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

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

Two Degens - Crypto and web3 investing and building from Asia

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



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

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



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

People on this episode