Welcome to another edition of The Scoop. The Scoop is that feeling you get when you see prices explode and feel vindicated for holding on tight. YES!!! 😃😃

The Big Scoop

If you’re bullish on crypto and holding it you’ve got a be happy today. Since the start of 2023, the price of Bitcoin is up just over 70%. Credit Suisse is one of the most respected banks in the world and it appears to be crumbling before our eyes (so is First Republic Bank). For that reason, it’s likely the United States government either slow down interest rate hikes or pauses completely. Since most investors like to buy the rumour and sell the news, the prices of crypto and Web3 projects are popping right now and they will potentially skyrocket even more should a pause be announced.

That’s just one of the reasons an influencer with a lot of money named Balaji is willing to bet $1 million that the Bitcoin price hits $1 million in the next 90 days. Read the Twitter thread for yourself.

That along with the reveal of a new and improved version of ChatGPT has us feeling good about innovation here at The Scoop, but there is also actual Web3 news to be excited about that is sure to brighten the mood as well.

The first bit of news is that a company heavily invested in ChatGPT through its stake in OpenAI (that’s Microsoft) is developing a crypto wallet inside of its Microsoft Edge browser. You can bet your bottom dollar (or Satoshi/Gwei) that this is only the beginning of Web2 platforms integrating Web3 directly into their products.

The second bit of news is that a major Layer 2 project called Arbitumis finally airdropping its token to users on Thursday. Why is it much anticipated? Number one, it’s free money if you are eligible for the airdrop. Number two, Arbitum makes fees really cheap and it is proving to be one of the best Layer 2 solutions out there. Very good for DeFi and good for a lot of people who’ve used it before and are about to get some ARB tokens.

The Bitcoin Bet: Day 6

Ok scoopers, before we get into the news we are going to start a new section in our newsletter here is the breakdown:

Balaji Srinivasan, a former CTO of Coinbase, has placed a $2 million bet that Bitcoin would hit the $1 million price mark in 90 days. This bet was in response to financial expert James Medlock who proposed a $1 million bet that the US would not enter hyperinflation despite the recent collapse of banks in the country.

Will Hit $1 Million In 90 Days? Will Balaji win the bet? The Scoop will be tracking this!

As of March 22rd 2023, Balaji is slowly on his way to winning the bet!

The News

Web3 Adoption Forges on as Microsoft Starts Testing a Crypto Wallet on its Edge Browser

Facts only. Microsoft is developing an Ethereum wallet. If the company decides to launch it (which they most likely will eventually), it would be integrated directly into their Microsoft Edge browser. For now, the wallet is literally just called “crypto wallet” ( real original we know😋). Here’s the thing. Since it’s still in a testing phase, Microsoft is warning a select group of testers that any real crypto they used through the wallet could be lost forever.

This means that an Edge-integrated wallet could still be a ways away from becoming a reality. The bottom line is it’s aiming to be a direct competitor of MetaMask, and giving people more actions for onboarding directly into Web3 using a traditional Web2 browser is ultimately good for mass adoption (because the best on-ramps are always the things people don’t even realize are happening)

Although like many other big tech companies, Microsoft is laying people off, the organization is a stalwart in innovation. Not only are they an investor in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, but Microsoft’s Teams video conference platform also has a Metaverse feature.

Stay tuned for more to come on this one for sure.

Layer 2 DeFi platform Arbitum Rewards Users with Much Awaited Airdrop on Thursday 

Here’s the official announcement that Arbitum is airdropping its $ARB token on Thursday. Why is this big news? Because the platform is by far one of the most popular Layer 2 solutions in the world. It allows you to stay tied to Web3 while paying literal pennies for fees instead of spending dollars in GWEI to do the same things.

One particular project that lives on the platform is a decentralized exchange called GMX that lets users take advantage of leverage up to 25x their original position whether they want to go long or short on crypto. You may not be into taking that kind of a risk with your crypto but the point is the token itself is now worth $700 million by market cap and ranks in the top 75 of all cryptocurrencies. GMX is becoming one of the major drivers behind why people use Arbitum.

If one project on Arbitum is worth $700 million USD, does that mean $ARB is worth billions?

Analysts are trying to figure it out.

The ARB airdrop could be worth way more than Uniswap’s, which gave recipients $2000 USD in value just for using its DEX.

News Flash

Chart.

It seems that not many people grasp the recent turn of events. Over the past year, the Federal Reserve has been extracting billions from the market, causing significant distress for consumers. However, a poorly-managed bank eventually collapsed, prompting the Fed to inject $300 billion back into the system. Unfortunately, the consumers didn't reap the benefits of this injection, and the banks were the ones who received the relief.

As a result, the Fed can now extract another $300 billion from the market, compounding the impact of the past six months' suffering as if it never occurred. Consumers will now have to endure even more pain.

Fundraising In Web3.

Here’s the scoop (pun intended) on the money being raised to keep Web3 building over the last week or so🧀💲🤑💸💰

• Market maker Orbs Network raises $10 million.

• Toku is a crypto payroll solution that raised $20 million recently.

• Entertainment NFT Orange Comet raises $7 million.

Education.

Ready for a quick study break?!📙

This week we would like to focus on useful links we found on Binance Academy on investing!

also...

The Arbitum airdrop is likely to be the most financially beneficial airdrop since Uniswap launched its UNI token giving every user wallet around $2,000 USD in tokens. Might as well learn what Arbitum is if you don’t already know.

Scoop Meme

The Final Scoop

In spite of the fact that the traditional financial world is crumbling all around us, the building and excitement around crypto and Web3 hasn’t been this hot in quite a while. The moves by Microsoft and Arbitum are proof of that and you can bet that artificial intelligence is going to continue to add to that as well. We might as well step out in front of everybody else and start coining the phrase Web4, because it just feels like all of this is a convergence happening at once that is leading us to a whole new world.

Banks will continue to be bailed out in some form or another (even though there isn’t a single government agency acknowledging the word bail out). The United States Federal Reserve is likely deposit interest rates at some point this year, whether it’s this month or later this spring.

Crypto to the moon? Maybe not forever, but we’ve clearly been given a gift for now, and the idea that humanity needs an alternative is only going to spark more innovation in Web3.

#Web34ever #Cirus

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Thanks for reading and we’ll see you again next week!