good mornington,
Last week, while CT was going nuclear over Trump shitcoins, LDF and I were busy infiltrating what might go down as the most historically elusive yet cursed sidequest of 2025: The Inaugural Crypto Ball in Washington D.C. Our full video investigation drops shortly which will document everything from impromptu cross-continent coordination to not one but two generational fumbles, from Michael Saylor in his bitcoin tie to Snoop Dogg MCing over Journey tracks, and a face-off with the secret service, all while watching crypto's debutante dreams get meme'd on in real time. We missed the 100x, but we got the footage.
Full video chronicling our anthropological expedition drops as soon as we can figure out CapCut….. send prayers. Follow us on X if you'd like to follow the quest.
50
in the meantime,
enjoy,
xx c
Trump pardons Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and Tornado Cash sanctions were overturned by US court. SEC launched new task force led by Hester Pierce to create a "clear regulatory framework for crypto assets." Vitalik claimed sole decision-making power for Ethereum Foundation leadership changes until a new governance structure is implemented and the Eth community is experiencing a ton of pressure to get their shit together. Konstantin Lomashuk, founder of Lido and P2P. org, creates a “Second Foundation” for Ethereum. MicroStrategy acquired more bitcoin (11,000 BTC for ~$1.1 billion). World Liberty Financial swaps ~$90M worth of stablecoins for ETH, LINK and other tokens. Hyperliquid reports record-high $22B in 24-hour volume. Berachain hits $2B in pre-launch deposits. Phantom is experiencing a massive surge of 8,000,000+ requests per minute amid $trump mania and they raised $150M at a $3B valuation. Uniswap is beginning to roll out version 4 deployments. Telegram went exclusive with TON, barring other networks from apps and games. Trump announced a massive AI infra investment named 'Project Stargate,' involving a joint venture by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, aiming to invest up to $500B over the next 4 years in building AI capabilities across the US, starting with an initial deployment of $100B for a data center in Texas.
Clankermon
Matthew Fox shared insights about building an onchain entertainment company at the intersection of crypto, AI, and mini-apps. After spending a year shipping various products through Farcaster, Fox and his co-founders have landed on Clankermon, a game that explores "lightly financialized social gaming" - where users can not only spend time and money but also find opportunities to bet on themselves and monetize their own entertainment experiences. What started as a "silly meme of Pokemon" evolved into a sophisticated experiment in game mechanics and trading activity, where users gain XP and progress whether they win or lose trades.
Matthew shared his perspective on Farcaster's role in product development, describing its users as "10x users" who provide unprecedented levels of direct feedback and engagement. While acknowledging Farcaster's currently small size, he sees this as an advantage for iterating and getting mechanics right before expanding. He predicts 2025 will see independent apps breaking away from the "one super app" model to create vertical-specific experiences with built-in Farcaster integration.
Matthew also introduced "hyper graphs" - specialized purpose apps that could connect different social platforms together, potentially evolving into standalone mobile apps once they've established enough leverage through mini-app distribution. This approach represents a new category of app platforms that defies traditional dev cycles, especially when compared to the App Store's monthly flood of 40-80,000 new apps, of which only 8-10 typically make it into users' daily habits. Looking ahead, Fox envisions these hyper graphs becoming powerful connection points between different social platforms, leveraging established distribution to break through the noise of traditional app markets.
MintStars
Dan Sargent of MintStars shared his team's journey building an onchain platform that's addressing fundamental challenges in the creator economy, particularly in the adult content space. After spending a year focused on solving core payment issues for creators who face widespread banking discrimination, Mintstars has evolved from $500 monthly revenue to $200K in December, serving 100,000 monthly users. The key to their success? A steadfast commitment to championing creator rights and solving real problems, rather than chasing token-driven hype.
Dan, an SC06 alum, detailed how the team navigated the complex challenge of bridging traditional payments with crypto rails, eventually developing a hybrid solution that lets users purchase USDC credit while allowing creators to withdraw to either bank accounts or crypto wallets. Looking ahead, MintStars is positioned to expand into deeper financial products for their underserved user base, including crypto debit cards and credit lines for creators who, despite demonstrable earnings, struggle to access basic financial services. The platform's careful approach to crypto integration - focusing on utility while avoiding alienating non-crypto native users - offers valuable lessons for consumer crypto projects targeting mainstream adoption.
Live & online Fridays at 10am PT / 1pm ET.
- everyone can code so way more gets built
- more searching for meaning / belonging creates way more demand for niche opinionated experiences
- transaction fees offer a new killer business model that…
we discuss the big problems in public. no other chain does this because none other operate so transparently
meanwhile the chain keeps producing blocks, Pectra is coming, L2s keep growing, DeFi…
