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Infinity Weekly: New Year, New Beginnings

Issue 36 of our ever popular Newsletter. Tell your friends to sign up for the latest updates in the world of DeFi and Crypto

InfinitySwap

• 8 min read
Infinity Weekly: New Year, New Beginnings

Welcome to Issue #36 of Infinity Weekly for our INFINISWAPPER community. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, sign up here.

What's in Today's Email?

  • IC Ecosystem News
  • This Week in our Blog
  • NFT Market Update
  • Around the World
  • Meme Time
  • A Matter of Opinion

IC Ecosystem News


♾ Who Is Mr. Bot?: Saorsa Labs, best known for launching digital art celebrating milestones and notable community events on the Internet Computer, has discovered the perpetrator behind the bot attack during the SNS-1 token sale. Saorsa Labs was founded by Nathan Scotland, a community member with an upstanding reputation and known for being a prolific on-chain detective. Adding spice to the drama, the culprit is allegedly a known member of the ecosystem who has "probably done more dev work and good for the community than most".

♾ The Gamer's World Computer: Here's another outstanding demonstration of how strong, this time from hiimRave.icp! Read this detailed analytical and thought-provoking article regarding gaming, NFTs, the Internet Computer, and the future of all three. The piece is a labor of love and truly deserving of your read. Share it with your friends, especially if they are gamers unfamiliar with the IC!

ICP: The Gamer’s World Computer
The Gamer’s World Computer “I happily played World of Warcraft during 2007-2010, but one day Blizzard removed the damage component of my beloved warlock’s Siphon Life spell. I cried myself to sleep and on that day I realized what horrors centralized services can bring. I soon decided to quit.”
hiimRave.icp’s SubstackhiimRave.icp

♾ Back to School: Motoko Bootcamp is starting soon! Beginning on Jan 16th, this course is open to anyone with an interest in developing on the Internet Computer. This is the second Motoko Bootcamp, and things have really been kicked up to a new level: this time around, it is open for in-person participation as well as virtually. Interested students can sign up to attend the Bootcamp in Porto, Portugal for 600 EUR, which covers accommodations, food, and workspace.

Motoko Bootcamp is waiting for you in Porto!
The team behind the Bootcamp will meet in Porto, Portugal for the week of the event — and you can join!
Code & StateSeb

♾ CrowdFundBTC: Our partners at CrowdfundNFT are a well-known name in the ecosystem, with a killer reputation as the go-to platform for crowdfunding reputable projects on the Internet Computer. They've now made it possible to fund projects using $BTC (as well as $ICP), taking advantage of the newly implemented native Bitcoin integration. This is a huge step forward in making the Internet Computer a true "World Computer," as it opens the doors for $BTC holders to use a fully functioning dapp on the IC.

♾ Block(ing)chain: Seers Markets, a Twitter-like social dapp with a built-in betting mechanism, has been dealing with some negative attention lately. Their failed crowdfund raise, which may have been due to a lack of clear justification for their self-appointed $10m evaluation, seems to have sparked considerable tension from many #ICPeople as well as Seers users.

Compounding the matter is a blocking spree their Twitter account went on, exacerbating an already frustrated community. Seers deleted all of their tweets and modified their profile picture on Jan 6th, perhaps as a gesture of good faith to 'reset' their recent actions and to move forward in a way that appeases the broader community.

This Week In Our Blog

What an amazing year we have had as InfiniSwappers! Although 2022 was challenging in many ways, we continue to grow and build out an amazing DeFi protocol that gives financial power back to the people. We can't thank you enough for being part of our journey.

InfinitySwap: How Far We’ve Come
The end of December is a great time to pause, take stock, and express gratitude. Here’s the year in retrospect!
InfinitySwap BlogGeoffrey Miller

2022 has been a dreadful year for Bitcoin and the crypto market in general. But despite all the dismal experiences garnered from the market, Bitcoin looks set for a comeback to the upside next year. Read our speculative analysis below:

Here’s Why Bitcoin Looks Set to Rally in 2023
2022 has been a dreadful year for Bitcoin (BTC) and the crypto market in general. But despite all the dismal experiences garnered from the market, Bitcoin looks set for a comeback to the upside next year.
InfinitySwap BlogAbel Odoh

New Year, New Price Action? Though the crypto market remains unpredictable, one thing is clear: builders on the Internet Computer are unstoppable. We think the crypto space is due for some crazy developments, with the IC at the center.

5 Predictions for the Crypto Space in 2023
5 Predictions for the Crypto Space in 2023- What will the year ahead hold for blockchain?
InfinitySwap BlogDaniel M

Attention remains on FTX and disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried as the US House Financial Services Committee investigates what happened behind the scenes as the house of cards collapsed. The biggest lesson here for retail investors? Decentralization is Imperative.

US House Financial Services Committee Investigates the Collapse of FTX
The collapse of FTX in November of 2022 came as a shock to millions of users. Now, the US House Financial Services Committee is investigating.
InfinitySwap BlogGeoffrey Miller

Around the Web

⚖️ Guilty as charged?: While Sam Bankman-Fried's trial date has been set for October, news broke on Tuesday that the former FTX CEO would be pleading not guilty to charges including conspiracy and wire fraud. Some believe this is a sign that Bankman-Fried will call in for favors with high-powered friends (such as the politicians he donated to) in order to obtain an acquittal. Bankman-Fried is currently out on a $250m bond financed by an unknown entity.

🎂 Happy Birthday, Bitcoin: The crypto community celebrated Bitcoin's 14th "birthday" on Jan. 3rd--the date that creator Satoshi Nakamoto first mined BTC. One tradition of celebrating the day continues despite the brutal bear market--sending $BTC to the address containing the rewards for mining the genesis block.

🧺 Laundry Day: Binance has been dealing with increased bad news as of late, from proof-of-reserves skepticism to the SEC filing a formal "limited objection" against the exchange acquiring bankrupt crypto brokerage Voyager Digital's assets. On Jan 7th, US investigators sent subpoenas to various hedge funds in a money laundering probe revolving around Binance.

🤼‍♂️ Genesis v. Gemini: On Monday, Cameron Winklevoss of Gemini Exchange tweeted an open letter to Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group (parent company of Grayscale, Coindesk, Genesis, and more), causing a flurry of anxious speculation about both entities. Genesis, which serves institutional investors, owes $900m to Gemini. The letter alleges that Silbert has been ignoring the Gemini team's efforts to find a solution.

Meme of the Week

A Matter of Opinion: New Year, New Beginnings: Editor in Chief

It's a new year and a new start. On a personal note, I became a father on January 3rd, and nothing could prepare me for the enormity of the experience. I noticed over the course of the weekend that our Infinity Canisters are making waves. It seems those desperate to sell have been shaken out, with a floor of 13.49 ICP and rising with a surge in volume, as I write.

Those who did sell cheaply are already regretting it, I'm sure, and will regret far more so in the future. Consider the early adopter role of a brand that has the potential to revolutionize DeFi, backed by Polychain and other big-name investors. Once our wallet is mass-adopted, and AMM is in full operation, plus the next bull market and a growing legion of INFINISWAPPERS, demand ought to be huge. We will also explore ways to add value over time as we want to give back to those who have supported us and continue to support us as early adopters.

You all might have noticed the hype around the INFINISWAPPERS community. This is the result of a coordinated and well-oiled marketing machine that we have in operation. The success of our canister collection has been partly due to these network effects that have been constructed over the second half of 2022.

Now that we have a base of operations expect to see video content going out very soon. I am very excited about this, and we will also be publishing a monthly status report outlining our accomplishments and including community endorsements and upgrades that we implement on our products and services based on your suggestions.

We already defined a roadmap for Q1 2023, which can be found on our Reddit  (part of the Q1 Roadmap) and which already has 100's of active users regularly posting. We brought in new mods Lil Sainty and Simisola, whose enthusiasm and energy are helping to drive a new wave of adoption and enthusiastic supporters.

After the current MEGA giveaway pinned on my ICPFan8 Twitter profile (ongoing for another week) I'll do a giveaway of some of those precious Canisters via Reddit, so you had better get signed up to be part of the conversation and part of the expanded INFINISWAPPER territory. We are going to be taking over in 2023, and we will go cross-chain. Reddit will be a big part of that, and we will need a HUGE community to upvote and enter other domains. Help us convert as many people into INFINISWAPPERS as possible to help this happen sooner.

Prepare yourselves! 2023 is going to be a wild ride.

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*Disclaimer: Note that cryptocurrencies can be volatile and speculation should not be construed as financial advice in any capacity. All opinions of the author are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or position of InfinitySwap or its staff.