⛓️ Surviving Crypto Bear Market - What The Block

WTB #06

Jun 07, 2022

Welcome back to What The Block, a newsletter packed with insights & intelligence about the Web3, Blockchain, NFTs and the Metaverse—written by me, David Klingbeil

🐻 Bear market who?

gm everybody,

Google searches for NFTs are down 74%, sales figures for the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection are plummeting and investors are still trying to make sense out of the collapse of Terra, one of the largest stable coins.

But crypto-believers remain optimistic. web3 is here to stay, despite a few ups-and-downs on the way.

Web3 projects need to strengthen their foundations in order to thrive in the next months and emerge victorious from this cycle. In order to do so, web3 entrepreneurs and creator need to:

Create long-term value and utility for NFT projects and more use cases for crypto (ex: soulbound NFTs or retail accepting crypto payments)
Survive to the growing involvement of the governments and regulators across the world (ex: the FBI investigation into Open Sea)
Deliver on their technical roadmap to prepare for the future (ex: the Ethereum merge)

Through this newsletter, I hope to make the world of web3 more accessible and entertaining by curating news and insights that will make you think... What the Block ?!

WAGMI*

David Klingbeil
(Twitter - LinkedIn)

PS: feel free to hit reply to leave a comment, I read and answer every message

*We’re All Gonna Make It, a popular way to cheer in Web3 ;)

This week’s must read

🎨 NFTs

OpenSea’s Former Head of Product Arrested by the FBI
Fashion and Luxury NFTs take center stage at Decentral Art Pavillion
Why Ripple CEO thinks NFTs are underhyped
Andy Warhol Work will be Sold in 961 NFT Fragments
Goblintown NFT – Giving Another Purpose To The NFT Market

💸 Cryptocurrencies & DeFi

$90 million DeFi hack remained unnoticed for seven months
The more you know about Bitcoin, the more optimistic you are
Bitcoin is freedom's first line of defense
Argentina Drawn to Bitcoin as Inflation Skyrockets
Middle Eastern oil companies use excess energy to mine Bitcoin

🕹️ Gaming & the Metaverse

Kanye Headed To The Metaverse As Ye Files 17 NFT Trademarks
Web3 and the metaverse take Pride month to new heights
The Sandbox Launches Cultural Hub With People of Crypto Lab
Chess Metaverse: A Hyper-Realistic Boardgame in a Virtual World
Digital identity in the Metaverse will be represented by avatars with utility

✌️ Misc

Mental health and crypto: How does volatility effect well-being?
The Use Cases of Crypto
Netscape creator says Web3 really is like the rise of the early internet

Food for thought

A16Z - What Makes Digital Real Estate Valuable?

People have talked about the concept of “digital real estate” for decades. Historically, the phrase has referred to scarce space – often dedicated to advertising – on a given publisher’s website, like the New York Times homepage.
What’s different about web3 is that digital asset paradigms like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) make it possible for individuals to uniquely own – not just rent – specific pieces of digital real estate and metaverse land and locations for private or shared use. Blockchains, a core web3 technology, enable this by offering decentralized, tamper-resistant, and publicly accessible records of who owns which digital assets.
People use digital spaces when they create opportunities not available in the “outside option” of the physical world. This means that the value of those spaces is determined by the activities people want to engage in there, and how the affordances of digital space support those activities.

NFTs Need to Create Long-Term Value Which ‘Is Not Really Here Yet’

Binance's head of NFTs believes that the industry has not even scratched the surface of what NFTs have to offer. She believes that connecting the creator and user is key to the future of NFTs. Amidst NFT price volatility, people should invest in NFTs for their long-term value.
She stresses the importance of judging the value of any NFT project, as all projects are not created equal. “People need to differentiate and appreciate. It’s like going to buy art. This is a very judgmental thing.” You shouldn’t invest in crypto simply because a famous person creates much hype around a specific project and wastes your money, Hai says. Instead, you should invest in an NFT with long-term utility.