Top Story: Solana has surpassed Ethereum in terms of new developers building on the blockchain ! Almost 20% of the new developers that entered the crypto this year, built on Solana. Check out the story here. Also, feel free to check out this report by Electric Capital for more insights.

Blockchain Start-up of the week:

Union Labs: Union is a blockchain interoperability platform that enables seamless, real-time messaging and asset transfers across ecosystems. With subsecond messaging, chain abstraction, and advanced security through consensus verification, Union powers connections between EVMs, SVMs, and other virtual machines, fostering a more unified Web3. We interviewed the COO of Union Labs, Sarah Luehrs, to talk about their recent $12 million raise and future plans. Check out the story here.

The Week in Crypto:

a. RLUSD Stablecoin by Ripple Gets Green Light: Check out the story here.

b. MicroStrategy Stock Jumps On Nasdaq 100 Inclusion: Check out the story here.

c. Bitcoin Lightning Fintech ZBD Approved by Dutch Regulator. Check out the

story here.

Crypto 101:

What is Proof of Stake(PoS)?

This is the most common consensus mechanism in the crypto world today. In PoS, instead of relying on energy-intensive computations like Proof of Work, participants known as validators are chosen to validate transactions and create new blocks based on the amount of cryptocurrency they "stake" (tokens locked up as collateral). Now to make sure that these actors act in the best interest , this stake can be “slashed” or penalized, if they don’t act in the best interests of the blockchain. That is why it is called Proof of Stake. PoS is energy-efficient, scalable, and is supposed to align participants' incentives with the health of the blockchain network.

Local Spotlight: Berkeley and Bay Area Scene

Upcoming Events:

a. December 18: SF - Bitcoin Wednesdays(Meetup)

b. December 21: Crypto x AI Investor Event(Eventbrite)

c. December 25: Certified Crypto Associate(Eventbrite)

Reading suggestion: The Fiat Standard: Debt Slavery Alternative to Human Civilization | Saifedean Ammous

Opportunities in Blockchain:

Full-Time roles:

a. Financial Account at Polkadot

b. Technical Project Manager at LayerZero

c. Office Coordinator at LayerZero

d. AI Engineer II at Kraken

e. Senior Software Engineer-Embedded at Hivemapper

f. Senior Product Manager at Galxe

g. Institutional Business Development Head at Wormhole

Internships:

a. Quality Analyst Intern at bitsCrunch

b. Accounting Intern at Figure

Funding rounds:

a. Avalanche Foundation raises $250 million in token sale through a private

token sale, which involved leading firms including Galaxy Digital, Dragonfly

and ParaFi Capital. Check out the story here.

b. Waterfall Network raises $11.6M from Bolt's Capital, Alpha Token Capital,

Enflux for smart contract platform development. Check out the story here.

c. Perena, a stablecoin trading infrastructure project raised “ around $3million”

in a pre-seed funding round led by Borderless Capital. Check out the story

here.

d. Solana-based tokenization platform AgriDex raises $4 million in strategic

funding, in a round led by Portal Ventures. Check out the story.

Stay Connected.

Twitter: @cesium77

Telegram: @karan_curry, @riadokania

Email: [email protected] , [email protected]

Fun Fact:

Constitution DAO: In 2021, a group of crypto enthusiasts formed ConstitutionDAO with the goal of buying an original copy of the U.S. Constitution at a Sotheby's auction. They raised over $40 million in cryptocurrency from about 17,000 contributors, hoping to purchase the document and make it publicly accessible. Despite their collective effort, they were outbid by hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who purchased the Constitution for $43.2 million. Most contributors were able to retrieve most of their funds after the unsuccessful bid, making it a unique moment in crypto crowdfunding history.