Is It Possible to Revive a Blockchain?

You can't throw a satoshi at a crypto market without having it bounce off a dead coin or twenty. They're everywhere. Just this week Poloniex purged a dozen or more abandoned blockchains from their market and there are still plenty left to trade if shit coins are your hearts desire. The altcoin graveyard is no secret to crypto enthusiasts, filled with hundreds of scam coins, shit coins, joke coins, meme coins and other forgotten projects. Some never had any substance and some simply lost their way, but the one thing they all have in common is a distinct lack of community and developement. I've written about dead coins before and cautioned against buying them, but now I find myself wondering: Can a dead coin be brought back to life?

It all started a few weeks ago when I came across an innocuous looking thread in r/cryptocurrency discussing a possible price increase for a little known and somewhat abandoned blockchain known as CannabisCoin (CANN). A quick google search and I was convinced that I had a front row seat to a pump and dump. CannabisCoin is a marijuana themed crypto-currency that appears to have been mostly abandoned by its developers, and a pump and dump seemed the only reason for any price movement. Interested, I began to observe CANN over the next few days. I saw it come up in several different forums with lots of speculation about sudden increases in volume on Bittrex or unusual price fluctuations, all of which are common tactics used by pumping crews to lure in unsuspecting minnows. Then came some rumors about a possible pump leading up to April 20th or perhaps starting on April 20th (4/20 is a significant number in cannabis culture) so I grabbed my popcorn and pulled up a seat. Aaaaand, nothing.

Nothing. The week of 4/20 was upon us and there had been no significant changes. The price had essentially stayed around 450 satoshis with only small dips into the high 300s and crests in the low 500s, all easily explained by dueling scalpbots. Unimpressed, I turned to reddit and BitcoinTalk to see if there were still rumors of a 4/20 pump. And then I saw the post. A group calling themselves the CannabisCoin Cooperative had posted an announcement of their intention to "rehabilitate the CannabisCoin blockchain! " and linked back to a Wordpress blog they had set up. There was a brief description of their organization and intentions as well as a link to their Slack where they organize their efforts. They were also careful to mention that they in no way represent the creators of CANN. Curious. The only other item was the mention of a coming "Road Map to Recovery" to be released on, you guessed it...4/20. Curiouser and curiouser.

My cynical side informed me that this was clearly a shameless attempt to drive prices up in anticipation of their "Road Map" and that I was now witnessing the start of the p&d. Another part of me was wondering about the contents of that Slack. So I joined. At first it seemed empty, the last response over an hour old, but after poking around a bit I noticed a chat happening on the general channel about the need for more hashing power in order to get the network running smoothly. Apparently all but one of the mining pools have dried up and they were trying to construct their own. Over the next couple of days I watched a few people trickle in, some curious and others hoping to sharpen burgeoning blockchain skills on this unusual project. I also noticed a distinct lack of a price increase.

If this was a pump and dump...it wasn't working out well. Volume spiked a few times during this period but the price stayed within its normal range. Right up until the day of the Road Map to Recovery release. At ,yup, 4:20pm (est) the blog displayed the Road Map and when I checked the price of CANN it was...down. I wasn't sure what to make of this until I noticed the price was fixed at exactly 420 satoshis. And it stayed that way with nearly half a million CANN forming the great 420 sell wall. It also appeared that someone was actively managing the price and selling down any attempts to raise it. I could find no coordination of this manipulation on the CannabisCoin Cooperative Slack but their members definitely noticed it. When I woke up the next morning I noticed that the price has risen back to it's usual 450 range with no sign of the 420 wall. Curiouser and Curiouser and Curiouser.

I have no idea what to make of all this but I do know that they are still working on restoring the blockchain, now believing a missing CLI and a non-working daemon are to blame for the wonky nature of the blockchain. There is talk of reviving the Android wallet to make it easier for patrons to use the currency as intended as well as discussions of third party applications built on top of the CANN chain. I suppose only time will reveal if this "cooperative" can restore this abandoned blockchain to any use but I have to admit that I am now fascinated by the mere effort. I will be watching this one unfold. I've included a link below to the Cooperative's Wordpress page in case anyone is curious to see for themselves.

CannabisCoin Cooperative