Happy Holidays, Everyone!  Hope everyone is having a safe and relaxing holiday.

We all managed to get Covid in my household, so we are staying at home, watching movies, eating and recovering from relatively mild cold symptoms...and some of us are reading about Web3.

Some feedback we received this week is to curate 2-3 pieces per newsletter that are a must read because they are so topical, help form a foundational knowledge or dive deep on a component of Web3 that is essential to understand.  We will continue to post other things we are reading and that have been shared for those that want to dive deeper.

Lastly, I have set up a Discord for this group.  You can sign up here.  Discord seems to be the preferred tool for sharing information related to NFTs, Gaming, Crypto and more Web3 topics.  It is good to try and learn your way around and I set this up help familiarize yourself with the platform and also as another place to share.

Essentials - Web3 Concepts To Be Familiar With

Gas Fees - You won't get too far in exploring investing in NFTs without running into gas fees.  We should probably come back to how a blockchain is formed, but gas fees are an example of how a transaction is validated and what is required to make it happen (a block forming on the chain).
What Are Gas Fees? - A very simple explainer video
What the Heck is Ethereum’s Gas Fee and Why is it Necessary

Composability - This is a term that keeps coming up in readings.  It refers to the ability to plug in existing program elements into new compositions, leading to new development faster.
Composability is Innovation

Other Things We Are Reading...

Analysis
Why it’s too early to get excited about Web3 - Tim O'Reilly, who defined Web 2.0 weighs in on Web 3
The New Get-Rich Faster Job in Silicon Valley:Crypto Start-Ups - Tech executives and engineers are quitting Google, Meta, Amazon and other large companies for what they say is once-in-generation opportunity with crypto.

Advertising
Will advertising exist in the Metaverse? - What does the advertising business look like in the Metaverse

Brands
Nike just bought a virtual shoe company that makes NFTs and sneakers ‘for the metaverse’ 
The Morning After: Adidas' first NFT drop made $23 million

Cryptocurrency
Inside China’s underground crypto mining operation, where people are risking it all to make bitcoin
Jack Dorsey Goes on Unfollowing Frenzy After Web 3 Beef  - Not sure if this means anything, but divisions surfacing about direction of Web3 and crypto

Companies
Rec Room raises $145M at a $3.5B valuation for its user-generated, immersive gaming platform - Roblox market cap is $58B.
Arcade Raises $15M to Offer NFT-Backed Loans - Seems like someone should make a version of Monopoly

NFTs
Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs flip CryptoPunks in terms of floor price - the power of marketing on driving perception of value 
Index Funds Are Bringing Liquidity to NFTs

As a reminder the value of this community will be greatly increased if we are all sharing, so our request is to PLEASE SHARE WITH US.  Send anything that you think this group will find interesting to web3newsletter@gmail.com.  We will compile them and give you credit for the share (or post them anonymously if you chose).  Feel free to forward the newsletter to people who you think can contribute to this community.

Thanks (Content Submissions) -  Michael Bassik, Kelly Moulton.

Feedback - We'd love to hear what you think, especially since we have never put together a newsletter.  Constructive criticism is welcome.

Archive - All of the previously published newsletters can now be found here.

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