Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! ☘️

It’s the day that we honor Saint Patrick driving the serpents from Ireland. But what may have appeared as a saintly gesture was actually a devastating blow to Ireland’s delicate ecosystem that no doubt led to the potato famine centuries later.

And speaking of potatoes, what better way to celebrate Irish heritage than with a basket of fries and seven-to-eight whiskeys at your local dive bar!?

That’s where you’ll find us, toasting to crypto and the indomitable Irish spirit. Sláinte!

Espresso Shots

☕️ Digital Diamonds on the Rise 📟 💎

Since the recent string of bank collapses, investors have been flocking to gold, silver, and other precious metals. But there’s a new mineral in town… digital diamonds.

Combining the security of gold with the innovation of crypto, digitized diamonds are based on eight or nine, real, physical diamonds which are standardized into an Ethereum-based digital coin called “bitcarbon.”

Bitcarbon was created by Diamond Standard and is available on all of the major exchanges.

Last weekend, Digitized diamond sales skyrocketed 300% in the wake of the bank failures.

Though everyone’s very excited about digitized diamonds, we’re more interested in perfectly smooth river pebbles that are ideal for skipping.

☕️ $1 Billion Lawsuit Against FTX YouTubers 📺 ⚖️

A $1 billion class action lawsuit was filed in Florida against FTX influencers, particularly those on Youtube.

The suit alleges that these influencers “promoted crypto fraud without disclosing compensation” and that they “present themselves as real-life consumers who share authentic and valuable information with their followers.”

Infamous crypto YouTuber Ben Armstrong, also known as BitBoy hit back on Twitter: 

Seven other Youtubers were named in the suit as well as the talent agency that handled FTX’s promotions and the talent agency’s founder.

But here’s the thing about suing Youtubers. You can come for their money, but you can’t touch their dignity. That was lost long ago.

☕️ Doodles Moving Away from NFTs 🎨 🖍️

The founders of Doodles, an NFT collection, are creating some tension with owners and speculators as they insist… they’re not really NFTs anymore.

Doodles co-founder, Jordan Castro aka “poopie,” released an official statement on Doodles’ Discord.

Despite an emphasis on focusing on their “loyal collectors,” many of those collectors feel betrayed and abandoned as Doodles intends to focus on Web2, rather than Web3.

Though, it’s hard not to understand Doodle’s perspective. The term ‘NFT’ doesn’t currently have a great reputation so it makes sense to get some distance from the term. 

But of course, Doodles wants to focus on their “long term vision” which no doubt means evolving Doodles into sketches, or even portraits.

Spilling the Beans

Crypto & Gaming: A Match Made in Heaven? 🕹️

Ah, gaming. It creates an artificial sense of accomplishment that fulfills countless young Americans.

It's also one of many reasons why your cousin Raymond will never move out of his mother’s house.

But what if instead of underachievement, video games could actually be the key to the future of Web3, crypto, and new income streams?

Almost sounds too good to be true, right? We know. 

It’s like if inactivity were the key to weight loss, one of those rare beautiful confluences of what you want to do and what you should do.

The importance of this relationship lies in the fact that video games were teaching us about NFTs long before the term was coined.

If you’ve ever paid for a cosmetic item or rare weapon or armor in a video game, you have a pretty good grasp on what an NFT is: a digital item. 

You paid money in the real world for an asset that functions in your online environment. 

Fellow players will look at you with embarrassment or maybe even a little envy, but it doesn’t really matter, because ultimately it was your decision to pay $4.99 to own Blackbeard’s ship in Assassin’s Creed: Black Sails.

Digital items have been prevalent in video games ever since Downloadable Content or “DLC” came into vogue.

But when Web3 game developers focus on that NFT functionality or even just the term, it can draw ire from their peers and the community.

For instance, the Believer Company, a new game studio funded by two ex-Riot Games execs, Steven Snow and Michael Chow, have taken a pretty strong stance on NFTs.

“We say ‘no fucking thanks’ to NFTs,” said Snow. 

Which, you have to admit is pretty clever because “No Fucking Thanks” is also the initials, “NFT.” Get it?

“These technologies are struggling in games because players aren’t asking for them, and no one as of yet has shown how they can make a game more fun,” Snow continued. 

“I believe games are supposed to be fun. We’re not here to meme on tech that won’t enrich the industry for anyone, let alone players.”

After ripping on NFTs, Snow also stated that Web3, “is not a priority consideration right now.” And admittedly, the founders of the Believer Company aren’t entirely wrong.

Despite the rising prevalence of Web3 gaming, it doesn’t seem like any of the games are particularly fun and captivating. 

That’s not to say that there aren’t Web3 games that haven’t carved out their own little niches of popularity, but certainly nothing approaching the levels of mainstream titles like Elden Ring or Call of Duty.

And it’s strange, because in some ways, this should be a no-brainer. Most games have built-in economies whether that’s gold coins, runes, or deer pelts.

In fact, in-game economies sometimes give rise to real economies, like in Runescape or World of Warcraft. Lazy American players could literally buy “gold” from gold farmers in China or Southeast Asia.

It became an easier and more profitable life for some Chinese citizens to stay home, play a video game, and sell that in-game currency to Americans than to work a low wage, in-person job.

And this is where we see Web3 gaming headed.

Maybe we’ll see the release of a Web3 game that is both financially rewarding as it is fun to play. But if that doesn’t happen, this relationship may develop on a more macro level.

As tech develops, the relationship between work and play will only continue to blur. 

We’ve seen the relationship between work and home blurred by the rise of work-from-home positions as a result of Covid.

But what if this were to happen to work and gaming? For now, they’re just different screens. But what if the videogame you turn on at night to get your dopamine blasts, was also where you made your rent?

Couple that with more and more sophisticated AI making entire sectors of jobs redundant. Those workers are going to need a new source of income.

Web3 can offer that in a package that we’re all familiar with.

And what is VR if not a game? Sure, it offers up cool experiences and apartment tours, but it’s still really just a parlor trick.

And an entire metaverse, a new way of life, is being built around this tech. 

It’s not that gaming is the future of Web3, it’s that these two concepts are already inexorably linked.

In the meantime, we’ll be studying this correlation by playing Playstation until our bodies cry for food or our wives and children scream for attention.

Meme of the Day

Digital diamonds! Just what we wanted...

Crypto 101

FDIC: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

This is an independent, governmental body created by congress to ensure stability and maintain public confidence in America’s financial system, particularly the banks.

The FDIC insures every banking account in America for up to $250,000. You’re going to be hearing about them a lot in the coming days as they try to mop up this banking disaster.

The Last Sip

Here are three lesser-known Irish traditions that you should consider engaging in this Saint Patrick’s Day.

• Salute a Magpie: The Irish believe that these birds bring misfortune, but if you salute them with respect, you can avoid bad luck.

• Choke Down a Black Pudding: This traditional Irish breakfast food is the bastard child of beef jerky and a granola bar.

• Become a Corrupt Police Officer: Not every Irish cop is crooked, but every crooked cop is Irish.

Stay Caffeinated,

Coffee & Crypto Team

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.