WAGMI | A speculative casino?
What’s up humans! Welcome back to WAGMI, a Morning Brew-ish newsletter for the crypto and NFT curious.
If you’re new around here, this is what you’ll find in WAGMI:
Irreverence for everything
Tweets and bullet point lists
Tiny recaps of what's gone on in the crypto/NFT space
A culture section to keep you young
Not financial advice
Also, we’ve partnered with PRSPR, a financial literacy app that helps you start and make the journey to a kickass financial future. With PRSPR, you’ll learn money by watching bite-sized videos about all the financial stuff you’ve always thought was too complicated and boring.
Speaking of complicated, there is a glossary at the bottom of this newsletter for any acronyms, words, or other concepts that might need more explanation. Anything in a newsletter that’s explained in the glossary will be marked with 🤯.
This week, WAGMI is very concept focused, so, prep your brains.
Crypto
An important distinction between casinos and the trojan war
This penguin is starting the newsletter with this because it’s a really important concept for those new to the space to understand. If all you’re paying attention to is mainstream media’s accounts of crypto, then it’s highly likely the “speculative casino” narrative is all you’ll hear.
Why? Because crypto is confusing and takes a bit of work to dig into, and understand, the “new financial system hidden inside”. Luckily, that’s why WAGMI is here.
On Web3 and it mattering
We talked briefly about the concept of Web3(🤯) in our last edition of WAGMI, and we’ll likely continue talking about it for the rest of forever.
Why? This penguin believes Web3 will replace and challenge our current ideas and systems of the internet. While this thread has a lot of jargon-y words, it’s worth taking a look at.
Why do I care? Let’s go back to our first headline (speculative casino). Again, if all you’re paying attention to is mainstream crypto narratives, you’ll completely miss the Web3 narrative. In this narrative, crypto isn’t just a casino, but a vital part in how we reshape the internet and take power from companies like Facebook, and put it in the hands of users.
El Salvador mines bitcoin with a Volcano
Bitcoin mining uses the processing power of computers to bring new Bitcoin into circulation, and El Salvador decided to power their computers with lava.
Get tipped in Bitcoin for all your hot takes
Twitter will soon roll out a tipping feature that lets your followers send you money through third-party apps like Cash and Venmo. Followers can also send you bitcoin, hence why we’re talking about it here.
Twitter also announced that they’re working on a way to verify the ownership of NFT profile photos.
NFTs
Will NFTs leave an impression like impressionism?
NFT collector and web3 content creator, Josh Gordon, outlines art history and where NFTs might fall in art history books, a new art movement he’s calling “Digitalism”.
In a world of NFT hype, one anonymous cartoon shares a map
Part 1
The headline above should be read with a movie trailer voice. 6529 is back with a really interesting thread about NFTs and Web3. One of my favorite parts, though, was this timeline of NFT usage.
What does it mean? There’s a lot of jargon in this, so keep your focus on the timeline. The mainstream narrative of NFTs spends has been more around the “fad” of NFTs over their utility. This map shows the potential utility of NFTs.
Why do I care? A lot of reasons, but let’s look at the idea of “off-chain assets.” What is an “off-chain asset”? Very generally, it means something that’s not digital. For example, the deed to your house or the title to your car.
In theory, these sorts of assets could be bound to a token that makes them unchangeable, verifiably owned, and transferred by you, the user without the need for a third-party. Take a second to think around how this might change how we handle those transactions, or any sort of transaction that requires the transfer of ownership.Next time, we’ll look at the idea of “off-chain governance”
Gary Vee punches the “but you can’t even hang it on a wall” response to NFTs in the face
What a time to be alive
Snoop Dogg is an anonymous NFT influencer?
A short story.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
🤷♂️
As it stands, there’s some who believe this and some who don’t, still, what a time to be alive.
Stonks & paper money
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em
TicTok investors are following a new investment strategy, buying the same stocks as members of Congress.
Photo credit: TikTok user CEO Watchlist
Not financial advice
Evaluating a crypto’s price and future price is an iceburg…a priceburg
Crypto exchange Binance put out a great infographic on all the factors that go into a crypto’s valuation. These metrics are important to consider when investing, because price is determined by way more than a coin’s current price.
What does it mean? Many first-time crypto investors can fall into a trap when considering what to invest in. For example, Bitcoin, which currently trades above 40k a coin, looks expensive when comparing it to a coin like DOGE which you can buy for cents. However, just because something is “cheap” doesn’t mean it’s a good buy.
Why do I care? Crypto prices are similar to the price of stocks. The price of a stock is dependent on a lot of factors, a company’s future, leadership, product, successes, failures, users, etc. To make good investments, it’s important to understand how to evaluate any coin to understand not only what you’re investing in, but your risk, potential upside and downside.
A digital rabbit hole of digital habits
Crypto analyst Willy Woo posted a really interesting set of metrics about Gen Z’s digital habits. While this penguin has NO IDEA where these metrics came from, or if they’re accurate, his take on it was that in order to invest in the future, you need to understand the habits of those who will be in it, which seems wise.
That’s all for this month, frens.
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N00b glossary
Remember, nothing in this newsletter is financial advice, or should be used to
${coinname} | This is a cashtag. Cashtags let you look up posts related to any particular coin on social media platforms like Twitter.
NFT | Non-fungible token. An item that is unique and can’t be replaced or switched out with something else, like a rare trading card or art piece.
Web3 |
Wait…there are versions of the internet? Yes.
Web1 (1991 - 2004) - This web was created, updated, and maintained by developers. The average user simply consumed content that couldn’t be personalized or customized. Very little interactivity. For example, you couldn’t just upload a video to Youtube.
Web2 (2004-now) - The web we know. You don’t have to be a developer to create and make on the web. Through third-party businesses like Facebook, Squarespace, Instagram, Google, etc, the average user can build and create on the web. Websites and applications are interactive and made possible through protocols that allow databases to communicate.
Web3 (TBA) - Generally, the aim of web3 is to remove the third-party and put the average user in charge of their own data, platform governance, finances, etc. In Web2, users create content for YouTube, but they don’t get rewarded for its creation, or, in some cases, might not even legally own it. Web3 changes this using decentralized blockchain tech and protocols to build applications that aren’t governed by any one person or company, but a network of incentivized users.