5 Minute Crypto ⏳ - Aragon DAO 🤺; Bitcoin shitcoins; Blockworks raised $12M; Hasu; Kevin Kelly

Two Degens (resources, interviews, on all things crypto and some AI)

Howdy everyone — this is the 5 minute crypto update for Wednesday May 10th
We’ve got a lot to cover including the battle for Aragon DAO, Bitcoin shitcoins, Blockworks raising money, Hasu’s transaction supply chain and more
Let’s do this like Buddhists
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What’s going on in crypto land…
…which is, that it’s been one year and one day since the Luna Terra collapse
https://twitter.com/kasperloock/status/1655331673863602177?s=46
It’s a friendly - if a bit painful - reminder of crypto’s volatility and counterparty risk
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There’s a good run down on last year’s epic crypto crash in David Gerard and Amy Castor’s newsletter
https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2023/05/07/crypto-collapse-one-year-since-terra-luna-new-york-goes-after-crypto-coinbase-launches-offshore-casino-central-african-republic-abandons-bitcoin/
Next let’s talk about the siege of Aragon
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/05/09/aragon-cancels-planned-community-control-of-200m-treasury-amid-battle-with-activist-investors/
-So Aragon is one of the original Ethereum-based projects, the founders are all OGs, and their product focuses on building tools for DAOs
-Ironically, Aragon Association had planned to devolve more power to its own community DAO, but now those plans are being cancelled.
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/05/09/heavyweight-hedge-fund-arca-joins-activist-fight-against-dao-builder-aragon/
Bitcoin BRC-20 trading
https://twitter.com/defiignas/status/1655442232349196288?s=46
He shares how BRC-20s have grown, and how clunky the whole experience still is
A few notables
-total market cap is north of $500M - and may have now surpassed $1B
-75% of the trading takes place on something called the UniSat marketplace which I’ve never used
https://twitter.com/paddi_hansen/status/1655883224726241281?s=46
Interesting thread from Paddi Hansen on how after Europe’s MICA laws passed - their version of comprehensive crypto regulation
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/05/09/crypto-media-outlet-blockworks-raises-12m-at-135m-valuation/
Blockworks, whose reporting we’ve heavily relied on for this podcast and itself has a great podcast network, has raised $12M at a $135M valuation, led by PE firm 10T Holdings
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/09/crypto-blockworks-raises-12m-135m-valuation
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/05/09/texas-senate-bill-2334-proposal-new-digital-currency-texas-gold-purchase-everyday-goods/70195299007/
https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/SB02334I.htm
There are early moves from Texas state politicians to create a digital currency backed by the state’s own gold
https://forkast.news/headlines/south-korea-crypto-bill-review/
Korea crypto legislation, according to media pub Forkast, the legislation could pass by the end of this year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmBqoBr6yl4
Hasu, who is an OG crypto researcher, currently at Flashbots, one of the smartest guys we have in the space
He gives a talk on the concept that he calls the Transaction Supply Chain
Finally, just a fascinating perspective on JP Morgan, which has been the savior during these recent US bank failures and increasingly looks like the linchpin of the global financial system
To quote from a Chartbook piece by Adam Tooze:
https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-213-expanding-the-fortress
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That’s it for today! That was X:YY minutes long. All the links are in the show notes. You can follow @twodegenspod on Twitter and subscribe for more!
Outro clip
Kevin Kelly on BTC and historical comparison to telegraph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6NqRctN2RI