A big leg up for Bitcoin
GM, we take the latest Web3 news and translate it into plain old English - so you can stay up to date, without your eyes glazing over.
In today’s edition:
Bitcoin gets one step closer to becoming a global currency
Musicians are making what they’d earn from 1 million streams in ‘2 minutes’ with NFTs
RESOURCE: How to Create, Deploy, and Sell a Generative Art NFTs (in 21:16)
So, Edward Snowden created a privacy coin...very on brand!
Terms used (click for translation):
NFTs, 1,000 true fans.
Bitcoin gets one step closer to becoming a global currency
The Central African Republic (CAR) just adopted Bitcoin as legal tender.
This means, the government officially recognizes it as a currency.
At the moment, some countries see Bitcoin as a currency (El Salvador & CAR), some see it as a 'property' (US) and others have outright banned it (China).
So...there're different definitions...what's the big deal?
Here's why this is important:
The argument from the Bitcoin community is that BTC is the ultimate investment vehicle.
It's got scarcity thanks to its fixed supply of 21M coins, it's immune to inflation, it's easy/fast/cheap to trade, it's highly divisible, oh and it's the fastest growing asset of all time.
The argument from Bitcoin bears (non-believers) is essentially: 'that's all well and good, but it if it doesn't have a use case, it's worthless'.
'Bitcoin as a currency', gives it a use case.
At the moment, BTC is largely seen as a 'store of value', similar to gold - which has worked great so far!
When/if regulators give clear guidance on how corporate investors can safely invest in Bitcoin (i.e. without getting sued), it's expected that we will see trillions of dollars exchanged in BTC every year.
But you know what's better than trillions per year?
Trillions per week.
That's the sort of trading volume you see in global currencies.
And for every country that adopts Bitcoin as a day-to-day medium of exchange (i.e. a currency), the closer Bitcoin gets to becoming a global currency.
That's why people freak out and get all excited every time a new country adopts it as legal tender.
And that's why The Central African Republic's adoption of BTC as a currency is a bigger deal than it seems.
Musicians are making what they’d earn from 1 million streams in ‘2 minutes’ with NFTs
For artists that have had their work rinsed of profit by streaming platforms like Spotify, this is the ultimate GFY.
Over the past decade, we've seen a boom in the direct to consumer (DTC) model.
Where, instead of selling to wholesale to a distributor like Walmart, or sharing a cut of profits with online marketplaces like eBay, niche brands started selling directly to a smaller/more impassioned audience.
By using platforms like Shopify, these brands can pay a flat fee to host their site (~$30 per month) and own their distribution.
Sure, their products don't reach as many people as they would at Walmart, but they don't need to.
These brands have focused on finding and nurturing the few people that LOVE their product, instead of the many that 'just kind of like it'.
A similar transition is happening right now in the music world, where artists are using NFTs as their distribution vehicle.
So how does it all work?
Well, it's being used in a bunch of different ways.
Artists can use NFTs to:
Sell their album art as limited collectibles
Sell royalty shares in their singles / EPs / albums
Sell direct access to themselves through private communities
Sell tickets to their live shows (where NFTs are both the ticket and a collectible asset)
In return, each buyer not only gets 'super fan bragging rights' and access to collectibles / royalties / private communities / live shows - but the NFT itself has the potential to appreciate in value.
This means fans are no longer simply supporting their favorite artists, but (by proxy) investing in them.
(Imagine being an early fan of someone like Billie Eilish and holding an NFT that gave you royalty shares of her first hit!)
There's a theory that a creator only needs 1,000 true fans to make a living from their art, but the higher profit margins offered by NFTs might lower that number even further.
A lower barrier to entry for those wanting to create full time?
10/10. Two thumbs up. 5 stars. We love to see it.
Resource of the day
How to Create, Deploy, and Sell a Generative Art NFTs
(in 21:16)
So, Edward Snowden created a privacy coin...very on brand!
It was recently revealed that Edward Snowden was one of the six founders of the privacy coin known as Zcash.
As the title of 'privacy coin' suggests, Zcash doesn't make its transactions public by default.
But what about Bitcoin? Isn't that the darling of the financial libertarian?
Well, sort of.
Snowden has both praised and critiqued Bitcoin.
He likes that its decentralization makes it damn near impossible for single entities to take control of its network, but doesn't like that transactions between wallet addresses (aka crypto bank account numbers) are listed publicly, stating:
"Bitcoin quite famously is an open ledger.
The problem with that is you can’t have truly free trade unless you have private trade.
And you can’t have a free society without free trade."
Privacy coins like Zcash sit in a weird spot, where many of their touted pros are also the direct cause of their cons:
Pro -> User privacy.
Con -> Will be a hotbed for money laundering.
Pro -> Highly immune to outside control.
Con -> Ownership will likely be banned and get you audited, sued, jailed or all of the above.
In a strange narrative twist, the developers behind ZCash have actually said they encourage their users to meet regulatory requirements - but leave it up to the individual, allowing them to choose full transparency or none at all when transacting.
It's like a weird game of 'choose your own adventure - good samaritan or potential criminal?'
The broader question is, how will something like Zcash grow if it puts a target on each user's back?
No seriously, we want to know.
Your Daily Dose of Web3
BlackRock launches a blockchain ETF that offers a ‘gradual entry point’
Margaret Atwood wants students to envision future Utopias—and mint them as NFTs
Google Trends study shows SHIB is the most popular crypto in the UK
Microsoft says it is ‘looking into NFTs and cryptocurrency’
Alright, that’s it for today!
Love to the family,