(cover image by Kaiotei)
A few days ago, Solana’s unfortunate video faux pas had crypto people from all backgrounds aligning to reject its message, in favor of the idea that blockchains are—and should be—for everyone, no matter your gender, pronouns, background, or nationality. After such a long period of divisiveness, and in spite of an adverse market that has us all in a weird mood, we woke up to a different timeline: one that believes technology is audience-agnostic.
Truth be told, it’s harder to build for everyone, because getting to know that “everyone”—and their needs—is harder than understanding a specific group and solving for them. But when you’re building chains or protocols, you really do need to think of everyone. Technology should be agnostic and serve as many people as possible.
In a conversation before I sat down to write this, Pierre—an artist and builder I’ve known for a while—told me about his journey and the products he’s working on. He was calling from his studio, surrounded by these amazing, colorful paintings of charts he makes. He said crypto was the most fun place on the internet and reminded me that you really can do anything here. Just in the past few weeks, we’ve seen “vibecoding” blow up on the timeline and turn everyone into an app developer. During the NFT hype, people who had never made art before launched ambitious, meaningful projects. Take it outside our bubble, and everyone and their mother is becoming a podcaster.
Blockchains are agnostic because they were built by people who understand life isn’t linear. You should be able to change careers, go anon, go doxxed—do whatever you want, whenever you want. The tech should be there to support that.
Without further ado, here’s what everyone has been doing onchain the past two weeks.
Culture
Kaiotei’s latest drop killed it. Had to collect both on Solana and Lens! Here’s the Lens one.
Jah’s back (but did he ever leave?)
Haku’s illustrations are becoming a fixture in Touch Grass! So good.
Selene’s been killing it lately. Here’s her latest drop.
Read/watch
Simon de la Rouviere’s early blockchain memories (he invented everything, you should read this!)
A great summary from how Bybit handled their crisis, lots to learn
Builders
Jean Ayala’s working on the Lens App Factory, a very cool launchpad for quick apps
Ahead of their big launch (together with the Lens mainnet launch) Bonsai is rebranding
Lens Reputation, the fastest growing project on the ecosystem, will store their NFTs on Grove
Soclly, is ramping up their next build ahead of the mainnet launch
Hope you enjoyed this digest! See you in two weeks.
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We have quite the round-up of great writing this week — check them out below! And as always, please let us know what we missed!
@naomiii writes about the disorienting yet oddly human experience of visiting a shopping mall, weaving together personal memories, critiques of consumer culture, and the quiet beauty of fleeting interactions in a world increasingly shaped by isolation and digital life. "Somewhere, I read that even such small interactions with strangers go a long way in making us feel less alone in the world — a part of something else." https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/mall
@nickgrossman.eth shares his conversation with @fredwilson.eth and Brad Burnham, highlighting their curiosity-driven approach to investing and the evolution of Union Square Ventures through shared values, slow hunches, and a willingness to embrace the new and unexpected. "What strikes me most about Fred and Brad is their endless curiosity." https://nickgrossman.xyz/the-slow-hunch-podcast-episode-8-with-fred-wilson-and-brad-burnham
@blockchainbrett explains how the crypto media ecosystem is shifting from scarce, exclusive tokens to more accessible, low-friction models like open editions and coins to grow collector bases and deepen creator-audience relationships. "The relationships that are forming onchain are already more substantive than anything we have in today’s platforms, and they will continue to be surfaced and extended upon." https://paragraph.xyz/@consumercrypto/the-collector-funnel
Nice Would be great to round out with non techie s techie pieces
I’ll make sure to give it a read
new touch grass @mariapaula https://paragraph.xyz/@touchgrass/non-state-state-machines
In the latest post, @mariapaula reflects on the importance of creating inclusive technology in crypto, highlighting the diverse onchain activities in recent weeks. The focus is on building experiences for everyone by understanding and addressing a wider audience. Check it out for a vibrant look at current trends!