- The Wei - From D¢ENT Ventures
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- The Wei - 1st Edition
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Howdy, and Happy New Year, Partner!
Welcome to the very first edition of The Wei. A weekly web3 roundup that compiles the top headlines, time-sensitive trends, FOMO-worthy finds, and original content from the founders of D¢ENT Ventures.
We hope that this edition sets the stage for what to expect from the newsletter. On top of that, our featured post below will provide the rest of the need-to-know info on what we have planned. Since we’re new to the newsletter game, please give us a few weeks to find our footing and build an engaged audience (the fuel that drives this ship). It’s only upwards from here. Up, like a memecoin in 2023!
Speaking of memecoins… As you peruse the newsletter you will see Bounty Boxes at various points along the way. Each one is an opportunity to earn our memecoin, $WEI. All you need to do is contribute some tips and alpha, or refer new subs. But to earn your bounties, you’ll need to be a subscriber yourself.
More information on this can be found on our $WEI Token page.
That said, let’s get this journey underway! But before you do, how bout subscribing?
FEATURED POST
This is ‘The Wei’ - The new home of D¢ENT Ventures
Oh, hi!
It’s often said, Web3 is like the Wild West. An unforgiving yet bountiful frontier where anyone can strike it rich, or be reduced to rags faster than two shakes of a womprat’s tail. The only difference is that in the web3 landscape, the sun never sets, technology evolves at lightning speed and every golden opportunity could be a well-laid trap.
It takes a certain kind of person to last longer than a market cycle in this world. If you’re reading this, that means you are either, a) newly arrived, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, trying to determine where to invest your time and/or money in this vast and perplexing landscape. b) You have been beaten down and shaken out by the bears, and playing dead until the bulls return. Or c) you are a gruff callused protocol drifter, with a weathered wallet, an appetite for risk, and an unshakeable gumption that can lose everything and stick around to go all in again.
Regardless of which camp you fall into, The Wei is here to guide you, inform you, entertain you, and even reward you.
We at D¢ENT Ventures are the latter. Our founders Rex and Geo have been in crypto for a full decade, riding every wave of market hype and euphoria, and emerging from each blood-red bear market more resilient than before. This is why we created this blog and newsletter. To bring our hard-won insights and industry experience to web3 newbies, enthusiasts, and degens alike.
OutpostW3 is Ready to Help Your Project Out-Post the Competition.
To make our premier edition of The Wei even more value-packed, we’re dropping some alpha on another one of our projects, for your eye only. D¢ENT Ventures is releasing another resource for the Web3 community, OutpostW3.
Our time in this space has shown us there is a need for a better way to get your project seen by the community. Two things have plagued fledgling projects, hindering their visibility. Over-reliance on worthless promotions, and fast-n-loose approach to content marketing. OutreachW3’s first offer aims to solve the latter with a super simple SEO content subscription service.
Members get a dedicated content writer who will produce unlimited high-quality data-driven content that is formulated to rank. To kick things off right, the first 5 customers will get $500 of their monthly subscription, and their rate will NEVER increase. So if you’re in need of an SEO content writer, lock in your price today.
If you aren’t looking for such a service, maybe you know someone who is. Refer them and claim your bounty of 50,000 $WEI. Cuz bounties are are kind of our thing around here.
Be your own bank publisher
We in web3 like to take responsibility for ourselves. If you can be your own bank, you can be your own publisher.
Beehiiv is the ultimate sefl-publishing platform for bloggers, journalists, and newsletters, with industry-leading tools to help you build and monetize your audience.
Already got a newsletter on Substack or a blog on Wordpress? They make it easy to switch. Starting from scratch? With Beehiiv, you’ll be starting strong 💪
If you use our link to start a publication give us a shout and we will be happy to promote it to our audience.
NEWS
Top Headlines this Week
The 83rd time’s a charm (hopefully). Final BTC ETF Application Filings Get Posted by Major U.S. Exchanges.
Logan Paul is offering a partial refund for CyptoZoo, his failed web3 game project. Hell, that’s more I ever got for investing in rugs and duds.
North Korean hackers reportedly stole over $600m in crypto in 2023. Apparently, rocket-man doesn’t know that there’s more money to be made in building something of value rather than taking it. But that’s communism for ya.
TOKEN ECONOMY
Market Snapshot
During the first week of 2024, Bitcoin's price fluctuated, reaching a high of $46K before dropping to around $42K. This volatility was driven by speculation around the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF by the US SEC. Most altcoins experienced losses, with Ethereum down 4.5%, Solana down 7.9%, and XRP down almost 10%. Bitcoin's dominance in the market is slightly below 50%. The potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF could attract significant investment inflows into the cryptocurrency, making the next few days worth watching.
Now, let's dive into 5 of the top cryptocurrencies. We've got Ether, XRP, ADA, SOL, and BNB on the block today.
Ethereum: ETH failed to move higher, with key support at $2,150 holding, resistance at $2,500. Volatility expected to increase due to Bitcoin ETF speculation, potential for a break from the current range.
Ripple: XRP failed to break key resistance at 68 cents, falling to support at 54 cents. Sellers dominating at the moment, and bias is bearish. Watch support at 54 cents for potential recovery.
Cardano: ADA mirrored XRP's loss, with potential for sellers to push down to key support at 46 cents. Short-term price action is bearish, and the correction may continue until reaching key support.
Solana: SOL made lower highs and lows, signaling a potential reversal. The uptrend remains intact, potential test by bears. If lost, SOL may reach key support at $78.
Binance Coin: BNB closed the week showing resilience compared to other tokens. Although, it’s facing strong resistance at $360, with uncertainty around potential rally continuation.
Position. Token | Price | 7d Change | Mcap
BTC | $43,663.65 | +3.7% | $855.42b
ETH | $2,231.93 | -3.3% | $268.25b
BNB | $303.47 | -4.3% | $46.71b
SOL | $93.56 | -10.7% | $32.84b
XRP | $0.56 | -9.5% | $30.54b
Fear & Greed Index: 70 (greed)
Hot Coins of the Week
Let’s see what’s cooking this first week of 2024?
$SEI, a new Layer 1: The L1 narrative is looking to be strong over the next market cycle, and this one already has a native on-chain DEX, a lot of new projects and various meme coins popping up on it. I’d say that’s a good sign.
Bounty submitted by @dcentgeo$XAI, a Layer 3 on Arbitrum: This network was specifically designed for gaming on Arbitrum. Notably, it features wallet abstraction to take the sting out of needing to interact with a wallet to use. Big partnerships and should be a mover with the gamefi narrative, and they have one of the biggest, being partnered with Animoca Brands.
Bounty submitted by @dcentgeo$MYLO on Solana: Speaking of hot narratives, memecoins based on the dogs of project founders is a thing. Mylo is the pup of Solana c0-founder Raj Gokal, so how can this not be a winner? It had a pretty sloid rip and has since cooled off significantly, so it may be time to have a look.
Bounty submitted by @dcentgeo
BOUNTY - 1,000 $WEI REWARD
Been eyeballing a slept-on 🪙 lately?
Respond to this email, or send us a message at [email protected] and if we add it to an upcoming edition of The Wei, the bounty will be yours! We also accept sponsored mentions for quality projects. Interested? Reach out.
WEB3 GAMING
Gamefi FTW
Bounty submitted by @apixtwts
Web3 gaming, in large part, has an indie vibe that’s endearing, if a little low-budget. And that’s awesome because this whole space is about being indie. But sometimes we web3 enthusiasts want to play something with some polish and AAA-level game dynamics. Luckily, more games of this caliber are surfacing every day. @apixtwts surfaced this one on our X timeline and it is definitely worth a deeper look. That game is SIPHΞR Odyssey, by Ather Labs.
Apix hits the high notes in his post below. Beyond that, what stands out to us are the amazing graphics, character design, and attention to every detail of the brand. But it also includes all the best web3 dynamics that make Gamefi experiences transcend the casual gaming status quo. Playable avatars call Surrogets, the ability to buy, trade, acquire, and sell commodities and items, guilds, and a stakeable IGC (in-game currency) called $SIPHER. Player-driven economies are half the fun of gamefi titles. Many only shine there. We feel Sipher Odyssey will deliver on the whole sha-bang!
6. @playSIPHER
- raised $7m
- open alpha soon
- lots of chatter in inner circles (generally good sign)
- great feedback on their private alpha so far (game is actually good, i like it)opportunity: investment potential
downside: token is at a $40m+ market cap "already"
— apix🎮 (@apixtwts)
4:13 PM • Jan 3, 2024
BOUNTY - 3,000 $WEI REWARD
A new web3 got you unable to put down the 🎮️ ?
We want to hear about it! Respond to this email, or send us a message at [email protected] and if we add it to an upcoming edition of The Wei, the bounty will be yours! We also accept sponsored mentions for quality projects. Interested? Reach out.
YIELD
Defi the Odds
In case you’ve been living under a rock, it’s Solana season once again. Oh what I would have given to buy $SOL at $5 not a year ago. But with the amount of action that’s happening on their network, from memecoins to NFTs, there are some tasty yield opportunities to be had as well.
This week we suggest checking out the Orca platform. If you want to relive your degen days of 2021 have a peek at the SOL-WSB pool for a spicy 182% APY. Or for the more conservative risk-takers (totally not an oxymoron) you can get into the SOL-VANC pool for a clean 18.79% APY. They sit on the Defillama top defi pools list at spots 9 and 11, respectively. But for those in the US or UK… or without a VPN, you’ll have to sit on the sideline for this play, unfortunately.
Defi Sector Stats
Position. Chain | Protocols | 7d Change | TVL
Ethereum | 993 | +1.77% | $28.63b
Tron | 27 | +1.92 | $8.1b
BSC | 680 | -0.74% | $3.45b
Arbitrum | 517 | +0.54% | $2.43b
Solana | 122 | +3.61% | $1.4b
BOUNTY - 1,500 $WEI REWARD
Got a hot tip on some 🔥 defi plays?
Respond to this email, or send us a message at [email protected] and if we include it to an upcoming edition of The Wei, the bounty will be yours! We also accept sponsored mentions for quality defi projects. Interested? Reach out.
NFTs
Collections Dropping This Week
Webverse: Minting Now
Stats: 0.15 ETH | 5k Collection | On Ethereum
This is way more than an NFT collection. It it appears to be a vital component of a cutting edge Defi ecosystem, called Entangle Protocol.
Their project is ambitious. That’s for sure. Here’s what we were able to decipher. Entangle Protocol operates within the Webverse, creating a simplified narrative of its infrastructure. NFTs like Weavers and Agents offer benefits within the Entangle Ecosystem. The $NGL token powers the ecosystem, supporting staking, validation, and gas fees. Revenue sources include the Photon Messaging Protocol and Liquid Vaults. Entangle's roadmap includes plans for dApps like Cross-chain V3 DEX, Launchpad, Yield Farming protocol, and Liquidity Lottery System.
Check out this Medium article for a much better understanding of what Webverse and Entangle are building.
Kreepy Monstas: Minting Jan 8
Stats: FREE Mint | 6,600 Collection | On Polygon
Both Monsta and Kreepy Kritters know a thing or two about fun gamified deflationary projects. We feel this dynamic will make for an entertaining experience if nothing else. Having been a long-time $MONSTER and Party Monsta NFT holder, I can tell you that their community does it right.
The Kreepy Monstas collection incorporates a reaper contract that will buy and burn Kreepy Monstas off the floor using royalties from secondary sales. This experiment has never been done before on a free mint and will be the first of its kind. Make sure to mark your calendars!
NFT Market Performance
Position. Collection | Chain | Floor | 7d Change | 7d Vol. | Listed
Azuki | ETH | 6.9 | +17.75% | 6219.14 | 357
BAYC | ETH | 26.1 | -1.51% | 5473.46 | 351
Pudgy Penguins | ETH | 10.93 | +2.01% | 3516.11 | 457
MAYC | ETH | 4.97 | -5.12% | 5168.66 | 918
Azuki Elementals | ETH | 0.6 | +13.42 | 1324.19 | 931
BOUNTY - 1,000 $WEI REWARD
Got a a scoop on a hidden 💎 of a collection?
Respond to this email, or send us a message at [email protected] and if we include it to an upcoming edition of The Wei, the bounty will be yours! We also accept sponsored mentions for quality NFT projects. Interested? Reach out.
Tools & Resources
Degen Armory
Here you will find some valuable tools that will be sure to raise your Web3 XP. How do we know? We use them every day.
Presearch: The next-gen Google search for web3 natives. This is one of our go-to-tools because we appreciate its decentralized privacy-first approach using a community-powered network of nodes to query and server you high quality search results. Plus, their token utility is top-notch. Users can earn $PRE for every search they perform, and node-runner earn their token for supporting their infrastructure. The $PRE you earn (or buy) can then be used to stake keywords that will allow your listing to show up at the top of search results.
If you search the web (which we know you do) there is no reason not to make Preseach your default search engine!
We like Presearch so much we will be doing a series of deep dives teaching you how to take advantage of all their amazing features.
Ready to earn, bounty hunter?
The Wei wants you to be part of our network of mercenaries, delivering the best that web3 has to offer to our readers. And we will $WEI you handsomely for your time. Here are the various ways you can earn.
Contribute to any of the content bounties posted throughout our newsletter.
Submit a guest post or article for publication.
Become an Elite Hunter.
Easiest of all, refer new subscribers to the newsletter.
Each method will have its respective rewards clearly posted. Rewards are issued in an airdrop at the end of every month. Learn more about the $WEI token here.
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Want to sponsor The Wei?
We are working on a simple and streamlined way to submit your sponsorship requests. But for now, please email you inquiries to [email protected].
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