This Week in Web3: Friday, March 4, 2022
UkraineDAO, Crypto communities supporting Ukrainians, Ukrainian government accepts crypto donations and more
Hi friends,
As you may have noticed we’ve had a two-week hiatus with the newsletter. I took some time off, traveled with my family, and attempted to disconnect from everything, however, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine quickly changed those plans.
Whilst I’m back to the newsletter this week, it didn’t feel quite right to not acknowledge what was happening, so this week we are dedicating the newsletter to news and projects related to how people are leveraging Web3, Crypto, and Blockchain to provide support to those impacted by Russia’s invasion.
Also, we are donating 100% of subscription proceeds generated for the next 7 days to UNICEF: Protect Children in Ukraine. To help support us in this effort, please share this week’s newsletter with your friends and followers.
Praying for peace!
Toby
TL;DR
Pussy Riot Founder, Trippy Labs, PleasrDAO Members Launch Ukraine DAO
Uniswap builds interface to swap altcoins into ETH donations for Ukraine
Airbnb’s non-profit arm, Airbnb.org, will offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine
Crypto Community Rushes to Ukraine’s Defense Armed With NFTs, DAOs
The official Ukrainian twitter account is requesting, and receiving, donations in BTC and ETH
Via NFT discover platform Masterpiece: Someone just donated CryptoPunk #5364 to the #Ethereum wallet of the Ukrainian government
In other, Web3 news:
Cointelegraph Top 100 Influencers in Crypto and Blockchain in 2022
This Social Club Runs on Crypto Tokens and Vibes
Talking about crypto with Benedict Evans
What's Real About Crypto Gaming | Ryan Wyatt
Ukraine, DAOs, and Donations
Pussy Riot Founder, Trippy Labs, PleasrDAO Members Launch Ukraine DAO
Twitter is mobilizing to raise money for Ukraine—using Ethereum NFTs.
In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, crypto users have taken it upon themselves to raise money in support of the beleaguered nation. To that end, decentralized autonomous organizations, better known as DAOs, are spinning up to help those hurt by the invasion.
Uniswap builds interface to swap altcoins into ETH donations for Ukraine
“We built this interface so anyone who wants to donate but holds other ERC-20 tokens can do so with one click,” said the Uniswap team.
On Tuesday, decentralized exchange Uniswap launched an interface that directly converts ERC-20 tokens — such as Aave, Chainlink’s LINK and Decentraland’s MANA — to Ether (ETH). The coins are then sent to the official crypto wallet addresses of the Ukrainian government, all in a single transaction.
Airbnb’s non-profit arm, Airbnb.org, will offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.
These stays will be funded by Airbnb, donors to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund, and the generosity of Hosts on Airbnb.org.
You can volunteer to host or donate to cover costs of housing and relocation here. Whilst this is not strictly Web3 specific, it felt worthy of note.
Crypto Community Rushes to Ukraine’s Defense Armed With NFTs, DAOs
“Web3 is positioned to help people during oppression,” wrote one crypto enthusiast. “Let’s save some lives,” wrote another.
Not too long after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine this week, the web3 community started to express its belief that NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, could aid the Ukrainian people even as Putin’s armies attacked them by land, sea, and air.
The official Ukrainian twitter account is requesting, and receiving, donations in BTC and ETH.
Via NFT discover platform Masterpiece: Someone just donated CryptoPunk #5364 to the #Ethereum wallet of the Ukrainian government
The wallet already received over $33M in Cryptocurrencies. This specific #NFT is estimated to be worth between $220k-$250k. This is the first major donation using a blue-chip NFT like #CryptoPunks, a generous and creative way of donating!
In other, Web3 news:
Cointelegraph Top 100 Influencers in Crypto and Blockchain in 2022
The Cointelegraph team has scoured the deepest trenches of the blockchain world to find the most artistic, analytical and innovative out there to be featured in this comprehensive list of people and trends that shaped the industry.
This Social Club Runs on Crypto Tokens and Vibes
Friends With Benefits is a V.I.P. lounge for crypto’s creative class. Is it empty hype or the future of friendship?
Friends With Benefits is what’s known as a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO — a kind of digital co-op that uses cryptocurrency tokens to coordinate access, make payments and vote on group decisions.
Talking about crypto with Benedict Evans
Crypto is so big and yet so unclear that we can’t even agree what to call it. What does ‘web3’ mean, what might it mean, how do we ignore the noise, and what questions might matter?
What's Real About Crypto Gaming | Ryan Wyatt
Ryan Wyatt is the CEO of Polygon Studios and former Head of Gaming at Youtube. Ryan is always on the frontier of gaming, having stewarded a new generation of content creators. He's now shifting his focus to Web3, where the next wave of innovation is set to happen.
Ryan presents a number of fascinating takes, including his feelings on Anti-NFT sentiment, the future of games, and the growing influence of gaming content.
By building out the Polygon Metaverse, Ryan is colliding games and economies. In this episode, he shares what he's learned — what's real about crypto, and what's not.