Image credits: Krisanapong Detraphiphat / Getty Images
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction.
Subscribe here to get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12pm PT.
Hello and welcome back to the third edition of the new and improved TechCrunch Crypto newsletter. As mentioned before, I’ll be adding some fresh recurring segments and features along with our regularly scheduled news snippets – so if you like what you see (or don’t), let me know at [email protected].
Happy February, friends! We made it through one twelfth of the year; it wasn’t that hard? You only need to do it 11 more times to reach 2025.
As January came to a close, hackers got busy and stole a lot of XRP tokens, Polygon made layoffs, new reports show demand for AI and blockchain to work together, Ethereum developer interest reached new highs last year and Tether reported record profit from the fourth year quarter of 2023. More details below.
This week in web3
Polygon Labs lays off 60 employees, about 19% of its staff, CEO says AI and blockchains may need each other to develop, according to new report (TC+) Hackers steal $112 million from XRP Ripple cryptocurrency Ethereum developer interest hits new highs. in 2023 despite a bear market (TC+) Solana Mobile still has a long way to go until it reaches breakeven point (TC+).
Crunching numbers
This week, the crypto market was quite bullish, as the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, bitcoin and ether, rose 7% and 4.4% respectively on the week, according to CoinMarketCap data. The global crypto market capitalization rose 5.2% to $1.62 trillion over a seven-day period.
Separately, Tether reported that it brought in a “record-breaking” net profit of $2.85 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, accounting for 46% of the total $6.2 billion in net profit last year. Tether is the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization and volume and the third largest cryptocurrency behind bitcoin and ethereum. Its total assets (backing its stablecoins) are at $97 billion as of December 31, 2023. Its liabilities were about $91.6 billion and it has about $5.4 billion in excess reserves, which its outstanding $4.8 billion in insured loans “fully covered”. , the report added.
If you’re thinking, “those are big numbers,” you’re right. See below.
Our favorite ‘Crypto Twitter’ post
After all the talk about Tether…
This post on X by Bitwise Asset Management’s CIO Matt Hougan speaks for itself. Sorry Goldman Sachs, better luck next quarter:
Tether made more money than Goldman Sachs last quarter. Tether: $2.85 billion Goldman: $2.01 billion
The newest pod
For this week’s episode, I interviewed Chris Dixon, general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Chris has been with the firm since 2012 and founded and leads a16z’s crypto team, which invests in the web3 world through four mega funds with over $7 billion under management. He is also the author of the recently released book “Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet.”
Prior to a16z, Chris co-founded two startups, SiteAdvisor and Hunch, which were acquired by McAfee in 2006 and eBay in 2011, respectively. He also attended Columbia University for his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Philosophy degrees and holds an MBA from Harvard University.
In this episode, we discuss the new book, how crypto’s perception has changed, and what purpose blockchains can ultimately bring to the world.
We also looked at:
Big Tech vs. crypto Importance of Decentralization a16z web3 Investments Blockchain Gaming Embrace the Future
Subscribe to Chain Reaction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the latest episodes, and please leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Follow the money
Squid raised $4 million in strategic round to support cross-chain interoperability Velar raised $3.5 million to build a perpetual decentralized exchange on Bitcoin Web3 gaming startup Yooldo raised $1.5 million, increasing its valuation to $13 million Options- focused protocol Ithaca Finance raised $2.5 million in pre-funding Portal raised $34 million in a seed round to develop its decentralized bitcoin ecosystem
This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as TechCrunch’s own reporting.
What else are we writing?
Want to branch out from the world of web3? Here are some articles on TechCrunch that caught our attention this week.
Why There’s No Clear Winning Pricing Strategy in B2B SaaS (TC+) Three San Francisco Supervisors Receive Threats Following YC President Garry Tan’s Tweet Apple Vision Pro to launch with more than 600 apps and games optimized for the new headset Senate hearing with five social media CEOs was a missed opportunity Tech layoffs scale to three-quarter high (TC+)
Disclaimer for Uncirculars, with a Touch of Personality:
While we love diving into the exciting world of crypto here at Uncirculars, remember that this post, and all our content, is purely for your information and exploration. Think of it as your crypto compass, pointing you in the right direction to do your own research and make informed decisions.
No legal, tax, investment, or financial advice should be inferred from these pixels. We’re not fortune tellers or stockbrokers, just passionate crypto enthusiasts sharing our knowledge.
And just like that rollercoaster ride in your favorite DeFi protocol, past performance isn’t a guarantee of future thrills. The value of crypto assets can be as unpredictable as a moon landing, so buckle up and do your due diligence before taking the plunge.
Ultimately, any crypto adventure you embark on is yours alone. We’re just happy to be your crypto companion, cheering you on from the sidelines (and maybe sharing some snacks along the way). So research, explore, and remember, with a little knowledge and a lot of curiosity, you can navigate the crypto cosmos like a pro!
UnCirculars – Cutting through the noise, delivering unbiased crypto news
