🌍 This Week in Web3forGood

Building bridges, not just blockchains

gm gm,

As fireworks light up the sky and Americans celebrate Independence Day, it’s worth remembering that freedom isn’t just a flag or founding document — it’s also financial. At its core, crypto is about freedom. Not just to speculate, but to access, use, and move your money — especially when traditional systems lock you out. In the West, we often take for granted that we can open a bank account or send a payment. But for millions, that’s not reality. Crypto opens doors others leave shut. In authoritarian regimes, it’s an escape from surveillance and capital controls. In collapsing economies, it protects value when currencies crumble. For the unbanked, it’s a way in — a tool for survival. Bitcoin’s origin lies in distrust of centralized power and a vision of individual sovereignty. Satoshi didn’t just build money; they built freedom. As Americans celebrate liberty, let’s remember financial freedom is still out of reach for many — and keep building for them.

This week, we’re launching a global effort to better understand a critical (and often overlooked) piece of the humanitarian crypto puzzle: how people on the ground actually convert crypto into local cash.

We’re kicking off a research initiative on Crypto Off-Ramps in Humanitarian Settings — and we want your input.

Whether you're a humanitarian innovator, crypto builder, or researcher, your insights can help shape a more practical, inclusive crypto infrastructure for crisis zones and underserved regions.

👉 Take the 5-minute survey to share your perspective, signal interest, or get involved as a collaborator.

Let’s make sure crypto tools work where they’re needed most.

WAGMI (we are going to make an impact!)

xx Abeera & Sam

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What’s Inside

• 📣 Latest News

• 📚 What We’re Thinking About

• 🔈 Podcasts & Spaces

• 🚀 Opportunities & Calls to Act

• 🎪 Events

• 📡 On Our Radar

• ✨ And one more thing

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📣 Latest News

• Robinhood launches Ethereum and Solana SOL staking

• Celo Eclair Testnet is live

• Binance Pay brings crypto payments to 80+ French Riviera merchants

Global Policy, Regulation, and Adoption News

• Connecticut officially bans the state from creating a Bitcoin Reserve or investing any digital assets

• Supreme Court rejects Coinbase's request to block IRS from accessing user data

Stablecoin News

• Euro stablecoin by DWS and Deutsche Bank gets regulatory approval

• Ripple and OpenPayd Team to Bolster Stablecoin Payments

Reports & Project Updates

• Stablecoins and the Future of Finance (Myosin.xyz)

• Crypto For Good Fund IV — Ecosystem Insights (Mercy Corps Ventures)

• 2024 Fintech as a Force for Good: Impact Report (Ripple)

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📚 What We’re Thinking About

• 🪙 If the Dollar Keeps Cracking, Bitcoin Might Soar

  • There’s a lot of buzz around Trump’s $5T “Big Beautiful Bill” and what it could mean for Bitcoin. Some traders say the debt ceiling hike will be rocket fuel. But historically? Not so much. BTC has mostly gone sideways or dipped after past ceiling hikes—only the June 2023 one saw gains. Still, Bitcoin’s holding strong at $105K, even as Treasury yields dip and the dollar wobbles. If the Fed loosens policy to manage debt costs, Bitcoin could benefit. But don’t count on fiscal chaos alone to send it to the moon. The signal is still murky.

• 🏦 Ripple Wants to Be a Bank Now (For Real)

  • Ripple just applied for a U.S. banking license—joining Circle in the crypto-to-banking crossover sweepstakes. The move comes as Congress advances the GENIUS Act, giving the OCC power to regulate stablecoin issuers. If approved, Ripple would be under federal and state supervision, with NYDFS already watching its RLUSD stablecoin. They’re also gunning for a Fed master account to hold reserves directly. TL;DR: Ripple’s playing the long game on legitimacy, regulatory clarity, and TradFi integration. XRP holders liked it—price jumped 3% after the news.

Plus:

• 🏞️ Moonwell’s Founder Calls for Better Crypto UX: “Take the Hippocratic Oath to Your Users” (Hackernoon)

• 🤖 Does digital ID have risks even if it's ZK-wrapped? (Vitalik.eth)

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🔈 Watch & Listen

Editor’s note: “Watch & Listen” is our new name for the “Podcasts & Other Recordings” section. Content remains the same.

• Crypto Altruists Podcast - Episode 209 - ReFi Hub – How Tokenized Real-World Assets & Crypto Infrastructure Are Bridging the Climate Finance Gap

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🚀 Opportunities & Calls to Act

• Apply: Applications for GoodBuilders Round 2 are now open.

• Share: Your EV charging experience with DeCharge for a chance to win a share of a $2,000 reward pool.

• Hack: PL_Genesis: Modular Worlds, a global hackathon from Protocol Labs to accelerate breakthroughs in the foundational layers of the internet, is happening now.

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🎪 Events

Virtual

• How Can Data Cooperatives Help Build a Fair Data Economy is happening July 9.

• Aguadulce - Launching a Habitat Bank for Latin America is happening July 10.

IRL

• ETHGlobal Cannes is happening July 4-6 in Cannes, France.

• DAO Berkeley 2025 is happening August 3 in Berkeley, California.

• ETHSafari 2025 is happening September 7-14 in Nairobi.

• Progress Conference 2025 is happening October 16-19 in Berkeley.

• Devconnect 2025 is happening November 17-22 in Argentina.

Recurring

• Monthly Earth Day is a global event that happens on the 22nd every month, not just once a year. Get involved on July 22 and share on X to @HighlyArtistic with the hashtag #MonthlyEarthDay.

Hosting an event that you’d like to see listed? Reply here or send us a DM.

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📡 On Our Radar

• Wayst: Making Recycling seamless with instant rewards through the power of stablecoin.

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