An in-depth look at what’s coming (hint: TGE).

The latest Midweek with Max opened on a familiar note: Rick balancing humor and chaos, broadcasting from a fortress of boxes and Christmas trees as he moves house. Amid the clutter, he shared a surprise—four winners, not two, for the Hemi birthday card contest. A three-way tie made that decision easy. Upvotes ruled.

After a few jokes and reminders that he’s not sick—just on a different mic—John turned the mic over to Hemi co-founder Max Sanchez for the real update: Hemi is in the home stretch. Smart contract audits for the staking system are back and being finalized. The updated Hemi Network V2 tag is almost ready. New Optimism and op-geth images are coming. Testing is underway. Releases are imminent.

Most importantly, the long-awaited hBitVM white paper is just about finished. Formatting is being finalized. The conclusion is nearly done. Expect its release “very, very soon”—possibly before the week is out. Alongside that, an AMA is planned to dig into the paper’s contents and implications.

Tokenomics and TGE: The Answers Are Almost Here

Yes, people asked. A lot. Max answered, again: Tokenomics information is coming. The economics are finalized. The presentation layer is being built. Expect details within days. Same goes for TGE. There’s no date to announce yet, but the gears are turning. Third-party issues are resolving. Timelines are being locked in.

As for LP points on Absinthe: a full audit is underway. There were anomalies—like Tether Gold not syncing right. Absinthe is re-indexing now. Manual snapshots are being compared. Points will shift. Expect quirks in the next 48–72 hours. Don’t panic. And yes, Ukrainian node runners are part of this too. The audit caught their exclusion, and they’re being worked back in.

The HemiBTC Tunnel, Today and Tomorrow

Someone asked Max to explain the Bitcoin tunnel system. He did—but not for five-year-olds. The current system uses vault operators who collateralize Bitcoin custody and get liquidated if they misbehave. The future system—built around BitVM and covenant emulation—is trustless and secure, relying on multisig setups where even one honest party protects the network.

What makes Hemi’s approach unique is how it bridges Bitcoin and Ethereum consensus. Most BitVM systems suffer from potential miner-based ransom attacks due to superblock manipulation. Hemi avoids this by baking Bitcoin state directly into the ZK proofs using its upgraded Proof-of-Proof system. This eliminates the miner risk and secures the withdrawal flow.

In short: Hemi is solving a major design flaw in the BitVM2 model. Expect the full breakdown in the white paper soon.

On the Token’s Utility

The HEMI token isn’t just governance window dressing. It’s already being used to incentivize Proof-of-Proof miners. After TGE, it will support decentralized sequencing, data publishing, covenant emulation, Bitcoin tunnel collateral, and L3 infrastructure like shared sequencing and data availability. It’s a token with teeth.

On Hemi Hatchlings and NFTs

For those wondering, the Hemi Hatchlings weren’t meant to be profound. They were an experiment—a blend of art and code that evolved alongside Bitcoin finality. Cute, effective, and a signal to the community: fork it, build your own version, show what else is possible with finality-aware NFTs.

Contest Winners, Meme Theft, and Singing Roles

The meme contest had four winners, all decided by raw upvotes. Prizes were limited to Discord roles and XP this time. Bigger rewards will come post-TGE. And yes, there was a call for someone to sing live for the Rap God role. No one did. Maybe next time.

Finally, the Hemi Alliance continues. New missions drop Monday. A few community NFTs are still minting. Some surprise DAOs are emerging from old NFT collections. People are even building a Pac-Man-style Hemi game. Creativity’s flowing.

Stay tuned. The next AMA will include a deep dive into the hBitVM white paper. TGE is close. Tokenomics are around the corner. Hemi keeps shipping.