It's often hard to keep your chin up with all of the FUD in this space. It feels like every day we're facing some new form of regulatory issue, negative sentiment, or declining numbers.

Here's the thing. There is, in my opinion, still a lot to be positive about.

There's some negative-sounding news in the main analysis today. But, I want to dig into it and see what it might really mean for us in the space. I'm also adding in a couple of the more positive pieces to show it ain't all doom and gloom.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to tweet any questions to @HeyPJB or @Decreviews.

Quick hits

• ​EU launches EDIC - Which stands for the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium. It's apparently due to start running by 2024 and there's going to be a strong focus on blockchain. Specifically, blockchain policy. It might not sound exciting, but this development helps legitimise blockchain for many and basically brings the industry's needs and development to the forefront to a major economical zone.
• ​Decentralized ID uptake down to culture? - An interesting analysis of digital IDs and whether decentralization uptake is down to culture. We're moving towards a world where a lot of ID and payment solutions are stored on phones. Apparently, in areas of the world where trust in financial institutions and other centralized entities is high, they're happy for them to manage the IDs. And in other areas of the world where trust in institutions is low, people prefer decentralized IDs. Thoughts?
• ​Mastercard files blockchain trademark - A good signal by anyone's measure. Looks like they're filing a trademark for blockchain to verify transactions, which is obvs one of the best choices for financial institutions.

Blockchain jobs down... but is it all doom and gloom?

Look, it's no secret the last 12 months have been hard for any tech-based business.

We've seen tens of thousands of jobs axed from huge brands like Meta, Amazon, Twitter and more.

The market's been crazy tough for many, and Web3 is no different.

A recent report from CoinCub shows how jobs in the space are down a whopping 40% from 2022.

Asia appears to have the lowest drop. But there are a very small number of countries who have seen an increase in jobs.

Japan's in the news a lot lately with a decent amount of innovation and growth in the space.

Uzbekistan and Australia less so, but it's always good to see some form of growth.

Here's the thing. This piece of news is going to be thrown around and used as a sign of the "end of blockchain" and all that.

Personally, I don't buy it.

The fact is loads of tech-related industries have been hit recently.

In fact, according to Nerd Wallet by June 1st 2023, 726 tech companies laid off workers in 2023 alone.

January this year saw 7X more layoffs than in Dec 2022. Crazy, right?

The question is, why?

Well, the economy is one big factor. A lot of brands are having to tighten their belts in anticipation of increased costs.

The tough economic conditions are also making it harder to raise capital. Which means brands are having to operate leaner operations.

When you couple this with the manic hiring spree many brands (in Web 2.0 and Web3) went on through to 2021, it's a recipe for disaster.

Bloated employee counts meets the need to save costs.

Usually, the first cost-saving methods are hiring freezes and reduction of oversized teams.

What I'm trying to say is, yes, jobs in Web3 are down. But they are across tech.

This isn't a Web3 issue but a wider economic issue that, we in Web3, are seeing impact us.

Don't believe this is the end of Web3. I think it's simply a necessary balancing while money is harder to come by.

What's your thoughts on this?

Regulation in Web3... is it for the best?

I know, I know.

A lot of people want there to be zero regulation in the Web3 space. Decentralization and freedom are top of many people's minds.

It's why I was surprised to read that Elke Karskens, U.K. director at Coinbase, was hammering home the need for regulations in crypto. Especially with the regulatory issues crypto is facing in the US.

Elke goes on to explain how she believes regulation is going to inform the success of the industry long term, IF it doesn't stifle growth.

That's a big if.

At first, I wasn't sure. but the more I think and read around this the more sense it makes.

A lot of the innovation comes from teams looking to build great solutions to existing problems by leveraging blockchain in new ways.

To build great solutions, they often have to raise money.

Whether raising money from VCs or from their audience, traction and user base is a key indicator on whether this is a smart investment.

An easy way to get a bigger user base? Pay them with a token or currency.

In the crypto boom, you had people getting thousands and thousands of users simply by offering a token.

Did the project have any long-term plans or utility? Often no.

Investors - both VCs and user base - are a little more sceptical of projects with massive user numbers because they could be inflated through token sales rather than users of the project.

I read an interesting take from Martin El-Khouri, a senior director at Bertelsmann Investments.

There were two quotes in this that stood out to me. First...

Definitely a good point. The need for an investor is to get a return. If they invest $Y, they want $Y + 1 back.

The other quote that stood out to me was...

Together, these paint an interesting picture. Investors of all kinds are looking at the foundations of a project (or should be) more closely.

They want to understand the real position of the brand's growth and whether or not it's going to hit issues that could sink it down the line.

Regulation of certain elements makes that assessment easier to perform and, as a result, investments easier to authorise.

Which basically means that good projects built on a solid foundation should be able to raise more money to fund the next stage of development and innovation.

Theoretically.

What's your take? Would regulation help, or hinder innovation in the space?

Featured projects

A couple of cool projects I think you should be aware of.

• ​MetaIntro - On the job front, MetaIntro is a community designed to help people find and secure Web3 jobs.
• ​Helika - Helika is a community management and analytics platform. If you run a community, Helika can help you better engage and understand your user base.
• ​Krebit - Krebit allows users to create a "Web3 passport" of verified credentials. Great for those looking to build a resume or portfolio for better job matching.

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