A Guide to Getting Started with Crypto and Web3 🎓
Community Update 46
Good Afternoon Zashers,
In this week’s edition, we’ll launch our new getting started guide, responding to what we are hearing from many of you:
“I don’t know where to get started with buying my first crypto!”
“What even is Bitcoin?”
“Where would I keep my NFTs?”
So, we are pleased to present a a central, verified and trusted repository of information to help you with your journey into crypto, explore virtual real estate in the Metaverse and take a look at the week’s headline crypto and web3 news!
If you like what you see, be sure to download our app as this will be coming soon inside of Zash and we will be updating it weekly to keep up to date with the latest in such a fast moving space.
Crypto A-Z 🎓
Want to get started in the world of Crypto and Web3? We get it’s hard, crawling through all the misinformation online, just to find a YouTube video shilling a fake coin. Since we’re all about building a trusted community at Zash, we want to give you a one stop shop for all things crypto education. That’s why we’re introducing our Getting Started guide! We’ve curated content from some verified sources explaining the basics of Crypto and web3, so if you’re completely new to crypto you can go through these clips in order and have a watch of the content. Do this, and you’ll be ready to dive into all of Zash’s social features!
1) Before we look at cryptocurrency, it’s worth having a look at the fundamentals of fiat (currency you hold in cash or in your bank account, like GBP or USD) currency and inflation. Here’s are two quick video explainers:
2) Blockchain and Decentralised are words that get thrown around often, but what do they actually mean in the context of cryptocurrencies and why is this so revolutionary?
3) So, now you understand the basics of fiat currency and the blockchain. Are you wondering what this has to do with cryptocurrency? This should answer your question:
4) Here are 3 videos that give you a whistle-stop tour of exchanges, wallets and how to buy crypto. We thoroughly recommend diving deeper after watching these videos to ensure your funds and coins stay safe. 🔐
5) Bitcoin. If you’ve made it this far through the guide, you’ve most likely heard the name of the first and most valuable cryptocurrency. If you want a full explainer to get you caught up, watch this quick video:
6) How can blockchain technology be applied to the real world? Besides cryptocurrencies, there are a multitude of use cases for blockchain tech. Ranging from protecting intellectual property to logistics and global trade of goods, but more importantly, smart contracts.
7) Put simply, DEFI (Decentralised finance) hopes to make a new financial system that is open to everyone and doesn’t rely on intermediaries like banks. Instead, DEFI relies on the blockchain and smart contracts.
8) Overpriced clip-art or a new medium for artists to express themselves? For the visual learners have a watch the WSJ video. The Verge provide their walkthrough and humorous opinions here in the link below. 12 year old NFT prodigy Benyamin Ahmed also joins the dots from blockchain, through to NFTs, art and culture.
9) web1: Read. web2: Read/Write. web3: Read/Write/Own. Plastered all over the news, what actually is web3? Here’s a quick explainer so you can find out:
10) Decentralised Autonomous Organisations, sound confusing? If you understand how a vending machine works you’ll get DAO’s and how useful they can be.
We hope this overview of blockchain fundamentals has given ticked some boxes and provided areas of interest to delve into further. If you found this guide useful, why not share with your friends? As a team we’re confident in blockchain technology, the increased adoption year after year and the positive impact on the world, so the more people we can teach the better!
Web3 Insight 🌐
Imagine if you could own real estate without having to worry about tenant issues, repairs, and missed rent? You don’t need to imagine anymore, thanks to the rise of the Metaverse, investors are buying virtual real estate plots using platforms like The Sandbox and Decentraland. These virtual plots are fetching crazy prices, with digital real estate investment fund Republic Realm buying Sandbox land worth roughly $4.3 million just last month, and another NFT collector spending $450,000 for some land next to Snoop Dogg’s NFT house! Here’s a video article the Wall Street Journal recently published covering the new virtual real estate boom so you can find out more 👇
Crypto Rumours
There’s a new NFT marketplace in town! LooksRare, a new Ethereum NFT marketplace launched earlier this week. Within a day after its launch, the marketplace sold over $100 million worth of NFT’s, generating 613 ETH (nearly $2 million) in platform fees to be distributed to $LOOKS token stakers. That’s not all though, if you have bought or sold at least 3 ETH worth of NFTs on OpenSea (between 16 June and 16 December 2021) and have listed an NFT for sale on LooksRare marketplace, you are eligible to claim for the Looks Airdrop.
In other news, PayPal publicly confirmed its intentions to launch its own cryptocurrency stablecoin, affirming that the “PayPal Coin” would be pegged to the U.S dollar. Although no other details were provided from PayPal regarding the release date of the launch and if the coin would be available on centralised exchanges like Coinbase, the move continues to move public acceptance for crypto forward.
Elsewhere, we advise you to be aware of pump and dump schemes. Doesn’t matter who’s behind a coin (even Kim Kardashian or Floyd Mayweather!) always take time to understand the fundamentals of the token, why it’s different, what its utility is and who holds it already!
Reading List 💡
Tech News 🖥️
Gymshark CEO Ben Francis and CBO Noel Mack held their first meeting in the Metaverse earlier this week. Would you want to spend work meetings in the Metaverse rather than in Zoom?
Children’s song Baby Shark achieved the huge milestone of becoming the first YouTube to surpass 10 billion views, just over a year after becoming the most-viewed YouTube video of all time! With 10 billion views, a Baby Shark Nickelodeon show, movie, and even Baby Shark NFTs (seriously!)
Stock Market 📈
Streetwear and sneaker e-commerce platform StockX is reportedly planning to go public during the first half of this year, with the help of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. With a valuation of $3.8B in April, is this an IPO to look out for?
Looking for another newsletter as great as ours (not many out there, we know!) but focusing on the stock market? Why not check out Exec Sum? Thanks to Thomas Hanks, one of our slack community members, for letting us know about the letter!
That’s all for now, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter!
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See you next week!
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