Hello, Lovely Readers and Subscribers!
Welcome to my new newsletter! I know it has been a while since I last posted. Thanks so much for sticking around. Seriously, I mean it, I am very grateful to all 164 of you!
In this newsletter, I will do my best to demystify Ethereum protocols and products in a digestible format, much like how Gizmodo breaks down tech gadgets and Consumer Reports evaluates consumer products.
Before diving into the post, there are a few housekeeping items to get through (thanks for bearing with me!)
First things first, I have migrated the newsletter from the Substack platform to Paragraph. If you subscribed to my Substack, you now automatically subscribe to my Paragraph. You will not experience any disruption to your reading experience. New posts will continue to come to your inbox, and all you need to do is continue to read and enjoy!
Why did I leave Substack? It's nothing personal. The Paragraph platform is very similar to Substack's, but it also has additional features that make it more attractive for crypto newsletter writers, like myself. A few of these features:
(1) posts are stored in Arweave, a decentralized storage system
(2) posts can be minted and collected as NFTs
(3) readers can earn referral rewards by sharing my posts
Essentially, Paragraph offers more flexibility and customization than Substack in creating, distributing, and monetizing content, but the icing on the cake for me was that I really like and admire the Paragraph team. Their support on Discord is top-notch and the founders go out of their way to make writers feel like owners, not just users.
Lastly, you may have noticed that I kept the same newsletter name, Sharing is Caring. This is for brand continuity purposes. You can still find and read all original posts on Substack.
The "why" for this newsletter
The original Sharing is Caring newsletter was born out of the COVID pandemic, in January 2021. At the time, I was taking a break from crypto and spending my time exploring and making friends in online communities such as Ness Labs and Interintellect.
Many of my current subscribers discovered me through these non-crypto communities and have stuck around (thank you!!) as I have published both crypto and non-crypto content. No one has left, yet, so there must be some curiosity in my crypto writing.
With that said, writing a newsletter for two years has taught me many lessons - one is adaptability.
The time has now come for Sharing is Caring to adapt.
As far as I know, a newsletter that breaks down Ethereum protocols and products in a digestible format, does not exist. This newsletter will not be news-driven, there will be no paid product placements, and it will not be pay-walled.
What you can expect from this newsletter
The Ethereum ecosystem is chock-full of FOMO, where a sense of missing out on rewards --social or financial -- makes people lose sight of critical thinking, falling for overhyped projects, sometimes with deceptive marketing, without understanding the true risks involved.
In my experience, most Ethereum products, particularly financial products, are intended for professionals. For highly trained experts, who have both traditional finance and software experience, and who also have the time and bandwidth to do proper diligence and assess risk.
This newsletter is not for the experts. It is for the crypto-curious. P.S. You can be an advanced Ethereum user AND be crypto-curious. I put myself in this category -- there is always more that I can learn, and more foundational elements that I could refresh on.
My goal for this newsletter is to provide practical insights into using Ethereum protocols and products safely. You will surely fail, as one does when learning anything new, but you will, most importantly, fail safely.
Newsletter Topics
My intention with this newsletter is to write about areas that I don't already cover for my day job. That means I will write very little about Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and Decentralized Finance (DeFi).
You can expect to read breakdowns of:
Conclusion
My vision for this newsletter is to write digestible breakdowns of complex protocols and products in the Ethereum ecosystem. There will be no hype pieces, no shilling, and no paywall. Just quality substantive content for the crypto-curious -- people who are either newer to crypto or advanced users who value learning and refreshers on foundational elements.
Migrating from Substack to Paragraph allows me to explore new avenues for distribution and monetization. I do have a day job so this newsletter will serve as a passion project, at least for now. I'm hoping that if I take the right steps, follow a process, and with a little luck on my side, I can grow this newsletter to become a sustainable income stream.
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, comments, or suggestions about the content; your feedback is invaluable in refining this newsletter and making it a valuable resource for everyone. You can reply directly to this email (if you received this post in your email inbox) or you can send me a message on Twitter.
You should expect the first newsletter, where I cover Ethereum staking, in the next few weeks. Until then, take good care!
-Rika
