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 👀
⛓️ Chains: Base faced a 45-minute outage that momentarily impacted user transaction submissions. The cause was a "Base chain stall," swiftly resolved by developers upon detection. This occurrence underscored the distinction between Ethereum Layer-2 solutions and the Ethereum mainnet, leading to discussions about their reliability and trust assumptions. View the official statement from Coinbase
💵 Finance: Visa is broadening its utilization of the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin by allowing payments settled on Ethereum and Solana blockchains. This expansion aims to enhance the efficiency of cross-border payments and is part of Visa's ongoing exploration of crypto and stablecoin applications, despite regulatory challenges. The initiative follows successful trials with partners like Crypto.com and integrations with payment processors Worldpay and Nuvei
⛓️ Chains: Solana is seeing a notable decrease in daily active addresses, reaching its lowest level since late 2020. On August 31, the number of daily active addresses fell to approximately 204,000. This decline is attributed to factors like the FTX exchange's bankruptcy and the SEC categorizing Solana's native SOL token as a security. Despite this setback, there have been positive developments, such as Visa's expansion of stablecoin settlement capabilities using USDC on the Solana blockchain
Below is TheBlock's chart showcasing the 7-day moving average. This metric calculates the average value of a data point over the past week and is valuable for trend analysis, demonstrating the decline in active Solana users:
👩💻 Hackathon: The Solana Foundation has launched its eighth hackathon, "Hyperdrive," a global online competition offering a prize pool of up to $1 million in prizes and seed funding. The objective is to inspire innovators to create startups on the Solana blockchain. Over the years, Solana's hackathons have seen more than 50,000 participants, resulting in over 3,000 projects launched and $600 million in venture funding. Hyperdrive will take place from September 6 to October 15, 2023, featuring various tracks and significant rewards, including the top prize of $50,000 USDC and tickets to Solana’s Breakpoint 2024 conference. To view the full list of prizes, click here
💵 Finance: Coinbase has secured $57 million for its crypto lending service catering to institutional clients. This service allows users to lend capital, primarily in cryptocurrencies, to Coinbase, which can then provide secured loans to its institutional trading clients. Unlike its previous retail-focused lending program, this new initiative is oriented towards institutions, making it ‘less onerous’
⛓️ Chains: Check out Bankless's recent article that delves into the current state and future challenges of Ethereum's leading Layer-2 networks, including Arbitrum One, Optimism, zkSync Era, Base, and Starknet. The piece explores their progress toward achieving complete decentralization and their journey to attain the coveted Stage 2 designation, signifying their commitment to eliminating centralized risk factor
💵 Finance: Genesis is closing its US spot crypto trading operations voluntarily, citing business reasons. This decision comes as US regulators tighten oversight of centralized exchanges. However, the company's spot and derivatives trading through GGC International Limited will continue to operate
🤝 Interested in viewing or sharing deal flow with the Chainforest community? Members can also earn $RAINDROP token along the way!
One new deal was 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!
Chainforest DAO Network (Open Roles) 💼
Investor Relations Associate (Coinbase - Full Time): Coinbase is looking for a highly motivated finance professional to join our Investor Relations team and play a key role in our continued growth and achievement of operational excellence. The Investor Relations associate must possess a deductive mind, an ability to communicate complex ideas to leaders internally and investors externally over time, and a desire to make a meaningful impact on a dynamic, high-growth technology company
Associate (Point72 Ventures - Full-Time): The Point72 Consumer team is looking for a passionate, hard-working individual to join their investment team as part of a two-year Associate program. Their Associates conduct industry research, source potential investment opportunities, perform rigorous due diligence, and support our portfolio companies
Associate (Plug and Play - Full-Time): Plug and Play is actively seeking a Ventures Associate to assist in evaluating startups both for venture capital investment and qualification for their newest corporate innovation platform based in Cedar Park, Texas. The Ventures associate works closely with startup founders, corporate sponsors of the program, as well as colleagues on executing on the advanced manufacturing focus of the new office
Program Operations Manager (First Round Capital - Full-Time): First Round Capital is looking for a Program Operations Manager who can help them manage the operations behind their marquee Tracks. Tracks are programs created for talented builders and investors. The aim of each Track is to help people develop fresh skills and form deep, new relationships
Upcoming Events 🗓️
Korea Blockchain Week: KBW2023 brings together the brightest minds in the industry to discuss, redefine, and celebrate the future of finance. The action-packed crypto and blockchain gala features keynote speeches by industry heavyweights, panel discussions by world-renowned experts, and networking opportunities for investors and crypto enthusiasts
When: September 04-10, 2023, Seoul, South Korea
Details: here
Permissionless II: Permissionless II is the world’s largest DeFi event. Join 7000+ crypto enthusiasts and builders September 11-13th at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX. This 3-day experience is filled with keynotes from Web3 leaders and thoughtfully curated panels, networking events, unforgettable parties, activations, and so much more
When: September 11-13, 2023, Austin, Texas
Details: here
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 make the future of Web3 collectively
Learn more about our DAO structure here!
Benefits of being a Rainmaker:
Exclusive Content: Access 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,