Rug Radio Recap - July 30, 2023

gm fam! It’s been another relatively quiet week with Twitter’s rebrand to X and the Worldcoin launch dominating the conversation. It can only stay quiet for so long before the market and sentiment shifts…In the meantime, start planning because when that shift happens, it’s going to happen fast.

This is Rug Radio. Stay ready, so you don't have to get ready🫡

Here's what we've got in this week's recap...

• Rug Radio Updates🎙️

• Worldcoin & The Orb👁️

• Yuga Labs launches Made By Apes🦍

STUBS Claim

This week's featured artist is Reddy, an interdisciplinary artist with a determination to understand the core essences of nostalgia and creativity through a universe of four eyed friends called Nonsters.

This week’s piece by Reddy, Weezard Flash, is one of the Nonsters spirits which features a lightning bolt striking through an X symbolizing the “highest level of divine timing.”

• Ready to claim? Head over to the Fair mint site

• Need more mint passes? Grab a couple on Opensea

• Not familiar with Stubs? Check out our guide

Rug Radio 🤝 OD Labs

Looking to make a trip to Toronto, Canada? We’ll be hosting a community meetup with ODLabs, an XR (Extended reality) tech company focused on augmenting the future of fashion, gamifying assets, and activating IP👾

The meetup will be on Friday, August 4th at 5pm at their OD store at 273 Queen St West in Toronto, which has some of the latest and rarest collection of footwear, streetwear, and collectibles.

If you want to get an idea about what ODLabs is doing, check out the tweet below and scan the QR code in their Twitter (sorry, X) banner.

Worldcoin & The Orb👁️

Would you get your eyes scanned by an “orb” to prove that you’re an actual human and earn some crypto? The launch of Worldcoin allows you to do exactly that.

Worldcoin is a project founded by OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, that aims to provide a global universal basic income (UBI) and a reliable way to authenticate humans online in the form of a “digital passport.” It’s been in Beta for over 3 years with over 2 million people participating and has raised around $250 million.

Here’s how it works…

• The project uses a biometric verification device called an "Orb" to scan people's irises. There are currently 350+ active orbs worldwide with plans to roll out another 1,500.

• Once your iris is scanned, you get a WorldID which can be used to sign into the World App (Worldcoin Wallet) to claim the Worldcoin tokens. Unless you’re based in the US where you can only get a WorldID.

• Once you receive your WorldID, it is added to Worldcoin’s blockchain and the credentials are stored within the World App. These credentials can then be used to sign into applications without the need to provide personal information.

The project has been met with some criticism, with the UK Information Commission saying they plan to investigate Worldcoin, and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin writing an extensive post sharing his thoughts about biometric proof of personhood and issues with the project. If you’re interested in diving deep into this topic, I highly recommend giving it a read.

Despite all of these concerns, the developers of Worldcoin have stated that they take the privacy of their users very seriously, saying the data will only be used for the purposes of verifying users and distributing WLD tokens. Orb operators also go through an extensive vetting process and are required to abide by local privacy laws and regulations.

The intentions and goals behind Worldcoin have the potential to make a positive impact. Providing a reliable way to authenticate humans online could help to prevent fraud and abuse, and by providing a UBI (Universal Basic Income), Worldcoin could help to reduce poverty and inequality. However, we’ll just have to wait and see if adoption will continue like it has over the past 3 years and if a UBI is practical over the long-term.

Context

• We saw “bluechip” projects like the Yuga Labs ecosystem and Azuki lead NFT volumes this week, but weekly volumes are continuing to decline as sentiment shifts towards value, as well as optimism around improving macro economic conditions and regulatory clarity.

• Not much movement on crypto this week, even with the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and relatively positive economic data. There’s quite a bit of sell pressure, and we’re still pretty much in this waiting period until we get some positive catalysts.