Special MLK Day Edition

January 16, 2022 The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day  Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here.  Supported By Hey there, and welcome to a special holiday edition of The Node! Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And for that reason, we'd like to take this opportunity to commemorate the life of Dr. King and his work as leader of the American civil rights movement. As we reflect today on the principles of racial equality and nonviolent social change, we want to share some of the ways that we think blockchain and cryptocurrency can improve racial equality and minority inclusion.  - CoinDesk staff  4 Ways That Crypto Could Promote Racial Equality and Minority Inclusion (DALL-E) Blockchain and cryptocurrency have the potential to promote racial equality and minority inclusion by providing access to financial services and opportunities that may have been previously limited or unavailable. For example: Cryptocurrency and decentralized platforms can allow individuals to participate in the global economy regardless of their location or socio-economic status, potentially providing access to new economic opportunities. Web3 technologies such as smart contracts and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) can enable more equitable and transparent decision-making processes, which could help to mitigate the effects of systemic discrimination. Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology can provide a way for people to store and transfer value without the need for traditional financial intermediaries, which can be particularly beneficial for communities that have been historically underserved by traditional financial institutions. Cryptocurrency and web3 can also create new opportunities for people to engage in online commerce, which can be particularly beneficial for Black and African American entrepreneurs who are underrepresented in traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. Flare is an EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain designed to allow developers to build applications that are interoperable with blockchains and the internet. By providing decentralized access to high-integrity data, Flare enables new use cases and monetisation models.   The State Connector protocols enable information, both from other blockchains and the internet to be used securely, scalably and trustlessly with smart contracts on Flare.   The Flare Time Series Oracle delivers highly decentralized price and data feeds to dapps on Flare, without relying on centralized providers.    Risk is minimized by building this decentralized data infrastructure natively into the blockchain, powered by a large number of independent data providers. Build on Flare with more data than ever before, or build with Flare to serve multiple ecosystems. Learn more at flare.network Bitcoin and Africa Machankura's Bitcoin Wallet Targets Africans With Old-School Phones and No Internet The service lets users in nine African countries tap into the Bitcoin Lightning network using basic feature phones. "Anyone who's interested in using bitcoin and living on bitcoin should be able to do so easily," founder Kgothatso Ngako said. Read more Economic Freedom, History and Web3 Worldwide Grassroots Projects Can Lead Crypto Theresa Kennedy, founder of Black History DAO, says with blockchain technology, data can be stored in many different places, making it harder for it to be destroyed. Read more Web3 Is Being Used to Preserve History Threatened by Wars Theresa Kennedy, founder of Black History DAO, says with blockchain technology, data can be stored in many different places, making it harder for it to be destroyed. Read more Diversity and NFTs

These Black Artists Say NFTs Help Them Monetize Their Work On March 12, Vakseen, a 41-year-old digital artist based in California, accepted an 8 ETH bid (around $16,800 as of Monday) for the first of six editions of a digital painting featuring legendary basketball player Michael Jordan.   The exposure from the sale of the painting, which was minted as a non-fungible token (NFT), led to Vakseen being commissioned for another digital art piece. At the time of publication, the third edition of the Michael Jordan painting is priced at 9 ETH (around $18,900) and bidding is ongoing.    Vakseen's art was also on display at a NFT exhibition featuring Black artists from around the world. The exhibition, titled "Harmony & Balance," mimicked a digital art museum and was created to support the Black NFT artist community. It featured over 100 digital art pieces by 30 Black artists, including Vakseen. The art featured in the exhibition was worth a total of around $500,000.   Read more

The NFT Craze Is Helping Nigerian Artists Go Global Nigerian artists are minting NFTs, but they are cautious about the hype around them. Read more Diana Sinclair: People Aren't 'Ready to Hear' About Metaverse Inequities Web 3 can open up opportunities for marginalized groups, but it's not a silver bullet, says one leading NFT artist. Read more

Planetarium Labs poised Nine Chronicles for winter-proof sustainable growth   As winter inevitably yields to spring, crypto winters eventually end as the prices of widely traded coins come back. The same goes for such in-game currencies as nine chronicles gold, or NCG.   When the price of the NCG token fell during crypto winter, Planetarium Labs, the publisher of the online game it represents, came up with a multipronged strategy to support the token's price and reinforce a sense of confidence among investors. The best way to buttress its value, Planetarium Labs concluded, is to increase demand for the token by giving players more things to do with it and by burning revenue earned from players' activities, denominated in NCG or its wrapped WNCG version. Continue reading.   *This is sponsored content from Planetarium

Podcasts Check out a couple of our great podcasts on diversity, equality and inclusion.  Diversity and Inclusion Shouldn't Just Be Buzzwords Crypto, with its innovations in financial technology, provides underbanked populations with better access. But even when these groups have access, they might not receive the same treatment as others. Crypto needs to incentivize inclusion, respect, inclusion and empowerment to improve the industry for all who partake in it. Listen

Promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion  Jaime enlightens us on: ✊diversity and inclusion, and why is it so important to develop in the Web3 space 🌈what we can do at the individual and community level to inspire diversity and inclusion 🤝how we can cultivate belonging and measure success 💍tips for juggling being a disruptor, entrepreneur, mom and wife 🧘🏽‍♀️We end with a meditation focused on love and kindness for yourself and others. Listen

Concensus Magazine In Concensus Magazine, we recently shared a story about how crypto is expanding economic freedom.  Birth of the Network Nations December 2021. Eche Emole couldn't sleep. He was staying at a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, and his mind was on fire. He thought about all of Africa's problems – the poverty, the inequity, the troubled history. He paced back and forth in the hotel room. He thought about how, for centuries, the countries of Africa were created by outside forces – often through violence. European powers carved up the continent. Africans rarely had a voice. He thought about how, as he would later put it, "African American brothers and sisters feel like second-class citizens in the U.S. But he knew that across the globe Africans had economic muscle. He knew that in 2019, in what's called the "Year of Return" – which marked 400 years since the first slaves arrived in Jamestown, Virginia – more than one million people from the African diaspora visited Ghana, and drove $2 billion in economic activity. Continue Reading

Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.

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