This Week in Web3...

🎉 DeGods Season III announcement made headlines this week with three huge updates. First, Y00ts will move to Ethereum as the team returns the $3M grant they received from Polygon. Season III also includes the new Points Parlour, where $DUST collected from the Season III art update will be used for prizes, given to holders who stake their NFTs.

Not everything was well received, however, as many holders were disappointed in the art refresh. The team took fire for not consulting female holders on the long-awaited female DeGoddesses whose art received mixed reviews.

📈 BASE Launch. Coinbase BASE Layer 2 launched this week, and early activity on the chain is promising as the layer 2 beat competitor Optimism in daily active users. Over 20 protocols have $100,000 or more in total value locked (TVL) and there were 100,000 active wallet addresses this week.

In partnership with Cozomo de’ Medici, DeeKay Motion released his first ever open edition as the inaugural art mint on BASE, with over 45,000 editions minted.

🎙 New week, new social media platform. Crypto Twitter is obsessed with a new social media platform that launched Thursday on the BASE network called Friend.tech, where you can buy shares to access a private chatroom with a user. To date, Friend.tech has seen over 6500 ETH in trading volume and influencers like Cobie, David Hoffman, and Farokh join, but like any new platform, time will tell whether it is sticky or just a passing fad.

💰 Paypal dives deeper into the web3 space with the launch of PYUSD. PayPal customers can use Paypal’s USD coin to make peer-to-peer payments, pay for purchases, exchange it for other Paypal supported crypto-currencies, and transfer it to an external crypto wallet for self-custody. Paypal is first major U.S. financial company to launch a stablecoin.

🚔 Sam Bankman Fried is finally in jail. His bail was revoked after he broke his bail conditions while watching a football game over a VPN, trying to influence witnesses, and leaking Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison's private diary to the New York Times.

Positive Affirmation for the Week

The balance between ease and flow and setting your boundaries is a beautiful dance! 💃

Top Web3 Conferences to Attend for the Rest of 2023

The best way to stay informed on the latest trends in web3 and blockchain is to attend in-person and virtual conferences to hear from thought leaders & builders, and meet others who are creating in the space. Joining the community creates lasting relationships and builds connections: some of my best business relationships are people I’ve met at conferences!

Here are seven events happening in the space for the rest of 2023 that are great to attend:

MidwestCon 2023 - Disrupt Art ( Cincinnati) — August 18-19, 2023

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”.

Castle Party 2023 (Outside Paris) – September 3-5, 2023

Located at Château de Vallery between Burgundy and Paris, the famous Bitcoin Angel Castle Party 2023 celebrates the fusion of 21st-century art and technology in a classic French castle. The event supports digital artist Trevor Jones and features wine tastings, bonfires, games, and a Steampunk costume theme.

Permissionless II (Austin) – September 11-13 2023

Known as the largest Defi event, Permissionless II takes over Austin, Texas for a three day experience with 7000+ crypto enthusiasts and builders. Expect keynotes, curated panels, networking events, parties, activations, and Texas BBQ. BoysClub is curating the Culture track, which should be great!

Token 2049 (Singapore) – September 13-14, 2023

Token 2049 brings together over 3000 thought leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and developers across the cryptocurrency space in the Asia-Pacific region. TOKEN2049 is the flagship event of Asia Crypto Week or TOKEN2049 Week, which features a week of side events around the conference.

European Blockchain Convention (Barcelona) – October 24-26, 2023

Blockchain and web3 take over Barcelona with three stages, an exhibition area, startup competitions, parties, and more. They are expecting more than 5,000 attendees and 250 speakers for this year’s conference.

Solana Breakpoint (Amsterdam) – October 30 - November 3, 2023

Breakpoint is the annual conference organized by the Solana foundation, featuring developer-focused talks, panels, and workshops, as well as new initiatives for the entire Solana community.

This year, Breakpoint will be located on a special campus about fifteen minutes from central Amsterdam, hosting the conference keynote stages, as well as activities and events from ecosystem teams and creators in the Solana community.

Art Basel (Miami) – December 8-10, 2023

Art Basel Miami Beach is the American festival for Art Basel, a leading international art festival, featuring works from leading modern & contemporary art galleries, large-scale installations, and emerging artists, as well as countless exhibitions that take place concurrently in Miami Beach. The web3 and NFT community hosts events alongside the traditional art festival, so you can expect events from leading NFT projects and artists again this year.

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

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With gratitude,

Shira