A Decent Publication™

Presented by CryptoLink.Tech & GaussGang.com

Volume 1 | Edition 22 | November 16 2023

Opening Thoughts

Good morning, Chain Reaction family!

Thank you for stopping in for another edition of the #1 newsletter in web3. I also want to extend a warm welcome to our new subscribers from Gauss! We will now be giving weekly Gauss blockchain updates in the Gaussian Gazette section of Chain Reaction.

To give a quick intro, Chain Reaction is a newsletter that filters out the useless garbage in the web3 space and delivers the top stories of the week directly to your inbox every Thursday morning at 6:30 AM Eastern time. My name is Wally and I have the luxury of working with the Gauss team through their partnership with CryptoLink.Tech!

It has been a wild week in crypto so let’s look at some of the green charts to give us a nice boost of dopamine:

BTC is up a cool 2.7% for the week after bouncing back from a dip to $35,000 two days ago.

ETH has seen a similar trend, up almost 7% for the week, sitting at about $2,054 at the time of writing this.

The real fun was in some of the other alt coins this week, with SOL pumping over 50% and AVAX seeing a nice gain of over 60%.

Even Ark Invest CIO/CEO Cathie Woods had some important things to say about the Solana infrastructure this week:

To put Solana’s price in perspective, I bought some SOL in July at like $20 to mint a couple NFTs. It is currently hovering around $65.

I always urge everyone to exercise caution when doing anything on the blockchain, what goes up always comes back down to some degree. However, the momentum that Solana has been gaining since August is undeniable.

Some are saying it is a trap while others believe that this is the accumulation leading up to the approval of the ETFs. I don’t know which it is but I’m eager to see where the next few months take us.

There is some bullish news in today’s edition, let’s jump right into it!

World Of Web3

Navigating the immense amount of nonsense in this space, bringing you only the good stuff.

Scaling Up: Layer 2s Hit $13b In Total Value Locked

Some have claimed that the L2 phase has come and gone, today I have some news that may prove otherwise.

Layer 2 networks on Ethereum have made a remarkable leap, reaching $13 billion in total value locked (TVL), a significant milestone considering the current bear market conditions. This growth, led by networks such as Arbitrum One, Optimism, and others, is a stark contrast to their previous TVL of less than $6 billion during the 2021 bull market.

The crazy stat?

At the height of the bull market in 2021 the total crypto TVL was about $2.6 Trillion. Now, the total crypto TVL is about half of that while Layer 2 networks have over doubled their TVL.

The expansion of the Layer 2 ecosystem is undeniable. The impressive TVL of Layer 2 networks underlines their growing importance and potential in the blockchain and cryptocurrency landscape, promising a future ripe with opportunities for developers and users.

In essence, the Layer 2 story is one of resilience and innovation, navigating through technical challenges while contributing to a more efficient blockchain ecosystem.

Check out a longer story on this from Cointelegraph HERE

OpenAI Pauses ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X the other day claiming that OpenAI had to pause ChatGPT Plus subscriptions for now.

The CEO cited a large influx of new users after OpenAI’s “DevDay” event which created a ton of congestion on the OpenAI network, with Plus and API users experiencing trouble with speeds and results.

ChatGPT has exponentially grown over the last year with its current active user base sitting around 180 million according to Reuters. This is both good and bad news for OpenAI.

On the one hand so many people are using this cutting-edge technology because of its accessibility. On the other hand, they will struggle to onboard new users due to the significant gap in quality between the model available for free and the paid model.

With X’s Grok AI right around the corner and Google’s Bard on OpenAI’s heels, it’s tough to say where ChatGPT will stand a year from now.

One thing is for certain, AI development is only going to continue to exponentially ramp up over time.

Decent Media Publication

Decent bits from a Decent Publication.

Dollar One of Sale One: How Independent Musicians Are Rewriting the Record Industry (part 2)

Author: MacEwen Patterson, Gauss CBDO

I recently wrote (in part 1 of this article) about the traditional structure of recording contracts and how difficult it is for recording artists to thrive financially under those arrangements. Here in part 2 we’ll look at new financial models artists can strike to put themselves in a better position.

In recent years, many recording artists have sought alternative distribution models that allow them to retain more control over their earnings, bypassing some of the traditional deductions associated with recoupment, shrinkage, and breakage since digital products don’t have the same issues as physical ones. This shift has empowered artists to access their revenue more quickly and enjoy a fairer share of their music’s success.

While there have been historical challenges with traditional music industry contracts, some recording artists have been able to negotiate more artist-friendly deals or explore alternative arrangements that allow them to participate in the revenue from the very beginning of their music sales. Here are some examples of how recording artists can benefit from partnering with distributors or labels and participate in “dollar one of sale one”…

Read the full article here: https://medium.com/decent-media/dollar-one-of-sale-one-how-independent-musicians-are-rewriting-the-record-industry-part-2-69fec021afe1

Innovagination

Get your mind out of the gutter — It’s the intersection of innovation and imagination.

Blockchain Mad Mainstream: Disney Teams Up with Dapper Labs on App Store Launch

Disney is back in web3 and this time it seems like they have a plan to reach the masses.

Disney and Dapper Labs are making waves in the digital collectibles arena with their new venture, Disney Pinnacle. This platform, weaving the magic of Disney, Pixar, and Star Wars into the tech of web3, promises a whole new world of digital pin collecting on the Flow blockchain.

Helmed by Dapper Labs' CEO, Roham Gharegozlou, Disney Pinnacle is more than just another dApp; it's a platform that has the potential to bring new users to blockchain technology.

By launching on the App Store later this year, it brings Disney’s audience to the web3 arena through a familiar interface. This initiative is potentially a cultural game-changer, setting the stage for how legacy brands can ingeniously tap into blockchain's potential to craft immersive, interactive fan experiences.

The bar for blockchain platforms will forever be risen. The accessibility that the Apple App Store offers is unmatched in a world where they dominate the smart device industry.

This is a bullish signal for the web3 ecosystem, highlighting the endless possibilities when traditional media giants meet the innovative world of blockchain technology.

For those unfamiliar with Dapper Labs, they are well-known in the NFT space due to their collaboration with large brands like the NBA, NFL, and La Liga in Spain.

The key is to get them launching on the correct blockchain… Gauss!

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Tech Trends

For that cousin at holiday dinners.

Enter Enterprise: Consensys Partners with Microsoft, Tencent, Others

In a landmark move reshaping the blockchain landscape, Consensys has teamed up with tech titans Microsoft and Tencent, along with 16 other players, to launch a Decentralized Infura Network (DIN). This venture is supposed to be a significant change, steering away from the centralized model that once drew skepticism, and instead, laying the foundation for a more resilient, decentralized internet infrastructure.

At the heart of this collaboration is a shared vision: to bolster the Ethereum network and other major blockchains with a decentralized Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service. This will equip developers with the tools they need for more reliable and efficient blockchain development.

Also, DIN introduces an essential failover feature for Ethereum and Polygon networks, ensuring that applications keep running smoothly even during outages.

This initiative isn't just a technological leap; it's a nod to the core ethos of Ethereum and Web3 – collaboration over competition. The question is, how interconnected are the 16 entities in the partnership?

I haven’t done the research yet, but I’ll get back to you next week with more information.

The partnership, announced at the Decentralized RPC Summit in Istanbul, is just the starting line. As DIN evolves, it's set to embrace more members and move towards a progressively decentralized model, making it a beacon of cooperative innovation in the blockchain world.

Read a longer story on this from Cointelegraph HERE

Gaussian Gazette

Your favorite brand will build on Gauss one day.

The Lever has Been Pulled: Gauss Mainnet Launches, More Updates

In the dynamic world of blockchain, even the best-laid plans can encounter unexpected twists. While testing their blockchain client, the team uncovered an issue that couldn't be ignored, especially since it affected error message delivery crucial for CryptoLink's operations.

This discovery necessitated an upgrade to their blockchain client and a migration to a new chain. But, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and this one brings a host of upgrades and fixes!

For those who crave the details, Gauss has provided a comprehensive breakdown:

- The New Gauss Mainnet is now live! It's operational but brace for a few final server upgrades causing brief downtimes.

- Everything from the old Mainnet, including balances, contracts, NFTs, and tokens, has been migrated over. But, the transaction history starts anew on the new chain.

- Curious about past transactions? The Old Mainnet Explorer remains accessible for a short period.

 OLD EXPLORER: https://explorer.premigration.gaussgang.com/

- The New Gauss Mainnet Explorer is up and running.

 NEW EXPLORER: https://explorer.gaussgang.com/

For GANG, distributions have resumed – check your updated balances in the Explorer or your wallet.

In the upcoming days, get ready for NobleSwap and GUD to go live. The launch of GUD hinges on CryptoLink's workload but is almost good to go. (I will personally send our developers the coffee necessary to get this done.)

Tech heads, take note: The Gauss Mainnet essentials like Chain ID and RPC URL haven't changed. However, for those using wallets like Metamask, a reset of your activity/transaction history is recommended.

Questions?

The Gauss team is ready to engage in their main chat. Stay tuned for more updates and official announcements for when everything is fully operational.

This turn of events for Gauss Mainnet is a reminder of the ever-evolving nature of blockchain technology. Challenges like these are not setbacks but opportunities for growth, learning, and ensuring a robust and future-ready platform.

CryptoLink Connect

These guys make “cross-chain” as easy as opening Chain Reaction.

Ethereum Is Here: Launch Party on X With Giveaway

The time has finally come.

When this reaches your inbox, we will be five and a half hours away from CryptoLink launching on Ethereum.

The lever will be pulled at 12 PM Eastern time.

We are incredibly excited as this has been a long time coming. The launch comes with a $100 giveaway that requires a little work on X to enter. Check out the post below to enter and get the link to the launch party with the Pulse community!

Tell your friends that the fastest bridge in web3 is now on the biggest chain! See you in the X space tonight at 7PM Eastern!

Final Byte: Wally’s Wisdom

What a week! I want to thank all our new subscribers again. Every week I do my best to bring you the good stuff, so you don’t have to sift through all of it yourself!

There is a lot going on in the world of web3 so be sure to stay vigilant and always double check what you are clicking. As the charts continue to look green, we will see the grifters start making their way back into the space one by one.

There will be sketchy links on X, Discord, and Telegram and plenty of frauds mixed in with the good stuff being built.

Don’t let the threat of scams keep you from learning more about the latest and greatest in the blockchain world, just be sure to keep yourself secure when traversing the wild west of social media and messaging apps.

If you are just coming back to web3 and looking for relevant content, search no further. Every day at 4PM EST I co-host a space on X with two very cool individuals in the web3 space.

Follow the X accounts below and tune into The Cigar Lounge daily. we bring on projects to pitch, moderate battles between blockchain communities, turn haters into believers, and about anything else you could want to see on a space.

I love you all!

I will talk to you next week, or in a space on X if you pop in!

Best,

Wally
Marketing/Branding - CryptoLink.Tech
Co-Founder - Decent Media

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If you are catching today’s edition on the web and you are not already subscribed, do us a favor and click the button below! Subscribing is free and it is the #1 way to support the Chain Reaction newsletter. In the future, we will be exploring the possibility of subscriber and referral rewards.