# Top stories on Kiwi News, week 13 2024 Mon 25 to Sun 31 March 2024 Page: https://news.kiwistand.com/weekly/2024-W13 The 20 top stories on Kiwi News from Mon 25 to Sun 31 March 2024, ranked by upvotes, comments and clicks, with 31 comments in total. Most-shared sources: paragraph.xyz, vitalik.eth.limo. Summaries are AI summaries of the linked article. ## 1. My short crypto writing story - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/My-short-crypto-writing-story?index=0x66069d770af302b53c91160f577230bb3df67e39a1c6d085b5af0863ee97fe95dbd16ea2 - Source: https://kanfa.macbudkowski.com/my-crypto-writing-story - Submitted by macbudkowski.eth, 16 upvotes, 6 comments This first-person essay traces the author's path from frustration with the financial system and Big Tech to crypto writing, arguing that platforms like Twitter and Discord are poorly suited to writers. The author describes a 2013 Master's thesis on Facebook overstimulation, then moved to Twitter in 2021 and to Farcaster in July 2022 after Dan Romero followed them. The author co-founded Kiwi, a crypto Hacker News-style site with about 300+ curators and 2,000+ monthly readers, and promotes its Feedbot feature, which automatically posts links from a curated list of top crypto blogs. ## 2. Introducing Degen Chain - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Introducing-Degen-Chain?index=0x66058875867860e4acc0cff238d0974034a5beb62566bca443bfd8677e17c75be719f644 - Source: https://syndicate.io/blog/degen-chain - Submitted by tim, 13 upvotes, 0 comments ## 3. Seed Club SC07: Consumer Crypto Cohort - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Seed-Club-SC07-Consumer-Crypto-Cohort?index=0x6605a3fdf06a8c4a6015257c66ab97eb318e6c6105923e5e78c82b67a4c5c48f9b9662a7 - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@seedclubhq/sc07-consumer-crypto - Submitted by cojo.eth, 16 upvotes, 1 comment Seed Club has announced SC07, its consumer crypto cohort of eight companies, after reviewing 300 applications and conducting over 50 interviews. The post argues that consumer crypto is at an inflection point, with the world ready for these products and the products almost ready for the world. Companies named include Bracket.Game, a crypto-powered sports fan game; Sidequest, which uses computer vision to reward real-world actions; Ponder, a survey platform that rewards responders with tokens; and Xhibit, a style and self-discovery product. The cohort runs for three months. ## 4. Memecoins as the new GTM strategy - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Memecoins-as-the-new-GTM-strategy?index=0x66018f6e5fcf95aaacfd05d875b4269ac37244c8163b2621db5580211a3ba0b2a57e959f - Source: https://www.lisnewsletter.com/p/memecoins-as-the-new-gtm-strategy - Submitted by tim, 10 upvotes, 4 comments Memecoins are emerging as a go-to-market strategy: projects build products around a memecoin's existing community rather than building a product first and then a community. The article cites BONKbot, a Telegram trading bot on Solana that originated from the $BONK token and uses part of its trading fees to buy and burn BONK, and says it recently crossed $200 million in daily trading volume. It also cites Shibarium, the Ethereum Layer 2 launched by $SHIB, which uses transaction fees to burn SHIB, and Jupiter's launch of the $WEN memecoin in January 2024, airdropped to over 1 million wallets. ## 5. What else could memecoins be? - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/What-else-could-memecoins-be?index=0x660683531129ebb04b2ab4a0c5e62da36c5902599468524951a07d6ace8389380dbdb5b4 - Source: https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2024/03/29/memecoins.html - Submitted by misha, 10 upvotes, 1 comment Vitalik Buterin argues that memecoins could be redirected toward positive-sum uses such as charity funding and genuinely fun games, rather than being purely speculative tokens. He notes that memecoins have drawn unease in 2024, partly because some Solana memecoins were openly racist and many others rise and fall in price while contributing nothing of value. Buterin cites GiveWell Inu, which donated proceeds to GiveWell, and says that half the supply of Dogelon Mars was gifted to the Methuselah Foundation, turning $ELON into a charity coin. He concludes that more fun projects that support public goods should gain attention, and he praises 0xPARC for making crypto games that players joined for fun. ## 6. Carl's (OS Observer) Thoughts on Optimism's new RPGF direction - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Carls-OS-Observer-Thoughts-on-Optimisms-new-RPGF-direction?index=0x6603f01f2dd69023769649c94aa3a0c5466d954c8a13bc161ec02c7d78bd41672a4b6391 - Source: https://x.com/carl_cervone/status/1772862669168468132?s=20 - Submitted by auditless.eth, 7 upvotes, 2 comments Carl, writing as the founder of Open Source Observer (OS Observer), welcomes Optimism's new Retro Funding direction toward verifiable impact and more tightly curated rounds, but argues that the harder question is what forms of impact should be rewarded most. He says governance discussion on that question has been thinner than discussion of process, scoring and UI, and that the metrics' legitimacy depends on who designs them and how transparent they are. Carl notes that Round 4 focuses on growing the number of active onchain builders, and he calls for more citizens to act as "impact data scientists" and help build impact models. OS Observer, a three-person team, describes its goal as a "people's data warehouse" for that work. ## 7. The $DEGEN Archives - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/The-dollarDEGEN-Archives?index=0x66083529539967f37bac4c30f8d09a18fb392105a0f39fdd9a00fb7bcc3514324a41b929 - Source: https://folklore.mirror.xyz/q9fjoEXpgDH8YGm_EaN3y8jhJfc_kRz7kBW-4IEya7A - Submitted by 0xluo.eth, 12 upvotes, 1 comment ## 8. Blobscriptions - Inscriptions in ETH blob space - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Blobscriptions-Inscriptions-in-ETH-blob-space?index=0x6604819adf8479f49cd16b906223cd00fe470ef943eada7714db33fea633154e4f2b43fa - Source: https://blobscriptions.io - Submitted by tim, 8 upvotes, 0 comments Promotional text for W88, an online gambling brand that describes itself as a transparent platform offering sports betting, casino, lottery and card games. It claims licensing by foreign gaming regulators, audits every 6 to 12 months, two-factor authentication, and ISO/IEC 27001-compliant data storage. It also lists promotional bonuses with rollover requirements of 5x to 15x. The text does not mention Blobscriptions or Ethereum blob space, so it does not match its title. ## 9. The Token Is The Product - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/The-Token-Is-The-Product?index=0x660462f19614fec2469dc3a28f3595fd485076ef40d42022670aa13b035bf467a85ba20e - Source: https://m.mirror.xyz/gyyuM1OocVmptHYvl4jR6G3fWYsOutCgu19RDGjzGqc - Submitted by tim, 7 upvotes, 7 comments ## 10. Ethereum has blobs. Where do we go from here? - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Ethereum-has-blobs-Where-do-we-go-from-here?index=0x6605771f4eed229e0c0b0a50f4f6b35592fa069aed07fc77d6121f7829a258e39c2bd0ab - Source: https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2024/03/28/blobs.html - Submitted by pedrovilela.eth, 7 upvotes, 1 comment Vitalik Buterin argues that Ethereum's scaling phase is largely complete now that blobs are live, and that the focus should shift toward rollup security, application design and user experience. The Dencun hard fork activated on March 13 with EIP-4844, which cut rollup transaction fees by over 100 times at first, and blob usage later spiked as the Blobscriptions protocol began using them. The post outlines next steps: PeerDAS, which would let each node store about 1/8 of blob data, improved data compression and execution scaling for rollups, and stricter standards so that only projects reaching at least stage 1 on l2beat count as rollups. It also argues that the lack of large-scale applications came from high fees, and that developers now have the tools to build usable apps. ## 11. On queues and contract-enforcement through hair in the Qing dynasty - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/On-queues-and-contract-enforcement-through-hair-in-the-Qing-dynasty?index=0x6605442a8111f265aa058b1d1f9ee7408f1177ee648864ea642b8a6276ce5afbe76833fa - Source: https://spandex.substack.com/p/on-queues-and-allegiance-enforcement - Submitted by crout.eth, 6 upvotes, 2 comments The author's central claim is that the Qing queue hairstyle was a loyalty-enforcement technology: a visible marker that let the Qing identify villagers who had cut their queues to appease invaders. The essay draws on Lu Xun's story "Storm" (風波), in which villagers who shaved their queues wait to learn whether the Qing will execute or forgive them. The piece says a shaved queue takes three or four years to regrow, so anyone who betrayed the dynasty would need that long to appear loyal again. It also contrasts the queue with a face tattoo, arguing the queue is the harsher method because it requires daily reaffirmation of allegiance. ## 12. Best books to understand the radical potential for blockchain and cryptocurrency - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Best-books-to-understand-the-radical-potential-for-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency?index=0x6602e1c59a89911c49440f1464f757afc027a14df05eca6150477c9442d00fe8584f4472 - Source: https://shepherd.com/best-books/understanding-the-potential-for-cryptocurrency - Submitted by pedrovilela.eth, 6 upvotes, 1 comment ## 13. How can Donald Trump’s loss-making Truth Social be worth $9bn? - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/How-can-Donald-Trumps-loss-making-Truth-Social-be-worth-dollar9bn?index=0x66052c3497a12874ff8e66a46363a5202c2b572db29343ce91665d3a3dae00af6aaa2310 - Source: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/27/how-can-donald-trumps-lossmaking-truth-social-be-worth-8bn - Submitted by rvolz.eth, 4 upvotes, 2 comments Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social and trades under the ticker DJT, went public and reached a valuation near $8bn on its first day, then rose to about $9.6bn in volatile trading the next day. The article says the valuation is out of step with the company's fundamentals, citing $3.3m in advertising revenue and a $49m loss over the first nine months of last year. It attributes the share rise to "meme stock" dynamics, with investors buying in as a way to support Trump rather than to earn a profit. Under the IPO agreement, insiders must hold their stake for six months, though the board can overrule this. ## 14. Memecoins and Crypto's Moral Compass - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Memecoins-and-Cryptos-Moral-Compass?index=0x660967da9533ed582d93824db655c9a5fe8de57991b019d85f88fa0034a2abddd737395b - Source: https://sceneswithsimon.com/p/memecoins-and-cryptos-moral-compass - Submitted by tim, 6 upvotes, 0 comments The author's central view is that memecoins are a form of coordination and entertainment that can be judged by whether their social benefits outweigh their costs, and that they should be steered toward pro-social outcomes rather than ignored. The piece cites Vitalik Buterin wanting more memecoins that support public goods and fewer that enrich insiders, and it notes CipherTrace's report that rug pulls accounted for 99% of crypto frauds in 2023, totaling $2.1 billion in losses. It also cites polynya's argument that memecoins reflect crypto's broken moral compass, and says that gambling addiction estimates are 1-5% of US adults. ## 15. Worldcoin implements personal custody - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Worldcoin-implements-personal-custody?index=0x66020cfbdf9e66577b285b3753504eb314b2412de32256dec98b4743474474562c44a051 - Source: https://worldcoin.org/blog/announcements/worldcoin-implements-personal-custody - Submitted by tim, 5 upvotes, 2 comments World is implementing Personal Custody, a data custody approach recommended by privacy experts that was first announced with World ID 2.0. Under this approach, images, metadata and derived data generated at the Orb and used to create the iris code are held on the user's device rather than deleted by default, giving users control over any future use before deletion. The system also enables Face Authentication, which works locally on the device without data leaving the phone. Optional Data Custody will no longer be offered at the time of an Orb visit. ## 16. Kiwi opens Feedbot for submissions - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Kiwi-opens-Feedbot-for-submissions?index=0x6602d0b006bc1a00b0c3a5ab2dfef2a81aec5d88a43733d7a50b348150fd9e8b4962badb - Source: https://paragraph.xyz/@kiwi-updates/kiwi-feedbot-submissions-open - Submitted by macbudkowski.eth, 9 upvotes, 0 comments Kiwi has set up a Feedbot that automatically adds new posts from a curated list of top crypto blogs to the /New feed, where its community curators can upvote them. The list includes authors such as Vitalik, Polynya, Balaji, Dan Fowler, Blockchain Socialist and Cerv1, and each new post starts with 0 upvotes until a curator upvotes it, which gives it 1 upvote and labels the curator as the submitter. Kiwi says it is focused on crypto tech, products and culture rather than trading-related content, and blogs can apply to be featured through a form. ## 17. The Reddits - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/The-Reddits?index=0x660430b4907a85cd7e0e3ce2331d80d536f1d3e36e193af703a705ae97fcde0747dd62eb - Source: https://www.paulgraham.com/reddits.html - Submitted by tim, 6 upvotes, 0 comments Paul Graham recounts how Reddit began as a Y Combinator application from Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, who were rejected for their original cell-phone food ordering idea but funded after pivoting to a link-sharing site. Graham says he encouraged them to change direction because he had noticed that del.icio.us/popular was being used as a de facto Reddit. The founders launched about three weeks into the first YC batch, and the site grew steadily despite a period of weak management after Huffman left, and Graham says Huffman's return in 2015 showed what the company could do. ## 18. How to Break Free from Dopamine Culture - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/How-to-Break-Free-from-Dopamine-Culture?index=0x66020051e5df8b8bf663b156545591fb691552a90c231cc75282328b40c2d3c78188f9a5 - Source: https://www.honest-broker.com/p/how-to-break-free-from-dopamine-culture - Submitted by pedrovilela.eth, 5 upvotes, 1 comment The author argues that dopamine-driven tech design is harming people's lives and that individuals can counter it through offline activities and immersive experiences. Tech companies are described as deliberately creating addictive, closure-avoiding interfaces, with the essay claiming that half of the 10 largest companies in the world are pursuing this addictive relationship. Suggested remedies include learning practical skills like Boy Scout merit badges, listening to immersive music tracks of 40 to 50 minutes or longer, and building rituals of mindful repetition, drawing on Kierkegaard and E.M. Forster. ## 19. On The Marginal Utility of Blockspace - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/On-The-Marginal-Utility-of-Blockspace?index=0x6602f5fa79e4abf2415feaad5a1fc822f9d6468283f9f156b0cab4b642a579ba1a3a59ec - Source: https://newsletter.auditless.com/p/al-51-on-the-marginal-utility-of - Submitted by auditless.eth, 5 upvotes, 0 comments ## 20. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years for crypto fraud - Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/FTX-founder-Sam-Bankman-Fried-sentenced-to-25-years-for-crypto-fraud?index=0x660599fa207291795de100b96658465e7e5c62a88b8f8015b54c594d6d116f75071a45c3 - Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/28/live-updates-ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-sentencing.html - Submitted by macbudkowski.eth, 6 upvotes, 0 comments