Familia — welcome to the latest edition of the Web3 Familia newsletter. We are excited to announce two major events taking place this Friday, and we encourage you to check them out! If you’re at NFT NYC, don't hesitate to let us know in our Telegram group so we can connect!
PS: Here’s How to Watch Bad Bunny’s Coachella Performance this weekend 🐰
Save These Dates ‼️
Christian Narvaez, CEO/Founder of Rayo Labs and Co-Founder of Web3 Familia, is hosting a series of events in NYC this month. Come join us for an opportunity to network & collaborate!
NFT NYC Investor Mixer: 4/14, 6pm
This Friday, Rayo Labs will be holding its inaugural Investor Mixer, and it extends an invitation to LPs/GPs/FOs, investment DAOs, and other up-and-coming fund managers to attend. We would like to express our gratitude to Aztlan Capital, Ripio Ventures & Merlin Capital Fund for their valuable support in ensuring the success of this event.
We'll be having a brief panel highlighting 3 top-notch founders building amazing web3 companies across digital assets, legal infrastructure & gaming platforms. Founder panel:
Cynthia Alexander - Founder of Mentaport Inc
Orlando Cosme - Co-founder & CEO of Lexproof
Santiago Portela - CEO of FITCHIN
🎟️ Ticket and registration. Please use promo code: RAYOLABSW3F
NFT NYC Reggaeton Celebration! 4/14, 9pm
We are back with everyone’s favorite NFT NYC Reggaeton party! We sold out last year and we are excited to welcome you back for an even better time in NYC's newest Latino bar/lounge La Diaspora! Come by and wind down the week with salsa, merengue, reggaeton & perreo!
🎟️ Ticket and registration. For our loyal readers use promo code: FAMILIA50DISC
🙏🏽 Thank you to our partners for your support: @herdaolatam, @TheBAFNetwork, @Blu3latam, @cryptoconexion, @babs_agency & @CoinDesk.
🤝 Sponsors & Partners: Please email us if you’re interested in partnering or sponsoring Web3 Familia: info@web3familia.com
💯 Member Spotlight: Orlando Cosme
🔗 Connect with Orlando: Twitter | LinkedIn
What are you working on now?
I’m the CEO and cofounder of Lexproof, a startup building web3 native legal and compliance infrastructure. Our products help organizations comply with regulations in a way that complements—instead of undermines—their web3 value proposition. We believe the type of tools we are building are necessary so that the user-owned internet can reach its full potential.
What motivated you to start your company?
I’m a lawyer by background and also worked in interest rates trading at an investment bank before law school. On Labor Day 2020, while working at a biglaw firm, it really hit me how miserable I would be if I stayed long term at a place like a white shoe law firm or investment bank. Those places are where creativity and autonomy go to die. So I decided then that I would start my own company, but I wasn’t yet ready. Around the same time, I fell down the crypto rabbit hole. I spent most of my spare time afterwards contributing to various crypto projects. Fast forward a year a half later, and my cofounder and I began talking about launching a side project. We decided to take the project more seriously and quit our jobs. Eventually, that side project turned into Lexproof.
What has surprised you in the Web3 space?
The quality and range of builders in the space is incredible. Not only are there people from prestigious jobs and schools, but also a ton of people from non-traditional paths. For example, one friend who I stayed with during ETHDenver is a professional mountain climber and photographer, has worked for North Face and Patagonia, and has literally named several mountains (for being the first to summit them).
What are you reading right now? (crypto related)
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. For non music aficionados, Rick is a legendary music producer, cofounded Def Jam, and has worked with Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira, Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Kanye West, and many more. While technically not specific to crypto, The Creative Act is a playbook for each of us to go through our own creative process and achieve personal transcendence—which is necessary for anyone painting on the blank canvas that is crypto.
Favorite quote?
"The secret of life is to fall seven times and to get up eight times." — Paulo Coelho
Other comments:
If you’re building in the web3 space and are looking for legal and compliance solutions—I’d love to hear from you!
🔗 Connect with Orlando: Twitter | LinkedIn
⏪ Web3 Familia: March Recap
📆 Web3 Familia: NYC Web3 Gaming Ecosystem Event
🙏🏽 Thank you to our VC/gaming partners (OP Crypto VC, Merlin Capital, Dibby.Bet) and Community Partners (@TheBAFNetwork, @herdaolatam, @Blu3latam) for your support.
🚨Article Spotlight
C2C Crypto-Remittance Payments
Author: Alan Macias (Strategy Consultant for FinTech Startups)
🔑 Highlights
According to the World Bank, the global remittance payments flow is estimated to have increased by 1.7% to reach $794bn USD by the end of 2022 and it is expected to have a strong growth rate over the next five years, with a CAGR of 2.8%. However, historically the high cost of sending remittances limits its full economic and social potential.
Remittances in 2022 are expected to be the same that of 2021, with India leading ($100B), followed by Mexico ($60B), China ($51B), Philippines ($38B), and Egypt ($32B).
Stellar, an open-source public blockchain that enables money to be tokenized and transferred globally, and Moneygram, a leader in the development of digital P2P payments, announced in 2021 the initial phase of a new service for digital wallets to increase the utility of digital assets by building a bridge between fiat currency and cryptocurrencies.
To fully unlock the value of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments, specifically remittances, there must be an ecosystem where digital assets are accepted as legal tender.
Central banks are key for creating an ecosystem, whether it’s by creating their own CBDC or by being proactive in implementing regulation.
Read more here.
📆 Events & Opportunities
Events
NFT.NYC event lists.
Event list #1 by Seratonin.
Event list #2 by DAOChat.
Consensus 2023 Master Event List.
Durham, North Carolina 📍: Duke Web3 Conference, April 21–23.
2023 Web3 events list.
Another crypto event list (includes international events).
Opportunities
Bootcamp: ZK Bootcamp by Encode Club (apps due 4/24).
Bootcamp: Solidity Bootcamp by Encode Club (apps due 4/24).
Grants: Grants for Afro-Latinas and Latinas April by Lucia Diaz.
Research: ConenSys wants to enable more DAOs. Their team is developing an accelerator program for DAO tooling and the coordination layer. Submit your project here!
Resources: Newsletter on the latest Web3 jobs, events, free travel, bootcamps, & more by Matt Wong.
📚 Must Read
Article: 5 Things You Need To Know About Your LLC's Operating Agreement: Easily Set Your Business On The Right Path by Pablo Segarra, Esq.
Article: AI and the Law: What You Need To Know by Paul DelSignore.
Article: Coinbase Has Acquired One River Digital Asset Management by Coinbase.
Article: Death to Oracles by José Betancourt & Alexander Atamanov.
List: The crypto classics reading list by Jason Yanowitz.
List: 17 Books for web3 builders by a16z crypto.
Report: The emergent industrial metaverse by MIT.
Report: U.S. Share of Blockchain Developers is Shrinking by Electric Capital.
Research: Is Decentralized AI Safer? by Casey Clifton, Richard Blythman, & Kartika Tulusan.
Twitter Thread: 2023 guide to RWAs (and the top protocols) by @thedefiedge.
Connect with Web3 Familia 🌎✨
Follow: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn
Join: Telegram | Discord | Website
Thank you for reading our newsletter. Do you have questions, ideas, or an empanada recipe you wanna share with me? Let us know in our Telegram. If you enjoyed our newsletter, share it with your friends, prim@s, situationships 👀, &/or delusionship!
Besitos,
🤝 Sponsors & Partners: Please email us if you’re interested in partnering or sponsoring Web3 Familia: info@web3familia.com