It does not happen all that often that we see cryptocurrencies undergo a rebranding. In most cases, there is no reason to do so, especially not when a team has built up a solid reputation. RaiBlocks, a project which has recently started to gain major traction, will apparently rebrand itself in the next few weeks. The currency will reportedly move forward under the name Nano, which makes a lot more sense from a marketing point of view.
Raiblocks Could use a Name Change
It is always interesting to see existing cryptocurrency projects suddenly change their names. Since this hasn’t happened all that often in recent years, it’s fascinating to explore why some choose to do so. There is no real reason to drop the RaiBlocks name all of a sudden, even though the name isn’t exactly the most flashy or marketable. Switching things up can be a good thing, as long as the core idea remains the same.
Not too long ago, we saw Antshares rebrand to NEO. Since that time, the currency has soared in value, although it is unclear if that had anything to do with the rebranding itself. All cryptocurrencies surged in value around that time, although NEO sounds a lot better than AntShares at getting people excited about the project. Marketing the name Nano rather than RaiBlocks could have a similar effect.
At the same time, using the Nano name will cause a fair amount of confusion among cryptocurrency users as well. That’s because the Ledger Nano S is one of the most popular hardware wallets on the market today. Novice enthusiasts may look for a connection between this wallet and the Nano cryptocurrency, which have nothing to do with one another. Plus, there is the risk that some people would consider Nano to be far too generic a name for a cryptocurrency. All of these concerns are more than valid, although things may work out eventually.
The big question is why this rebrand is occurring right now. RaiBlocks has seen major growth in the past few weeks, and changing its name at such a critical time is almost the same as taking two steps backward. It is evident that doing so will force all trading platforms to upgrade to the new name and client as well, which may lead to even more confusion down the line. People are used to the name RaiBlocks these days, and thus it remains to be seen if the team will actually go ahead with this.
It is important to keep in mind that this rebrand has not been officially confirmed by the RaiBlocks team at this point. Someone simply came across a website which seemingly contained information related to RaiBlocks but with a different name attached. We do know that the RaiBlocks team has a major upcoming announcement planned, although it is unclear if it involves a rebranding effort.
The world of cryptocurrency is always evolving. Projects and their teams cannot afford to stand still at any given moment. It is far more important to have proper technical fundamentals than a fancy name, though. Projects need to focus on their long-term goals, rather than become the next pump-and-dump. Over time, only the former projects will prevail, whereas the rest will disappear into obscurity. Changing the name of a cryptocurrency to something entirely new will always be controversial, to say the very least.
