Just and Joyful - 007 - Look beyond the cartoons, Stablecoins, and the Ethnic Aisle
Hi Friends,
Welcome to Friday! I’m writing to you from an airport. A real airport! It feels amazing to be back in this in-between place, and the promise of a post-COVID life is so darn tantalizing.
Yet I know this is a unique and privileged position. Millions of people around the world still lack access to the COVID-19 vaccine. And for most of the world, the past year and a half hasn’t been just an inconvenience. We’ve lost moments. We’ve lost jobs. We’ve lost friends, family members, and neighbors. We’ve lost so much.
My friend, Wendy, talked about the culture shock she felt when she and her family came back to visit the PNW after living in Nairobi for the last few years. The fact that anyone can simply walk into a pharmacy and get a COVID-19 vaccine here is such a mind-melting contrast to the experiences of billions in the world today.
Ultimately, I’m hopeful. I’m hopeful because we’ve made so much progress already and as Elle shared with me the other day, in the time of dragons, we need dragon slayers.
With that, let’s jump in.
1/ With the move to web3, we will see new forms of wealth creation that’s possible with an internet-native economy. NPR describes what’s happening with gamers from Venezuela.
2/ a16z leads a $4.6 MM round in Yield Guild Games.
3/ According to the Global Findex, the main reason why people don’t have a bank or mobile money account is because they don’t have enough money. That’s why Beryl Li’s article about the benefits of the play-to-earn model is so compelling. People are now earning money through this new internet-native economy.
4/ Fred Wilson describes the intersection of gaming, online communities, and social networks as a pathway to web3.
5/ As my friend, Joe, said recently, you have to look beyond the cartoons. And when you do, what do you see? New forms of wealth generation. New forms of entertainment. New forms of combining social and financial capital.
6/ Go deeper into the rabbit hole and see how web3 enables the collectivization of finance. In their words:
Tokenization enables collectivization. It enables community. If you assume Web3 is the future, then you have to assume that Web3 is the future of investing. And in Web3, multiplayer investing is the default.
7/ Stablecoins in Africa. Used to hedge against inflation, cheaper cross-border transactions, savings clubs, humanitarian aid, and more.
8/ Tilman from Flourish Ventures writes about the potential and limitations of market-based innovations to improve the living standards and financial health of low-income communities.
9/ I’ve been fascinated by mesh networks for a bit now, and I’m intrigued by the decentralized, resistant nature of them. The New York Times describes a community mesh network effort in NYC that provides internet access to different neighborhoods.
10/ This article on the ethnic aisle in grocery stores is the reason why I love H-Mart.
Ok, that’s it!
All the best,
Dave