​​​​Web3: Minecraft Web3; Save Ukraine DAO; zkSync launches ZK-Rollup on Public Testnet; Tether reduces Commercial Paper reserves; eBay to add Crypto payments

Gm Fintech Futurists —

Welcome to our Web3 newsletter, focused on covering the overall progress in the metaverse, NFTs, and DeFi. To more closely manage which emails you receive, see this post. If you want to go deeper with our weekly long takes and develop a view on the space, check out our premium features below.

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Cryptoeconomic Research

We partner with the the ConsenSys Cryptoeconomics team to share DeFi analysis, fundamental protocol research, token engineering, and DAO design.

⭐ Gro Protocol: A Stablecoin Yield Aggregator. Gro is a stablecoin yield farming protocol, balancing allocation to the protocols and stablecoins it invests in to manage risk exposure.

⭐ Layer 2 & Scaling Solutions | February 2022 | Week 3. Digestible ecosystem news. This week gets a bit nerdy, focusing on darksharding.

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NFT, Metaverse, and Gaming

⭐ Microsoft’s Minecraft Goes Web3 With ‘NFT Worlds’ on Polygon - Decrypt, February 25

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POAPs: What Is a Proof of Attendance Protocol? - CoinDesk, February 22

What Can You Do In Decentraland's Metaverse? - Crypto Briefing, February 26

Rakuten Launches NFT Marketplace to Capitalise on Growing Adoption in Japan - Coin Telegraph, February 25

$18.6M in Crypto Sent to Ukraine Includes Almost $2M From NFT Sales - Decrypt, February 26

Play-to-Earn Games Are Missing the Point. Here’s How to Fix Them - CoinDesk, February 24

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DAOs and Token Engineering

⭐ Save Ukraine DAO Launches The World’s First Charity Crypto After The Ukrainian-Russian Conflict Broke Out - Digital Journals, February 25

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Baseplate Thesis - OxSami, February 21

Year 1602 Revisited: Are DAOs the New Corporate Paradigm? - Coin Telegraph, February 22

FriesDAO Scoops Up Fast Food Franchises As Part Of Its Crypto Governance Experiment - Coin Telegraph, February 21

DAOs Are Having a Moment, But Are They Ready for the Mainstream? - Bitcoinist, February 23

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DeFi and Stablecoins

⭐ Latest Tether Figures Show 21% Decrease in Commercial Paper - Decrypt, February 22

Source - Breakdown of assets that back Tether’s USDT stablecoin

Luna Foundation Guard Raises $1B for Bitcoin UST Stablecoin Reserve - CryptoPotato, February 23

An Argument for DeFi 3.0 - Knower, February 23

What Is Yield Farming? What You Need To Know - Blockworks, February 23

Teller Closes $6.85M Strategic Raise to Decentralise Unsecured Lending of Crypto Assets - Yahoo Finance, February 23

CeFi Meets DeFi as Celsius Joins Forces with Maple Finance on Crypto Lending Protocol - The Defiant, February 24

At ETHDenver, Weird DeFi Comes Out of Its Shell - CoinDesk, February 24

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Public Blockchains

⭐ Crypto Community Welcomes Ethereum zkSync Testnet - Coin Telegraph, February 22

Source - Total Valued Locked (TVL) for zkSync

Solana-based Programmable Cash Stream Protocol Zebec Raises $15 Million - The Block, February 23

Jump and Three Arrows Lead $1B LUNA Buy to Secure UST Against Black Swans - The Defiant, February 23

StarkWare Launches Layer 2 Product StarkNet on Ethereum - CoinDesk, February 23

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Crypto, Fintech and Institutional

⭐ eBay To Add Crypto Payment Options Soon, Says CEO - Coin Telegraph, February 28

Source - Total value of merchandise sold on eBay by quarter

Coinbase Crushes Expectations in Q4 Earnings, but Stock Sinks as it Reports Slower Start to Year - TechCrunch, February 24

Russian Financiers Could Turn To Crypto To Sidestep US, European Sanctions - Blockworks, February 25

Brazilian Senate Committee Approves Bill Regulating Crypto Transactions - CoinDesk, February 22

Amber Group Raises $200M in Temasek-Led Round at $3B Valuation - CoinDesk, February 22

Bloomberg AIM Integrates Elwood’s Crypto Trading Platform - Markets Media, February 25

How are Afghans Using Crypto Under the Taliban Government? - Coin Telegraph, February 22

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Enterprise Chains and CBDCs

⭐ Blockchain Voting Will be Coming to an Election Near You, and Soon - BeInCrypto, February 23

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Longer term impact of SWIFT ban on Russian banks - Ledger Insights, February 27

Eastern Caribbean CBDC (DCash) Experiences Month-Long Outage - BeInCrypto, February 22

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Research and Reports

⭐ Columbus-5: An Overview of Terra’s Latest Upgrade - Messari, February 22

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Quantifying NFT‑driven Networks in Crypto Art - KishoreVasan, Milán Janosov & Albert‑László Barabási, February 17

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More? More!

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• Contributors: Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Lex

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