Chainforest Weekly Recap (08/09/23)
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Chainforest Weekly Recap (08/09/23)
Greetings Rainmakers! ⛓️🌴
Welcome to the latest edition of the Chainforest Weekly Recap, where you’ll find up-to-date information on upcoming Chainforest DAO programming and industry events, the community feature of the month, a round-up of the most exciting happenings in our Discord this week, and a welcome to our new Rainmaker’s!
The top three channels were: 💬│general-chat, 📶│jobs-in-crypto, and 🔗│links.
Discord Highlights 👀
💵 Finance: PayPal is set to introduce its own U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin called PayPal USD (PYUSD), based on the Ethereum blockchain. The stablecoin will be backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term Treasuries, and similar cash equivalents, and it will be redeemable for dollars and exchangeable for other cryptocurrencies on PayPal's network. This move marks PayPal's entry into the cryptocurrency market and aims to provide a stable digital instrument connected to fiat currency. The stablecoin will first be available on PayPal and later on its Venmo app. Paxos Trust will issue the stablecoin and provide attested reports on the reserves backing it
🖼️ NFTs: The NFT market encountered a challenging July, as revealed by a recent DappRadar report. Both NFT trading volume and sales experienced a notable decline of 29% and 23%, respectively, compared to the previous month. Even the dominance of Yuga Labs' NFT collections waned, with only Mutant Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks securing spots in the top ten collections by trading volume. Notably, the floor prices of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Azuki hit two-year lows during this period
In contrast to January 2023, where 7.36 million NFT sales were recorded, July witnessed a significant drop to 3.7 million sales, reflecting a 49% decrease. Similarly, trading volume in January amounted to $1.1 billion, whereas July marked the third consecutive month with trading volume below $1 billion, standing at just $600 million. For more details, check out the DappRadar report!
🖥️ Devs: In the Q2 2023 Web3 Developer Report by Alchemy, a surge in web3 developer engagement is highlighted. Despite reduced NFT and DeFi trading volumes, the quarter witnessed a remarkable 302% surge in smart contracts deployed on EVM chains including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Polygon. Ethereum and wallet SDK installations achieved record levels, signifying the vitality of the ecosystem. The report underscores heightened developer interest in areas like smart contract security, account abstraction, and ZK-rollups. Promisingly, Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum and Polygon observed substantial developer expansion, pointing toward a positive outlook for Ethereum's scalability
⭕ DAOs: LinksDAO, a decentralized organization for golf enthusiasts, has introduced new membership tiers to expand access to its network of golf courses and partners. After raising $10.5 million through NFT memberships, the organization is renovating the Spey Bay Golf Course in Scotland, which it acquired in March for around $1 million. The newly introduced membership options, including Starter, Player, and Pro tiers, provide different levels of access to the community, private courses, and the Spey Bay Golf Club upon its anticipated reopening
🔧 Rollups: Rainmaker, Kayla Phillips of Truffle Ventures, presents insightful graphical updates on the Rollup SDK ecosystem, providing a detailed breakdown of each modular layer of the stack. Additionally, she offers an illustrative chart depicting the No-Code RaaS Landscape by Layer. Check out the graphics here!
⛓️ Chains: Offchain Labs has introduced BOLD, a new dispute protocol for Arbitrum chains, designed to enhance permissionless validation. BOLD ensures fixed upper bounds on confirmation times for Optimistic Rollup settlements and empowers a single honest party to counter malicious claims efficiently. This protocol, available on GitHub and audited by Trail of Bits, bolsters the security and decentralization of Arbitrum chains by allowing any participant who agrees with a state to defend it against disputes
⚖️ Regulatory: The Federal Reserve has launched the "Novel Activities Supervision Program" to strengthen its oversight of banking organizations involved in crypto and stablecoins. This initiative aims to manage risks posed by innovative activities while ensuring access to financial services and stability. It also offers guidance to state-supervised banks involved in stablecoin operations, underscoring the importance of prioritizing risk management protocols
🤝 Interested in viewing or sharing deal flow with the Chainforest community? Members can also earn $RAINDROP token along the way!
Two new deals were shared with the community last week! Access our Deal Flow tool here!
The deal flow tool allows you to:
Share new deals
Comment and ask questions
Tag members
Search past deals using our filtering system
Ways Rainmaker’s can earn $RAINDROP token:
Source a deal that Chainforest invests in
Aid in the due diligence process for a Chainforest investment
Support a Chainforest portfolio company
What kinds of deals does Chainforest invest in?
Check out our Investment Framework here!
Rainmaker Personal Updates 📣
RADAR is collaborating with OP Games and Future Primitive to introduce a funding pool and briefing on August 11, providing $10,000 for initiatives bridging gaming, AI, and new economies. These initiatives, co-created with forward-thinking brands and individuals, aim to inspire innovative projects that align with promising future prospects. Selected participating builders have the opportunity to receive resources from the funding pool, and projects can also gain public support through the Launch platform.
Congratulations to Fancy! 👏
Chainforest DAO Network (Open Roles) 💼
Fund Operations Director (Makers Fund- Full-Time): Makers Fund is looking for a Fund Operations Director to be based in Singapore. The Fund Operations Director will be responsible for managing and supporting the fund operations in Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries together with the finance, legal, HR, compliance and the General Partners
Principal Investor (Volt Capital - Full-Time): Volt Capital is looking for a Principal Investor to join their lean and steadily growing team. You will be working closely with Volt Capital’s core team on sourcing, analyzing, and evaluating the next investment opportunities as well as formalizing our place as the premier partner to crypto founders and their companies
Upcoming Events 🗓️
SPC Demo Faire & Open House - Summer 2023: South Park Commons (SPC) is hosting the SPC Demo Faire, an event where presenters showcase live demos of their projects and products. The event features a range of demos, from member hacks to Series C products, providing a glimpse into the innovative work of SPC alumni and members. The event includes in-person demos at SPC-SF and live-streaming on Zoom, followed by an open house for those interested in joining SPC
When: August 9, 2023, San Francisco, CA (In-person and Virtual)
Details: here
Heds presents UNISON: Unison highlights NYC's rising talent by throwing underground parties, generally centered within the worlds of electronic music and hip hop
When: August 19, 2023, New York, NY
Details: here
Blockchain Futurist Conference: Untraceable's 5th Annual Blockchain Futurist Conference 2023 brings together top leaders in Blockchain, Crypto, Web3, DeFi, Privacy, & NFTs!
Token2049 (Singapore): TOKEN2049 brings together the global crypto industry, uniting entrepreneurs, investors, developers, industry enthusiasts and global media - and creates unparalleled networking opportunities. This is the community that will define what’s next in the space
When: September 13-14, 2023, Singapore (Marina Bay Sands)
Details: here
NY Tech Week - a16z presents Tech Week 2023! Join us for tech weeks in LA this year to create IRL connections across the major tech hubs
When: Oct 16-22, 2023, New York, NY
Details: here
Interested in joining Chainforest? ⛓️🌴
How to apply: You can apply to become a member by completing our application on Typeform. We will review your submission and grant access after approving your profile. Apply here!
What is Chainforest?
Chainforest's mission is to build the most powerful ecosystem in the world leveraging an exceptional community of leaders to build, grow, and invest together to create the future of web3. We leverage the collective power of the Chainforest community to create incredible value for our Rainmakers, the ecosystem, and our LPs and other partners. The outsized performance will create a flywheel effect, allowing us to build an enviable ecosystem that attracts, develops, and inspires high-caliber talent to be their best selves and to build the future of web3 collectively
Learn more about our DAO structure here!
Benefits of being a Rainmaker:
Exclusive Content: Access content like Town Hall AMAs, Workshops, IRL Events, Discord Discussions & Games, and Women in the Forest meet-ups! Expand your knowledge, network with experts, & enjoy the vibrant community
Rainmakers also have the opportunity to support Chainforest's VC fund. Rainmakers have the opportunity to earn $RAINDROP, our token backed by carry in our VC fund, in exchange for:
Sourcing a deal that Chainforest invests in
Aid in the diligence process for a Chainforest investment
Support a Chainforest portfolio company
Help Chainforest as an organization (e.g., take a part-time role with the community, design an NFT collection for the community
Note: Rainmakers are not required to invest in order to participate, but also do not have a vote on investment decisions
Deal Flow: Unlock the Chainforest x @proofofteamwork Deal Flow tool! Share deals, engage in discussions, ask questions, search prior deals, & earn $RAINDROP token by sourcing deals CF invests in, aiding in the due diligence for a CF investment, or supporting CF portfolio companies
Member Directory: Discover the invaluable Chainforest x @proofofteamworkdirectory: Strengthen bonds, explore business prospects, amplify deal flow, and unlock hiring opportunities. Search by location to connect Rainmaker's locally & also connect with Women in The Forest
Earn TEAM points: Earn valuable TEAM points as a Rainmaker by actively contributing to our community through discussions, content interaction, and sharing deal flow. Climb the leaderboard, unlock prizes, and make a rewarding impact in the Chainforest community
I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of the Chainforest Weekly Recap!
Till next week,