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Welcome back to Chain reaction.
About 10 months ago, Solana’s co-founder and CEO, Anatoly Yakovenko, announced the launch of Saga, a web3-focused Android smartphone. The phone is now rolling out and we need to test one before it launches.
Unlike typical Android devices, the Saga has web3 features and a “Solana dApp Store” where you can find apps for web3 platforms.
The store has a small handful of applications:
- Four wallets: Phantom, Solflare, Ledger and Squads
- Three DeFi apps: Marinade.finance, Jupiter, and Mango
- Three NFT apps: Nokiamon, Minty Fresh and TIEXO
- Three social apps: Dialect, Audius Music and urFeed
- And the dApp “workspace”
The phone also has a built-in mobile wallet adapter, which is part of the Solana Mobile Stack (SMS) that is invisible to users, but is an infrastructure that connects dApps to wallets, Steven Laver, the technical lead at Solana Mobile, told MinRegion. Similar to how MetaMask has a connect button on its desktop client, this adapter is an “extended technology” that will bridge web dApps to mobile devices, he added.
The device also includes a web3-focused feature called the Seed Vault, which is embedded in the phone. Users can import a seed phrase from another crypto wallet or create a new one (Solana recommends creating a new one).
You can read all about it here.
This week in web3
With crypto startup valuations bouncing back, major investors are on a bargain hunt (TC+)
Crypto finance may have declined last quarter, but investors behind the largest funds in the space are holding their ground. “There will always be a need for big funds and investors to help the startups get the funding they need,” Lydia Chiu, vice president of business development at Ava Labs, told MinRegion+. With the current regulatory oversight of the space alongside bearish market sentiment, venture capital funds are needed more than ever, she said.
CeFi and DeFi in light of regulation (TC+)
The full magnitude of the impact of current market volatility in the aftermath of FTX’s collapse is still unknown. The dominoes keep falling and it is difficult to predict how many projects and organizations will ultimately be affected. What is undisputed is how the entire industry has been impacted and the conversation about crypto regulation has come to the forefront.
Twitter has teamed up with eToro to show real-time stock and crypto information
Twitter has teamed up with investment platform eToro to show real-time information about stocks and crypto prices. This is an extension of the social network’s Cashtag feature, which provided information on a limited number of stocks and cryptocurrencies via TradingView data. The new partnership with eToro goes beyond just displaying information. It also redirects users to the eToro site where they can trade.
a16z crypto report anticipates developer growth as blockchain scaling solutions expand (TC+)
As the crypto market continues to navigate in an ever-shaky climate, Andreessen Horowitz, who launched a $4.5 billion web3 fund last year, has released his second State of Crypto report. It delves into everything from blockchain activity to new technologies, but one theme that stands out is that blockchains are scaling.
The ZA Bank in Hong Kong aims to be the go-to bank for crypto startups
While the Signature Bank and Silvergate collapses have thrown crypto companies into disarray, a Hong Kong virtual bank is welcoming web3 startups. Hong Kong-based ZA Bank is now allowed to serve as a settlement bank for regulated web3 companies in the city, the company said today at Hong Kong’s web3 festival, an event supported by the regional government and crypto startups and institutions from attracted all directions. over Asia.
The latest pod
For last week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Arianna Simpson, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (commonly known as a16z).
Prior to joining the a16z family, Arianna founded Autonomous Partners, an investment fund focused on crypto. She also helped launch Crystal Towers Capital, a young investor fund that primarily invests in YC companies.
A16z has dived deep into the crypto space after launching four funds dedicated to the industry, the most recent of which reached around $4.5 billion in May 2022. Some of its portfolio companies include major crypto players that we’ve seen in the past interviewed, such as Alchemy, Avalanche and Aptos.
We talked about Simpson’s background, how her strategy has changed over the years, what she’s looking for in founders, and whether she’d launch another VC firm in the future.
And we also discussed:
- The current investment climate
- Web3 play space
- Where founders build
- Regulatory landscape
- Advice for founders
Subscribe Chain reaction on apple podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to stay up to date with the latest episodes, and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Follow the money
- Trade-focused blockchain Sei raises $30 million, bringing its valuation to $800 million
- Xclaim, an exchange for bankruptcy claims against crypto companies, raised $7 million
- Metaverse-based Gameta raised $5 million
- Pear protocol raised $1.25 million for its on-chain trading platform
- Huddle01 raised $2.8 million to build a decentralized real-time communications network
This list was compiled using information from Messari and MinRegion’s own reporting.
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Call Me, Beep Me, If You Want To Reach Me by Jacquelyn Melinek, originally published on MinRegion