The Web3 Rewind

A handful of the most interesting and current stories in the blockchain/web3 world not published on DeCential this past week in case you missed them

Hello and welcome back to the Web3 Rewind! Per usual with the industry, lots has happened this past week so without further adieu, let’s dive into this week’s news.

The Latest

In what has been a whirlwind of a week, Elon Musk has continued his top-down reworking of Twitter. The CEO, CFO and others have been fired, and beyond the changing of the guard, Musk is having Twitter inspected from head to toe, with a team of engineers tearing through Twitter’s code. And this is all before Twitter has announced any definite crypto-centric plans. On the other hand, this move has the potential to set Twitter up to be one of the main challengers to Meta, especially if they learn from Meta’s early mistakes.

With other tech giants such as Apple working harder than ever to control the consumer’s access to crypto and web3 services, the stage is being set for a grand showdown between the various “Tech Giants.” While it should be a given that they will all utilize crypto technology or build web3 projects, what’s not certain is whether they will be able to capture the hearts of the people again. As crypto emerges more and more into the mainstream, the need to take serious feedback and input from the community as a whole will see some projects and companies flourish, while others risk being disregarded or discarded.

This new technological revolution is one that has placed great emphasis on the people taking back control of their digital resources and identities. Let’s not forget the web2 world we came from. —Parker Dresdow, DeCential Media

The beatings will continue until morale improves dept.

Apple has traditionally been known for their innovation and as a forerunner of design both in hardware and software alike. Understandably, all companies morph over time and focus on new areas of growth. For Apple, this new area has been building out its bastion of intellectual privacy in the name of protection for users… and the company.

Apple is continuing to build its privacy colossus, but this time engulfing the crypto and web3 space. The means of this latest development will come by way of the terms by which Apple lets products and users interact with services on its platform. Per Cointelegraph, it appears that Apple’s updated terms imply tighter measures on what crypto and web3 apps can do as well as what software they can run. Moreover, crypto transactions may only be “facilitated” when they comply with “appropriate licensing and permissions.”

While this pattern of behavior is by no means unexpected, it does show a resounding unwillingness to understand that what has traditionally worked in terms of strong-arm policies will not be lightly swept under the rug. Crypto and web3, in their purest form, seek decentralization and democratization, not domination by one or a few players. — PD

Quick Bits

Steph Curry files trademark for the Curryverse, where players earn NFTs

• Warrior’s star and VC investor Steph Curry continues his drive into the web3 space. This time, it looks like he will be the one moving the ball up the court, and not just lobbing money into new investments. After filing a trademark in late October, the “Curryverse” will serve to facilitate VR and web3 experiences with a focus on gaming and NFTs.

• With this play, Curry will essentially be building a web3 experience personally tailored to his interest and success as a star athlete. Furthermore, this development will further diversify Curry’s move into the broader crypto and web3 sphere. Given his millions of fans across social and traditional media, there can be little doubt that the “Curryverse” will generate a great deal of interest, at least initially.

ATOM 2.0 On-chain Voting Goes Live

• With the development of every blockchain comes the achievement of completing major milestones along one's roadmap. With ATOM 2.0, a milestone is not necessarily being achieved, but the road itself has the potential to be repaved.

• To make a long story short, the big change that will emerge should the proposal go through is that there will be “a renewed role for ATOM as preferred collateral within the Cosmos Network,” according to the Cosmos Hub Forum. This will dynamically change the way that the whole Cosmos ecosystem works as ATOM will move from a “staking and governance token of the cosmos hub” into an evolved role as a “reserve, monetary asset,” said Sunny Aggarwal, a co-founder of the Osmosis Labs DEX on Cosmos.

Crypto lending protocols try to mitigate risks from low-liquidity tokens

• In what appears to be another promising trend of the current bear market, more overhaul is being done by lending platforms to better optimize the protocols they allow. After attacks on protocols like Mango Market, lenders on the whole realize that there is a need to remove the capability to use low-liquidity tokens as lending collateral from their exchanges and platforms, as they present greater risk via intentional scams, like “rug-pulls” and attacks, specifically on weak oracles.

• The Compound community, in particular, has voted to halt the use of 0x (ZRX), basic attention token (BAT), maker (MKR )and yearn finance (YFI) tokens as lending collateral over fears of market manipulation, according to The Block.

Glassnode acquires crypto tax & portfolio platform Accointing.com

• A strong new combination is emerging on the scene with Glassnode’s latest acquisition. The blockchain data and intelligence firm announced they’ve acquired crypto tax and portfolio tracking platform Accointing.com for an undisclosed amount.

• The Block’s Kari McMahon noted, the acquisition continues a trend of “elevated M&A activity in the data and analytics space.” While Glassnode hasn’t made any potential funding or valuation public, the latest move definitely gives the company a new edge against competitors like Messsari. As institutions continue to adopt crypto and hold it as a piece of their portfolio, the need for “swiss-army-knife” like tools, such as the one Glassnode is becoming, will certainly grow as they look to gain deeper on-chain and ecosystem research.

Latest Podcast

DeCent People Podcast With Ben Edgington, ConsenSys Teku Product Lead

In the latest DeCent People podcast, Ben Edgington recaps how he helped Ethereum successfully transition from proof of work to proof of stake in September as the product lead for the Ethereum client Teku. But did you know he plays the saxophone and in college was a member of the Fitz Swing Band? He's also an Arsenal supporter and was bullied as a kid due to his love of math. Learn all this and more about Ben in this episode.

You can download and subscribe to the podcast here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music and Audible.

Good Podcasts Outside DeCential

web3 with a16z takes a deep dive on all things metaverse -- what it is, what it isn’t; how VR, videogames, sports, fashion, communities play here; where crypto comes in, including trends in DAOs, on-chain gaming, etc. They also go well beyond technology, into science fiction, the arts, narratives, and more in this wide-ranging conversation.

And last but not least

Coinbase Is Backing Ripple Against the SEC

In a powerful move, Coinbase has entered the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the SEC, asking Judge Analisa N. Torres of the District Court for the Southern District of New York for permission to file an amicus brief. The petition by Coinbase supports Ripple against the SEC claims that the company committed violations by selling its XRP token as an unregistered security.

Coinbase noted in the petition that Ripple should “be permitted to pursue fair notice defenses” especially because of the current “absence” of a regulatory environment. This is not the first time Coinbase has defended other crypto companies facing lawsuits (see: Grayscale, Tornado Cash) and it’s clear Coinbase and its CEO Brian Armstrong have no intentions of slowing down. — PD

Out of the Ether: Special NFT Edition

Have you read the definitive history of Ethereum? No? Well then get your special edition of Out of the Ether while you can. There are only 1,000 that were printed and each copy is an NFT that can be registered on the Lukso blockchain’s Universal Profile protocol.