This Week in Web3...

🎥 Can blockchain save entertainment? In my latest article for @WhatsTrending, I walk through how this tech could reinvent the entertainment industry.

🚨Curve, Metronome and Alchemix were hacked for $61.7M when an unknown hacker exploited a coding bug to loot multiple trading pools last weekend. The hack caused a cascade of issues in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) space, as Curve’s founder Michael Egorov was holding over $300M in CRV tokens in a leveraged position and nearing their liquidation price.

Things have settled, the hacker has returned some of the money, but the platform (and DeFi as a whole) has a long road to recovery. Curve has historically been a reliable DeFi platform, best for stablecoin exchange, with many platforms competing to get more exposure to the system.

📉 The Bank of Canada reported a decline in the ownership of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Canada in 2022, down to 9% in August 2022 (from 13% in 2021). Falling prices and difficult regulatory conditions might be to blame, but the Bank of Canada continues to monitor the trends & consult on whether Canada should adopt a central bank digital currency.

👨‍⚖️ The Department of Justice really wants Sam Bankman Fried back in jail before his trial. They filed a second court filing this week after someone shared Caroline Ellison’s diary with the New York Times (Alameda Research CEO & Sam’s girlfriend). In the court filing is an accusation that SBF may have been the leaker, and shared materials “designed to intimidate, harass and embarrass someone he knows is slated to testify against him, and to provoke an emotional response in potential jurors."

❓Speaking of SBF, rumors are swirling that he might be behind this week’s memecoin rug. Likely just a conspiracy theory, as SBF is supposed to be under house arrest, but on-chain sleuths have pointed out some major similarities in transactions and on-chain voting patterns between SBF/Alameda and this new wallet address. ICYMI $BALD was launched on Coinbase’s new BASE Layer 2, skyrocketed to a $80M market cap, but then the deployer pulled $20M from the coin’s liquidity pool.

💰 Coinbase was also busy this week fighting the SEC. They asked a judge to drop the lawsuit, alleging the regulator is stepping outside of its jurisdiction in suing the crypto exchange. The crux of the case focuses on operating as an unregistered broker for 13 tokens that are unregistered securities, but Coinbase is pushing back saying the SEC hasn’t proven those coins are securities yet, and suing the exchange is out of their scope.

💸 Crypto is in play for the 2024 elections. President Biden tweeted a video of himself drinking from his Bitcoin lazer eyes mug, plus Miami’s mayor is running for re-election, and accepting Bitcoin donations for his campaign.

Quick Headlines

• Yuga Labs acquires Roar Studios, a music, gaming, and social media startup.

• Barbie’s Margot Robbie has a husband who loves Bitcoin.

• Doodles Crocs will be available starting in August.

Positive Affirmation for the Week

There are no shortcuts to healing. The only way out is through!

And remember, feelings are temporary but you need to feel them and accept them in order to let them go. ❤️

Midwest Con

Has the recent slump in the NFT market affected you? Not sure what your next move is in the space?

At this year’s @midwestcon, I’ll be moderating the panels “Web3.0 Reimagined: A New Dawn in User Engagement & Innovation” and “Blurring Boundaries: The Convergence of Storytelling and Immersive Tech”.

Join me August 18-19 as we discuss the long-term viability of NFTs and where we should steer next in the vast seascape of possibilities being raised in Web3.

AI Corner

💻 Apple, Pixar, Nvidia, Adobe, and Autodesk have formed the Alliance for OpenUSD, a group aimed at popularizing an open-source Pixar technology that could facilitate 3D content creation. Missing from the table is Meta who is Apple’s biggest competition for the Apple Vision Pro headset & building out the next generation of immersive content.

💋 Match Group, the company behind Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid, is adding new AI features to help you select profile photos and explain why you keep matching with that guy named Dave.

This Week We're Bullish On...

Kelly DiGregorio

Hope you enjoyed this week's edition of the Alpha newsletter!

We're looking for brands to share with The Alpha. If you’ve got a product or service you think we’d love, let us know!👇

Remember, I'm Bullish on you!

With gratitude,

Shira