🌍 This Week in Web3forGood
Web3 Innovations for Real World Impact Pt 2
gm gm,
Part 2 of Crypto Altruism’s podcast Exploring Web3 Innovations for Real-World Impact, ft. Mercy Corps Ventures, Empowa, and Atlantis (and Web3ForGood’s very own Abeera) dropped this week -- give it a listen for a stellar breakdown of a real world use case for digital assets that improves affordable housing & clean water access in Mozambique and India.
On a more somber, but urgent note: please consider donating to Doctors Without Borders to support their ongoing efforts to provide medical and humanitarian aid to those in Lebanon impacted by Israeli bombings. You can donate crypto via The Giving Block, here.
WAGMI (we are going to make an impact!)
What’s Inside
📣 Latest News
🔍 TLDR: Onchain Credit
📚 What We’re Thinking About
🔈 Podcasts & Spaces
🚀 Opportunities
🎪 Events
📡 On Our Radar
✨ And one more thing
📣 Latest News
Gitcoin selected by Optimism to build a new Grants Claiming Tool
Winklevoss Twins' Father Donates $4,000,000 in Bitcoin to College
Binance Airdrops $1,000,000 in BNB Tokens for Typhoon Relief
Global Policy, Regulation, and Adoption News
Project Updates
🔍TLDR: Onchain Credit
New to Web3? Welcome! TLDR is where we offer a simplifed explanation of a term used often in this newsletter. If there's anything you're curious about, reply and let us know.
Onchain credit is a new way to borrow and lend money directly on the blockchain—basically a digital record-keeping system for all kinds of transactions. Instead of dealing with traditional banks, you can borrow or lend using smart contracts, which are automatic programs that manage everything according to preset rules. It's a lot simpler and more transparent than the old-school financial system.
For borrowers, you put up some cryptocurrency as collateral, meaning if you don’t pay back the loan, the lender gets to keep it. It keeps things fair and secure. For lenders, you can lend out your extra crypto and earn some interest while letting the blockchain handle the hard stuff. No middleman needed.
Since it’s decentralized, this system doesn’t rely on a bank or central authority—it’s open to anyone with internet access.
Onchain credit is especially important for financial inclusion, particularly in the developing world. Many people in these regions don’t have access to traditional banks or credit systems, which makes borrowing money for things like starting a business or paying for education really difficult. With onchain credit, all you need is an internet connection to access a global lending network. This opens up new opportunities for people who have been left out of the traditional financial system, giving them a chance to participate in the economy, grow their businesses, and improve their quality of life. By removing the barriers set by banks and providing direct access to capital, onchain credit has the potential to bring financial empowerment to millions.
TLDR: Onchain credit uses blockchain technology to enable decentralized borrowing and lending, offering a more accessible and transparent financial system that can promote financial inclusion, especially in developing regions.
📚 What We’re Thinking About
😴 Web3 funding fatigue: A growing problem. (Gitcoin)
🤖 A framework for incentivizing responsible AI development and use. (Center for Humane Technology)
🛟 For Myanmar’s revolutionaries, adopting digital currency can mean life or death. (Rest of the World) [this is from 2022, but still worth a read]
🪙 Tokenization in Europe: are state-level trials delivering? (Crypto is Macro Now)
🏦 Stablecoins will drive institutional adoption in Asia. (CoinDesk)
📱 One Year of MiniPay: What Can We Learn from Its Journey? (Crypto Altruism)
📄 The State of Web3 Grants Report. (Grant Innovation Lab)
🔈 Podcasts & Spaces
ReFi Podcast - Season 4 The Regeneration Nexus - Episode 2 - The Foundations of Regenerative Economics with John Fullerton
Crypto Altruism Podcast - Episode 172 - Piloting Change Part 2: Exploring Web3 Innovations for Real-World Impact, ft. Mercy Corps Ventures, Empowa, and Atlantis
Crypto Altruism Impact on Optimism - Episode 4 - Gravity DAO - Resolving Conflict and Building Trust in Web3 Communities
Green Pill - Season 6 - Episode 2- On-Chain Reputation & Optimizing Grants Resource Allocation
Green Pill - Season 6 - Episode 3- Metrics-Driven Incentives: The SUNNYs & Beyond W/ Carl, Chris, Binji
ReFi Podcast- Episode 2 Discussion –“The Foundations of Regenerative Economics” is happening TODAY Septmber 27.
Climate Coordination Network X Spaces happen weekly, every Thursday. Learn more and join.
@civilmonkey’s Curated X Spaces focus on using Web3 for positive impact in the real world (+ recordings). Learn more and join.
🚀 Opportunities
Hack: Funding the Commons & Earth Commons Hackathon is a hybrid hackathon, running from October 7 to November 7 that offers a collaborative environment where participants can ideate, prototype, and refine their projects, primarily online, with opportunities for in-person collaboration in Bangkok on November 6 and 7.
Learn: SheFi empowers professional women to master Web3 in 8 weeks. Each session is a combination of live instruction, hands-on tech demos, and career support, all aimed at accelerating careers in Web3.
🎪 Events
🆕= New to the roundup this week
Virtual
Greenpill Dev Guild Space #3 is happening TODAY September 27. 🆕
Funding the Commons Public Goods Town Hall #4 ft. Gitcoin is happening September 30.
The Tech We Want Online Summit is happening October 17.
IRL
Funding the Commons and Earth Commons are hosting a month-long Public Goods x Climate Builder Residency this October in Chiang Mai.
The Global DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure) Summit is happening October 1-3 in Cairo, Egypt.
Athena DAO Labs Pop-up is happening October 1-30 San Francisco.
Responsible Tech Mixer SF is happening October 9 in San Francisco.
AI for Good: #SFTechWeek Edition is happening October 9 in San Francisco.
Network Society Camp is happening October 11-14 in Austin, Texas.
Public Interest Tech Summit & Career Fair is happening October 11 at Stanford.
The SolarPunk Summit is happening October 17-21 in Kingsbury, Texas.
ETHGlobal San Francisco is happening October 18-20 in San Francisco.
Escaping the Memory Hole: Internet Archive’s annual celebration is happening October 23 in San Francisco.
DC Privacy Summit is happening October 24 in DC.
FIL Dev Summit 5 is happening November 6-8 in Bangkok.
LabWeek Web3 is happening November 7-13 in Bangkok.
Earth Commons: Bangkok 2024 is happening November 9 in Bangkok.
Settlement Day is hosted by Celo Foundtion happening November 11 in Bangkok.
FIL Bangkok: DePIN Meets AI is happening November 11 in Bangkok.
Boston Institutional Digital Assets Forum 2024 is happening December 3 in Boston.
Oasis Oncahin is happening January 30 - February 2 in Nassau, Bahamas.
ETHDenver is happening February 23 - March 2 in Denver.
Recurring
Monthly Earth Day is a global event that happens on the 22nd every month, not just once a year. Get involved on October 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.
📡 On Our Radar
The Crypto National Convention is ‘the world’s first tokenized Polymarket bet.’ (You can buy and cast votes during the open convention period. After it closes, the candidate with the most votes wins the CNC endorsement. The pooled funds are then bet on that candidate via Polymarket. $AMERICA tokens are distributed to all voters, representing their stake. If the endorsed candidate wins, $AMERICA holders can redeem their winnings. If the endorsed candidate loses, there will be no winnings.)
The People's Bid for TikTok is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Americans to reclaim their digital identities and have a voice, choice, and stake in the future of the internet.
✨ And one more thing
Hi guys, always love your newsletter! On your TLDR about onchain credit (https://web3forgood.substack.com/i/149469390/tldr-onchain-credit) - I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding around the world when it comes to that. The Web3 world broadly sees onchain credit and financial inclusion exactly the way you explained it. However, in reality it's the total opposite. Poverty-stricken communities and individuals simply do not have the collateral to borrow. The reason people at the bottom of the pyramid borrow is in the main because they do not have money, nor assets/ collateral. The fact that blockchains can eliminate the middleman and automate the process, make it even cheaper, means nothing. Because there is no collateral.