Welcome to another edition of the Weekend Degen Report.

What to expect: 1235 words a 6-minute read.

TLDR: Indo-Asia needs condoms, Utopia and Transient Labs pushing crypto forward, Avant Arte chooses Ripcache, ribbed squiggles are gorgeous and more.

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Creative Corner

GM GM. Another week down and getting closer to the end of the year. Let’s dive in.

We got a couple votes for doing spaces and a book club. But it was pretty even so I will keep that one in my back pocket and we will see when I launch either of those mediums. Most likely after my long vacation, for now just focusing on Podcast and my recently launched Youtube channel. Make sure to check out and subscribe. I’ll be doing a giveaway there shortly.

Lastly, it took some time but I have another premium article that I am dropping this Wednesday covering MoneyNeverSleeps Ep05. I am going to make it free for all so you can see what I write in those. If you want to read last weeks premium post, you can see it below.

Knowledge

Did you know the Indo-Asia region, encompassing India, China, and Southeast Asia, is home to a large portion of the world's population due to several factors. These include fertile lands and early civilization development that allowed for sustained agricultural growth, the economic expansion creating vast job opportunities, and cultural influences resulting in high fertility rates. Additionally, the sheer geographic size of this region naturally accommodates a larger population. However, this high population density brings about challenges in resource management, healthcare, education, and urbanization, which these countries continue to address. I found this thread being really informative and the source of this rabbit hole for me this past week.

NFT Space

Well I recently found out my integration from Twitter to Notion was broken so last weeks article was missing some key news. Will try and rapid fire some of them to get back to present time.

Utopia is making offramping for business who interact with crypto easier. The business can send USDC to another business or pay an invoice and it will be converted to USD automatically. Making it easier to do business in crypto, they stated “Our mission is to accelerate crypto payments with seamless interoperability between fiat <> crypto operations.”

Opensea launched trading NFTs on their platform. This should make things easier for all when it comes to trading. It does raise questions if they can keep up with getting project verified. As an example, DesLucrece took a while to get his stuff verified so, the trade to the untrained eye could look like a scam assuming they show that data. The other data point that makes me excited about this is the possibility of somehow capturing more data around trades so we can have a better understanding of floors from a dune analytics perspective. Someone will have to parse through that but looking forward to that day.

The fed launched their own payment method on the heels of the XRP announcement. Should make our financial systems runs more efficiently. Curious to see how this fed system trickles to other services like Zelle and Venmo.

Emblem Vault is undergoing a massive change/migration right now. Right now when you go see your Fake Rare Pepes it is mixed in with a whole bunch of other shit. After this migration, there will be some bigger pools/buckets used to make searching and viewing easier. This should help Fake Rare Pepes stand out a bit more and easier to find.

Transient Labs continues pushing the envelope in technology with NFTs. Making it harder for projects to just update metadata and not having consent as a collector for that change. They used the following example to illustrate this new mechanism “The artist wants to create a narrative and offer metadata updates to their collectors over a period of time in a specific body of work to tell a story. Now they can!

- Collectors have peace of mind knowing they can't be "rugged" by malicious actors.”

It appears we now know who is our next Avant Arte drop, Ripcache. As a collector of Ripcache and a long time fan of his work, this is 100% a must cop for me.

The British Museum will be joining the Metaverse through The Sandbox. Why is this a big deal? The British Museum, established in 1753, is globally celebrated for its antiquity, prestige, and size, housing millions of works that span over two million years of history. Notable for possessing iconic artifacts like the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, Egyptian mummies, and more, it is a rich repository of human culture and history. Its magnificent architecture, particularly the glass-and-steel roofed Great Court, stands as a landmark in itself. Committed to public accessibility, it provides free admission, organizes educational exhibitions and lectures, and contributes significantly to research and conservation efforts. Thus, the British Museum's uniqueness lies in its vast, diverse collection, architectural grandeur, accessibility, and its multifaceted educational and preservation roles.

Notable Sales

Some crazy mfer came in and went loco as YG would say. Buying 6 squiggles for 112.5eth. And not just any squiggles, they bought 4 slinkys and 2 fuzzys.

Speaking of gen art this Ringer sold for 30eth recently.

There was some massive pfp sells this past week, like a trippy BAYC, but I promised myself I would not include it for you all since I am sure you all saw it on your timeline lol.

Upcoming

We are still getting new squiggles and recently a new super rare white ribbed one. An example of a white ribbed below. They are gorgeous imo. A new one was recently minted. For those that dont know, Snowfro, stopped the mint a couple hundred before the max so that is why we are still getting new mints. With about 75 more new mints to go, I am looking forward to what new ones we will get.

Between the new WorldCoin and China’s fedcoin being linked to your digital id. I am curious if this is the wake up call that people need when it comes to needing a private first cryto.

Lastly, ACK has been working and creating more what he is calling Ackstracts. This is currently at auction, and will finish after I send this newsletter. But man oh man, is ACK killing it with these. I am a smooth brained ape when it comes to abstract work sometimes, but this one and all his previous Ackstracts call to me.

Meme Of The Week

Slightly morbid but I love the honesty kids have. Shoot if from the hips.

Fin

Have a great rest of your week!

CIAHOAD-Rick James

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Deciphering the Digital Frontier: Crypto Updates, NFT Game-Changers, and the British Museum's Metaverse Odyssey | Issue #36