Paper 61: How to make it online with Signal
How to leverage social media; digital assets; and work ethic
GM - this is the BCheque Papers, edition #61.
Welcome to the 35 new subscribers this week - we are at 1,703 subscribers now!
I write about NFTs/crypto, and trying to make it independently in web3.
This is what we’ve got this week:
This Week In NFT World - Banks fall, crypto rips
Notable sales - Highest Value Sales This Week
Creator Corner - How to make it online with Signal
On The Horizon - The Snapshot + Weekly Roundup
For sponsorship enquires, please DM me on Twitter.
Have a great day,
B
This Week in NFT World - Banks fall, crypto rips
USDC peg restored
The week started with USDC - one of the main stablecoins of the whole world’s cryptoeconomy - having its peg to the dollar restored, after it began trading at $0.88 to the dollar over last weekend when it wasn’t clear if Silicon Valley Bank depositors were safe.
So that was a relief.
Binance go all in on crypto
On the back of this perceived bank weakness, Binance decided to convert the remainder of its $1B Industry Recovery fund from BUSD into native crypto: BTC, BNB and ETH.
There is an increasing feeling of steely resilience amongst the most staunch crypto believers, and I sense that this banking crisis caused by the rapid interest rate hikes serves only to strengthen the crypto communities position.
ETH and BTC rip up
As these events unfolded, crypto markets ripped up.
The feeling is that because the banks are trapped in longer duration assets like mortgage backed securities / treasuries, and the FED now pays a higher rate than what the banks earn on these safe traditionally liquid assets, interest rates will have to stop rising so fast - so that banks can exit their longer term positions to meet withdrawal demand without incurring huge losses.
Spencer’s tweet explains it well.
As soon as there is any indication of interest rate hikes slowing / stopping, crypto seems to run up every time.
The Snapshot, Tuesday 14 March 2023
Yuga Labs 30,000 Mechs incoming
Yuga Labs launch The Summoning, where eligible Sewer Pass holders were able to obtain new HV-MTL (Heavy Metal) NFTs, a collection which is made up of 30,000 Mechs derived from 8 different Power Sources (if that’s a mouthful, read about the latest development in The Bored Ape creators’ ecosystem in my previous article.)
The collection is trading very well with rare “Holo” NFTs trading for as much as 25ETH ($41,000) each.
Dingaling, a huge collector, appears to have done very well after he paid some gamers to ensure he achieved a high score with his Sewer Passes, which gave him access to rarer HV-MTL NFTs - which means he estimates his collection now at 1900 ETH - which is $3.17M (!!)
Jack Butcher airdrops 12 Checks
The prominent internet creator and artist, Jack Butcher, airdropped 12 Checks to certain Checks NFT holders.
These were inspired by the recent Yuga Labs, Twelvefold, sale, where NFTs were sold at approximately $55k.
Meta dump NFT functionality
In disappointing news, Meta dumped NFTs for Instagram.
They seem to prefer exploring ways to support creators via “messaging and monetisation opportunities for Reels.”
This call is definitely incorrect in the long-term.
Everything is trending towards digital ownership.
Chimpers launch Adventure 2
Chimpers, who have partnered with Paramount, continue their gaming escapades.
Adventure 2 has launched where holders can explore a new region and secure new jewels.
Oncyber launch GPT-powered world building tool
In a really mind-bending development, Oncyber has released functionality which allows users to develop their digital spaces by asking Chat-GPT for certain items, and then they will appear!
Balaji announces $1M Bitcoin “meme” giveaway
Amidst the continued banking liquidity crisis, Balaji - the prominent technologist and investor - has announced a $1M in Bitcoin competition for those who create the best charts, graphs, and memes to highlight the financial crisis.
If you create content in any way, I would enter!
Notable sales - Highest Value Sales This Week
Monday
Fidenza by Tyler Hobbs - 380E ($542,000)
Skeleton Meebit - 59.99E ($96,000)
Ripcache - Error 27.5 ETH ($45,473.45)
Tuesday
$2.4M of Cryptopunks sold in 1 transaction
Wednesday
Azuki Spirit 191.69E ($337,629)
Thursday
Highest Sewer Passes by Cirrus, prominent NFT trader - 27.5E + 32.5E ($45,000 + $54,000)
Fidenza - 65.14E ($108,000)
Friday
AI Generated Nude Portrait - 260.0 ETH ($432,507.40)
Creator Corner - How to make it online with Signal
I had the pleasure this week to chat with Signal, the hyper talented writer, on-screen commentator at The Nifty, and all-round sophisticated NFT market participant. I present the full interview below.
If you are interested in how to be more self-sovereign in this space, Signal’s journey from traditional financial employee to online web3 creator will inspire.
The story of how she went from writing down each Twitter spaces contribution before speaking to becoming one of the most confident and successful on-screen personalities will demonstrate, above all, the unbounded opportunity to grow in this space.
One of the reasons my conversations with Signal are so interesting is because we have a common entrepreneurial spirit to create which is backed by a resilient attitude. It means that when we discuss creating online, we are always able to bounce off each others ideas and push each other further.
Here are a few of the clips from our conversation where we covered portfolio management, side hustles, building trust, + how to make it on the internet:
Historic side hustles show entrepreneurial spirit which always helps in this space
The opportunity cost of "flipping" communities is not building long-standing relationships
The best way to make your mark in this space
You can check out the full conversation here!
On The Horizon - The Snapshot + Weekly Roundup
I have been writing these News Snapshots for every day for the last two weeks. We’ve managed to see some healthy growth - and will be looking to keep increasing the numbers next week.
Last week I started 'The Snapshot' which I published each day At the end of the second week, with one day to go, these are the stats: 36 retweets 126 likes 9,850 views We go again tomorrow and next week 🤝Last week I started 'The Snapshot' which I published each day End of week stats: 31 retweets 117 likes 8,010 views We go again this week 🤝 https://t.co/U9bDSsxEUH
BCheque @BCheque1Another metric I will be checking is the new “bookmarks” number, as you can now see how many times a tweet is bookmarked.
I will be doing a market roundup at the end of the week on Sunday in Murr’s Twitter Spaces. Join if you fancy hearing a bit more of a verbal discussion.
Have a great day,
B
Disclaimer: The content covered in this newsletter is not to be considered as investment advice. It is for informational and educational purposes only.
I hold some of the NFTs mentioned in these newsletters