Warren Criticizes DeFi - The WAGMI Journal #43
Progressives greatly misunderstand crypto and web 3.0.
In today’s issue:
The crypto market is up with the global market cap sitting above ~$2.2-2.3 trillion. Markets had its relief rally as participants bought the ‘don’t fight the Fed idea’, believing that the gradual tightening is good in the long run. Tapering is confirmed to be accelerated, with a road map to increase the interest rate 8 times through to 2024.
In other news, a16z’s Katie Haun to start her own crypto VC firm, and Elizabeth Warren continues her attack on DeFi, and Galaxy-Bloomberg plans to debut Solana Fund.
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- Curated by Marco Manoppo (@manoppomarco)
📰Market News
⎆Katie Haun to Start Own Crypto VC Firm
One of the world’s most notable crypto investors, Katie Haun, is leaving a16z to start her own crypto fund after being with the firm for the last few years. While not many details are available, Katie plans to be the only GP; and having previously helped raise a $2.2 billion a16z crypto fund, a16z will be a Limited Partner in Katie’s new fund. She’ll also be joined by a small number of a16z staffers.
⎆Elizabeth Warren Criticizes DeFi
Speaking at a hearing, Warren has once again echoed her criticisms towards crypto, this time with a focus on DeFi and stablecoins. Known as an avid critique of Wall St. and big banks in general, Elizabeth Warren has always been a proponent of a more transparent financial system. Ironically, she’s criticizing the potential solution to her own problems, which is most likely caused by a lack of understanding, as well as her effort to stay relevant post-election era. I identify as a progressive, and Warren has arguably lost her political “niche”, but I digress…
Samantha Messing wrote a really good piece on this exact matter a few months back.
⎆Galaxy & Bloomberg Solana Fund
Galaxy Digital is launching a Solana fund for institutional investors, a month after the creation of its Solana index. While this move isn’t particularly unique, it emphasizes the fact that institutional investors’ demand and appetite for crypto is no longer just BTC and ETH. To chase yield, they’re going out the risk curve, starting with large-cap layer 1 crypto assets, before going down to other sectors.
👨🏻💻Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Aave Latest DeFi Protocol to Delay Open Source and Lock Down V3 Code
Ribbon on Avalanche
PsyOptions x Symmetry Partnership
Dragonfly Capital will be Supporting Trisolaris
Gravity Bridge Brings Ethereum to the Multichain
Crowdsourced Threat Detector PolySwarm Goes Live on Mainnet
Ethereum Mixer Tornado Cash Launches Major Upgrade as V3 Approaches
Celsius’ Chief Revenue Officer Business With a Convicted Money Launderer
🏛Governance - Active Proposals
Compound - Risk Parameter Updates for WBTC, BAT, and LINK
Compound - Decentralized long-term security for Compound
Compound - OpenZeppelin Continuous Audit & Security Services Proposal
Compound - Continuous Security Engineering for Compound
Uniswap - Should Uniswap v3 be deployed to Polygon?
Elyfi - NAP9: Request for verification of ABToken
🦮NFT & Metaverse
Handbag Creator Hermès Calls MetaBirkin NFTs Trademark Infringement
Michael Jordan Jumps Into Web3 via Solana App for Athletes
DeFi Kingdoms Challenges Axie Infinity’s GameFi Supremacy with NFT Play
Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman's Thirty-Five Ventures to Create NFT Drops
Rarible Integrates with Tezos Blockchain and Launches own NFT Collection
Sotheby’s NFT Sales Reach $100M in 2021
Auction Platform Otis House to Sell the First NFT of a Bob Ross Painting
Dapper Labs Partners with Dr. Seuss Enterprises
Top Sales (Last 24-h); Source: https://dappradar.com/nft
📈Deal Flow & Capital Raise
Gem Mining - $200M Unknown Round
AcadArena - $3.5M Seed Round
Sound.xyz - $5M Seed Round
Lambda265 - $60M Series B
Ledn - $70M Series B
Anchorage - $350M Series D
The Guild - $48M Graph Grants
Dapper Labs - $80M Fund for Startup Acquisition
PleasrDAO - Undisclosed Amount of Investment by a16z
⚖️Regulatory Update
Thailand to Define ‘Red Lines‘ for Crypto in Early 2022
Powell Isn’t Concerned About Crypto Disrupting Financial Stability in the US
ISDA to Develop Common Standards for Crypto Assets
Coinbase Backs NYSE Arca’s Push for GBTC Conversion to ETF
Indian Think Tank CIS Recommends to ‘Avoid Ban on Private Crypto’
India’s Crypto Bill Likely to Be Delayed for Several Weeks
Crypto Firms Get a Slap From UK Advertising Regulator Over Misleading Ads
Senators Ask Treasury to Put Out Guidance for Crypto Brokers by Year's End
📚Noteworthy Reads
Amy Wu’s Thread on The Future of Web3 Gaming
William M. Peaster’s Read on How to buy discounted tokens
QCP Capital’s Thread on Crypto Market Institutionalization
Feel free to reach out to manoppomarco@gmail.com — feedbacks and constructive criticisms are much appreciated.
DISCLAIMER:
All the information presented on The WAGMI Journal publication and its affiliation is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, and any other forms of advice. Writers, authors, and contributors of The WAGMI Journal may hold any assets mentioned in the issue.