Bitcoin’s future may depend on mine over matter

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Welcome back to Chain reaction.

Last week on the podcast, we talked about Apple’s App Store tax and how it could hinder NFT adoption. This week we dug up some stories about bankruptcies brewing in the bitcoin mining sector and asked ourselves if it could unfold in a similar way to the problems faced by DeFi lenders just a few months ago.

We are incredibly excited to chat with some of the biggest names in web3 we first dedicated crypto event in Miami on November 17. We’ll hear from experts like FTX’s Amy Wu, OpenSea’s Devin Finzer and Binance’s Changpeng Zhao on how their companies are shaping the future of the industry. We’d love for you to join us: use promo code REACT for 15% discount A General Admission ticket.

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this week in web3

Here are some of the biggest crypto stories TechCrunch covered this week.

Coinbase and Polygon back new crypto advocacy group in India

Top crypto firms including Coinbase and Polygon are among the firms that have formed an industry body in India to promote dialogue between key stakeholders and raise awareness about web3, months after the largest local crypto advocacy group disbanded. Members of the new industry body, called Bharat Web3 Association (BWA), include top local crypto exchanges, including CoinDCX, CoinSwitch Kuber and WazirX, TechCrunch’s Manish Singh reports.

Web3 infrastructure startup Tenderly adopts Infura, Alchemy with new node offering

Web3 developer tools start Tenderly is getting into the node game with a new product it announced today called Web3 Gateway. The new offering is a sign of competition among web3 infrastructure providers heating up, as it puts the startup in direct competition with ConsenSys, the company that owns the popular node-as-a-service provider Infura, and Alchemy, another widely used node provider in the industry.

What’s up with NFT royalties? (TC+)

Creator royalties were originally introduced in the NFT community as a way to pay artists for their work in both primary and secondary sales. In recent months, discussions about these royalties have shifted as some platforms, including LooksRare and Magic Eden, have abandoned them for other alternatives. Not everyone is happy about it, as the decisions have huge potential implications for creators in the web3 space.

Indonesia is considering blockchain-powered carbon trading scheme

Indonesia wants to channel the blockchain craze to greener uses. The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Metaverse Green Exchange (MVGX), a Singaporean startup specializing in digital exchange technology. The proposed collaboration centers around IDX’s emissions trading scheme, which is expected to launch in 2025, and MVGX’s job is to help IDX build a carbon registry and exchange using blockchain as the infrastructure layer, reports TechCrunch’s Rita Liao.

Ex-Bain Investor Launches $30M Web3 Consumer VC Fund as Solo Female Founder

Mags Kala was able to raise her first fund in just four months as a solo GP focused on early-stage consumer startups in the web3 space, despite a broader downturn in the crypto market. Her firm in Miami, Florida, Double down, blew past its initial fundraising goal of $20 million in one month and closed its first fund this week with a total of ~$30 million, according to Kala. The fund has already made nine investments in web3 consumer companies, including Miami-based OnChain Studios, which makes Cryptoys, and Tally Labs, the company behind the Jenkins the Valet & Azurbala franchises.

Magdalena “Mags” Kala is the solo GP behind consumer crypto VC firm Double Down. Image credits: Courtesy of Magdalena Kala

the latest pod

For this week Tuesday episode, where we chat with a web3 expert, we played a recording of our discussion live on stage with a 16z GP Chris Dixon that took place recently at TechCrunch Disrupt. We spoke to Dixon about the company’s new creator-economy focus crypto accelerator program, why a16z backed controversial WeWork founder Adam Neumann and where Dixon sees opportunities across the web3 landscape in this bear market.

For our Thursday episode, where we discuss the latest in crypto news, we talked about a series of issues that have unfolded for various bitcoin mining companies over the past month, from Argo Blockchain to Core Scientific, and what it will take to discover the sector out of its misery (ha ha, get it?).

We also discussed:

Chain reaction comes out every Tuesday and Thursday at 12pm PT, so be sure to subscribe to us Apple Podcasts, Cloudy and Spotify to keep up with the action.

Chris Dixon speaks at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on October 18, 2022. Image Credits: Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch

follow the money

South Korean video game developer He was tall raised $46 million from Microsoft, Shinhan Asset Management and Kiwoom Securities to expand its web3 presence.
Zebra Labs Raised $5 million from Chinese gaming company NetDragon and Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo to help Chinese celebrities enter the metaverse.
Blockchain data terminals Drawing flow Raised $12 million in a Series A from investors including Electric Capital and Delta Blockchain Fund.
NiftyApesAn NFT lending protocol, has raised $4.2 million in seed funding from Variant, Polygon, Coinbase Ventures and others.
Crypto wallet launched Braavos Raised $10 million in a funding round led by Pantera Capital.

This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as TechCrunch’s own reporting.