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- RBV Weekly Newsletter🧔📖
RBV Weekly Newsletter🧔📖
Open Deals, Portfolio Updates, Crypto News, RBV Fund I Closing & More
Joshua Howard
June 08, 2023
RBV Weekly Newsletter🧔📖: Open Deals, Portfolio Updates, Crypto News, RBV Fund I Closing & More
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At RBV, we firmly believe in the democratization of finance and the transformative nature of blockchain technology, and Coinbase's tireless efforts align perfectly with our core values. Their unwavering commitment to security, compliance, and regulatory best practices has been instrumental in building trust and credibility within the industry. Coinbase has pioneered the realm of digital asset exchanges, providing a user-friendly platform for individuals and institutions alike. What Coinbase has done for institutions, Binance has done for retail investors; between the two they represent around 20% of the total crypto trading volume on Earth. The suits against Coinbase and Binance.US are serious, but there are voices from our own industry as well as the government that have come to the defense of Crypto and DeFi. The SEC has been applying outdated definitions to cutting-edge technology, and in turn our industry suffers from lack of regulatory clarity; without clarity, there can be no responsibility. A responsible industry is a healthy one, so it is our hope that clearer heads prevail and the United States remains a place for innovation and industry in the Decentralized Revolution.
VIDEO LINK: By the numbers
Also, we wanted to drop a friendly reminder that our Tokenomics Accelerator, Denarii Labs, is currently in the process of seeking out exceptional companies. This groundbreaking endeavor, fueled by the combined forces of Red Beard Ventures and Horizen Labs Ventures (renowned for their role in creating Yuga Lab’s ApeCoin and numerous other successful products), is dedicated to empowering Web3 innovators in crafting, cultivating, and executing their tokenomics and token launch strategies.
We'll be providing these visionaries with unparalleled guidance from esteemed advisors, invaluable partnerships with strategic allies, and access to discerning investors.
Through the accelerator program, we will meticulously select five projects, arming them with the essential skills and know-how to achieve an extraordinary token launch within a swift three-month timeframe.
If this opportunity calls to you or someone you know, don't hesitate to register at www.denariilabs.xyz and seize the chance to be part of something truly remarkable.
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🚨 TL;DR: This Week in Crypto
Coinbase responds to SEC Lawsuit
Asia’s Bitcoin supply soars
Swift explores blockchain for tokenized asset settlement
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📣 As a reminder, Red Beard Ventures has both a syndicate and fund:
The Red Beard Ventures Syndicate is stage agnostic and invests in Frontier Technology with a focus on Web3, Space, FinTech, Robotics, Biotech, and Climate. We invest anywhere between $100k - $1.5M.
The Red Beard Ventures Fund I invests $100k - $1M in Pre-seed and Seed blockchain-based companies.
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🪙 Crypto News:
Coinbase CLO, “We will continue to operate our business as usual”
Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, affirms its commitment to business as usual despite facing a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The lawsuit filed by the SEC has not affected Coinbase's day-to-day operations, and the company remains dedicated to serving its user base.
Armstrong said that the SEC reviewed Coinbase’s business in 2021 and “allowed us to become a public company,” despite the 2019 claims in the SEC’s lawsuit.
Coinbase's proactive approach and dedication to transparent communication underline its commitment to navigating regulatory challenges and ensuring the best interests of its customers.
Countries like Japan, South Korea, and Singapore have implemented regulatory frameworks that provide clarity and foster a favorable environment for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The supply of Bitcoin in Asia has experienced a significant surge, coinciding with shifting regulatory landscapes in the region
Asian countries have been witnessing changes in their approach to cryptocurrency regulations, which has influenced the growth of Bitcoin adoption
The increasing supply of Bitcoin in Asia reflects the growing interest and acceptance of digital assets in the region.
The industry giant Swift is building on a series of trials in 2022 to develop a blockchain-first protocol
Compliance and security are the main reasons that Swift customers are seeking a solution
Chainlink, a decentralized oracle network, will be used as “an enterprise abstraction layer to securely connect the Swift network to the Ethereum Sepolia network.”
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🗃️ Portfolio News
The final chapter was “burn to earn” this week, marking the completion of Alexandria Labs’ biggest project yet.
The release utilized an entirely new smart contract framework, in order to “unseal” a book, burn earlier chapters to read later ones, and other fantastic genre-pushing features
Degenesis was the inaugural project from Alexandria Storyworks, an in-house design studio pushing the boundaries of what a book can be.
Creators can now generate their avatars to be compatible with XR tech, meaning they can be used in any Augmented Reality (AR) environment
Genies also released an “AI Generative Gameplay Bot” in the same
$LOPPY, the first memecoin to hit the Flow blockchain, has been listed on Flowty
The name is a reference to the “Sloppy Steaks” sketch and resulting memes from the hit Netflix comedy “I Think You Should Leave”.
$LOPPY can be used to buy, sell, and offer on Flowty
The Sandbox held a IRL & Online quest to promote it’s native token.
Attendees were encouraged to join a scavenger hunt that consisted of scanning various POAPs posted & hidden around the event
Winners will be awarded $500 in SAND
DeAndre Cortez Way, the artist who rose to fame on the original LimeWire released a collaboration video honoring the updated platform.
DeAndre titled his downloads as trending movie titles & media in 2007
The growth marketing campaign has garnered 16 thousand views in under 24hrs.
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💸 NFT Alpha
The co-founder of Twitch, unveils a revolutionary set of tools designed to empower developers in building NFT games.By placing NFTs at the heart of game development, Fractal is poised to reshape the gaming industry, empowering both developers and players to embark on an extraordinary digital journey.
Fractal's cutting-edge tools are set to redefine the landscape of game development by simplifying the integration of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into gaming experiences.
With Fractal's innovative solutions, developers can seamlessly incorporate NFT functionality, unlocking new realms of ownership, trading, and in-game rewards for players to enjoy.
This initiative showcases Fractal's relentless pursuit of merging gaming and blockchain technology, providing game developers with unparalleled opportunities to harness the power of NFTs.
Launched less than a week ago $LOPPY, the first “meme coin” on the Flow blockchain, It has been quite the hit.
A Flow block chain content creator has been capturing all the action through a documented dashboard built on flipside: Loppy Stakes on Flow Dashboard
$Loppy has been bringing significant attention to the actual utility $Flow can provide to various industries. If you aren’t already, get acquainted explore the best of 🔗The Flow Ecosystem
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🔔 Active Investment Opportunities:
Venus Aerospace: LA to Tokyo in ONE HOUR at hypersonic speed
A promise of the space age finally fulfilled, the craft designed by Venus Aerospace will be the fastest reusable hypersonic system in the world.
Their patented rotating detonation rocket engine (RDTE) will propel passengers at speeds up to Mach 9
The craft is designed to fly just outside of our atmosphere, where air friction poses no risk to the craft
Tafi: The Global Leader in 3D Assets and Text-to-3D genAI
Largest commercial library of 3D assets in the world; customers include Coca-Cola, HBO, Warner/DC, Coinbase, and others
Their product DAZ 3D (link to demo here) creates ultra-HD fully compatible and customizable characters
Exclusive partnership with NVIDIA to train even greater AI capabilities
Brex: Financial Services to Businesses of all Sizes
200% growth YoY with 200k customers
Ranked the #2 disruptor in their field by CNBC two years in a row
Expanded by acquiring six startups and partnering with Techstars for further expansion
Potion: Using AI to Create Personalized Video Content
On track for $1M ARR by July of this year
Unique no-code platform allows marketing managers and advertisers to create personalized video content
Coinvesting with UpHonest, Streamlined Ventures, and others
Canza Finance: a New Financial System for Africa’s FX Markets
African FX TAM is $5T, yet is still highly inefficient and expensive
Canza is building the Jara Network to facilitate OTC
The round is being led by Polychain Capital at a $15M PMV
Slingshot Aerospace: the Traffic Cop and Modeling for Orbital Vehicles
The global space economy TAM is expected to be $640B by 2026
A massive explosion in satellite launches needs controls to avoid collisions, an increasingly pertinent risk
Coinvesting with lead Sway Ventures, with follow-ons from ATX Venture and Lockheed martin Ventures
Bridgetower Capital: Blockchain Tech Giant Offers First Priced Round
Bridgetower develops proprietary technology to support a wide range of financial services
$23M in revenues last year and incredible profit margins (90% Gross, 81% EBITDA)
Coinvesting with CMT Digital, Moonpay Ventures, SBI Holdings, RW3 Ventures
0-G Launch: Better Rocket Launch Platform for the Growing Space Industry
0-G is building a fleet of Boeing 757s specially designed for precision high altitude flight
The first purpose of these aircraft is to launch rocket payloads high in the stratosphere
The second purpose will be flying long parabolic dives for zero-gravity testing and consumer experiences
Edison AI Systems: Zapier for AI, Link Multiple Models into One Workflow
Edison AI is building a web platform to build complex, interoperable AI systems
Developers can cut their time and costs by 60–90%, deploying in days, not months
The platform can operate as no-code or low-code, meaning even novices can link together StableDiffusion, GPT-4, a voice mimicking AI, and more!
Siegelman Stable: Streetwear with a Conscience - Gary Vaynerchuk Lead
Rapidly gaining mass appeal and A-list celebrity endorsements
Nearly one million dollars in gross revenue in 2022
Founded by the son from a top horse racing family, Max Siegelman, past collaborator with Kanye West, NBA teams, Puma, Hypebeast, Lexus, and more
One Earth Rising: Ownable Interoperability for Modern Gaming
Their standard has self-sovereignty and a format game engines can understand
This format seeks to become industry standard
All facets of the asset - items, moments, stats - are able to be minted
GET protocol: The Premium NFT Ticketing Solution
GET has been building NFT ticketing since 2016
They have a full range of ticketing products for event holders, from self-service to full concierge, and also whitelabel solutions
Issued nearly 3.4 Million tickets (1.7M in 2022 alone), over 17k events
Investment includes a token grant AND discounted token purchase rights
Simply Eggless: The Future of Egg Alternatives
Simply Eggless is the second-largest producer and supplier of plant-based eggs globally, with a revenue of $2M in 2022
Their products are sold in over 2.8k stores in North America and the company is looking to expand to 1k more stores, serving their massive popularity among Gen Z and Millennials
The main ingredient used by Eggless is lupin bean, which offers high protein, excellent baking functionality, and is environmentally friendly
The competitors in vegan egg alternatives all fall behind Simply Eggless, which has a much more versatile and shelf-stable product
Blocklords: GoT Meets Axie - Revolutionizing Play-To-Earn Gaming
Blocklords already has 120k pre-registered for their play-to-earn game
The medieval-based game allows players to craft their narrative while simultaneously earning cryptocurrency for tasks they complete within the game (Play-to-earn model).
Blocklords is focusing on delivering value to the user first to build up the user base and ecosystem first - This approach seems to be working by their massive sign-up and connection numbers
Money earned can be used to progress in the game or traded on crypto exchanges.
Bitscraft, Delphi Digital, and Animoca Brands are all investing
SAFT, $100M FMV
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🥳 Upcoming Events:
In-person events are a great way to stay informed in our industry, so we are planning for a very full 2023. We would love to hear about any other conferences you will be attending this year, so please let us know as we are still planning our event calendar!
Red Beard Ventures with syndicate company Brex at LA Tech Week
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🤝 We are hiring!
We are looking for part- time syndicate vertical leads in the following categories - if you are interested please reach out and we can discuss the opportunity in greater detail:
Biotech
Space
Robotics & Automation
Climate
Fintech & SaaS
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Onwards 🚀
Drew, Elana, Mitchell, Frankie, and Lauren