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Substack targets Twitter with launch of discussions feature, Substack Chat • ZebethMedia

Another company hoping to capitalize on Twitter’s upheaval in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover is the newsletter platform Substack. The company has openly targeted Twitter’s user base over the past few days and has now thrown its hat into the ring as a more direct competitor with the launch of Substack Chat. The new feature allows Substack writers to communicate directly with their most avid and loyal readers right in the Substack mobile app. With Chat, Substack is not only taking on Twitter, where many back-and-forth threaded discussions between writers and readers already take place, but also other online communities where writers have been building out networks of their own, like Discord, Slack and Telegram. The company says the new Chat feature will eliminate the need for its writers to “frankenstein together different software tools and cross-reference subscriber lists,” it explains in its announcement. Image Credits: Substack Chat is not a Twitter clone by any means — though there is overlap with how writers have used Twitter in the past. For starters, the Chat feature will be opt-in, meaning not every newsletter may have chats enabled at this time. Publications will have to first enable the feature on their Settings page or by simply starting a new thread in the Substack app for iOS. Already, Substack says writers including sports journalist Joe Posnanski, pop culture writer Hunter Harris, and comics writers 3 Worlds / 3 Moons have launched chats on the service. In some cases, these chats have been used to discuss live events — like Game 3 of the World Series — or they’ve been used in place of email or other ways writers may have chosen to interact with their readers in the past. Readers can react to posts using emojis and add their own comments in the chat threads. The feature could benefit those who spend a lot of time reading on Substack or those who want to more closely network with fellow creators or readers. However, it isn’t really a direct replacement for tweeting more publicly as it lacks Twitter’s reach. Plus, the user interface is designed more like a traditional chat app — not a timeline you scroll. Still, the launch could relocate some of the discussions that would have normally taken place on Twitter to a more private networking space. Combined with the ongoing exodus to alternative social networks like Mastodon, and later perhaps, Bluesky, Twitter may lose access to some of the conversations that it would have otherwise hosted. Chat’s launch isn’t the only way Substack has attempted to capitalize on the Twitter chaos in recent days. It also took a more direct shot at Twitter, when it warned in a post on Oct. 31 that “Twitter is changing, and it’s tough to predict what might be next.” The post had encouraged creators of all sorts to port their Twitter follower base to Substack, given the current uncertainty around Twitter’s future. The launch of Chat arrives at a time when there’s been a broader shift to more personal and private social networks, which we’ve seen with the rise of friends-only apps like BeReal as well as the launch of private discussion groups on WhatsApp, called Communities. Substack Chat also reflects Substack’s larger goal of becoming a more private social network itself. The company alludes to its plan, writing in its post that “these are just the early days for Chat and all of Substack’s social features,” and adding there’s “more to come” in the future. Given the company’s propensity to host controversial writers and the otherwise deplatformed, however, this direction could see it wading even deeper into the culture wars surrounding what constitutes free speech — an area Musk’s Twitter is also having to grapple with. The more Substack associates its brand with the more extreme personal brands of divisive media personalities, the less it will be able to attract the larger (and typically more moderate) readers that constitute the majority of any network’s user base. That could limit Substack’s ability to go mainstream, no matter how clever its social features may be. Substack Chat is only available in the Substack iOS app at launch but will come to Android soon, the company says.

Apple says, ‘NFTs? Yes, fees’ • ZebethMedia

Image Credits: ZebethMedia Welcome back to Chain Reaction. Last week, we recorded our news episode live onstage at ZebethMedia Disrupt, in which we talked about the Aptos launch and shared our predictions for where we expect money to flow in the web3 world. This week, we dove into NFTs, examining Apple’s new App Store guidelines and Reddit’s recent success in the space. We also announced some personal news — one of our co-hosts, Lucas Matney, has moved on to new adventures outside of ZebethMedia, but Jacquelyn and Anita are still here and excited to keep bringing you the latest and greatest crypto stories each week. We’re also super busy prepping for our crypto event in Miami this November 17th, where we’ll be onstage chatting with speakers including OpenSea’s Devin Finzer, FTX’s Amy Wu and Yuga Labs’ Nicole Muniz. If you’re interested in joining us, you can use the promo code REACT for 15% off a General Admission ticket. Do you want Chain Reaction in your inbox every Thursday? Sign up here: techcrunch.com/newsletters. this week in web3 Here are some of the biggest crypto stories ZebethMedia has covered this week. Singapore may soon require retail investors to take test before trading crypto, prohibit credit cards The country may soon require retail investors to take a test and not use credit card payments and other forms of borrowing for trading cryptocurrencies, per a central bank proposal on Wednesday. It’s another stringent measure from the island nation’s government as it looks to make citizens aware of the risks surrounding volatile assets. Asset management firm Stone Ridge launches Bitcoin-focused accelerator program Asset management firm Stone Ridge has launched a startup accelerator, In Wolf’s Clothing (Wolf), that will be dedicated to growing Bitcoin-focused applications, the team exclusively told ZebethMedia. The program will bring four cohorts per year, each consisting of about eight to 12 teams, or about 30 to 50 founders, to New York City from around the world for eight weeks at a time to focus on building on the Bitcoin-centric Lightning Network and Taro protocol, Kelly Brewster, CEO of Wolf, told ZebethMedia. Apple cracks down on NFT functionality, social post boosts with App Store rules Apple introduced new App Store rules on Monday that limit features unlocked through NFTs. The company is prohibiting apps to use other mechanisms such as QR codes or cryptocurrencies to give special access to users. It’s also cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges as it now mandates them to have “appropriate licensing and permissions to provide a cryptocurrency exchange” in all regions they operate in. Meta posts another revenue decline as investors voice metaverse concerns  Meta reported earnings this week, revealing that its net income was just $4.395 billion, down from $9.194 billion year over year. The decline is mostly due to Meta’s huge investment in the metaverse: Reality Labs, Meta’s virtual reality division, lost $3.672 billion this quarter. Image Credits: Meta the latest pod For this week’s Tuesday episode, we caught up with Andrei Brasoveanu, a venture capital investor at Accel, about his web3 investments. He talked to us about his investments in companies such as Nansen and Sorare and discussed how the firm competes with crypto-native VC players for top deals in the blockchain space.  In our Thursday episode, we unpacked two big stories in the NFT space — Apple’s new App Store guidelines for NFT purchases, which are less-than-friendly to exchanges, and Reddit’s surprisingly successful foray into this undeniably tough market. We also talked about the latest tea from across the pond in the U.K., where crypto proponent Rishi Sunak just became prime minister, and what that could mean for crypto companies and regulation in the country. Chain Reaction comes out every Tuesday and Thursday at 12:00 p.m. PT, so be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast and Spotify to keep up with the action. Image Credits: HM Treasury follow the money DAO operating system Origami raised $6.2 million from investors, including Bloomberg Beta and Protocol Labs. NFT startup Exclusible bagged $5 million from FC Basel owner Dan Holzmann and Tioga Capital. ParaFi participated in Thala Labs’ $6 million seed round to build a DeFi stack on Aptos. Paragraph, a web3-native publishing platform, closed a $1.7 million pre-seed round led by Lemniscap with participation from Binance Labs, FTX Ventures and others. Blockchain identity and privacy startup Sealance emerged from stealth with an undisclosed amount of funding from Galaxy, Ribbit Capital and other investors. This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as ZebethMedia’s own reporting.

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