A quick (5 min) summary of what happened, where we are, and where things can go — The Fed, Treasury, and FDIC have gone into uncharted territory to try and stabilize financial markets and curb deposit outflows. However, they haven’t gone all-in to guarantee all deposits like some folks hoped they would. Covering uninsured depositors case-by-case might suggest some level of implicit guarantee, but a real explicit…

What on Earth is Happening to the Banking System in the US? — “Don’t try to catch a falling knife” is a maxim that financial markets follow to a T, except sometimes catching the knife is necessary. For example, if the knife is on fire and falling into a gas tank… that just happens to be squeezed between a gunpowder warehouse and a…

The 15th largest US bank just went down, sending shockwaves through banking, crypto, and VC. Is this the end of an era? — “This is an ‘extinction level event’ for startups and will set startups and innovation back by 10 years or more” Gerry Tan, Y Combinator CEO The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) met its unfortunate demise this Friday, as the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) took over the bank. Sadly, SVB now…

The Toxicity of Brazil’s Convicted Criminal-Turned President Enters the Global Stage — “With democrats like Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who needs autocrats?” Andreas Kluth, The Washington Post Lula da Silva sent an ominous message to anyone still in doubt about his authoritarian tendencies when he granted Iran permission to dock two sanctioned war ships in Rio de Janeiro, despite pressure from…

An ambitious project targeting one billion users — Coinbase has upped their Web3 game by introducing their latest offering, Base — an Ethereum layer 2 blockchain that promises to offer a secure, low-cost, and developer-friendly way for anyone to build decentralized apps (dApps). Serving as the much-needed “bridge” for users navigating the world of cryptocurrency, Base boasts a…

Coming in March, a ground-breaking upgrade to revolutionize the Ethereum Ecosystem — The Ethereum project is making steady progress toward its development objectives, and the next significant milestone is the Shanghai Hard Fork in March. This upcoming update is expected to have a profound impact on the crypto ecosystem as a whole, and all organizations involved are eagerly anticipating its arrival.

The Catholic Church is the greatest force for good in the history of mankind. Sometimes even Catholics need to be reminded of that — “The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Palaeolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology” TThe quote above, from American biologist Edward O. Wilson, in many ways summarizes perfectly the history of the Catholic Church: a medieval institution that catalysed our Palaeolithic emotions into god-like technology.

Oracles: Bridging the Gap Between Blockchains and External Systems — In the world of blockchain, smart contracts have emerged as a powerful tool for automating complex transactions. However, one major challenge faced by blockchains is their limited access to external information. …

Get ready to cash in: The upcoming hard fork could make you serious coin — here’s the lowdown! — Ethereum is dropping its next big update called “Shanghai” by March. This update’s gonna let stakers cash out their ETH that’s been locked since December 2020 on the beacon chain. They’ve already run some tests, so once it’s live in March, stakers can withdraw either part or all of their…