Sup, nerds!

Here’s what you’re getting in today’s edition:

• 💅 This is cool: Tinder for crypto (aka 'Chinder')

• 🔎 This seems important: Bankruptcy is somehow a good thing?

• 🤝 Partner: Exploring DeFi Technologies (a free webinar you don’t want to miss!)​

• 🔪 Let's dissect this: Crypto crime is down, but it’s not extinct.

Terms used in this edition (click for an explanation, or ​ask Web(GPT)3!​):
Web3, Bear Market, Stablecoin, Degen.

💅 This is cool:

Meet ‘Chinder’ (AKA Tinder for Cryptocurrencies)

In one sentence: Chinder (a web-based app), shows a cryptocurrency’s chart and stats and lets users swipe left to skip, or right to buy.

Picture this, you’re 16 again…

You’ve got mid terms coming up.

To study more effectively you create flash cards. Every time you get an answer correct, you reward yourself with a piece of candy.

This new web-based app, Chinder.xyz (aka Tinder for cryptocurrencies), kinda mimics that process…

Here’s the basic gist:

You’re shown a cryptocurrency’s chart and stats → you can swipe left to skip, or right to buy.

Which, on one hand, is totally gimmicky.

(The concept shamelessly targets media businesses [like us], who will jump at any opportunity to write a catchy headline).

…on the other hand, the concept has genuine benefits.

Here’s where our flash card analogy comes back in:

If you’re into technical chart analysis, Chinder is like an automated flash card system, but instead of rewarding yourself with candy, you put financial skin in the game, with each answer you give.

E.g. Think the chart looks promising? Buy-in. Think it looks risky? Short it (aka bet that it will go down in price).

Plus, we’d bet that the streamlined interface helps to reduce the mess of open tabs that tend to accrue when researching crypto projects.

Is this Web3’s ‘killer app’?

Probably not.

But it’s novel, creative, and requires nothing but a web browser to start using.

And for that reason we give it two thumbs up, one chef’s kiss and a ‘molto bene’ 🤌 

🥇 Want the news before anyone else?

🔎 This seems important:

Terraform Labs Just Filed for Bankruptcy…and It’s Somehow a Good Thing?

In one sentence: Terraform Labs just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, so the company can continue to build/attempt to generate revenue, while the courts hold its creditors at bay.

Remember Terraform Labs (TFL)?

(The company responsible for creating the bear-market-starting dumpster fire of a stablecoin known as ‘UST’?)

Yeah, well, they just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

And if you’re like us, you now have two pressing questions bouncing around the old noggin:

1. Wait…TFL hadn’t already filed for bankruptcy?
   Nope. We were just as surprised as you were.
   

2. What does this mean for TFL and its associated crypto tokens?
   If anything, this bankruptcy filing is actually a good thing…

That last bit seems counterintuitive, right?

Here’s what we learnt after googling ‘benefits of Chapter 11 bankruptcy’:

Terraform Labs ain’t in a good spot, the company is getting sued, left right and center. A Chapter 11 filing means TFL can continue operations while going through the ‘reorganization process.’

(Aka: the ‘we need to find/generate some freakin money to pay people off’ process).

A process that - and this is the really important part - is assisted by the court, where orders are placed to keep the company’s (many) creditors at bay.

Along with the announcement of the Chapter 11 filing, TFL’s current CEO, Chris Amani, said this:

"This step protects our ability to continue working with the community on infrastructure, innovative tools and products, and other ecosystem support,"

It’s eerily positive news, coming from a seemingly negative news story, no?

🤝 Partner:

Exploring DeFi Technologies (a free webinar you don’t want to miss!)

If you haven't heard of DeFi Technologies yet, you’re missing out! 

But it doesn’t have to be that way…

As the Decentralised Finance ecosystem continues to grow and expand, DeFi Tech actively explores opportunities to drive innovation and develop creative, innovative, sustainable solutions, connecting investors to the future of finance.

Valour (a subsidiary of DeFi Tech) offers exchange-traded products (ETPs), listed on regulated stock exchanges across Europe, that enable individuals and institutions to invest in digital assets simply and securely.

The good news is, Russell Starr (Head of Capital Markets at DeFi Tech) is hosting a webinar on January 30th at 10am PT/1pm ET to discuss all of the opportunities he sees for 2024. 

Join the DeFi Tech team for a sneak peak into what they - as an industry leader - are focused on achieving throughout the year.

The presentation is just 30 minutes, followed by a 15-minute Q&A session.

Click the big red button below to register (it’s free)!

🔪 Let's dissect this:

Sure, Crypto Crime Is Down, But It’s Not Extinct.

In one sentence: Scammers are taking recognizable company names, launching fake crypto tokens under them, pumping prices, then selling out at the top.

Okay, let's address an elephant in the room. 

Yesterday we told you crypto crimes were down 29% (yay!). 

But! Today we are confirming that crime is still an issue (booo!). 

And we come bearing new insights from reliable sources: 

Recently, executives at Blockfence found a project that claimed to be Blockfence, but was not. 

What's even crazier is that the Blockfence team discovered this scam operation was doing a similar thing to hundreds of other companies!

The scam works like this: 

They launch tokens under the names of legitimate companies, but in reality there is no association and the project is just a straight up pump n’ dump scheme.

The scammers start by putting a ton of initial investment into a project to make it appear real, then start selling once the price starts to rise (leaving newer investors holding a cratering coin/token).

And they keep doing it over and over again. 

So, what’s the solve?

On an industry-wide scale…

We need regulation that is clear, fair, and doesn’t “throw the baby (great projects) out with the bathwater (scam projects).”

(Unfortunately, for now, the SEC is refusing to regulate the industry responsibly).

On an individual level…

Don’t buy coins you haven't thoroughly researched.

Or, if you simply can’t resist…

Allocate a tiny percentage of your investments to ‘degen plays' (aka investments you assume are going to zero) and get it out of your system.

Crypto Pump and Dump Schemes, Explained