Do the Bankless guys still have a bank account?
Plus pushing NFTs beyond art and PFPs and Wonderland's buzz... killed!
New to crypto? Cryptocurrency Basics is a 9 minute video that serves as a great intro to the world of crypto. It’s part of our Crypto and Web3 for Absolute Beginners course.
It’s easy to feel like you’re late to the game when it comes to crypto but, as you’ll learn from today’s first spotlight, even the OGs in the space haven’t been able to go fully crypto quite yet. I’m always on the hunt for NFT projects pushing the envelope and I’ve found an interesting example. Finally… Wonderland, the one time DeFi wonder-child, is doing more dumping and less pumping.
In this issue:
Do the Bankless guys still have a bank account?
Wen (NFT) Lambo?
Wonderland’s buzz? Killed.
Do the Bankless guys still have a bank account?
I’m a big fan of Kevin Rose’s crypto podcasts (both Proof and Modern Finance). However, even I, as someone who sets aside a large amount of my time to dig through the latest in the crypto realm, have a tough time combing through every podcast, newsletter, thread and video I would love to.
Still, I caught the latest episode and I ran across this great quip from Ryan Sean Adams:
People ask us, “Do you guys still have a bank account?” Ya. We still have a bank account because, ya, we have bills to pay… you have to live in the real world. It’s almost a matter of where we are going directionally is using our traditional banks less over time so storing less value in the dollar (a central bank currency). I store a lot less of my personal net worth in fiat than I have in the past and then at some stage I do expect to be able to at least close my Wells Fargo bank account or maybe leave it open and you look at your transaction history and there’s nothing.
To which Kevin Rose added:
You know what it is? It’s almost like it’s your mailbox that you go outside and get your postal mail from. It’s like every once and awhile you gotta drop a letter in there. It’s 3 times a year but you gotta have it.
So there you go. We’re in early innings (even the guys batting clean up for team crypto).
Wen (NFT) Lambo?
New NFT drops are coming (almost too) fast lately. It’s almost like who isn’t dropping an NFT collection?! We’ve discussed in recent issues how certain NFTs have bucked the recent crypto dip to the point where some blue chips are actually acting like potential hedges, however, not just new NFTs but NFTs with new twists are what really interest me.
Lamborghini releasing a (very) limited collection of 5 NFTs sounds about right (and, lets face it, is no surprise given the whole wen Lambo? thing). But what’s less expected is the accompanying physical component of the NFTs. As The Drop explains there’s an IRL metal component that is pretty unique:
What looks like a CGI is actually 1,500 individually captured images pieced together in order to create a hyper-real art piece. The Earth behind the Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae depicted in the art was captured using a weather balloon to get the exact curvature of the work. The physical element is a piece of carbon that was engraved with a unique QR code that links to the digital NFT. This element called the Space Key, is said by Lamborghini to have been sent to “Outer Space”. What that truly entails is anyone’s guess.
I’m guessing your chances of snagging one of these Lambo NFTs is pretty slim… you’re probably better off asking, “Wen Lambo hotwheels?”
While this is more of a novelty I am excited to see what other interesting twists get dreamt up for pushing NFT projects beyond digital art and PFP ownership.
Wonderland’s buzz? Killed.
If you’re unfamiliar with Wonderland it is was a popular Avalanche money market that offered ridiculous APY to liquidity providers (aka “Frog Nation”). Well… as reported by Coindesk:
Wonderland’s TIME tokens fell 32% in European hours after blockchain sleuths revealed "Sifu," a core member of the founding team, is allegedly a long-time serial scammer, with a conviction and deportation on his record. He was also the co-founder of QuadrigaCX, a failed Canadian cryptocurrency exchange.
Ya. I was always intrigued by Wonderland but never enough to actually put any money in. Obviously glad looking back with 20/20 goggles on but I saw a lot of people whose opinion I respected on CT promote Wonderland like you wouldn’t believe.
DeFi can be risky. Next time I go looking for awesome (but not too good to be true) yield remind me to just stake some stablecoins. I’m not a DeFi degen (but somehow I live a little vicariously through those that are 😂 ).
NITRO!
An extra potent parting shot for those of you who aren’t quite ready to be done with another useful issue of TGO!
See you tomorrow!