Ed3Weekly: Issue #8 of Web3š¤Education
Aloha and welcome to Issue #8. As all of you who are involved in the web3/crypto space know it has been a rough couple of weeks. We have seen some heavy price drops in the value of a variety of cryptocurrencies and many NFT projects have had their valuations go down significantly. If I haven't mentioned this before I'll say it againāthis is a highly speculative space. Valuations are volatile and it is important to be very aware of this before you invest any of your money.
One this that has drawn me to web3 is that it is a combination of a number of things that I find interestingāinvesting, community, and creativity. My views on all three of these have been tested in this recent environment. But I am happy to say that I am even more bullish than ever on the transformational trajectory of web3.
I know it is hard to imagine being bullish on something in which you may have experienced a 60% or even an 80% decrease in value in things you have put your money towards. But here are three main things I have learned over the past couple of weeks during this volatility:
Do not invest money that you would need to survive
Projects with strong communities have become even stronger during this volatility
You need to have a decades-long time horizon, not weeks or months, or even years
I hope you are all doing well out in web3 land. I know it isn't easy, I am experiencing this firsthand myself. But I can't reiterate point #1 enough. If you are investing money that you need to survive, you should take a better look at your approach. The potential of big gains is not worth risking your ability to meet your basic needs of food, housing, and clothing. Invest knowing that all of this could go to zero and all you have left is some cool jpegs to look at it. Nothing is guaranteed.
But if you are investing money that you don't even notice is down because you are meeting all your financial obligations, then be patient. Build better relationships with the people in the projects you are a part of. This is a great time to engage even more with your community.
This is a crazy time. Change takes time. None of this mass adoption will happen overnight. I am trying to imagine our world in 2035 or 2045. Extend your time horizon and always continue to buidl!
Please enjoy all the links below, and as always your likes, Tweets, and Retweets really help spread awareness of this newsletter. Also, if you have any interesting web3 articles, news, or events feel free to share in my DMs, I am always looking to learn more about what is going out there!
Courses
It is nice to LinkedIn has started to become a hub for information on web3. This is a free course that you can unlock for 24 hours. I think LinkedIn is an untapped resource for professional learning and growth. I look forward to more resources on this platform.
The future is now: Web3 and the metaverse - What Business Leaders Need to Know about Web3 (+ Metaverse) Video Tutorial | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com ā www.linkedin.com Web 3.0 and the metaverse are not a passing fad and represent more than just gaming or social media opportunities ā they are building full-fledged economies of goods and services that are already changing the way humans interact with the digital world. Learn about the changing expectations of consumers and the workforce and why business leaders need to strategize NOW for opportunities in Web 3.0 and the metaverse.
Articles
The cryptocurrency ecosystem is broad and complex. It is an intricate relationship between stablecoins, crypto, stocks, and the macro environment. I don't think it is necessary to be a master of all of these to exist in this space, but it is good to have a general idea about what is going on. Here is a nice breakdown from Seeking Alpha on the recent Terra collapse.
TerraUSD Stablecoin Teeters On The Brink Of Collapse: What The Panic Means For Bitcoin And Stocks ā seekingalpha.com An obscure cryptocurrency project is teetering on the brink of collapse. Find out what Terra's weakness means for Bitcoin and for stocks.
Last week I posted about a town hall discussion on Getting Smart on the metaverse and education, I hope you were able to make it. The conversation was wide-ranging and interesting. One of the participants and edu-blogger Rachelle Dene Poth wrote a follow-up article summarizing their impressions.
What Web3 Means for the Future of Education | Getting Smart ā www.gettingsmart.com What is Web3 and what impact will it have on the future of education? Rachelle DenĆ© Poth explores.
Harvard Business Review too?! We're continuing to see the web3 discussion move into the broader collective consciousness. I love these articles by well known publications. They are good insights to what the masses are thinking when it comes to this technology.
Harvard Business Review 'What is Web3' ā hbr.org Web3 is being touted as the future of the internet. The vision for this new, blockchain-based web includes cryptocurrencies, NFTs, DAOs, decentralized finance, and more. It offers a read/write/own version of the web, in which users have a financial stake in and more control over the web communities they belong to. Web3 promises to transform the experience of being online as dramatically as PCs and smartphones did. It is not, however, without risk. Some companies have entered the space only to face a backlash over the environmental impact and financial speculation (and potential for fraud) that comes with Web3 projects. And while blockchain is offered as a solution to privacy, centralization, and financial exclusion concerns, it has created new versions of many of these problems. Companies need to consider both the risks and the benefits before diving in.
Part of my weekly "web3-skeptics" series, I present to you another article from a major tech online magazine that puts forth a skeptical eye towards this technology.
The Web3 Movementās Quest to Build a āCanāt Be Evilā Internet | WIRED ā www.wired.com Crypto dreamers want to free us from Big Tech and exploitative capitalismāusing only the blockchain, game theory, and code. What could possibly go wrong?
Events
I mentioned LInkedIn earlier. Here is an upcoming live discussion about web3 and education. If the name Scott David Meyer is starting to sounds familiar, it is because he is doing tremendous work in this space. He is definitely someone that you want to have on your radar.
How Will Web3 Impact Education with Coursera
I missed this Twitter space live last week, but fortunately, it was recorded and reposted. I am not sure how long it will remain available, but if you weren't able to catch this conversation this is a great opportunity to circle back.
Tweets
@MishaVinci is one of my favorite follows on Twitter. She is always bringing very insightful and detailed threads about web3. This one goes through a number of startups but is a good reminder about the decades-long time horizon I spoke of earlier. There is a lot of money from some very smart people being put into this space. Again, this change will not happen overnight, but I have a very high conviction that over the next 10-20 years were are going to see our world changed in very significant ways by this technology.
Thanks again for reading, you can read my blog on the decentralized blogging platformĀ Mirror, sign up to receive myĀ Substack, or go old school and read myĀ bloggy blog. They all link to the same content š¤Ŗ