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Good morning my lovely & soon to be friends in web3,
I tried to think of a clever way to begin this newsletter, but ended up methodically sipping my burning hot coffee for the last 15 minutes. Let's just get to the news, shall we? I never liked small pleasantries anyway.
The Prince Of Crypto Goes Mainstream
Every industry has its trailblazers. Michael Jackson. Elvis Presley. Steve Jobs. These people are icons, even gods to a certain extent (no, not you Kanye).
What about crypto, then? In a world so decentralized, where power is distributed among so many, is there even room for a "King" in the industry? Maybe not room for a King, but perhaps a Prince, a young figure widely admired for his expertise and vision while inhibited from claiming an omnipotent throne.
Well, according to the front of TIME Magazine this week, Vitalik Buterin is that prince. It's about time we make Vitalik the centerpiece of our newsletter, for ignoring his presence would be like turning a blind eye to a young Bill Gates in the 80s.
Who's Vitalik?
A seemingly normal dude. Normal at least relative to the rest of the technology industry: he doesn't have an ego, seems unmotivated by money, and cares deeply about the ethical underpinnings of new technologies. As a kid, Vitalik was exposed to the inadequacies of centralized services when a feature in the popular video game World of Warcraft was abruptly seized from his account.
As any teenager might respond, Vitalik sought to uproot the flawed system he grew up obeying. At the young age of 21, Vitalik co-created Ethereum, the world's largest infrastructure for decentralized applications worth roughly $400 Billion. Now, the college dropout and millenial billionaire is perhaps the world's most highly regarded thought leader on topics of decentralization, blockchain technologies, and ethical management.
Vitalik was even praised by Tom Brady last week, even though he had no idea who the acclaimed NFL quarterback was. The next time someone asks you who your favorite person is crypto is, fear not: it's the sweet, funny, and, yes, immensely nerdy dude who dresses up in Buffy costumes at technology conferences.
In Other News ...
→ Instagram NFTs: In a chat at SXSW, Mark Zuckerberg (Vitalik's mean older brother), announced Instagram's plans to introduce NFTs into the company's core photo and video sharing service.
→ ApeCoin ($APE) 🦍 : Yuga Labs, the Berkshire Hathaway of NFTs and team behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, announced the launch of ApeCoin, a token for their digital community and metaverse, which they teased in this sick trailer.
→ Rocky's NFTs: Sylvester Stallone, aka Rocky, aka my childhood hero, is launching an NFT collection of 9,997 generative digital art pieces that celebrate his career. Some of the NFTs will contain utility like the ability to have dinner with the actor or attend a virtual movie screening.
→ $2.6B 🤑: NFT startups have raised over $2.6 Billion over the past 12 months, up over 25X from the previous 12 months. That's over 5% of what the global art market is valued at...
Projects We're Keeping An Eye On 👀
→ The Network State: How to Start a New Country by Balaji Srinivasan: Okay, if there were a god in crypto it would actually be Balaji. He's probably the smartest person I've listened to. His recent book is about how to build new cities and countries (crazy, right?!). Early adopters of the book will receive a commemorative NFT after it launches.
→ Tokenomics 101 by Invisible College: The team at Invisible College is offering a free crash course that will cover the basics of tokenomics and provide an evaluation framework that you can use to evaluate crypto investments. Register here to attend.
→ Getting Paid to Learn Crypto: 101.xyz: Our friend Tim Connors is building 101.xyz, a platform where you learn about crypto and earn rewards and badges. Yup, getting paid to learn. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Check out their beta here:
→ A Dating Show For Web3: Bestie Devin Lewtan is the co-founder of mad realities, an interactive dating show where the community and audience decide what happens in the show. Like Love is Blind but you get to choose who dates who.
web3 content we’re munching on 🍿
That's all for this week. We'll be dedicating an entire newsletter to some sick (& profitable) bounties this Sunday. Make sure you're subscribed to stay in the loop.
Sincerely,