'Big Money Michael' is buying the dip
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:
PlayStations, NFTs and green energy.
This will get corporate institutions all hot n' sweaty for NFTs (in a good way)
RESOURCE: What is Chia? Eco-Friendly Storage-Based Crypto (Learn in ~7:30)
'Big Money Michael' is buying the Bitcoin dip
Terms used (click for translation):
Blockchain, NFTs, Web3.
PlayStations, NFTs and green energy.
Blockchains (like Ethereum, Solana & Cardano) are game consoles, and NFTs are the games.
(Not literally - we're making an analogy - although, that would be cool).
An NFT project might choose to launch its collection on one blockchain, or it could launch in some form across all of them.
Just like video games.
The market dominant NFT blockchain (the Sony Playstation of the space) is Ethereum, second is Solana and the 'darling with a cult following' (the Analogue Pocket, if you will) is Cardano.
Just like the console industry, creating something new and having it adopted at scale is tough at this point - as many users already have a preferred blockchain network.
Yesterday, a scrappy little blockchain known as 'Chia', entered the NFT space.
Here're their stats/offerings:
A more energy efficient network (compared to Ethereum)
No downtime to-date (i.e. the network has never gone down due to congestion, like Solana's has)
Their max of 30 transactions per second, or 'tps', aren't very competitive (Solana's is 2700, Ethereum's is 15)
Here's their pitch in a nutshell:
'We will be more eco-friendly than Ethereum and more stable than Solana'.
Here's our two cents:
Ethereum's 'Merge' upgrade will likely make Chia's 'we're more eco-friendly than ETH' argument, null and void.
The Ethereum development team claim 'The Merge' upgrade will allow up to 100,000 tps, which will leave Chia's 30 tps, in the dust.
The Chia network hasn't experienced traffic anywhere close to Solana's, so their stability is largely un-tested.
Finally - and this is a big one - it doesn't feel like there's enough incentive for people to move over to Chia. The eco-friendly play is great, but it doesn't feel like enough on its own.
Especially when the Ethereum team are promising to show similar energy efficiency, plus a massive tps increase, in a few months time.
All of that being said, the networks original function - the one that let's you earn crypto in exchange for sharing a little bit of your laptop's hard drive space with others - that's exciting!
(Checkout today's resource, for more on how that all works)
This will get corporate institutions all hot n' sweaty for NFTs (in a good way)
Stories we've all heard before:
'It's not you, it's me'
'It was like that when I got here'
'Tamagotchi's don't count as emotional support animals, you'll need to switch it off before we disembark'
Add to that list: 'We've created a system for tracking copy cat NFTs.'
Just last week we were writing about Deviant Art's NFT copyright protection system...
Now (as of yesterday) a new project, called REV3AL, has announced it would be creating a solution to fight the same fraudsters.
...so what's the difference?
Deviant Art lets creators upload their imagery to their system, which then scans the internet for imposter projects featuring the same art.
If they get any hits, the creator is notified and can submit a DMCA copyright complaint in order to get it removed.
REV3AL goes directly to marketplaces and works in the background. If REV3AL is integrated with a marketplace or platform, any new art that is submitted, is first scanned and verified to be original against its database.
If the scan shows the work is a copy cat, the upload is blocked.
The key difference: Deviant Art requires creator input, REV3AL does not.
Nice!
...but also, who cares?
We hear you, it's a little dry and mechanical - but systems like these are important for the long term growth of Web3.
At the moment, the NFT space is driven largely by individuals and small collectives, which is amazing! Small groups of hyper-passionate product evangelists are needed for any new technology to take off.
BUT! If NFT technology is to become ubiquitous, it's first going to have to win the hearts and minds of corporate institutions.
(And their cheque books).
And if there's two things corporate institutions hate, it's:
Fraudulent transactions.
Intellectual Property theft.
An automated copyright infringement scanner?
Oooooh, they're going to LOVE it!
Resource of the day
What is Chia?
Eco-Friendly Storage-Based Crypto
(Learn in ~7:30)
'Big Money Michael' is buying the Bitcoin dip
Good news!
This is going to be one of those 'hey, maybe everything isn't as bad as it feels' articles.
If you're ever looking to take the temperature on long term market outlooks:
Find those in the space with big brains / bank accounts - and look at what they're doing.
If they're buying while prices dip, it's a positive indicator....if they're oddly quiet - not so much.
In the crypto market, Bitcoin leads the pack - if it goes up, the rest of the market usually follows - and in the Bitcoin community, one of the loudest voices (with some of the deepest pockets) is Michael Saylor.
He owns roughly 129,000 Bitcoin, which he (and his company MicroStrategy) paid ~$3.9 billion dollars to acquire.
Currently his total BTC holdings are valued at ~$2.6 billion.
Leaving him at a loss of ~$1.3B. Oooft!
If you're waiting for your 'maybe everything isn't as bad as it feels' moment, here it is:
Michael Saylor has said in the past that he never plans to sell his Bitcoin - and not only is he holding strong to that, he's doubling down.
While Bitcoin has been tanking his net worth over the past few months, Sailor has thrown another $10M at it and pledged to purchase additional coins as cash flow allowed.
So, we have:
Big brain
Big money
Buying the dip
We're going to take a deep/calming breath and consider that a positive long term indicator.
(Mediation advice - not financial advice).
Your Daily Dose of Web3
Breitling, the luxury Swiss watchmaker, now accepts Bitcoin for purchases
‘One Rule Book’ to regulate crypto, proposed by SEC Chair, Gary Gensler
Pixels.com launches platform to buy and sell NFT merchandise
Alright, that’s it for today!
Love to the family,