Welcome to this 29th issue of the Chain Reaction newsletter published on the 1st June 2022.
What you can expect in this newsletter
Editor's Note
In the News
Community Views
What we're reading/watching
Data
Editor's Note (from Captain DeFi)
Terra 2.0 was a big part of the headlines over the past week with Do Kwon’s proposal to rectify the situation with UST/Luna being voted on by the Terra community. They decided to create a new blockchain but without the algorithmic stablecoin. The old chain being called Terra Classic with Luna Classic (LUNC) coin and new Terra which will have the LUNA coin. The jury is still out on whether this move will help stop the bleeding being seen in other Terra projects.
In event news we saw the start of the Vivid festival in Sydney which was an opportunity for an NFT showcase, FutureArt on Friday. Some of us went to that and also joined in on the festivities at an after/recovery party the next day -https://twitter.com/meowxbal/status/1530865487776993280
These sorts of events are amazing as they give us a chance to meet people IRL that we’ve only met online.
Speaking of events, we had our own meetup and saw KatalysEarth, The Dark Horse and Catheon Gaming present their projects. More photos here - https://twitter.com/AusDeFi/status/1529806246270074880
In the news
The following comes from BetaShares weekly crypto focused newsletter - check it out in full over here for more data analysis and other insights:
Also check out Justin's latest article on Livewire here:
"Soulbound tokens (SBTs) for a ‘decentralised society’
Soulbound Tokens (SBTs) could be the hottest new thing on the Ethereum blockchain, according to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who recently co-wrote a 40-page paper explaining Decentralised Society (DeSoc) and SBTs. The tokens would be stored in a ‘Soul’ (private blockchain wallet) as a non-tradable cryptoasset which would hold an individual’s permanent record of ‘merits and attributes’.
Buterin said in the paper: “SBTs are also non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that a person can earn based in part on their job and education history.” Unlike regular NFTs, they’re non-transferable (though people can revoke them if they choose). An SBT would represent a person’s reputation and accomplishments, a kind of “extended resume”.1 NFTs are tradable and act more as a financial asset, while an SBT, Buterin suggests, could resemble something of a Web3-based CV, and serve as a proof of character, rather than a proof of wealth.
JP Morgan remains bullish on Bitcoin
Global investment bank JP Morgan has continued to be bullish on crypto and the price of bitcoin, keeping its target at $38,000, or ~28% above current levels. A note published by the bank’s strategists argued that the correction over the last month looks more like a capitulation, compared to the more orderly selloff at the start of this year. The bank noted that the market downturn has affected crypto more than other alternative investments, and hypothesised that a greater rebound could follow. The note stated: “We thus replace real estate with digital assets as our preferred alternative asset class along with hedge funds.”
12th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day
The crypto community celebrates international Pizza Day every year on May 22. Less than two years after the launch of the Bitcoin whitepaper by the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, a Florida-based programmer, Laszlo Hanycez paid 10,000 BTC for two pieces of Papa John’s large pizza on May 22, 2010. This was the first time bitcoin was used in a commercial transaction. At the time, bitcoin was worth less than one cent and the 10,000 BTC had a value of $41. Today those same BTC would be worth close to $300 million.”
Community Views
This week we asked our community the following question:
If you were to only HODL one #crypto for the next 3 years, what's the one and why?
Here's some of the responses from our Discord
from Captain Defi
For me it's Ethereum and am biased as I'm working with others to build things here and consulting to builders and there is a lot of work being done now to get more mainstream usage in the world of crypto especially as web2 products and services move to web3 and even web2.5 I know that there are trade-offs with Ethereum where others may be faster or have other better features but in terms of attracting the most attention and having more market share, Ethereum is where I would put my eggs. Luckily though, not all those eggs are in the Ethereum basket... but a lot are.
from contact411
I'm going to say Bitcoin.. but hear me out. This is ONLY because I have to choose only one and I think it's the safer bet. True limited supply, PoW already being proven, hasn't been subject to a lot of change over the years, and pretty great decentralisation. Luckily you can have more than one and you'b be crazy to limit yourself in this growing space. Different cryptos hold value for different use cases and everyones needs are not the same. Get some BTC and some ETH is you really want to be safe. My two cents.
from Leorules
100% ethereum
L2s are going to be the next big thing, leveraging ethereum's security while being high scalable
Market effect as well, all the big builders are building on-top of ethereum
from Willow
Ethereum. Assuming the L2 roll-ups work as planned then I think it has a good chance of being the settlement layer given its powerful market position and network effects. In that scenario, after DAPPS it may be the layer that derives the most economically.
from sup-conan
Ethereum, for the reasons listed above, but for a bit of thought provoking variety, The Graph GRT as a non chain exclusive service provided by the graph is something to be utilised by existing and newcomer projects. The Graph is a decentralised blockchain indexing service (think ethscan but on-chain) where the indexes are stored on the blockchain… “the google of blockchains”
from perlee80s
Yeah have to say ETH also. Especially as it has positioned itself well as the leader to so many L2 solutions. I also love the possibility of cross chain protocols like Polkadot. Though I'm pretty sure they marketed to me. Hence my fondness... #justsayin
Data as at 31st May 2022 - 2:00pm
Market Moves (from CoinGecko)
NFT Moves (from CoinGecko)
What we've been watching/listening to
[Video] ABC Four Corners episode on crypto - a mix of overly blanket statements on crypto mixed with a crypto investor or 2 as well as providers of crypto trading platforms. It missed out on an opportunity to deep dive into some of the critiques and how they're debunked as well as a lack of focus on those actually using blockchain tech to build things in this space. Hoping for a better show next time, positive or critical - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTfFQjEYxcQ
[Podcast] What the Fi - Getting to know the Community series - this was our podcast talking to Kat Dunn, adviser at Angel Alliance - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1GQtG4mRLlak1YLvZnDHbo?si=fc3381e693d340b3
Get in touch
If you're interested in contributing to these newsletters in future - please join us on Discord or reach out to us on info@defi.org.au
If you would like to dig deeper into why and how is the blockchain relevant to international matters and to get more insights on regulations and Defi knowledge , join us on our Discord: https://discord.com/invite/ZRCTDdsVEF
