Disclaimer: Everything we write in "The Crypto Insider Report" is an x-ray of the industry as we see it, through the lens of publicly available information. We are not financial advisors.
Archiving Tweets Using IPFS
Given you’re into Crypto, there’s no way you haven’t heard of people deleting tweets. SBF deleted tweets while FTX was collapsing, Elon Musk deletes tweets all the time - there’s even a tracker for this. But aside from individuals deciding to remove their own words from the Web, there’s also the matter of censorship - situations in which content is taken down regardless of the intentions of its author. Internet censorship has its own Wikipedia page, so you know it’s a thing.
As I’ve mentioned, we already have trackers and Web archiving tools out there to help with this. However, they suffer from the same risks. If the people running them or some government decide to shut them down, the content will disappear. This is where the magical, decentralized world of Web3 comes in.
First of all, let me briefly introduce IPFS - a decentralized, peer-to-peer protocol for data storage and retrieval. It has two things going for it. First of all, files are addressed by their content’s hash. This means that each file has a unique signature that matches its contents, giving the reader certainty that they are reading unaltered information. Second, it is peer to peer, allowing data to be replicated across multiple nodes online, diminishing risks of censorship and data loss. If this is too much text for you, here is a 2 minute video.
On top of it, the IPFS team launched Pin Tweet to IPFS - a web extension that allows anyone to archive tweets. In doing so, they will live on forever (as long as IPFS is around, of course), together with metadata such as when they were captured, how many replicas they have, and so on. This is a great step towards archiving online data and making it available for everyone, supporting research and journalism by making sure referenced data lives on. How’s that for a practical Web3 use case?
Mihnea
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CZ’s “buying” when there’s blood in the streets
We’ve just begun 2023 and we’re already dealing with a lot of layoffs. Talk about entering recessions, huh? On the one hand, we’ve expected these moves for a long time, especially since it’s so expensive now for companies to borrow (and capitalism is based on a lot of borrowing, especially at low interest rates). But this article is not just about the number of layoffs, it’s also about a spectacular outlier with outstanding resilience.
Since the beginning of the year (less than 2 weeks ago, by the way!), 8 important companies announced they’re firing employees, mostly due to the looming recession. In the current macroeconomic environment, they need to reduce costs to stay afloat comfortably, especially since profits have also gone down for most of them. Let’s look at the companies i cherrypicked:
Coinbase lays off 950 employees (20% of the current workforce) after an initial round in the summer of 2022 (1000 employees laid off at the time)
SuperRare lays off 30% of its workforce, citing an overextension in employee count in the last year
Huobi says goodbye to 20% of its workforce
Genesis announced a 30% reduction in employee count after waving goodbye to 20% of its workforce in August 2022
Blackrock is the “nicest” of them all, with a 3% reduction in its headcount (500 employees)
Silvergate takes brutal measures and fires 40% of the employees
Goldman Sachs waves goodbye to 3200 people
Amazon leaves 18.000 people unemployed
This is by no means great news, hundreds of thousands of people are left without a job worldwide and have to find ways to make ends meet in other ways. And this is not the end of layoffs because earlier this week we had the unemployment data for the US, where the unemployment rate dropped to 3,5%, a 3 months-low. In the midst of layoffs, the labor market is not yet cooling down and is poised to be a slight concern for the FED. Because a tight labor market means more reasons for the FED to hike rates, so more pain for us.
Then who’s the outlier in employment you might ask. Who, in these times of peril, does not need to lay people off? Who’s doing so well that a possible recession doesn’t concern them too much? If you’ve been following crypto in the last few months, the answer might come naturally to you. If not, i’m here to enlighten you.
It’s Binance we’re talking about. Binance not only did not lay people off, but they are also on a hiring spree. In 2022, they almost tripled their headcount from 3000 people to about 8000. And this week, CZ mentioned at a conference that their plans for 2023 are to increase the number of staff by 15 to 30%. Someone’s got to fish all that talent that’s in the streets from fellow exchanges, tech and finance firms.
It looks like funds are currently safu, but how long can Binance remain king? After all, giants can be easier to bring down with worsening credit and economic conditions. There’s definitely an opportunity to attract and retain talent cheaply right now, but I’m hoping CZ’s managing risk accordingly and not overextending.
Matei
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Mastercard’s Web3 Artist Accelerator
Mastercard announced a Web3 based Accelerator program dedicated to music artists. The program will start in spring 2023 and will prepare emerging musicians, DJs and producers to build their brand through web3 experiences, including minting NFTs, engaging with a virtual community and live performances in the metaverse. The space will also enable fans to participate through the Mastercard Music Pass, an NFT that gives access to Web3 Music educational material and resources.
The payment processing platform’s plans with the accelerator were announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). “Music is a universal passion, inspiring us, moving us, and bringing us together; however, it can feel impossible for budding artists to break in. With the Mastercard Artist Accelerator, we are expanding access and driving connections further with cutting-edge Web3 technology,” said Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. “Our vision is to bridge passion and purpose, spotlighting amazing emerging artists and creating an interactive community that allows participants to learn, experiment and grow together.”
The accelerator program leverages the Polygon blockchain, and follows on Mastercard’s historical support of the music industry, having sponsored the GRAMMY awards and the BRIT Awards. In February 2022, the company expanded its consulting practices to include crypto & digital currencies. In unison with service expansion, the company is also keen to increase its Web3 user base. Last year, the company announced it’s working with seven major NFT platforms and enablers, including ImmutableX, and the Web3 metaverse The Sandbox. The Accelerator program is another step in its wider strategy.
Evelyne
For more educational crypto content, check out the links below:
The Stakeborg DAO Talks on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOrFZZifNn4Nx4nSQL3WS52ALPXgrTSVG
Discord channel: https://discord.com/channels/901898461568442458/903006233584341052
StakeborgDAO Quarterly Reports: https://docs.stakeborgdao.com/reports/dao-quarterly-reports
Stakeborg Academy: https://academy.stakeborg.com/
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