Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, previously referred to as Chain Response.

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Hey and welcome again to the fourth version of the brand new and improved TechCrunch Crypto publication. You in all probability know the deal already, however alongside our often scheduled information bits, I’ve added some recurring segments and options — so in the event you like what you see (or don’t), let me know at [email protected].

Anyhow, let’s get into the massive headlines beneath.

This week in web3

Crunching numbers

This week the crypto market was comparatively up as the 2 greatest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, bitcoin and ether, rose 5.7 and 6%, respectively, on the week, in keeping with CoinMarketCap data. The worldwide crypto market cap elevated 5.5% over a seven-day interval to $1.72 trillion.

Of the highest 10 tokens by market cap, Solana elevated essentially the most on the week at 7.7% on the time of writing.

Our favourite ‘Crypto Twitter’ submit

That awkward second when your crypto buddies and normie buddies see “zero knowledge” as two completely different meanings. However in case you don’t know…see the definition here.

Picture Credit: X (opens in a new window)

The newest pod

This yr, Chain Response is doing month-to-month sequence diving into completely different subjects and themes in crypto. To begin issues off, this month we’re specializing in NFTs.

For this week’s episode, I interviewed Devin Finzer, the CEO of NFT market OpenSea. That is additionally our first full video recording and it’s on TechCrunch’s YouTube channel; check it out here.

He co-founded OpenSea in 2017 and it rapidly climbed to grow to be one of the crucial well-known — and nicely funded — NFT marketplaces. Two years in the past, it raised $300 million in a Collection C spherical at a $13.3 billion post-money valuation, bringing its complete capital raised to over $400 million. A few of its traders embody corporations Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm, in addition to celebrities like Kevin Durant and Ashton Kutcher.

Regardless of the NFT market’s buying and selling quantity falling from all-time highs in late 2021 to early 2022, OpenSea continues to be pushing ahead, although different NFT marketplaces have popped up and challenged their dominance.

Devin and I focus on the significance of web3 video games integrating NFTs, Net 2.0 corporations launching their very own digital collectibles and challenges {the marketplace} faces.

We additionally dive into:

Huge use instances for NFTs
The corporate’s future mission
Retaining group members
Gaining market share and buying and selling quantity

However wait there’s extra…

This week we even have a bonus episode with Hester Peirce, commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Change Fee.

I moderated a hearth chat with Commissioner Peirce at Georgetown College’s McDonough College of Enterprise alongside Eddie Cullen, a former candidate for New York Metropolis Mayor in 2021 and co-founder and CEO of Crescite Innovation Company.

We mentioned a lot of well timed subjects, together with the SEC’s spot bitcoin ETF approval, coverage making to maintain crypto innovation alive within the U.S. and the commissioner’s Token Protected Harbor Proposal 2.0 and whether or not Peirce is contemplating a brand new one.

Subscribe to Chain Response on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite pod platform to maintain up with the most recent episodes, and please depart us a evaluate in the event you like what you hear!

Comply with the cash

Superform Labs raised $6.5 million to assist others distribute, handle and entry yield
MediConCen raised $6.85 million to automate insurance coverage claims with AI and blockchain tech
Immoblocks raised $5.67 million for its blockchain-based actual property funding platform
Filecoin-centric staking protocol GLIF raised $4.5 million in a seed spherical led by Multicoin
Tether led a $25 million Collection A spherical for cellular fee app Oobit

This checklist was compiled with data from Messari in addition to TechCrunch’s personal reporting.