Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction.
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m. PT, subscribe here.
Hello and welcome back to the TechCrunch Crypto newsletter.
To start things off, here’s a shameless plug: I went on Yahoo Finance last week for a roundtable discussion alongside Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein, CoinDesk Indices managing director Andy Baehr and Matt Kohrs, host of the crypto-centric Matt Kohrs show.
We discussed spot bitcoin ETFs, regulation of digital assets and what the next era for crypto could look like. Watch here.
It was an eventful week in the crypto world: bitcoin’s price hit a new all-time high on Tuesday, Spain’s data protection authority temporarily banned Worldcoin and Binance raised eyebrows after making a crypto perfume to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Curious? Check out more below.
This week in web3
Crunching numbers
As mentioned, this week the crypto space saw all-time highs for bitcoin. But the grandfather of cryptocurrencies has since fallen about 3%, from around $69,000 to $67,000, at the time of publication. Still, bitcoin is up 6.5% on the week and 56% on the month. The second-largest crypto, ether, is up 9.7% on the week to $3,800, according to CoinMarketCap data. The total crypto market cap increased 7.7% during the same time frame to $2.53 trillion.
Smaller tokens have also gained a lot of traction this past week. Solana-based dog-themed memecoins saw renewed interest after hype rose in December. Bonk and dogwifhat increased 15% and 115%, respectively, on the week. Separately, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, rose 19% and 125%, respectively, during the same time period.
Which begs the question…who let the dogs out?
Our favorite ‘Crypto Twitter’ post
Excuse the language, but if you didn’t realize how large some memecoins become…maybe now you will. When this X post was written, dogwifhat (WIF) had a market capitalization three times the size of Spirit Airlines’.
For what it’s worth, it has declined since, but dogwifhat (WIF) has a market capitalization of $1.8 billion, which is still 213% higher than Spirit Airlines.
![A screenshot of a post on X by user IcedKnife](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-07-at-10.13.21 AM.png)
The latest pod
Chain Reaction is doing a monthly series diving into different topics and themes in crypto. This month we’re focusing on blockchain and AI integrations.
For this week’s episode, I interviewed Dee Goens, the co-founder of Zora.
Zora is a platform and protocol that helps developers and creators bring their ideas on chain and on Ethereum through an open and shared environment. The platform has minted more than million NFTs, and has over $300 million in secondary sales and about 1 million unique collectors, according to its website.
Goens previously worked at Coinbase for 2.5 years doing risk management, operations and brand partnerships. Before that, he analyzed emerging technologies’ risk with a focus in blockchains at KPMG.
As we just wrapped up our NFT series for February, Goens is the perfect guest to transition from that topic to AI and blockchains given Zora’s focus on bringing AI on-chain.
In a first for Chain Reaction, we also minted this podcast on Zora’s platform, which you can check out here.
Jacquelyn and Goens discuss how Zora envisions blockchains and AI working together, the roles they can play for NFT creators and what the platform’s developers and community members want more of.
Subscribe to Chain Reaction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the latest episodes, and please leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Follow the money
This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as TechCrunch’s own reporting.
What else we’re writing
Want to branch out from the world of web3? Here are some articles on TechCrunch that caught our attention this week.
As AI proliferates and things on the internet are easier to manipulate, there’s a need more than ever to make sure data and brands are…
![The AI world needs more data transparency and web3 startup Space and Time says it can help](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/GettyImages-1828490321.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. This is the last edition of this newsletter. I want to personally thank each of you…
![SBF sentenced, Worldcoin hit with another ban order and big web3 pre-seed rounds are back](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sbf-005.jpg?w=1024)
Many of the people building web3 feel like the traditional web ecosystem has taken advantage of users and their data. While it benefits a number…
![A new web3 network is being built right now that wants to end Big Tech’s control of your data](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1312904817.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto. This week, Starbucks killed its Odyssey NFT program, Solana continued to see memecoin momentum and India faces more challenges with the…
![Solana memecoin hype continues, Backpack’s beta phase was a success and Starbucks axes its NFT program](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1200508619-2.jpg?w=1024)
Starbucks launched Starbucks Odyssey in 2022 as its initial foray into the web3 world.
![Starbucks ditches its Odyssey NFT program](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1420597584.jpg?w=1024)
Two months ago, media giant Fox Corp. partnered with Polygon Labs, the team behind the Ethereum-focused layer-2 blockchain, to tackle deepfake distrust. Fox and Polygon…
![Blockchain tech could be the answer to uncovering deepfakes and validating content](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/GettyImages-1336275511.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction — it was an eventful week in the crypto world.
![Bitcoin hits new high, Solana price jumps as memecoins mania rises and Worldcoin faces heat in Spain](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1323284095.jpg?w=1024)
Zora, an NFT-based social network platform, is continuing its expansion beyond the crypto-sphere into the hot artificial intelligence market, Dee Goens, the startups’ co-founder, said…
![NFT platform Zora is offering a novel way for AI model makers to earn money](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1163715561.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto. Here’s the biggest news this week: bitcoin’s price jumped and Coinbase’s app crashed, Telegram rolled out a plan to pay out…
![Bitcoin jumped and Coinbase’s app crashed, while Aptos eyes Hong Kong and Telegram rolls out rewards with TON](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/GettyImages-1309660543.jpg?w=1024)
NFTs don’t always get taken very seriously, particularly now that AI and content creators are hogging the spotlight, but not everyone is so quick to…
![Animoca Brands’ Yat Siu sees NFTs as a way to protect ownership in the age of AI](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tc-disrupt-2022-yat-siu-animoca-brands-1.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. This is our fifth edition with of course, regularly scheduled news bits, but also some recurring…
![Crypto VC exits were low in Q4 2023, Phantom MAU’s reach new highs and spot bitcoin ETF volumes are still rising](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ledger-crypto-wallet-hack.jpg?w=1024)
Hello and welcome back to the fourth edition of the new and improved TechCrunch Crypto newsletter. Let’s get into the big headlines.
![Farcaster hype grows, Bluesky opens to the public and SEC’s Hester Peirce is open to new token proposals](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1395865973.jpg?w=1024)
![a16z’s Chris Dixon thinks it’s time to focus on blockchains’ use cases, not speculation](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tc-disrupt-2022-chris-dixon-9-e1666117531434.jpg?w=1024)
Hello and welcome back to the third edition of the new and improved TechCrunch Crypto newsletter.
![Tether had ‘record-breaking’ net profits in Q4, Polygon Labs does layoffs and hackers steal $112M of XRP](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/GettyImages-1413376650.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox…
![Bitcoin and Ethereum decline on the week, Worldcoin to launch a new Orb and Terraform Labs files for bankruptcy](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1179848673.jpg?w=1024)
Distinct from the Ripple network and protocol, the XRP Ledger is a decentralized public ledger with an open-source code base that anyone can contribute to…
![After 12 years, Ripple’s president sees its payment and enterprise businesses evolving further](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ripple-coin.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. Alongside our regularly scheduled news bits, I’ll be testing out some recurring segments and features —…
![Bitcoin spot ETF volume rose, Coinbase went to court, Solana Mobile announces new device and Google cuts crypto apps in India](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/GettyImages-1309660543.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. This past week has been all about U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs in the crypto world.
![US spot bitcoin ETFs begin trading, Circle files for IPO and India continues crypto pullback](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-887657568.jpg?w=1024)
It’s been a long road for spot bitcoin ETF filers — and today the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finally approved all 11 standing applications from…
![Grayscale CEO sees spot bitcoin ETF as first step toward ‘normalizing’ crypto](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GettyImages-1234739851.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. Wouldn’t a bitcoin spot ETF approval be nice?
![Talks of bitcoin spot ETF approval circulate as India blocks exchange sites and crypto is seeing more optimism](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-919509886.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12…
![Dog-themed memecoins are pawing their way back into investors’ hearts](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-476982523.jpg?w=1024)
Warden thinks one of the biggest avenues for real world use cases is tokenization of assets and areas that aren’t even tradable yet.
![Why tokenization of assets can be a key driver of growth in crypto](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/GettyImages-1419599523.jpg?w=1024)
Featured Podcast
Robinhood is on a quest to dive deeper into crypto
The platform might not be as highly technical as one that’s crypto-focused, but Robinhood is doing research to understand what customers want and are missing.
12:00 PM PST • December 15, 2023
23 Min
![Robinhood is on a quest to dive deeper into crypto](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1231054013-e1700823123480.jpg?w=1024)
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. Even though it’s the season to feel jolly, that’s not stopping hackers from acting out.
![Crypto hacks and chaos aren’t halting this holiday season](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/hacking-surveillance1.png?w=1024)
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. In general, the total crypto market cap steadily rose 14% in the past week as more capital enters the crypto…
![Bitcoin continues climbing, Block releases hardware wallet, Robinhood expands to EU and VCs may see some relief soon](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-937257516.jpg?w=1024)
The crypto industry is facing the same macroeconomic headwinds as others, with the added bonus of regulatory uncertainty.
![The venture landscape may be on the ‘cusp’ of explosive growth after years of macro strain](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GettyImages-sb10069275i-003.jpg?w=1024)
We didn’t publish a Chain Reaction newsletter last week because of Thanksgiving. But we’re back — and saying goodbye to November after a month filled…
![Crypto saw lots of chaos, charges and price changes in November](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1384219104.jpg?w=1024)
The goal is to help users forget which chain developers are building on, because it ultimately won’t matter.
![Optimism execs are optimistic for Ethereum’s future amid its ongoing scaling battle](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Final-B.png?w=1024)
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. The crypto market and overall ecosystem may be showing signs of recovery after a prolonged bear market.
![Crypto market showing signs of recovery as prices, NFT sales rise on the month](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1264127380.jpg?w=1024)
Web3-focused software technology company Aave Companies is rebranding to Avara, its founder Stani Kulechov told TechCrunch exclusively. The crypto parent entity is best known for…
![Aave Companies rebrands to Avara and acquires crypto wallet Family to expand its web3 reach](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Brand-Diagram-1.png?w=1024)