TLDR Crypto 2022-03-22

GitPOAP memorializes software contributions as POAPs. POAPs are unique digital mementos that are issued to mark life events. GitPOAP will launch its platform for minting POAPs based on GitHub activity on April 7. It will start issuing historical POAPs to anyone who has contributed to open source projects central to Ethereum. GitPOAPs will not be soulbound.

Phi is a metaverse created from Ethereum Name Service domains and on-chain activity. It generates virtual lands from ENS domains and populates them with objects that represent on-chain activities. The project uses ENS as it is the most decentralized and common asset related to people's on-chain identities. More information about how the Phi metaverse works is available in the article.

This Twitter thread discusses 17 reasons why some tokens crash and others don't. Tokens can drop in price for many reasons. The impact of marketing, perception, and narrative is often underestimated. Utility is required for value to accrue.

Finding out what projects market participants are investing in can be a good starting point for further research. This Twitter thread walks the reader through how to do due diligence and discover opportunities using nansen.ai. The strategy involves finding the contracts currently receiving the most capital. It is possible to see the top contributors and check if smart money is invested into the project.

The Ethereum Merge, scheduled for June, could be one of the most significant events in crypto history. The Merge will transition Ethereum away from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. After the Merge, new ETH issuance will be reduced by 90%, rewards will be increased for PoS validators, and Ethereum's energy consumption will drop by 99.95%. Gas fees will not go down as a result of the Merge.

Frax is an algorithm-backed stablecoin with $2 billion in total protocol value. It is partially backed by crypto assets and governed by a community. This article presents a deep dive into Frax and how the stablecoin plans to take over the market. Frax is focusing on three factors in its attempt to beat the rest: its Curve-like properties, peg mechanism, and algorithmic market operations controller.

Many alternative blockchain networks popped up in 2021 to compete against Ethereum for decentralized applications. While web3 seems inevitable, its growth through marketing and financial incentives doesn't seem sustainable. Around the year 2000, many telecom companies invested heavily into infrastructure, but the demand for bandwidth wasn't there yet. This resulted in an oversupply and market crash as many startups evaporated. Nowadays, the most valuable internet companies are those providing media, not the infrastructure providers.

Goldman Sachs has executed the first over-the-counter crypto options trade by a major US bank. The trade involved a bitcoin non-deliverable option that pays out in cash. Goldman Sachs uses Galaxy Digital as its liquidity provider for its bitcoin futures block trades. The trade shows how Wall Street has embraced digital assets.