Rug Radio Recap - May 14, 2023

gm fam! Memecoin season appears to have ended just as quickly as it started with most coins seeing a pull back and ETH gas fees returning back to “normal” levels. Is DeFi Summer 2.0 next?

Behind the scenes, we’ve been heads down prepping for an exciting announcement this week as we introduce our newest product into the ecosystem…more about that later!

We’ll also be at VeeCon later this week where Farokh and OSF will be speaking, and of course recording content for our vlog - we’re still working on the Consensus vlog and hope to have it ready soon!

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

• Rug Radio Updates

• Coinbase causes a little uproar

• Ethereum runs into some finality issues

• The power of persistence and community

STUBS Claim

Did you claim your Stubs Mint Passes or are you holding onto a few?

The claim is open for “Singing in the Rain” by YAGAMIII, our featured artist for week 5, who creates Neo-Fauvism art, a style that derives from Fauvism, which was an early artistic movement that started in France and is attributed to the larger modern art category.

• Need more mint passes? Grab a couple on Opensea

• Ready to claim? Head over to the Fair mint site (ends today at 11:59pm ET)

• Not familiar with Stubs? Check out our guide

We’re cooking up a little something👀

If you’re keeping up with us on Twitter, you might have seen a few cryptic tweets this week. You’re probably wondering, “What are these tweets hinting at?”

While we can’t share it just yet, keep an eye out for the announcement and tune into our Town Hall tomorrow at 5pm ET on Twitter or YouTube for the reveal!

Pudgy Penguins signed a deal with talent agency WME, and announced a $9 million USD funding round.

The Broken Keys auction by artist Alpha Centauri Kid, which featured a Piano theme, raised 731 ETH ($1.35M USD)

The US Chamber of Commerce criticized the SEC for it’s lack of clarity on digital assets.

Elon announced that he would stepping down as the CEO of Twitter to focus on product and tech, and announced ex-NBCUniversal ad chief, Linda Yaccarino, as the new CEO.

Ahead of VeeCon this week, the NFT community helped get GaryVee’s attention and a ticket to the conference for a community member, after nearly a year of persistence.

Context

• NFT volumes bounced off their lows slightly as traders and collectors rotated memecoin profits into both art and high conviction projects.

• Despite lower-than-expected US inflation data, crypto ended the week lower as continued broader economic concerns cause investors to maintain a risk-off stance.

• In the week ahead, there isn’t too much major economic data; however, we tend to see volatility increase during event weeks.