once one of the frontrunners in the crypto world. As crypto went mainstream around 2017, it emerged as a major player, with its unique architecture built around Tangle setting it apart from the rest of the proof-of-work networks, which dominated the market back then. In fact, IOTA was among the top ten cryptos by market cap until May 2021 when it started to slip out as memecoins and proof-of-stake coins took over. It has since then slipped down further each year and at $473 million in market cap, it ranks 136th today behind many projects that have been around for less than three years and dozens of memecoins.

As such, the ‘Make IOTA Great Again’ campaign is long overdue. Crypto purists have often dismissed market cap and token returns, arguing that utility is what matters. However, in crypto, you have to reel them in before you solve their challenges. Memecoins are a great illustration of this phenomenon: projects like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu were dismissed for years as “just for fun” tokens despite their parabolic rises to the top. However, now that they are among the biggest projects, they have been diversifying and offering other use cases, such as Shibarium L2 from Shiba Inu and payment solutions for Dogecoin. It shows that capturing attention is critical in this ultra-competitive market, and token returns are the most obvious route.

However, token returns are just a piece of a much bigger puzzle. Utility is even more important, especially for long-term success. In this field, IOTA has not faltered, even when its price failed to catch up.

Schiener has continuously been involved in this utility campaign. Recently, his company, Realize, announced a partnership with Neovision Wealth Management, an Abu Dhabi firm, to tokenize US Treasuries on the IOTA and Ethereum networks. As we reported, Schiener targets scaling the fund to $200 million.

IOTA has also continued to explore how blockchain can improve global trade, its premier solution being TLIP. As we reported, in the past month, the UK government recognized TLIP as the best proof of how blockchain can unlock the UK’s trade potential.

Love to see governments talk about how solutions built on #IOTA can help them improve their infrastructure and increase economic output and growth. UK in this case.

This is the kind of adoption I'm here for, as it will yield to real, tangible activity happening on IOTA. https://t.co/wXRbfXirAt

— Dominik Schiener (@DomSchiener) November 7, 2024

Just days earlier, Sir Tony Blair had also endorsed the TWIN Initiative to transform Africa’s trade transformation. Blair’s Global Institute has partnered with IOTA and other stakeholders to build solutions on the network to boost Africa’s trade potential.

IOTA trades at $0.136, gaining 3.2% in the past day and 28% in the past week as the broader market reacted to Donald Trump’s landmark victory over Kamala Harris.