Bitcoin Bulls vs. The US Government
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 Bulls vs. The US Government
Web3's latest social platform
RESOURCE: The best crypto exchanges for YOU (in 16mins)
This is why we need decentralization, y’all.
Terms used (click for translation):
Web3, NFTs, Staking, Decentralized
Bitcoin Bulls vs. The US Government
You know those 'wait...I can do those things now!?' moments?
The ones you have when you first move out of home?
For example:
Sleeping in till 2pm
Living off Fruit Loops
Rocking that cool fedora you got on vacation, without your mom calling you a nerd.
Sure, they may not be wise decisions - but you can make them!
Well, here's another one for your list:
Apparently, if the feeling takes you, you can sue the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
(Our parents would never have let us do that).
But that's exactly what Grayscale Investments are doing, after the SEC blocked their application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).
An ETF allows shares of an investment fund to be bought and sold on the public stock market - and Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF would work something like this:
Public investors buy shares in the fund → the fund buys Bitcoin with their money.
The key selling point is: you don't actually have to buy the asset or commodity, nor do you have to store or manage it - the fund figures all of that out for you.
Which is a huge deal if you're looking to buy, say, oil or gold.
(That stuff's heavy).
At the moment, the only crypto related ETFs that are allowed to be traded on the stock market are 'derivative' ETFs.
Which is a confusing way of saying, these ETFs don't actually trade or hold any crypto - instead, they place bets on whether a particular crypto will go up or down in the future, and sell those bets.
(The financial world is weird).
...so why is this Grayscale lawsuit important?
Put simply: if they win, it'll be a HUGE deal for Bitcoin.
An ETF that actually held Bitcoin (known as a 'Spot ETF'...for whatever reason) would massively increase 'Bitcoin accessibility', here's how/why:
Buying crypto for the first time is annoying. It takes a good chunk of learning to first understand where to buy it and how to store it.
A spot ETF would allow investors to use the stock investing platforms that they're already familiar with - and invest in Bitcoin by proxy.
It would let massive institutional investors buy into Bitcoin, without actually holding it.
Which would allow them to bypass all of the tricky regulatory requirements that have been holding them back, up to this point.
Here's the math on that:
Easier access + regulatory safety = massive potential investment in BTC.
Let's all join hands and hope that Grayscale win this lawsuit.
Web3's latest social platform
Looking back over the past decades, you can see how industries started following 'sticker trends'.
(Don't search that, we just made it up).
The idea is this: when an entire industry starts slapping the same stickers on all its products, it's a sticker trend.
Here're some examples:
1990's: 'Low Fat' on food packaging.
2000's: 'Mini' on tech products.
2010's: 'Mobile' on software applications.
'Web3' might be the new sticker trend for the 2020's - and this latest announcement from Only1 helps to back that theory up.
Only1 is a 'Web3 Social Media Platform'.
We read through their entire press release, so you don't have to - here's our understanding of it:
Only1 is essentially an NFT investing platform, with social functions. Where an NFT's value is represented and tracked against the popularity of the creator selling it.
If you need a catchy buzzword to pair it with, we'd say it's a SoFi (Social Finance) product.
Here's how it works for general users:
You follow creators on the platform → if you like what they put out, you buy a membership NFT from them → you get extra perks/content → if others do the same, the creator's NFTs become more valuable → you can make money off your fandom.
Here's how it works for creators:
You create content → you build a following → a certain percentage of that following buy membership NFTs → you earn money as a creator.
Here're the feature highlights of Only1:
All of what we already know and use - messaging, profiles, posts, news feeds etc.
(The desktop layout looks like a re-imagined/slightly alien version of a Twitter profile)
NFTs that act as membership passes, giving you access to exclusive content from your favorite creators.
Creator staking pools.
Only1 will no doubt have its own crypto token, so if you're a user that holds the token, you can put them into a 'high interest savings account' (aka a staking pool) run by a creator.
You'll earn interest on your tokens and share a little bit with the creator.
Tipping. You can tip creators...is that a highlight?
Here's the big (un-answered) question:
Who are they going to target to get the ball rolling?
Mass migration to a new social network doesn't just happen, it starts by targeting a specific niche of users, and building out from there.
For example:
Twitch targeted gamers
TikTok targeted dancers
Facebook targeted college students
Instagram targeted amateur photographers
YouTube targeted singles looking to find dates (seriously)
We're keen to see where the Only1 team directs their focus.
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The best crypto exchanges for YOU
(in 16mins)
This is why we need decentralization, y’all.
Uh oh.
It happened again.
Back in March, there was a data breach at HubSpot which impacted BlockFi, Circle and a few other companies that support the Web3 ecosystem.
Now, it’s happened to OpenSea.
Apparently, an employee from Customer.io - which OpenSea uses to send its emails - downloaded OpenSea’s entire mailing list and shared it with an unauthorized external party.
Here’s how OpenSea responded:
They wrote a blog post about what happened in the incident.
Posted on Twitter about said blog post.
Emailed everyone who they think may have been affected by the breach (everyone on their mailing list - pic below).
Included safety recommendations within their email about how to be extra cautious over the next few weeks.
Here’s how a decentralized email database might work:
Users who input their email have it stored as a public token (the human-readable email address is not publicly available).
Users maintain ownership of the data they’ve provided.
OpenSea sends their emails by requesting the public token addresses, which are then converted back into readable email address, and OpenSea’s mailer is delivered.
Sounds like it'd be a lot of work to figure out (and it would be), but every breach is another reason to start building.
Here's the grey cloud:
In the short term, nobody likes having their personal information being shared with the world...
Here's the silver lining:
When companies get hacked it can act as a catalyst for stronger and more robust infrastructure to be created.
Let’s see if this time it pushes the industry forward, and gets us to where we need to be.
Alright, that's it.
Enjoy your weekend!
One more thing - Monday is 4th of July!
We’ll be taking a break from writing to don our American flag nipple tassels, and crack a few cold ones.
But then we'll be back, fresh in your inbox, on Tuesday.
See you then!
Your Daily Dose of Web3
Facebook begins testing Ethereum and Polygon NFTs on profiles
Music streaming company, Napster, to launch its own token on Algorand
Bitcoin falls below $19,000 again as pressure mounts on crypto firms
Alright, that’s it for today!
Love to the family,