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| The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day Nov. 15, 2021 If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here. Sponsored by Welcome to The Node.
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–Daniel Kuhn
Today’s must-reads Top Shelf BITCOIN UPGRADE: Taproot, Bitcoin’s long-anticipated upgrade, went live on Sunday. Three years in the making, the upgrade improves privacy, scalability and security on the network by introducing a new way to broadcast bitcoin transactions called “Schnorr signatures.” Tangible benefits from Taproot still need to be built, but as CoinDesk contributor and Bitcoin developer Alyssa Hertig writes, “Taproot gives developers an expanded toolbox to work with as they continue to ideate, iterate and build on Bitcoin.” LARGEST FUND YET: Paradigm, the venture firm launched by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, has closed a $2.5 billion fund. It is the largest industry fund dedicated to crypto to date, surpassing Andreessen Horowitz’s effort in June. CoinDesk reported in October that the firm was raising around $1.5 billion, according to investor documents seen at the time.
CREAMED: The price of decentralized finance (DeFi) money market and lending service C.R.E.A.M. Finance’s token plunged Saturday for the second time in less than a month. The first time came after an attack drained Cream’s coffers. The latest when Cream announced its plan to do right by the victims. The protocol’s founders said they will issue 1.45 million CREAM tokens from the service’s treasury thereby rapidly increasing the free-floating token supply. The token is not trading at around $48, down further from Saturday. NEW DAO: ParaSwap, a decentralized exchange, launched its PSP governance token, airdropping 20,000 to eligible Ethereum addresses. The token enables users to stake in liquidity pools in exchange for platform rewards and participate in its newly formed decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). ParaSwap resisted tokenizing for years, saying just last month it was “not planning” an airdrop, and chose a relatively narrow band of users to reward. BIG BUSINESS: BitGo, the cryptocurrency custody provider being acquired by Galaxy Digital, has seen its assets under custody swell to over $64 billion. Separately, Galaxy Digital (TSX: GLXY), the publicly listed cryptocurrency conglomerate helmed by Mike Novogratz, saw its third-quarter income grow 1,146% to $517 million, according to a Monday earnings release. Finally, Two Sigma, the “quant” hedge fund based in New York, is looking to fill a Crypto Operations role.
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Overheard on CoinDesk TV... Sound Bites “The focus is to … allow [artists] to dip their toe in the water in a very new technology and help us build exciting hooks on the back of that.”
–Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung, discussing the company’s move into K-pop NFTs, on CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover.”
What others are writing... Off-Chain Signals Maker founder Rune Christensen to join venture firm Dragonfly Capital (The Block) Trading Volume on OpenSea Doubles as Bored Ape Yacht Club Sales Spike 900% (Decrypt) Why Pplpleasr's Latest NFT Art Is on Solana, Not Ethereum (Decrypt) Ukraine wants to become a crypto capital (NYTimes) Platforms that provide custody, lending and borrowing services – as well as trading – look more like brokers, not “exchanges,” according to the Financial Times How much money can crypto gaming absorb in the near term? (Tech Crunch)
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CoinDesk’s “Most Influential” recognizes individuals who’ve had a big impact on the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry in a calendar year. Chosen by readers and editorial staff, the list features 50 people from across the space, including entrepreneurs, traders, coders, regulators, celebrities and the odd surprise. To have your say on who should make this year’s list, check out the form here. The results will be announced on Dec. 6, 2021.
Putting the news in perspective The Takeaway What Will a Metaverse Embassy Look Like? Will Gottsegen here. This morning, my colleague Andrew Thurman put out a piece for this website about the government of Barbados, and its plans to establish a so-called “metaverse embassy.”
The metaverse is a kind of multiplayer social space in virtual reality; think Second Life or Playstation Home – a place where virtual people live virtual lives, entirely on a screen. Proponents say it’s like a copy of the real world, only better, since users don’t have to abide by the laws of physics. For skeptics, it’s cringey at best and dystopian at worst: a comprehensive new framework for digital surveillance and intrusive advertising.
Barbados’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said it signed an agreement with Decentraland, an existing metaverse platform built around cryptocurrency, to “outline the baseline development elements for its metaverse embassy.”
The problem is that it’s not clear what any of this actually means. Though the press release concedes that “most details [about the project] have not been revealed,” here’s how it attempts to define a “metaverse embassy”:
“Barbados’ Metaverse Embassy will be at the centre of activities to advance the growth of stronger bilateral relationships with governments globally,” says the release, before adding, somewhat nonsensically, that “e-consular services will be a core feature alongside with [sic] a virtual teleporter which will be built in Barbados’ Metaverse Embassy connecting all metaworlds as a gesture of diplomatic unification between technology platforms.”
So, the government of Barbados is looking to plant its metaverse embassy in more than one virtual world. It’s only inked a deal with Decentraland, so far, but promises that agreements with other companies are in the works.
But what does a metaverse embassy look like, in practice? And what “e-consular services” could a metaverse embassy provide that a real embassy couldn’t? I’m picturing, like, a low poly government building with a pixelated flag out front.
It’s hard to imagine someone seeking asylum from a hostile government in a virtual embassy or consulate – and maybe that’s not the point of a virtual embassy or consulate. The concept of a physical space that’s in some way legally tied to another country feels like a bad fit for virtual reality, where jurisdiction isn’t so cleanly defined.
The project is being spearheaded by H.E. Gabriel Abed, Barbados’ current ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, who recently pivoted to government affairs after a long career as a crypto investor and entrepreneur. He’s also the founder of a crypto company called Bitt.
Abed said the government plans to issue something called an “e-visa,” and that Barbados’ Metaverse Embassy will somehow be compliant with international law and the Vienna Convention, which lays out the rights and protections granted to consuls and embassies.
Are “e-visas” for travel within the metaverse or will they apply to the real Barbados? Who needs one, and who gets one?
Not everything needs to be on the blockchain – in the absence of clarity, the metaverse embassy just feels like an empty ad campaign from a government official with a stake in the crypto industry.
–Will Gottsegen
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