Just and Joyful - 006 - Dutch Auctions, Stoner Cats, and NFT Trees
Hey Friends,
Happy Saturday, everyone! I’m writing to you all from an AirBnB near Bellingham, WA. Three familes, three babies under the age of two… here we go! :)
This week, I held a summer camp-themed summit of my global CICO partners, jumped into a super meta experience of building and operating a DAO with mCLUB, and continued my exploration of the crypto for good space.
I’m going to experiment with changing up when I send out this newsletter to you all. And no, it’s not an analytics thing at all, but more about finding the right balance between absorbing, reflecting, and synthesizing.
With that, let’s jump in!
1/ Remember Axie Infinity? Well, Yield Guild Games, a play-to-earn gaming guild, raised $12.5 MM through an online dutch auction in 30 seconds. In its whitepaper, they describe themselves as a DAO for investing in NFTs used in virtual worlds and blockchain-based games.
2/ Stoner Cats has made some waves. They sold 10,420 NFT stoner cats in under 35 minutes and raised over $8.4 MM. Along the way, the gas price on Ethereum soared and cats caused chaos on Ethereum again.
3/ Generative NFTs are pretty darn cool. CryptoTrunks are generative NFTs that create specialized NFTs based on your transaction history. Embrace the snark along with the digital trees.
4/ Absurd Arboretum is a NFT meets real world example. In their words: Each procedurally generated tree is not only a digital, non-fungible token living on the Ethereum blockchain, stored as an ERC-721 token and materialized as a piece of animated audiovisual art, but also a representation of planting a seed in the physical world. In the very near future, these seeds will grow to become flourishing trees.
5/ Async Art seems like a cool concept as well. They split digital paintings into programmable layers that can be updated based on different data sources.
6/ And as we think about the environmental impact of crypto, I think it’s always important to put things in perspective. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index is a good source for this.
7/ Facebook says that it wants to become a metaverse company.
8/ One of the biggest complaints about crypto is that onboarding and figuring out how to use it is super tough. The user experience is still really janky, and the meme-filled language can be confusing and off-putting for some. The good news is that we’re seeing some signs of this changing. Eco raised $60 MM recently and looks super intriguing.
9/ Valora, another good example, spins out of cLabs and raises $20 MM.
10/ WEF says that blockchain can contribute to the SDGs by (1) building resilient and transparent supply chains, (2) creating stronger and more accountable public institutions, and (3) spurring responsible sourcing and consumption.
UNDP says that blockchain can support the SDGs in six ways: (1) supporting financial inclusion, (2) improving access to energy, (3) producing and consuming responsibly, (4) protecting the environment, (5) providing legal identity for all, and (6) improving aid effectiveness.
Check out New America’s blueprint for blockchain and social innovation.
Ok, that’s it! Happy Saturday, everyone. See you all next time.
Best,
Dave