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Asset management firm Stone Ridge launches Bitcoin-focused accelerator program • ZebethMedia

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, said to ZebethMedia. The Lightning Network is a layer-2 payment system built on top of Bitcoin that aims to enable faster payment transactions. Separately, Taro is a protocol that launched in April of this year to help issue digital assets on Bitcoin’s blockchain that can then be transferred to Lightning Network instantly in low-fee transactions. “They’re both generic and usable enough in such a wide range of applications that it’s like saying you’re starting an accelerator focused on HTTP,” Brewster said. “It’s a specific technology but the business use cases can be incredibly broad ranging. The fact that we’re very focused is a big part of the leg up and can be a big draw for founders.” Teams in the accelerator will range from small startup teams to early-stage companies. They will receive individual investments of $250,000, while one winner of the cohort will get an additional $500,000 for a total of $750,000, Brewster said. Some themes Brewster is interested in seeing startups expand upon include micropayments and tipping through Lightning and Taro. NYDIG, a subsidiary of Stone Ridge, is also supporting the accelerator, alongside mentorship and investments from Bitcoin-focused venture capital firms and operating companies. The names of companies providing outside capital will not be released, Brewster said. However, he added that all investors and mentors are already working with Bitcoin and Lightning. “That ranges from specialized VCs dedicated to Lightning up through public companies in fintech and banking.” Prior to this role, Brewster was NYDIG’s chief marketing officer and he has worked for Stone Ridge for about six years. Before that, Brewster spent almost 10 years at Goldman Sachs “in a variety of roles,” he said. “Over the past six years, I’ve had the opportunity to help start a number of businesses and I’ve fallen in love with the process of taking an idea and turning it into a real thing.” Lightning Network is a layer-2 payment protocol built on top of Bitcoin that aims to provide instant payments and scalability at a low cost for the blockchain. It allows users to send or receive Bitcoin quickly by making transactions off the main blockchain network or, as Coinbase said, “like an HOV lane on a highway.” “At Stone Ridge, we’ve been watching Lightning for quite a while now,” Brewster said. “The network has hit critical mass over the last 12 months and there’s enough capacity now you can do real-world things pretty robustly on the network.” In the past, the network has been implemented by Twitter for users to send and receive Bitcoin “tips” through Lightning Network-focused payments app Strike. It has also been implemented in the El Salvador government-created wallet, Chivo, so citizens can complete cross-border transactions. “The growth in Lightning over the past year has been extraordinary,” Brewster said. “In some ways, it’s the perfect moment to step back and see where there is signal or just noise. Some of the clearest signals are coming from Lightning. The growth and network capacity has been hockey-sticking.” The news comes at an interesting time for NYDIG, which recently laid off about 33% of its staff, according to a Wall Street Journal report last week. In December 2021, NYDIG raised $1 billion, which valued the company at over $7 billion it said. Brewster declined to comment on the layoffs, but said, “The launch of Wolf should be a clear signal of Stone Ridge’s long-term belief and investment in Bitcoin. It’s obviously a difficult environment out there, but this is the time to make investments looking a couple years out.” There are a number of crypto accelerator programs budding across the ecosystem. Some range from layer-2 blockchain-specific accelerators like Polygon’s to general web3-focused programs like Alliance DAO. While some offer capital like Wolf plans to, others invite investors to demo days in hopes that they invest in the startups’ projects. “In times like this, the companies that get built will capture these secular trends and really take hold as they accelerate,” Brewster said. “So we think this is the perfect moment to build rather than try to do something ourselves at Stone Ridge — we want to help and empower hundreds of other founders.”

Technical due diligence, web3’s promise, how to hire well • ZebethMedia

In films, screenwriters always include a moment known as the Promise of the Premise. It’s the part of the story where the audience settles in to the new world they’ve entered. One of my favorite examples is in the first Harry Potter movie, when Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley, the magical shopping district that introduces him (and us) to the world of wizarding. So far, web3 has not paid off on the Promise of the Premise: open source software that runs live on the blockchain. “It’s still much easier to develop a Web 2.0 app simply because the ecosystem is mature and enjoys a large and thriving developer community,” says Devin Abbott, who specializes in design and development tools, React and web3 applications. Full ZebethMedia+ articles are only available to membersUse discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription According to Abbott, the web3 development community is approaching “an inflection point where our own tools are becoming quite powerful,” but “that doesn’t mean Reddit is moving off its Web 2.0 cloud servers.” So far, most of the hype for web3 is coming from investors and journalists, so Abbott’s perspective as a developer makes this a useful read. Most of web3’s early use cases don’t interest me. Then again, I’m not a developer, so I didn’t truly appreciate the value of mobile gaming, GPS and cloud storage until they’d achieved product-market fit and were integrated into my smartphone. Today, I wouldn’t consider buying a device that couldn’t help me find a restaurant or hotel. When it emerges, I suspect web3’s killer app will be similarly utilitarian. Thanks for reading, Walter ThompsonEditorial Manager, ZebethMedia+@yourprotagonist 3 ways to hire well for your startup Image Credits: AndreyPopov (opens in a new window) / Getty Images For early-stage startups “this is arguably one of the worst times to be looking for talent,” says Champ Suthipongchai, founder and GP of Creative Ventures. Opportunistic hiring managers might assume that widespread layoffs have shifted the balance in their favor, but “those were generally not employees executing core businesses.” Usually, startup recruiting resembles scenes from heist movies where the characters are putting a crew together: it’s an expedited process designed to fill knowledge or experience gaps, not necessarily find the best fit. “Whenever possible, it is far better to slowly integrate a great candidate in as an adviser or part-time contractor and let things play out,” writes Suthipongchai. “Just as a customer pilots the product, companies should pilot their most important hires whenever possible.” 8 questions to answer before your startup faces technical due diligence Image Credits: kutaytanir (opens in a new window) / Getty Images Outsiders study multiple facets of a startup to determine its value and quality, and codebase health is one of them. A pitch deck is just part of the story, writes Matt Van Itallie, founder and CEO of codebase analytics company Sema. After technical due diligence begins, no amount of storytelling can cover the secrets buried in GitHub and Jira. To help companies prepare for TDD, Van Itallie has written a primer with eight questions founding teams must be able to answer confidently. Tomorrow, we’ll run his detailed TDD checklist. To better thwart ransomware attacks, startups must get cybersecurity basics right Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / ZebethMedia Creating systems that are resilient against ransomware isn’t top of mind for early-stage startups, but many companies don’t even follow basic best practices, much to their detriment. “Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) on everything you have,” said Katie Moussouris, founder of Luta Security. “Enable it on every account that you have.” Last week at ZebethMedia Disrupt, Moussouris and Brett Callow, threat analyst at Emsisoft, spoke about the need to invest early in locking down their systems, starting with MFA. “It’s a matter of stacking security layer upon security layer,” said Callow. “MFA in conjunction with staff training — in conjunction with other things — all serve to reduce risk.” Black startup founders raised just $187 million in the third quarter Image Credits: Getty Images The downturn appears to be disproportionately affecting Black founders’ ability to raise capital. “When the venture capital industry catches a cold, underrepresented founders catch pneumonia,” said Tiana Tukes, an investor with Colorful Capital. In Q3 2022, Crunchbase reports that Black founders raised just $187 million, “a staggering decline from the nearly $1.1 billion they received in Q3 2021 and a sizable drop from the $594 million the cohort raised in Q2,” writes Dominic-Madori Davis. Investors are sitting on mountains of cash: Where will it be deployed? Image Credits: H-Gall (opens in a new window) / Getty Images No matter what’s happening in the public markets, bees make honey, and venture capitalists raise money: it’s just what they do. But since the “extreme valuation recalibration” in the public markets, VCs are amassing more and more dry powder, write Jeremy Abelson and Jacob Sonnenberg of Irving Investors. More frustrating news for founders: investor fundraising “is on pace to finish the year at $172 billion,” but capital deployment is way down. “Dollars are flowing and will continue to flow, but it will be more capital to fewer companies,” they write. Now that “traditional SaaS has become too expensive and secondarily saturated,” sectors like web3, life sciences and agtech will attract more investors, they predict.

Building the bridge between Web 2.0 and web3 • ZebethMedia

Devin Abbott was founder of Deco (acquired by Airbnb) and specializes in design and development tools, React and web3 applications, most recently with The Graph. It’s too early to predict all the implications of the recent Ethereum blockchain Merge, but it definitely addresses the most frequent (and valid) criticism of web3 regarding excessive energy consumption. Critics may still find a new reason to oppose ETH, but my hope is this Merge will lead to something else: A chance for us to also merge what’s best about Web 2.0 with what’s most exciting about web3. There’s seemingly a growing rift in Silicon Valley, with the traditional Web 2.0 industry and the burgeoning web3 ecosystem depicted as being in opposition to each other. And trapped somewhere in the middle are emerging startups. I’m active in all three groups, and I believe most of this controversy is based on wild pronouncements and hype by VCs and other evangelists who are not developers. Incessant celebrity promotions of NFT drops, for instance, have contributed to the impression that web3 as a whole is a Ponzi scheme. In fact, NFTs are only a small part of the web3 ecosystem, and, in my view, not even the most interesting or potentially transformative. While Web 2.0 and web3 may seem incompatible, I believe it’s better to see technologies like blockchain and ETH as potential back-end solutions for scalability challenges that all companies face. In a similar way, web3 advocates should recognize that Web 2.0’s maturity makes it indispensable for many core use cases. Despite web3’s great potential, it’s still much easier to develop a Web 2.0 app simply because the ecosystem is mature and enjoys a large and thriving developer community. Let’s consider a couple examples where each side has something to contribute: From web3: An emerging revolution in open source To capture what’s happening in web3 development now, we have to go back to before the Web 2.0 era. During the dot-com boom, there was quite a lot of buzz over open source, Linux and hot companies like Red Hat. While very few consumers would go on to install Linux as their operating system, this buzz helped contribute to something equally important. In the background, with few people noticing, Linux quickly became the go-to operating system for running the back-end servers of 96.5% of the top million web domains — not to mention the massive Android market.

Disney launches web3 experience to celebrate 100 years of Disney music • ZebethMedia

Disney collaborated with Accelerator participant, Obsess, an e-commerce platform known for creating interactive virtual storefronts, to release a new web3 experience for its Disney Music Emporium online store. The 3D 360 virtual experience lets fans discover soundtracks and songs from popular Disney films and TV shows by clicking on various vinyl records and CDs throughout the virtual space. The web3 experience launched this week to give Disney fans access to a virtual storefront with individual displays that highlight various soundtracks from Disney movies and shows like “Encanto,” “Wandavision,” “Turning Red,” “Tomorrowland,” “Hocus Pocus,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Star Wars,” “The Lion King Musical,” and more. Users can click throughout the site to learn about specific titles, listen to music and add CDs or records to their online cart. To celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary—which occurs in 2023—users can also click through a musical timeline titled “Disney100: The Wonder of Disney Music” to enjoy a century of music from fan-favorite titles, such as the 1928 debut of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in “Steamboat Willie,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1937, “Fantasia” in 1940, “Moana” in 2016 and so forth. “We are excited to collaborate with Obsess to launch an exciting new shopping experience for our Disney Music Emporium store. As we prepare to celebrate 100 years of Disney, this is the perfect way to create discovery and fun for our guests,” said Ken Bunt, President of Disney Music Group, in a statement. In June, Disney launched its business development program, 2022 Disney Accelerator, to develop new entertainment experiences with select tech companies, particularly in the web3 industry. Obsess is just one company Disney selected to participate in the program. Other web3 platforms participating in the Accelerator include Flickplay, Polygon and Lockerverse. Disney has reportedly been exploring another shopping experience that involves a QR code for users to scan in the Disney+ app and buy merchandise. Also today, media company Warner Bros launched its own web3 experience to sell NFTs to “Lord of the Rings” fans.

Meta’s $10B metaverse investment is ‘not enough’ according to Animoca Brands’ Yat Siu • ZebethMedia

Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, has a lot of thoughts about the metaverse. That’s because his company owns The Sandbox and has investments in many different web3 companies, such as OpenSea, Dapper Labs and Axie Infinity. At ZebethMedia Disrupt, he shared his thoughts about Meta’s take on the metaverse. They said they’re going to spend $10 billion a year to make the metaverse work. Well, here’s the thing — we think $10 billion is not enough for Facebook to succeed. Billions of dollars are transacted in the open metaverse space — actually much more when you consider fungible tokens. Most of the value goes to the end user, so why would I transact on something like Meta — regardless of its visuals — when I have to give half of it to the platform? Whereas if I use Sandbox, I get 95% of it. It just doesn’t make any sense for me to do that, economically speaking. And because billions of dollars of value are already generated in an open way, why would I surrender that value? So Facebook would have to spend a lot more to incentivize people to go into its platform. But that doesn’t mean that Zuckerberg is the wrong person to head up this project. “I would say that certainly Zuckerberg did get it right in terms of construction. Remember, he tried to put out Libra, right?… So he understands blockchain,” Yat Siu said. But what is the metaverse exactly? A lot of people are still arguing about that. Some people think it’s online universes, while others think it involves virtual reality. According to Yat Siu, the key thing that makes a metaverse a true metaverse is property rights. “Just how George Washington said that you can’t have basically, freedom without property rights, we think the same is true with digital. You can’t have digital freedom without digital property rights. So our perspective on the open metaverse is that it has to start with a foundation of ownership. And that’s where The Sandbox stands out,” he said. Animoca Brands is much bigger than The Sandbox. There are 380 companies in the group and portfolio. Thirty of them are subsidiaries. Animoca Brands is technically an Australian company with a headquarters in Hong Kong and nearly a thousand employees. It’s quite easy to sum up Animoca Brands’ strategy. The company is investing in the web3 ecosystem because there are some strong network effects. It is betting on a web3 rising tide that could lift all boats. “The economy activity around the ownership of cars is much bigger than the sales of cars,” Yat Siu said. He mentioned Uber, Lyft and car washes as examples of businesses that work without selling cars. “For instance, when we made our first check in OpenSea, which had a very small valuation back in 2018–2019, it wasn’t because we hoped that OpenSea would be a decacorn,” he said. “We did it because OpenSea had lots of NFT work and relatively good NFT volume. We would help push that and we would have our own NFT sales and every company we invest in could sell on OpenSea.” In other words, if web3 becomes a huge thing, it’s clear that Animoca Brands is well positioned to become a key player in the space.

Warner Bros. teams up with web3 startup Eluvio to launch ‘Lord of the Rings’ NFTs • ZebethMedia

Warner Bros. Discovery has partnered with blockchain company Eluvio to launch tomorrow “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (Extended Version) web3 movie experience, with limited-edition multimedia non-fungible token (NFT) versions of the movie. “The Fellowship of the Ring” NFTs feature a 4K UHD, 3-hour-and-48-minute extended version of the 2001 film, over eight hours of bonus footage and commentary, image galleries and hidden AR collectibles. There are two editions that fans can choose from. Warner Bros. and Eluvio are minting 10,000 copies of the Mystery Edition, priced at $30 each, which comes with one of three location-based navigation menus modeled after a location in the film. There will be 999 copies of the Epic Edition, which are $100 each, and include all three location menus — The Shire, Rivendell and Mines of Moria. The Epic Edition will also come with exclusive bonus image galleries. Image Credits: Warner Bros./Eluvio Eluvio is rolling out the NFTs via its Ethereum-compatible blockchain. On Friday, October 21 at 9 a.m. PDT/ 12 p.m. EDT, “Lord of the Rings” fans can head to web3.wb.com/warnermedia/movieverse and create an Eluvio media wallet. The “Fellowship of the Ring” NFTs will be available to purchase with credit cards, debit or cryptocurrency. Once purchased, you can launch the web3 movie experience and stream the extended movie from the media wallet. This is the first set of NFTs available in the company’s new “WB Movieverse,” which Warner Bros. and Eluvio call a “multimedia living movie experience.” According to the website, two more NFT experiences are “coming soon.” “Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is setting a new bar for innovation in the distribution of home movies by demonstrating the potential of web3 for consumer engagement, digital supply chain transformation, and new business opportunities,” said Michelle Munson, CEO and co-founder of Eluvio, in a statement. Updated 10/20/22 at 2:03 p.m. ET with a statement from Eluvio.

Last day to save hundreds on TC Sessions: Crypto passes • ZebethMedia

We warned you this day would come. You have less than 24 hours left to save $250 on a General Admission pass to TC Sessions: Crypto — taking place in Miami on November 17. Our special launch pricing expires tonight at 11:59 pm PDT, so buy yours now — your wallet will thank you. Now that you’re registered, get ready to go mining for opportunities across the blockchain, cryptocurrency, DeFi, NFT and web3 ecosystem. You’ll hear from industry giants like Binance’s Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, FTX Ventures’ Amy Wu, Alchemy’s Nikil Viswanathan and many more. Here’s a quick look at just some of the day’s hot topics — be sure to check out the agenda so you don’t miss what matters most in your corner of the cryptoverse. Keeping the Web3 Dream Funded: Billions in capital were raised by crypto native funds and web3 VCs during an unprecedented bull run, but as the crypto markets turn bearish, how will investors keep their web3 dreams alive? We talk to Chris Ahn (Partner, Haun Ventures), Michelle Bailhe Fradin (Partner, Sequoia Capital) and Tom Schmidt (General Partner, Dragonfly) about which potential bets are too early, too late and right on time. A Non-Fungible Empire: Few in the crypto space saw the explosive adoption of NFTs happening this quickly, but NFT marketplace startup OpenSea, founded back in 2017, was waiting in the wings. Fast forward to the present day, and there have been tens of billions of dollars in NFT transaction volume with OpenSea handling the lion’s share of those sales. We’re thrilled that OpenSea CEO, Devin Finzer will join us on stage. So far, he’s fended off marketplace competitors from well-funded public behemoths and upstart threats, but can his $13.3 billion startup hold its lead through a bear market? Securing Web3: As blockchain boosters continue to onboard swaths of consumers to their vision of the crypto web, a central question has been how to optimize the underlying tech to keep these new users safe. We’ll talk to a panel of experts with expertise in blockchains, decentralized apps and protocols including Kathleen Breitman (co-founder, Tezos) and Pascal Gauthier (chairman and CEO, Ledger) on how web3 technologists can build a more secure environment.  Plus, don’t miss your chance to meet and network with more than a dozen up-and-coming startups exhibiting at the show. Today’s casual conversation could lead to tomorrow’s next big deal. TC Sessions: Crypto takes place on November 17 in Miami, but the tides and time wait for no one. Jump on board and buy your pass before the launch special ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. (PDT). Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TC Sessions: Crypto? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.  

Only 72 hours left to save hundreds on TC Sessions: Crypto passes • ZebethMedia

You have more than a month before Miami heats up for TC Sessions: Crypto on November 17, but you have only three days left until our special launch pricing sets sail and heads out to the OpenSea — ha, that’s a pretty NFT pun right there. Don’t waste another minute. Buy your pass — either general admission or student — before the deal expires on October 12 at 11:59 p.m. (PDT), and you’ll save $250 or $400, respectively. Now that you’re registered, get ready to go mining for opportunities across the blockchain, cryptocurrency, DeFi, NFT and web3 ecosystem. You’ll hear from industry giants like Binance’s Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, FTX Ventures’ Amy Wu, OpenSea’s Devin Finzer and many more. Here’s a quick look at just some of the day’s hot topics — be sure to check out the agenda so you don’t miss what matters most in your corner of the cryptoverse. Building for Normies: The most-hyped decentralized apps have typically been built for crypto speculators or decentralized finance acolytes, but a new breed of products is being crafted with the common internet user in mind. Join us as we chat with Alex Adelman (Lolli), Devin Lewtan (Mad Realities) and Brandon Millman (Phantom) — founders of some of web3’s most exciting consumer apps — and pick their brains on mainstream audience opportunities and the challenges of building consumer crypto businesses in a bear market. ZebethMedia Crypto Pitch-off: The industry’s brightest entrepreneurs will take the stage in front of a live audience and a panel of industry experts — including Gradient Ventures’ Wen-Wen Lam — pitching revolutionary technologies. Is Crypto Regulation Ready?: As crypto markets continue to gain mainstream adoption, regulators globally are watching the young industry with laser focus. But which crypto companies, protocols and projects will be compliant within the current regulatory framework? And how will the crypto industry respond when government agencies start providing new guidelines? We talk with Katherine Dowling — general counsel and CCO at Bitwise Asset Management — and dig into what regulation means for the industry in 2022. Plus, don’t miss your chance to meet and network with more than a dozen up-and-coming startups exhibiting at the show. Today’s casual conversation could lead to tomorrow’s next big deal. TC Sessions: Crypto takes place on November 17 in Miami, but the tides and time wait for no one. Jump on board and buy your pass before the launch special ends on October 12 at 11:59 p.m. (PDT). Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TC Sessions: Crypto? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.  

Dragonfly GP talks web3’s current and future state at TC Sessions: Crypto

While the overall crypto markets have been in a rough spot lately, web3 venture capitalists have never had more conviction — or more funding at their disposal — to back startups and teams building in the space. The big question on their minds is whether tokens and startup valuations have bottomed out, or if they need to wait a bit longer to score the best possible deal. When to place your bets is a delicate balance in any tech sector, never mind one as rambunctious as crypto. That’s one reason why we’re stoked that Tom Schmidt, a general partner at Dragonfly, will join us onstage at TC Sessions: Crypto on November 17 in Miami. We can’t wait to hear his take on the current state of crypto and what it’s like to be an investor at a crypto-native VC firm as more traditional venture firms move into the space. We’ll ask about which web3 subsectors — from DeFi to NFTs to Ethereum layer 2s — currently pique Dragonfly’s interest, and we’ll chat about how regulation could affect the industry in different regions across the globe. We’re curious to hear Schmidt’s outlook on the future of crypto startups and VC for the coming year. Is Dragonfly as optimistic about the crypto market as it was last April when the VC firm closed its third venture fund to the (oversubscribed) tune of $650 million? Inquiring minds want to know. Take advantage of our special launch pricing — save $250 on General Admission passes before time runs out on this offer. Buy your pass today, and then join the web3, DeFi and NFT communities at TC Sessions: Crypto on November 17 in Miami. Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TC Sessions: Crypto? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

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