πŸ“š Readings:

  • The mother of them all: a timely reminder of why we need Bitcoin. β€œIf you want to compare Bitcoin to something else, compare it to fire, the number zero, the wheel, the printing press, or electricity.” Link (and some Bitcoin books)

  • Lunch with the FT: Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, remains bullish, while the stock of his company is at an all time low. He has to. Link

  • A comprehensive reading list on web3. The rabbit hole gets deeper. Link

  • Good report by BCG on asset tokenization. Still a lot of work needed. Link

  • The naysayers are back. β€œThe end of crypto?” – The Economist and The New York Times weigh in on crypto. Link NYT Link Economist

  • Everything you care about online is an NFT. Good write up. Link

  • New frontiers in AI and generative art. Link

🚨 What caught my eyes: 

  • Bitcoin core version 24.0 released. Link | Notable changes

  • Latest Ethereum all core dev call: The upcoming Shanghai hard fork upgrade (ETA: 2023) will unlock Beacon Chain staked ETH withdrawals, and might include EIP-4844 (proto-danksharding). Proto-danksharding won't reduce Ethereum gas fees, but it will reduce the transaction costs of Layer 2 protocols.Β Link

  • World Cup NFT bonanza: NFTs in sport are still about β€œcollecting” and β€œrarity” for die-hard fans, rather than utility. Meanwhile, NFTs are gradually becoming mainstream.Β Link

  • Harvard University publishes paper that recommends central banks to hold Bitcoin. Link

  • Binance launches industry recovery fund. CZ is seizing the moment. Link Etherscan

πŸš€ Interesting Web3 start-ups:Β 

  • NiftyKit: create NFTs with no code. Link

  • Kazm: a web3 CRM system. Link

  • Rarify: metadata on NFTs across multiple blockchains. Link

  • Daylight: market directly to digital wallets. Link

  • Artemis: developer activity dashboard across protocols. Link

πŸ’‘Ideas & Take-Aways:Β 

  • The aftermath of FTX: β€œbottomless exhaustion”. The third stage of a bear market. Narratives die off. Anger is replaced by silence. I think that’s the stage we’re slowly entering. Crypto isn’t less exciting though.

Back to building an learning.Β 

Onwards! πŸš€

β€œSo remember this principle when something threatens to cause you pain: the thing itself was no misfortune at all, to endure it and prevail is great good fortune.”

– Marcus Aurelius