Hello friends! Happy hump day - I hope, like us, you are starting to feel the warmth of spring finally. This week we are continuing with our theme for May, doing a deep dive into Web3 and social good, so grab a cuppa and join us for some news of the week and a deep dive into web3 philanthropy.

Quip of the Week

The Latest

Like everything else right now, Bitcoin nears a 2022 low

Last week, the US Federal Reserve announced that they would be raising interest rates by 0.5% (the most significant increase in nearly 20 years). During the speech, the price of Bitcoin increased to almost $44,000, a 6% increase, followed by a quick drop which left Bitcoin nearing the lowest price in 2022. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, saw similar declines reflecting the volatility in the market for digital assets and the investors in it. We are entering what looks to be a bear market, but it's worth reflecting on the words of Shaan Puri, writer of The Milk Road: "Am I a tourist? Or a local? Tourists leave when the weather gets bad. Locals know that the seasons change and know how to live with the weather cycles."

Roe v. Wade activism in web3

Computer Cowgirls started as a limited edition NFT collection by fashion photographer and collage artist Molly Dickson back in February, when Molly was angry about the abortion bans in Texas. She decided that NFTs were the best way to put her money where her mouth was, believing it is DAOs and NFTs that really have the power to move the needle. The NFT collection made close to $30,000 that went towards Fund Texas Choice, a non-profit that funds the transportation of women seeking abortions. Following the leak of the Roe v. Wade draft opinion, the group decided to expand its horizons they are building a set of 10,000 NFT pieces and a DAO with the hopes of raising $3M for safe abortion clinics.

Get your Gucci

Last week, the news came out that Gucci will start accepting payments in Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin. Customers will be able to pay using the digital asset wallet and a QR code. Gucci joins Microsoft, Starbucks, and AT&T in announcements about starting to accept cryptocurrencies in store. This further signifies a move towards the mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies. Gucci will also accept Shiba Inu and Dogecoin as payment.

Deep dive: The Giving Block - Addressing the Challenges in Charitable Giving in Web3

Web3 has a lot of desirable features that lend well to philanthropy and eliminate some of the issues that currently hold people back from giving to charity; for example, the ability to give money anonymously and then track it transparently using blockchain protocol means that you can track exactly where your money is going and be sure that the protocol manages the use and distribution of funds. In addition, web3 centres itself around community, and when it comes to decision making around charitable and philanthropic projects, being community-centric makes it attractive because we know that the projects getting funded align with the wishes of the philanthropic community.

However, while we have seen a lot of movement over the last couple of years at the intersection of web3 and charitable giving, there is still a lot to figure out. For example, one of the main problems with web3 communities who want to engage in charitable giving is that many organizations that they want to support do not currently accept donations in cryptocurrencies. There are 2 solutions to this problem:

1. Help onboard organizations and set them up with digital currency wallets so that they are able to accept donations.

2. Convert the cryptocurrencies to cash and then donate the cash to these organizations.

The second is problematic because it dilutes the value of the currency being donated because of the sell-off. This disincentives DAOs from giving in their native currency. The Giving Block is building the first solution: a digital-first nonprofit organization focused on making it easier for non-profits, charities, and faith-based organizations to receive donations in crypto by onboarding them to an ecosystem that allows them to fundraise, be found by donors, and receive funds instantly.

Their work has not been in vain. Giving Block has enabled record numbers in crypto donations with $69M going towards charitable causes (with NFT projects making up $12.3M of that amount.) Perhaps most notably, crypto donations appeared to be 82x the value of an average cash donation, suggesting crypto donors might have benefited greatly from the bull run through 2021, are perhaps more cognizant of their potential tax offsets by doing so, or are just more generous 🤷‍♀️. Jokes aside, it's relevant to note that the majority of crypto users are our fellow millennials, one-third of whom view themselves as philanthropists regardless of overall net worth or relative giving power.

As markets tighten up this year, the philanthropy world will either need to revert to "old" methods of fundraising, or rely even more on crypto to keep the lights on. Given the critical role crypto has played in key recent humanitarian efforts, including the mobilization of $110M in crypto towards efforts in Ukraine and supporting refugees, we hope the Giving Block and other organizations like it will continue in their efforts. After all, access to differentiated capital like crypto can be gamechanging for the organizations positioned to deliver impact that is so badly needed in the world today.

Want to dive in more?

Something to read

• The Giving Block 2021 Annual Report

• How crypto is changing philanthropy

• Cryptocurrency-funded groups called DAOs are becoming charities – here are some issues to watch

• Cryptocurrency and philanthropy

Something to do

• Join our Discord

• Have a world-changing idea? Apply for a Gitcoin grant

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Till next time,

w3 the North