Metaverse tokens outperformed bitcoin in January. GALA led the pack, and, frankly, I’m glad. SAND and MANA have had their chance to moon. GALA is the future of metaverse gaming. I expect big things from it. On another note, Warner Music Group launches a DJ contest in The Sandbox. I can see the Sandbox being the place wannabe DJ’s compete to become the virtual Wolfman Jack.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/metaverse-tokens-daos-nfts-and-other-web3-news-f31d7ead
Since Bitcoin’s bottom last year, BTC has risen 50 percent. BTC sees its best weekly close in 5 months. Some people are calling it a bull trap. Bitcoin’s difficulty rating hit another all-time high. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says the U.S. national debt is evidence of a bullish bitcoin. He may be right, but it’s not the only signal of bitcoin’s bullishness. There are intrinsic factors that make bitcoin good seed for the future. Are NFTs a good fit for the Bitcoin network? Ordinals thinks so. But what are the trade-offs for bitcoin NFTs?
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/in-2022-btc-eth-adoption-rose-22-percent-cbfd364e
A Social Media Examiner article on Wednesday highlights 25 Web3 business trends in 2023. Only a handful of them deal specifically with Web3 social media, but I’d like to address a few of the points made by author/curator Lisa D. Jenkins.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/web3-decentralization-is-2023-the-year-fffcd933
NFT sales are responsible for ether becoming deflationary again. A lot of ETH is being burned, and much of it are through NFT sales.
Uniswap holders voted to deploy on BNB Chain. More options is better, even on a decentralized exchange.
RippleX has chosen who will receive its $2.6 million grant.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/ether-uniswap-and-web3-oh-my-8053c046
Bitcoin bounces over $23K on its month-long 38-percent rise. Is it a breakthrough or a bull trap? I think whales are testing the waters to see if there is enough optimism in the market to make a bigger splash. The answer is “No.” Some bitcoin enthusiast illuminated the Berliner Fernsehturm television tower with the bitcoin logo. The announcement was made on Twitter, where one Twitterer asked, “Is that photo shop (sic) or real?”
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/the-bitcoin-bull-trap-and-crypto-influencers-fake-moves-22b1288c
Earlier this week, conservative comedian Steven Chowder posted a YouTube video in which he nearly cried. Simply titled “It’s time to stop…", the video proves Chowder is not just a slimy SEO hack. He’s much worse: A true believer!
In what, exactly, is he a true believer? Why, the Conservative Cause, of course!
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/why-is-youtuber-steven-chowder-mad-at-big-conservative-media-6e50abd0
The past couple of weeks have been eaten up by discussions on a new social media protocol called Nostr, but what is it?
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/from-nostr-to-the-big-con-ee9da2ba
Bitcoin bounced over $20,000 for the first time in two months this weekend. In fact, it went on to jump the $21,000 hurdle as the entire crypto market flew over the $1 trillion mark again. Former Securities and Exchange Commission official John Reed Stark says it was due to market manipulation. He’s not wrong. After all, the surge led to $500 million in liquidations, the highest since October. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) seized the moment to troll Jim Cramer on Twitter, who had previously warned investors to take their money out of bitcoin. In other news, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty hit another all-time high. The sudden rise in the market looks like a quick pump to boost some investors’ earnings at the beginning of the year. It could have been a test to see if certain whales can trust pushing the market higher and could spell a coming bull market in the near future.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/bitcoin-surged-to-21k-over-the-weekend-while-eth-hit-10-week-high-b5e3d2c4
Instead of posting my usual discussion question today, I thought I’d send an invitation to join my book launch team for the forthcoming book Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing the World Wide Web (And You Can Too!).
Now, to answer the question: What is a book launch team?
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/join-my-web3-social-book-launch-team-heres-how-ff69ea10
Government whistleblower Edward Snowden is auctioning a newly released NFT live on PleasrDAO, along with Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971. CoinDesk also reports. PleasrDAO will also be interviewing Snowden and Ellsberg in a documentary to be released simultaneously with the auction. Money raised from the auction will support the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Ellsberg is 91 years old.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/nft-from-edward-snowden-to-raise-money-for-freedom-of-the-press-foundation-7460195a
After writing Cryptosocial: How Cryptocurrencies Are Changing Social Media, I began to brainstorm my next book idea. I considered writing about the history of the top 10 cryptocurrencies as measured by market capitalization. While I did write that book, instead of publishing it as a book, I decided to make it exclusive content for Cryptocracy subscribers. You won’t find this material anywhere else.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/diamonds-and-pearls-a-historical-look-at-the-top-10-cryptocurrencies-by-market-cap-2271063b
Bitcoin breaks a 7-year record for inflows. All this means is that investors are not ready to put their money into the hat just yet. The market is waiting to see what happens with the Sam Bankman-Fried trial and, of course, the Ripple case, which is drawing to a close very soon. There are 73 percent fewer bitcoin millionaires than a year ago. Nevertheless, there are more whole coiners than ever. See what the market has wrought? Where is bitcoin mining headed next? This week, bitcoin celebrated its 14th birthday.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/bitcoins-7-year-record-of-inflows-and-sbfs-legal-fees-e2edccf9
I thought this might happen. For two months straight, I earned more than $300 in cryptosocial income, but $250 of that, both months, was for writing work I did for a client. It’s nice to get paid in crypto, especially Hive-backed Dollars (HBD), which can be put into an interest-bearing account at 20 percent APY.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/web3-social-earnings-december-2022-79f3bf52
Will 2023 be the year of Web3 social media? An excellent read, but its primary focus is on upstart Nostr, backed by Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk’s Twitter charade, Mastodon, and Meta’s FTC battles. One thing it does point out, which is a positive, is the need for a real decentralized social graph.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/will-web3-social-media-rise-in-2023-2f49fef1
As I said in yesterday’s email, there are some exciting changes taking place with Cryptocracy for this year. I really appreciate the support of my early readers. You all have been awesome with your comments and your support. Today, I’m announcing exclusive premium content for paid subscribers.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/time-to-get-exclusive-premium-content-from-cryptocracy-20994b2f
I hope 2022 was good to you, and I hope 2023 will be even better. Before I get on with the news, let’s take a quick look back at 2022.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/its-2023-time-for-a-happy-crypto-new-year-6e59fe9b
Good morning, and I hope you had a Merry Christmas. I know I did. But my inbox has been exploding with news about Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and FTX. A lot has happened since last week. Let’s have a quick review:
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/guess-what-youre-likely-to-hear-a-lot-about-sbf-ftx-in-2023-cbf83e56
I’m pleased to announce I’m getting closer to launching my book Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing the World Wide Web (And You Can Too!) every day. Instead of my usual Web3 fare today, I’m going to issue an invitation for you to join my book launch team.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/web3-social-help-me-launch-my-next-book-92c2f657
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has decided to quit fighting extradition. Before his arrest, SBF said he’d testify before Congress from home (in the Bahamas) because he was concerned about the paparazzi. I’m concerned about the paparazzi too, but I still take my wife to dinner once a week. 3 ways the FTX disaster will impact crypto going forward. I expect Nos. 1 and 3 to play out for sure, but I hope that No. 2 doesn’t produce anti-competitive behavior.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/personality-cult-in-crypto-45c19637
Elon Musk has declared war on anyone who doesn’t like him.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/how-elon-musks-war-over-twitter-proves-web3-is-needed-7ff3937d
Constitution DAO is making a second attempt to buy the U.S. Constitution. The DAO failed the first time, but came very close to buying the Constitution. This time around, the DAO is allowing members to make private contributions to mask how much it has to invest. Smart move!
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/web3-wednesday-ledger-intros-defi-tracking-on-hardware-wallets-9d04708d
Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes says bitcoin has hit bottom. ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood says Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) doesn’t like bitcoin because he can’t control it. A European Central Bank blog post says bitcoin is nearing its end. Robert Kiyosaki says bitcoin holder will get rich when the Fed prints more money. Can bitcoin enrich our interior lives?
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/shark-tanks-kevin-oleary-calls-himself-an-idiot-for-investing-in-ftx-da6b74f7
You’ve likely heard by now about the failure of FTX, the world’s second largest crypto exchange, founded by Richie Rich aka Sam Bankman-Fried aka SBF aka self-avowed book skeptic.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/the-ultimate-fallout-from-the-ftx-failure-f8c431dd
Ethereum’s NFT dominance drops to 8.3 percent. 5 Ethereum features Cofounder Vitalik Buterin gets excited about. Not just an ordinarily listicle, these five features are things anyone should get excited about. In the future, Ethereum could be banking on DAO-backed stablecoins.
https://read.cash/@cryptocracy/web3-wednesday-ledgers-nft-hardware-wallet-dd5de836
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) doesn’t think he’s criminally liable for the FTX failure that sent the markets into a topsy-turvy two weeks ago, but his lawyers don’t want him speaking publicly. Nevertheless, all to willing to play by his own rules, he’s encouraging crypto investors to put their money in exchanges that don’t operate like FTX. As soon as his big money boat his turbulent waters, he called his Stanford law professor parents. In the latest news, he will testify before Congress. The more I learn about SBF, the more I realize he’s a privileged punk. Calling your parents is just what a privileged punk would do.
https://cryptocracy.substack.com/p/sbf-cant-keep-his-big-mouth-shut
As you read this, I am sitting in a classroom with a hundred other authors learning how to turn book writing into a full-time income. And just in time too. My forthcoming book Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing the World Wide Web will publish soon after the start of the new year. That book tells how other creators can use the Web3 platforms I’m playing on to monetize their content better, take control over their identities and intellectual property, and secure their future on the Web. Below are my Web3 social earnings for November 2022, by platform.
https://cryptocracy.substack.com/p/my-web3-social-earnings-for-november
OpenSea opens up to supporting BNB Chain NFTs. 20 leading blockchains accounted for $568 million in NFT sales this month, a 22 percent bounce. That’s a pretty significant jump in a bear market. I’ll be curious to see how December goes. Will people buy NFTs as Christmas gifts for their friends and family? If so, we’ll likely see another jump in sales with a significant fall in January.
https://cryptocracy.substack.com/p/web3-wednesday-opensea-to-support
The top news of the day is BlockFi, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday.
1 BTC is trending. $FTM trended briefly this morning. As did Kucoin. Naturally, BlockFi is also trending.
https://cryptocracy.substack.com/p/twitter-tuesday-blockfi-files-for
Bitcoin mining revenue is at its lowest in two years. BTC millionaire wallets drop 80 percent in one year. Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak says bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that is “pure-gold mathematics.” I denounce both bitcoin maximalists and bitcoin denouncers. There is a lot to admire about BTC and even some things to criticize. Like it or loathe it, you can’t deny that it has changed the trajectory of finance for the better.
https://cryptocracy.substack.com/p/btc-mining-revenue-at-2-year-low
Hey guys, I said on Tuesday that I wasn’t going to bombard you with sales pitches all week, and I’m going to be true to my word. However, I did want to drop a quick reminder that my book Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing the World Wide Web (And You Can Too!) is available only for a limited time. That is, until it releases officially to the public in January.
https://cryptocracy.substack.com/p/reminder-only-4-days-left