🌍 This Week in Web3forGood
Happy Funding the Commons
gm gm,
Everything is Computer. The money? Computer. The governance? Computer. The memes about everything being computer? Also computer.
But this weekend, at Funding the Commons San Francisco, some of our favorite people in Web3 are stepping away from their computers (yes!) to talk about big questions like: How do we fund public goods, scale coordination, and make sure the future isn’t just run by a handful of very big computers, at least not computers that don’t care about people or the planet?
It’s not too late to get a ticket. And if you’ll be there, say hi—we’d love to meet you! 👋
WAGMI (we are going to make an impact!)
What’s Inside
📣 Latest News
📚 What We’re Thinking About
🔈 Podcasts & Spaces
🚀 Opportunities & Calls to Act
🎪 Events
📡 On Our Radar
✨ And one more thing
📣 Latest News
AthenaDAO funded scientist and team have published a paper featured in TIME
GBBC Joins Forces with 1871 to Accelerate Blockchain Innovation in the U.S.
Abu Dhabi Firm Invests $2 Billion in Binance via Stablecoins
'Crypto: The Game' Competition Back With 'Resurrections' and More Twists
Global Policy, Regulation, and Adoption News
Texas lawmaker introduces bill to buy up to $250 million in Bitcoin and crypto
Paraguay is ready to integrate crypto and only awaiting legislative approval
Bank of Russia proposes to allow crypto purchases by select investors
Project Updates
📚 What We’re Thinking About
👤 Billions.Network
The newly announced competitor to Sam Altman's Worldcoin offers a non-biometric ID verification platform, using zero-knowledge proofs for privacy and security (Decrypt). The idea is that anyone, anywhere could prove their identity online, notably without scanning any eyeballs (like Worldcoin). (@provenauthority, NPR). It's the latest development in Proof of Personhood (Project Glitch).
🔗 Celo’s L2 upgrade
It’s happening soon (less than two weeks to be exact). On March 26, Celo will make the big move to the Ethereum blockchain where the CELO token will live from then on as a Layer 2 asset on the Ethereum chain (Celo Forum, @cLabs). Reminder: before, the CELO token lived on the independent Celo blockchain. After an initial refusal to support the upgrade (that outraged the community), Coinbase is finally onboard with the change (Coinbase, @marek_, @celo). Maybe the fact that Celo is a top 10 chain globally measured by Daily Active Users had something to do with the shift. (The Celo Blog). Or the fact that, as Token Relations reports, “Celo's transition can set a precedent for other independent blockchains that are considering a similar network upgrade. This is a pragmatic approach to blockchain scaling that prioritizes interoperability, security, and developer experience over having a siloed and autonomous L1” (Token Relations).
🏡 Positive Use Case? Blockchain and Government Transparency
Two unrelated stories, but both touching upon the broad theme of transparency: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering taking a first step to using cryptocurrency and stablecoins; “The focus of the discussions so far has been experimenting with using the underlying technology that makes crypto possible — the blockchain — to monitor HUD grants.” (ProPublica). ProPublica reports on concerns of officials with experience at the department, but perhaps this is an example of where blockchain technology, exalted to its highest potential, could shine. Speaking of positive use cases: The Dantewada District Administration recently moved all of their land records on blockchain, a great example of how a trustless system can actually replace human corruption (Times of India, @0xMatt1).
🪙 The largest investment in a crypto company ever
MGX, an Abu Dhabi investment firm, invested $2b in Binance, the world’s largest centralized exchange (The Defiant). It's MGX’s first investment in crypto/blockchain and Binance’s first institutional investor (The Block). Perhaps most notably (at least to us), the investment was made entirely in stablecoins (CoinDesk). Stablecoins! They’re popping up everywhere.
👾 Ethics and the Bybit Hack
The massive $1.5b Bybit hack that happened on February 21, considered to be the biggest heist of all time, is shining a spotlight on ethical questions about crypto, blockchain tech, and values (BBC). So far, the hackers, presumed to be part of the infamous North Korean Lazarus group, have cashed out at least $300m through an intricate laundering process — this is in spite of Bybit’s “War on Lazarus” and unprecedented $140m LazarusBounty program (BBC, Elliptic, CoinDesk). Remember, since blockchains are transparent, anyone can track where the funds are going, and technically, the owners of the DEXs, cross-chain bridges, and centralized exchanges that the hackers use to process the stolen funds could intervene. But despite direct requests to block the movement of the stolen funds, some teams have proudly refused to comply, citing their commitment to the anonymity of users (@langeriuseth). Where should we draw the line between neutrality and responsibility? Should chains like THORChain have processed the funds? (The Defiant). Is it right to investigate and/or target companies like eXch and others suspected of being involved? (Cointelegraph). Is a theft like this something we simply have to tolerate in the name of decentralization?
🏦 Reactions to the US Crypto Summit & reserve announcement
The hyped up White House Crypto Summit that kept us on our toes late before publishing last week happened, and… it was pretty unremarkable (Web3forGood, Blockworks). Was anything actually accomplished? (Blockworks). Markets reacted negatively after it became clear the US wasn’t about to go out and buy more Bitcoin… or XRP, SOL, or ADA (The Block). But according to Matt Hougan of Bitwise, this take missed the point. “Bitcoin either matters globally or it doesn’t,” and this announcement certainly did a lot to make Bitcoin seem to matter globally (Bitwise). TBD on how other nations will respond (Cointelegraph). Meanwhile, word on the street is that crypto execs aren’t that excited about reserves right now. What they want to see is policy (Cointelegraph).
🔥 Is it ethical to resurrect burned tokens?
While the answer seems to be a pretty clear no, Crypto.com is considering it (Unchained). “Burning” is the process by which tokens are taken out of circulation. To burn tokens, you simply send them to an unrecoverable address. You can see where they are, but since no one can get them, they might as well not exist. But now, Crypto.com is talking about re-minting 70 million of its own CRO token that it previously burned for its strategic reserve. People aren’t happy. Our main thought? If that cat is let out of the bag, what will happen next?
Plus:
📚 Lukenya University School of Business and Economics (LUSOBE) has made history by becoming the first university in the world to implement an interest-free student loan system using commitment pooling via Sarafu.Network on Celo Blockchain. (Grassroots Economics)
🌳 The Role of Blockchain Technology in Addressing Climate Change: A Review. (Science Publishing Group)
🤖 Trustworthy AI for Whom? GenAI Detection Techniques of Trust Through Decentralized Web3 Ecosystems. (Preprints.org)
🚀 Nigeria’s crypto future: Striking a balance between innovation and regulation. (Cointelegraph)
🎨 Designing Policy for a Flourishing Blockchain Industry. (Decentralization Research Center).
🔈 Podcasts & Spaces
Crypto Altruists Podcast - Episode 195 - Molecule - Decentralizing Science - How Web3 and Crypto are Reshaping Scientific Discovery
🚀 Opportunities & Calls to Act
Apply: dClimate is hiring a Climate Scientist/Catastrophe Modele.
Hack: Filecoin AI Blueprints Hackathon is a 4 week hackathon launching on March 17. Build decentralised AI data infrastructure with Filecoin—tackle provenance, attribution & efficiency. Join, attend workshops and win prizes!
Funding: Edge City has launched the SHIFT Grants Program to fund d/acc projects (decentralized and democratic, differential defensive acceleration) -- “tech that benefits defense vs offense—e.g. biosecurity, cyber resilience, information integrity—while keeping power decentralized.”
Review and Support: Love the Crypto Altruism podcast? For every review left on the Crypto Altruists podcast in March, their team will donate $5—split between
She’s the First and Women for Women —to support education, mentorship, & opportunities for women worldwide.
🎪 Events
🆕= New to the roundup this week
Virtual
The ReFi Weekly with Trinity Morphy happens every Friday on X. Tune in to hear Trinity talk ReFi with some of the space's most influential names.
@civilmonkey’s Curated X Spaces focus on using Web3 for positive impact in the real world (+ recordings).
IRL
Funding the Commons is happening March 15 in San Francisco.
Celebrating Women in Web3 is happening March 15 in Lagos. 🆕
2025 Decentralized Tech Summit is happening April 2 in Washington D.C.
Paris Blockchain Week is happening April 8-10 in Paris.
Crypto Capitol - ETHDC II is happening April 24 in Washington D.C. 🆕
AI x Biology Workshop 2025 is happening May 9-10 in Berkeley.
FIL Dev Summit 6 is happening May 12-13 in Toronto.
All Tech Is Human x Consulate General of Finland New York will host a curated gathering on strengthening multistakeholder collaboration in Responsible AI on May 21st in NYC.
Stablecon is happening May 29 in NYC.
Global Blockchain Business Council Blockchain Central DC 2025 is happening June 11-13 in Washington D.C. 🆕
Funding the Commons is happening June 14-15 in Berlin (no link yet, but follow FtC for updates). 🆕
Collaborative Finance Gathering is happening June 16-20 at The Commons Hub in Austria.
ETHSafari 2025 is happening September 7-14 in Nairobi.
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 next on March 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
Lido Impact Staking powered by Launchnodes empowers anyone to stake Ethereum with Lido Impact Staking (LIS) and gift a share of the returns to fund social impact.
human.tech is a suite of technologies designed to enhance personal freedom, privacy, and financial autonomy. human.tech provides innovative solutions for secure identity, data ownership, and private transactions, ensuring that technology remains a tool for human empowerment.
Billions.Network offers a non-biometric ID verification platform, using zero-knowledge proofs for privacy and security.
✨ And One Two More Thing(s)
CARBON Copy’s State of ReFi Report 2025 will be published in a few weeks. Preview the report and subscribe to get first access.
Crypto Altruists made a great infographic about Anticipatory Action in Humanitarian Aid