Happy Wednesday, crypto operators!
Coming to you a day earlier than usual because it’s a holiday week here in the U.S.
Keeping it short and sweet for Turkey Day.
This Week’s Topic
🦃 How to explain crypto to your family at Thanksgiving
It’s that time of year again when we must answer the age-old question: “WTF is going on with crypto right now?”
It’s a crypto tradition unlike any other. And I’m here to help make these conversations a little less awkward.
Here’s how you might talk about it with your hypothetical Aunt Pattie:
Aunt Pattie: “So what’s the deal with this FTX stuff?”
You: “While catastrophic in the short-term, the scandal changed nothing about the crypto thesis in the long term. This was pure fraud and theft from FTX and SBF that caused a lot of pain to users, investors, and the entire ecosystem. A tale as old as time.
But it changes nothing about the underlying values of decentralization, building trustless systems, and self-custody.
However, I am excited about the inevitable book/feature film on FTX from The Big Short author Michael Lewis.”
AP: “But will the crypto industry ever come back from this?”
You: “That’s up to you to decide, but crypto has been through many catastrophic events like this in the past. And each time, crypto use cases have proven stronger in the years following.
The last time crypto was in a bear market in 2018-2020, we didn’t have NFTs, DAOs, and DeFi. We have more rails in place than ever before and builders are still building. Nothing’s changed in my eyes.
The real question is how will crypto be regulated?”
AP: “So it’s not all a scam?”
Me: “No, Aunt Pattie. Just don’t trust guys with their faces on billboards and names on stadiums.”
AP: “Okay, but I can still connect you with second cousin Stu at the bank if you need a new job?”
🙄🙄🙄
Bottom Line: Don’t get pushed over by the naysayers this Thanksgiving. Consider teaching relatives about the importance of self-custody. We’ll get through this together. 💪
From the DeOps World
📚 What We’re Reading
FTX Chapter 11 Filing
“Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.”
This is coming from the new CEO of FTX, who oversaw the criminal activity with Enron in 2001. Yikes.
Safe CEX: Proof of Solvency and Beyond
Vitalik Buterin outlines the way forward for Centralized Exchanges (CEXs) to prove they have enough funds to cover their liabilities to their users. It’s a bit more technical but worth the read to hear what the co-founder of Ethereum thinks about risk management for exchanges.
Achieving Crypto Privacy & Regulatory Compliance
How do we regulate crypto while preserving consumer privacy and reducing the risk of illicit finance? The a16z crypto team explains that Zero-Knowledge Proofs may provide a solution “that enables auditable security without undermining secret-keeping.”
Learn more in the blog from a16z
Listen and Learn
🎧 Business Models for NFT Communities with Tara Fung
In this episode, Tara Fung discusses various business models for NFT communities, and how to be successful in web3.
Tara Fung is the co-founder and CEO of Co:Create. Co:Create helps successful NFT projects scale by growing, rewarding, and engaging their community.
Some takeaways:
New revenue models for NFT projects not relying on royalties
Legacy brands adapting NFT business models
Why IP Licensing is a good way for NFTs to monetize
NFT projects incorporating fungible tokens as a way to grow and engage your community
What you need to be successful with NFT business models
That’s all!
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate. Thankful for you this week and every week.
Cheers,
Gil
Brought to you by Gilded 💡
This newsletter is strictly for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or tax advice. As always, do your own research.
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