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- Stripe, SBF, and Cirus...oh my!
Stripe, SBF, and Cirus...oh my!
Welcome to another edition of The Scoop, the newsletter that is always there for you. Even when major banks and crypto projects are getting knocked down and out.
The Big Scoop
Welcome to another edition of The Scoop.
We’re The New York Times of Web3, except that we don’t write puff pieces about Sam Bankman-Fried or FTX thanks to a long winding labyrinth of political “donations”. (that was so zingy you can feel the burn, right? 🔥)
The Big Scoop
FIRST…a brief break from SBF/FTX happenings to talk about ACTUAL POSITIVE ADOPTION NEWS…
Stripe is enabling fiat-to-crypto payments for Web3 businesses in dozens of countries worldwide🌏. It’ll all be possible through widgets embedded in Dapps, DEXs, wallets, or NFT platforms. Pretty cool huh?!
The goal is to eliminate the complexity of fiat-to-crypto to crypto on-ramping, something very few other solutions have been doing in any sort of pristine fashion..
More on this Stripe stuff in the news section…
Now let’s call out the weekly elephant in the room🐘🐘🐘…
BIG SCOOP?!?...MORE LIKE BIG SBF SIDESHOW!!!😂
Yes, it's true! The SBF Sideshow continues…
Is he telling the truth? What is the truth? Don't worry. We're asking ourselves the same thing.
Sam originally said he had nothing to do with Alameda Research, and it turns out he's the largest shareholder.
He also said on November 6th that he had a feeling things were going to end badly and then on November 7th said FTX assets are fine.
Fast forward and here we are a month later…
He's just coming off an appearance at the Dealbook Summit in New York where people paid thousands of dollars for a ticket to hear SBF, Mark Zuckerberg, and others speak on panels about Web3 and yada yada yada…
That’s what SBF sounded like (nothing but yada yada yada). He performed the same act again just yesterday in a Twitter Spaces conversation that turned into well-respected investigative Crypto Youtuber Coffezilla grilling him with questions. It turns out SBF didn't have too many answers. LISTEN TO IT.
PS…there is one bit of Cirus specific news we ABSOLUTELY MUST let you know about…
🚨The Cirus Token Hub Is Live 🚨
WHAT IS IT YOU ASK?
The $CIRUS Token Hub is your one-stop shop for all things Cirus. Logging onto it using your MetaMask or other ERC-20 friendly wallet enables you to:
Stake your $CIRUS tokens within the Cirus Community Pool.
Stake tokens in the Mantra DAO pool.
Bridge your $CIRUS tokens between the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.
What’s the best part?
The $CIRUS community staking pool… duh!
The thing is, many of the available services related to the Cirus Token are scattered around the interwebs, so the team brought them together under one roof to make it easy for everyone.
IT’S THE ONLY PLACE you’ll need to go to manage your $CIRUS tokens even as more (d)apps are launched!
That’s what SBF sounded like (nothing but yada yada yada). He performed the same act again just yesterday in a Twitter Spaces conversation that turned into well-respected investigative Crypto Youtuber Coffezilla grilling him with questions. It turns out SBF didn't have too many answers. LISTEN TO IT.
The News
Stripe Introduces Fiat to Crypto Payments
Stripe has simplified the process of using crypto to engage with businesses and content creators worldwide.
The payments firm has debuted a project facilitating fiat-to-crypto payments for companies in dozens of countries globally.
The project is a customizable widget that can be embedded directly into a DEX, NFT platform, wallet or dApp. The widget is designed to allow customers to make purchases instantly using crypto within Web3 apps.
This widget has numerous use cases, with the most common being a non-custodial wallet. After loading crypto into the wallet, you can easily interact with various Web3 products using WalletConnect to NFTs, use DeFi products, and more.
The company has already been testing the product with Audius, a blockchain-based music streaming platform, NFT marketplace Magic Eden, and Argent, an Ethereum wallet.
The company’s initial eleven projects are built on Solana, as the company believes the blockchain provides robust and customizable on-ramping services. Stripe also chose the Solana blockchain due to how it handles know-your-customer (KYC), payments, fraud, and compliance issues.
Venly, a blockchain technology provider that offers businesses, developers, and consumers tools to easily integrate Web3 technology, is one of the sixteen companies to pilot Stripe’s new fiat-to-crypto onramp.
Stripe has been very active within the crypto community. Over the last year, the company has partnered with numerous crypto companies to offer more support for crypto payouts within 67 countries, enabling companies to send USDC payments to people and businesses globally.
This new widget will streamline the process of paying with crypto, making joining the crypto, blockchain, and Web3 spaces more accessible than ever.
Coindesk Names CZ and SBF Two of the Most Influential People in 2022
Coindesk announced their 50 most influential people within the blockchain, crypto, and Web3 space.
Those chosen were based on their influence over the past year. The term was broadly used. Anyone who made a significant impact made the list, regardless of positive or negative influence, which is evident when seeing that SBF made the list.
There was also talk of the massive shift that occurred throughout the year, touching briefly on crypto's $3 trillion market cap dropping to below $1 trillion following the collapse of Celsius, Three Arrows Capital, Voyager, and most recently, FTX.
The collapse of FTX was mentioned multiple times during the live announced announcement of the list, with CoinDesk's Ben Schiller stating that "the year was punctuated by as many successes as failures" when referring to the former CEO of FTX.
Recently, Youtuber Coffeezilla interviewed SBF. Within minutes, the former FTX CEO left the interview after realizing who was interviewing him. The quick ejection occurred after the Youtuber probed SBF about information regarding the $8 billion that mysteriously vanished.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao was chosen as CoinDesk's Most Influential for 2022 "for vanquishing a $40 billion rival with a single tweet."
Other notable names that made the list include:
Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum developers "for pulling off the most consequential upgrade in crypto history while keeping the network running."
Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev "for serving jail time for the "crime" of writing open-source software."
Many listed made significant contributions that facilitated (or hindered) the space's progress.
There will be a collection of NFTs based on those chosen as the most influential of the year, with the profits accumulated going to charity.
CoinDesk's Ben Schiller buttoned the list perfectly, saying, "it's really a mixed bag of a year–and that reflected in the list."
Though there were many downs, there were also many ups, and the space continues to push forward!
Chart.
Despite the fact crypto contagion is still spreading, NFTs might be in a bit of a bull run. This week, 63% of Bored Ape Yacht Club, Bored Ape Kennel Club, and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (aka the big blue chips in the Bored Ape trilogy) trades were unique NFTs that hadn't already traded in the week.
It's the lowest this ratio has ever been, by far.
It means that short-term flips are the highest percentage they've ever been of total trades.
Fundraising In Web3.
Around $108 million in Satoshi-friendly skrilla got poured into these projects over the last week or so. Bling Bling💲💸💰🧀
Lyra raised $3 million for a DeFi options protocol.
Catapult got $4 million to help introduce people to Web3.
Pearpop raised $18 million to help creators earn a living.
Keyrock advances with Series A Round, raising a whopping $72 million to help execute over-the-counter trades
Education.
Welcome to the Study Space, where we fill your brain with the most useful Web3 knowledge possible. This week, we deep dive into what a ‘Wrapped Token’ is…
It’s time to make your brain BIGGER🧠
Scoop Meme
😁😂Here’s your weekly dose of meme hilarity💉😹🤣
The Final Scoop
We’re going to keep building no matter what.
YOU ARE NOT THE PRODUCT, YOU ARE THE ENGINE THAT KEEPS THE WEB3 MOTOR RUNNING…
Other builders in Web3 know that too. That’s why the makers of the FireFox web browser are going deep into the Metaverse, Bored Apes are still selling for millions, and NFTs are actually going through a bit of a bull run right now.
Yes, we’ll be here to watch the SBF FTX saga and give you the latest, but we’re committed to continue to build out Cirus and give our users and the $CIRUS token a level of utility that a self-banking, self-data owning user like yourself wants and more importantly, DESERVES!
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Thanks for reading,
See you next week!