Currently Relevant: Edition 9

Welcome to Currently Relevant, THE RELEVANCE HOUSE’s regular roundup curating the best of news, views, and stories from the blockchain, crypto, and Web3 space.

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What’s currently relevant in THE RELEVANCE HOUSE 

THE RELEVANCE HOUSE founder German Ramirez has been online long enough to observe successive tech cycles play out and has noticed some patterns becoming apparent. At this point in the emergence of Web3, there are similar trends in enterprise exploration as happened with the first iteration of the internet. 

In his latest piece for Cointelegraph, German explains where history seems to be repeating itself and what he believes this means for corporate adoption of blockchain and Web3 technologies. 

Read: Welcome to the era of blocks and mortar: Learning from the past on Cointelegraph

Looking towards the next growth cycle, many Web3 firms now recognize that they need to raise their marketing game beyond pure name recognition. Learning from experienced entrepreneurs is often a great place to start. Another recent piece from Cointelegraph rounds up 16 pieces of advice for Web3 leaders seeking to refine their marketing messages (with input from German, of course!) 

Read 16 tips to help blockchain companies refine their marketing messages

In internet terms, blogging is one of the oldest ways to communicate with an audience, predating video sharing and social media. Blogging was the launchpad for some of today’s biggest online publishers, including Huffington Post, TechCrunch, and Mashable. And yet, even in 2023, the humble blog retains its engagement value, rightfully earning a place on most business websites. 

In the latest story on THE RELEVANCE HOUSE, German considers the enduring longevity of the blog. As a bonus, the post also outlines 14 ways you can level up your blogging game.

Read 7 reasons blogging never dies (and 14 ways to get it right)

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The Big Picture

In each edition, THE RELEVANCE HOUSE founder German Ramirez brings his marketing and strategy insights to the biggest stories from the world of Web3, delivered with a pinch of spice. 

The launch of Worldcoin has been perhaps the biggest in crypto so far this year. The brainchild of ChatGPT wunderkind Sam Altman and backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Worldcoin launched in late July to much fanfare in the crypto press. The project’s core premise is that it offers a universal, blockchain-based ID, which cannot be cheated since it relies on retina scans to identify each individual. Anyone who signs up by having their retina scanned by one of the physical “orbs” can earn an allocation of WLD, the native token. 

Even before launching, the project drew criticism from observers. An MIT investigation from last year questioned the ethical practices the company was using to sign up participants for its beta. Since launching, it’s drawn further criticism and now scrutiny from German regulators for its data protection practices. The latest news is that the Kenyan government has issued an outright ban. 

From a reputational perspective, none of this is good news for a startup company – no matter how much Silicon Valley celebrity clout it wields. But I can only assume that the entire project lacks any branding expertise or has shunned sensible advice since it has decided to run with the name Worldcoin. 

I’ve said it before, and I remain true to my belief – a future exists where governments and corporate entities don’t control our identities. (Or, for that matter, our data, intellectual property, or financial affairs.) 

Decentralized technologies are the most promising path we have to this future, and tech visionaries like Sam Altman are among the people we need to lead us there. 

However, at this point in the evolution of Web3, post-FTX, with the regulators circling like hawks and investors nervously hoarding their cash, we need to recognize that calling a project anything-COIN will distract from everything else the project stands for. 

“Worldcoin” doesn’t say anything about digital identity, accessibility, privacy, or any other ostensible benefits of Worldcoin’s existence. 

What Worldcoin does scream is “crypto project” and all the negative connotations that were attached to the word crypto in 2022. From a branding perspective, it’s kryptonite. 

If you’re someone from within the crypto community and finding this difficult to swallow, then consider it from this perspective: if Sam Altman had chosen to name his project “Worldbook,” would you have thought it is a good call?

If not, you understand the power of a negative brand association.

Funding news

Last week saw $44 million raised by crypto and Web3 startups, although a $30 million round by payments app Hi accounted for the lion’s share of that sum. Animoca Brands was the lead investor, which will work with Hi on developing its app and Layer 2 infrastructure. 

What’s new in Web3? 

• Last week, Suku, a payments app enabling blockchain transactions via social media platforms, teamed up with Polygon to allow Twitter users to mint NFTs automatically using a hashtag. During the offer period, over 48,000 users opened up Suku accounts to mint 50,000 NFTs. If Elon is planning to take X/Twitter into the payments arena, he may have to move fast to beat the competition. 
• The Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles will launch a new exhibit featuring photography by Beat poet Alan Ginsberg, along with a collection of poetry based on Ginsberg’s literary works generated using AI. The exhibition, titled “Muses & Self” was developed in collaboration with NFT poetry platform and community TheVERSEverse, supported by the Tezos Foundation.
• Last week, 99-year-old Hungarian digital artist Vera Molnár sold out an NFT collection auctioned via Sotheby’s in just one hour. The “Themes and Variations” collection features 500 collectibles, with high demand indicated by a floor price that has risen 100% since the sale closed.   
• In yet more art and culture-related news, The Sandbox and the British Museum are entering into a collaboration to bring the institution’s collections and artifacts into the metaverse in the form of themed collectibles. 

Focus on fintech and digital assets

• As US courts continue to wrangle over the legal status of crypto, other jurisdictions are simply moving in to fill the demand. This week, Hong Kong regulators handed the first digital asset license to exchange Hashkey, sounding the starting whistle on its new crypto regime. 
• Following the recent flurry of filings for Bitcoin ETFs in the US, institutions have now followed up with another spate of applications for ETFs backed by spot ether, indicating high confidence that the previous applications will be successful. 
• DeFi suffered a body blow over the weekend as flagship project Curve was subject to a hack on several pools. While this was already bad news, it later emerged that founder Michael Egorov had taken out several leveraged loans using the CRV token, which he subsequently paid back using a financial support package put together by other DeFi investors to avoid liquidation. Not exactly on-brand for a sector that touts itself on its ability to thrive without centralized intermediaries. 

Inside the infrastructure 

• “Digital silver” project Litecoin underwent its third halving event without a hitch this week. The twelve-year-old blockchain will now reward miners with 6.25 LTC per block. 
• ConsenSys released a new smart contract testing tool called “Diligence Fuzzing” which is designed to scan for “random and invalid” data points in code. Ultimately, the aim is to pre-empt smart contract vulnerabilities and fix them before a live deployment. 
• Google Cloud joined Deutsche Telekom and others in becoming a validator on the Celo blockchain. The project recently released an announcement confirming that it will migrate to an Ethereum Layer 2 in a bid to boost liquidity and data sharing between the two networks, demonstrating that Ethereum’s network supremacy remains intact. 

Weird crypto stories of the week

Memes are taking a back seat this edition as we make way for not one but two “it could only happen in crypto” stories. 

Firstly, the news that the SEC is now pursuing Richard Heart, founder of Hex coin, Pulsechain, and PulseX decentralized finance platform, is hardly surprising given the extent of the agency’s reach over the last year or so. However, reporters have been poring over the SEC’s allegations, which contain lists of the more excessive purchases made by Heart using investor funds. 

Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising purchase was the 555-carat black diamond known as “The Enigma.” 

Because the one thing that’s likely to tell you, as a user, that “your money is safe with me” is a founder congratulating you on his purchase of a black jewel worth millions of dollars. 

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Ok, if that wasn’t weird enough for you, then what about the news that disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, (aka SBF, aka Scam Bankrupt-Fraud) has been secretly orchestrating crypto rug pulls on the new Coinbase chain from his parent’s home where he is under house arrest, awaiting trial? 

Well, perhaps calling it “news” is a step too far. Following the actual news that the BALD memecoin (apparently explicitly named in honor of Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong’s follicular challenges) was not a sound investment but yet another rug pull, Conspiracy Crypto X/Twitter went into overdrive. Although there is no real evidence to suggest that SBF was scamming his way back into the crypto-sphere, that wasn’t enough to stop the subsequent froth. 

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Suffice it to say, we’re still waiting for confirmation and will keep you posted.