Argent Newsletter - Issue #3

GM everyone, we hope you're enjoying our newsletter (tell us what to change if not!). This week, we cover social tokens, scaling, and much more!

💭 Crypto reimagines our existing systems 

Casey Caruso created this image which shows how crypto challenges our existing systems. It's incredibly simple, but a useful explainer for friends and family. 

One thing that's not included in the image above is social tokens. They touch on all those themes. They give creators and communities a way to boost engagement and share ownership of any value created by the group.

To learn more about social tokens, read Linda Xie's excellent article.

⚡ Ethereum IS scaling 

Our Layer 2 wallet on zkSync, where transfers are just 50 cents, is in Beta and rolling out in stages now. 

And, in more proof that Ethereum is scaling today, StarkNet Alpha went live on mainnet this week. We're proud that the first smart contract deployed on it was an Argent account, for the StarkNet wallet we're building. This wallet is a developer tool for now and we'll soon share more details on it.

You can learn more about Starkware and how they're scaling Ethereum in this podcast. 

We think zk-Rollups, the technology that zkSync and StarkNet are built on, are the key to making Ethereum accessible to everyone. We thought Crypto Twitter should know too.

🖼️ NFTs are more than JPEGs

This week, New Story Charity, launched an NFT drop where each NFT purchased provided a home for a family. They managed to raise enough funds for 10 homes, showing how NFTs go beyond images that we use as profile pictures. 

Also on NFTs, DCLBlogger wrote a great Twitter thread this week explaining the importance of doing your own research as they showed how NFT influencers can lose you a lot of money!

🎧 Our favorite podcasts & reads

What were we following outside of scaling news? For articles, we start with A Normie’s Guide to Becoming a Crypto Person. It's a hilarious yet informative guide to crypto and crypto culture that we think you'll enjoy as much as we did.

Then we have Boomers Vs Online Tribes from the Wrong A Lot newsletter that explains how Web 3.0 is challenging the current socioeconomic order. If you prefer a summary, click here.

Our final article is The Financialization of Fun: Crypto Gaming Thesis by Mechanism Capital, which attempts to provide a nuanced view on blockchain gaming and where it's heading.

And our podcast recommendation is a 3-in-1 episode of Into the Ether that recaps everything that's happened across the Ethereum ecosystem during November. If you haven't had the chance to stay updated, then this podcast is for you!