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Hello and welcome back to the fourth edition of the new and improved TechCrunch Crypto newsletter. You probably already know the deal, but alongside our regularly scheduled news, I’ve added some recurring segments and features — so if you like what you see (or don’t), let me know at jacquelyn@techcrunch.com.
Anyway, let’s get into the big headlines below.
This week on web3
- The decentralized social network Farcaster is trying to reach mass adoption through Web 2.0 techniques
- Perhaps this is why spot bitcoin ETFs have yet to send crypto prices to the moon
- The SEC’s Hester Peirce still plans to push for a token “safe harbor” plan.
- a16z’s Chris Dixon believes it’s time to focus on blockchains use cases rather than speculation
- Bluesky is now open for anyone to join
Crisp numbers
This week the cryptocurrency market was relatively bullish as the two largest cryptocurrencies by capitalization, bitcoin and ether, rose 5.7% and 6%, respectively, on the week, according to CoinMarketCap data. Global cryptocurrency market capitalization rose 5.5% in a seven-day period to $1.72 trillion.
Of the top 10 tokens by market capitalization, Solana is up the most on the week at 7.7% at the time of writing.
Our favorite “Crypto Twitter” post.
That awkward moment when crypto friends and normie friends see “zero knowledge” as two different concepts. But in case you don’t know… check out the definition here.
Image Credits: X (opens in new window)
The last pod
This year, Chain Reaction is doing monthly series looking at different crypto topics and issues. To kick things off, this month we’re focusing on NFTs.
For this week episode, I interviewed Devin Finzer, the CEO of NFT marketplace OpenSea. This is also our first full video recording and it's on TechCrunch's YouTube channel. check it out here.
He co-founded OpenSea in 2017 and quickly climbed to become one of the most well-known—and well-funded—NFT markets. Two years ago, it raised $300 million in a Series C round at a $13.3 billion post-money valuation, bringing its total capital raised to over $400 million. Some of its investors include Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm, as well as celebrities such as Kevin Durant and Ashton Kutcher.
Despite the trading volume of the NFT market declining from the all-time highs of late 2021 to early 2022, OpenSea is still pushing forward even as other NFT markets have emerged and are challenging their dominance.
Devin and I discuss the importance of web3 games incorporating NFTs, Web 2.0 companies launching their own digital collectibles, and the challenges facing the market.
We also dive into:
- Heavy duty cases for NFTs
- The future mission of the company
- Retaining community members
- Gaining market share and trading volume
But wait, there's more…
This week we also have one bonus episode with Hester Peirce, commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
I moderated a conversation with Commissioner Peirce at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business along with Eddie Cullen, former 2021 New York Mayoral candidate and co-founder and CEO of Crescite Innovation Corporation.
We discussed a variety of current topics, including the SEC's approval of the bitcoin spot ETF, policymaking to keep crypto innovation alive in the US and the Commissioner's Token Safe Harbor Proposal 2.0, and whether Peirce is considering creating a new one.
Sign up to Chain reaction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to catch up on the latest episodes and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Follow the money
- Superform Labs Raises $6.5M to Help Others Distribute, Manage and Access Performance
- MediConCen raises $6.85 million to automate insurance claims with AI and blockchain technology
- Immoblocks has raised $5.67 million for its blockchain-based real estate investment platform
- Coin File-Centered Staking Protocol GLIF Raises $4.5M in Seed Round Led by Multicoin
- Tether led a $25 million Series A round for mobile payments app Oobit
This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as reports from TechCrunch itself.
What else are we writing?
Want to escape the web3 world? Here are some TechCrunch articles that caught our attention this week.
- Why Latin American SaaS startups differ from their US counterparts
- In fact, it's a good thing for Spotify that Joe Rogan's podcast is no longer exclusive
- Apple Vision Pro Review: The Infinite Desktop
- Adam Neumann is trying to acquire WeWork
- Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman of Kleiner Perkins: "More than 80%" of pitches now include AI
