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- You've Been Losing Money 💵
good morning friends!
Welcome to the 67 new subscribers who have joined us last week—you're in the right place! Join 993 of our friends curious about Web3 by subscribing here:
On Monday we published our first ever deep dive titled "Layer3: The Future of Work in Web3".
In the piece I discuss how the our work landscape is evolving, why DAOs are perhaps the most important innovation this decade, and how Layer3 is bridging the gap between contributors and DAOs.
If you want to learn about what DAOs are and how to get involved with them, this is the piece for you. As always, no crypto jargon, just plain English. 💜
Cash Is Losing You Money
You've been losing money. A lot of it. But it's not your fault, unless you've been buying random and kooky NFTs recently like I have.
Ever heard the phrase "Cash Is King"? It's wrong. Very wrong, in fact. This January, inflation in the US increased to a 7.5% annual rate, the highest in 40 years. This means that if you held cash over the past year (most Americans hold ONLY cash), the value of your money decreased by 7.5%. Let me explain:
My 10th grade history teacher once gave me the best definition for inflation: too much money chasing too few goods. In the real world it looks something like this:
In 2020, the US government printed trillions of US Dollars to save the economy from collapsing. But they kept printing in 2021. And in 2022. There was more money in the economy than ever before. And yet, people weren't consuming more. Thus, with too much money chasing too few goods, prices rose, like the price of rental cars surging 43% in 12 months (random, I know). Supply and demand baby.
So, while grocery and furniture prices rose, the $10,000 under your mattress stayed at $10,000. You didn't technically "lose" money, but the value of that money went down 7.5% to $9,300.
You get the point: printing money out of thin air can backfire. Enter crypto, a currency that's rule-based and decentralized, meaning a few bad actors in Washington lack the power to drain a currency of its value.
The most powerful cryptocurrency, as you probably know too well, is bitcoin. Last week the 19 millionth bitcoin was mined, and less than two million more bitcoin will enter circulation forever.
This is because the supply of Bitcoin is fixed, unlike the supply of the US Dollar. Bitcoin is a currency whose constitution, or rules, exist in immutable code (cannot be changed). Those rules are enforced by nodes, or a network of computers that interact with each other to make sure the network operates smoothly. One of those rules is preventing the issuance of bitcoin above its 21 million supply cap.
Due to its volatility, Bitcoin might never become the world's reserve currency (sorry BTC maxialists), but its scarcity and predictable monetary policy certainly make it a legitimate store of value.
Its features of decentralization and scarcity also tease an entirely new global financial system, one immune from fallible policymakers and governments.
Read more about the 19 millionth Bitcoin mining here:
In Other News ...
→ OpenSea Is Adding Solana: According a 16-second trailer on Twitter, OpenSea has plans to integrate the Solana blockchain into its NFT marketplace, a widely expected move given Solana's popularity and low transaction fees compared to Ethereum.
→ MetaMask & Apple Are Teaming Up: MetaMask, a cryptocurrency wallet, is partnering with Apple Pay to allow iOS users and retail investors to buy crypto more easily.
→ Another (fun) Bitcoin Conference: El Salvador, the first country to adapt Bitcoin as legal tender, is hosting a Bitcoin event in San Salvador at the end of April. Music, Lectures, and, of course, a lot of Bitcoin.
→ A $13 Trillion Metaverse: City Bank just released a report that the 'Metaverse' could become an $8 to $13 Trillion market. How they got these numbers? Darts at a dartboard, probably. But they emphasized that money in the metaverse will be spearheaded by digital currencies like crypto and stablecoins.
Projects We're Keeping An Eye On 👀
→ ZFoundr: It's no surprise I love newsletters. One of my favorites is ZFoundr, a newsletter that helps you stay up to date on the latest Gen Z-founded web3 projects. Every Monday, they drop 5 of the best emerging Gen Z-founded companies across hot sectors like DeFi, DAO Tooling, NFT Utility & more. Subscribe here:
→ Creator Cabins: This company is revolutionary. They are building a decentralized city owned by small groups of independent creators and entrepreneurs. Their community is growing fast. Join their Discord here to learn more:
web3 content we’re munching on 🍿
Goldman Sachs quants explain why they quit for crypto — tl;dr: the innovation and opportunity in DeFi (decentralized finance) is hard to refuse.
What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin Explained Simply for Dummies — as a dummy, I appreciated this video
10 great threads about crypto that will help you become a better investor by Route 2 Fi — awesome resources
What's Decentralized Science (DeSci explained) — the applications of blockchain technologies extends far beyond finance
Sincerely,