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SO WHAT?

Why decentralized ID is the hottest thing in Web3 right now

GM, Decentralized identity is the hot topic in Web3 right now. The launch of a token for the billion-dollar valued Humanity Protocol and World’s big-name partnerships with Tinder, Razer, and Visa mark a turning point: decentralized ID is finally going mainstream. As AI blurs the line between real and

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Stablecoin payment adoption is rocketing— and this is only the beginning

GM, Shopify, Stripe, PayPal, Visa, Uber, Apple, Google… these are some of the companies that have integrated or are considering integrating stablecoins into their business. We wrote about the potential of stablecoins nearly 18 months ago, but the concept of digital money has rapidly gained traction even over that short

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Can MANTRA regain trust and momentum after a 95% token price drop?

GM, Launching a token can make founders of Web3 startups rich—and in far quicker time than it takes to be acquired or go public in an IPO. Cryptocurrency markets are liquid, but that can also spell peril for companies if their token price falls. That’s the subject of

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Circle IPO: A unique money printing model that will divide investors

GM, Circle’s IPO has been talked about for a number of years, and finally it just took a big step to reality after the US firm—which issues popular stablecoin USDC—filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This week we’re digging into its

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The growing convergence between traditional payment and finance and Web3

GM, This week we’re looking at the growing convergence between traditional finance and payments and the Web3 industry. This year alone, billions have been spent on acquisitions both ways and companies on both sides are likely to increasingly look like each other. Let’s dive in! Best, Jon and

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3 big takeaways from the record $1.5 billion ByBit hack

GM, It’s been a month since Web3’s largest ever hack took place: ByBit lost $1.5 billion at the hands of North Korea-affiliated hackers. The audits are in, the real-time stories have been written, but what are the bigger takeaways from this catastrophic event? Our newsletter this week

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The SEC Just Flipped on Crypto: What It Means for Web3

Dropping 2-year-old Coinbase lawsuit signals a major shift in US crypto regulation

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USA, AI and developers: what does 2025 have in store for Web3?

Our predictions for this year and our review of last year’s forecasts

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Our 10X recap of Web3 in 2024

GM, Happy New Year! We enjoyed a restful festive period here at SO WHAT and we are excited to be back. How excited you ask? Excited enough to 10X our annual recap, which includes 30 must-note topics from the year that was 2024. Stand by for our predictions, which will

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How Bitcoin looks at $100K compared to $1K

GM, The world of Web3 is crazy at the best of times, but it’s been a particularly wild ride over the last few weeks since Donald Trump won the US Presidential election. The President-elect has said a number of positive things about crypto and Bitcoin generally—his win saw

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Meet Pump.fun, the memecoin factory making $1M a day

GM, One of the most lucrative companies in Web3 today may also be one of the most controversial. This is not a company aiming to build a new internet, democratize financial services, or pursue other lofty goals. In fact, critics accuse it of enabling gambling, although some have praised it

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We will never know who created Bitcoin—and that’s a good thing

GM, This past week has been dominated by Satoshi Nakamoto, after HBO released its long-anticipated documentary aiming to answer the question of who created Bitcoin. No spoilers just yet, if you haven’t seen the show, but the truth is that we don’t need to know Satoshi’s true