Quick question before we get into the meat today.

We want to get new subs here for this newsletter and for DR as a whole. To that end, I'm thinking of creating something that persuades people to sign up.

A simple lead magnet.

I wondered what would be the lead magnet you would most want and would persuade you to sign up for this.

If you could hit reply or tweet us at @DecReviews / @HeyPJB, that would be a huge help.

Cheers!

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Quick hits

• ​Deutsche Bank applies for digital asset license in Germany - Deutsche Bank, the largest bank in Germany with over $1.3 trillion in assets, applies for a digital asset license. Great news to see more tradfi adopt more blockchain solutions.
• ​Alibaba appoints crypto friendly chairman - Joseph Tsai has just been appointed as the new chairman for Chinese mega-brand Alibaba. If you don't know, Tsai is a proponent and supporter of blockchain and crypto. Being appointed to the top seat in a company with so much influence within China might be the initial domino that helps China more freely adopt crypto.
• ​Etherscan adds ChatGPT support - I absolutely hate having to figure out on-chain explorers. They have to be among the most annoying elements of Web3 in terms of UX. Good news is, Etherscan has implemented OpenAI's ChatGPT to read on-chain data and allow people to easily query it. Should make research and dev teams happy.

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Is TradFi the key to more blockchain adoption?

The way I see it, there are 2 major issues with growing Web3 as an industry.

1. Trust
2. User experience

Trust is a weird issue to overcome. We're working on some elements here at DR to help build more trust.

But there's an element of mass adoption that also needs to happen. People tend to follow the crowd, and if we can get X thousand or million people using Web3 projects daily that's a signal to others in the space.

The other issue is UX.

I saw a fun picture from Aram on LinkedIn earlier which highlights the issue many projects face.

But let's get back to the point. What does this have to do with crypto?

Outside of the Web3 maxis, people don't care if the project uses an L2 scaling solution, ZK proof or anything else on-chain.

In Web 2.0, no one cares if your website is on AWS, what CDN you use, or if it's Stripe who processes your checkout payments.

What they want is to send money faster. They want their data to be kept more securely. They want to do things cheaper.

Blockchain (and crypto in particular) has an issue with being overly complex in their UX and their descriptions. We all put the tech first and foremost.

Which, thanks to a lot of the bad press blockchain gets, is a deterrent to many.

Add to that the insanely complex onboarding for many crypto and blockchain projects and you have a recipe for disaster.

Where does tradfi come into this?

Well, in the last few days there's been some big tradfi announcements including...

• ​Blackrock filing for Bitcoin ETF
• ​Deutsche Bank filing for digital assets licence
• Santander tweeting about Lightning network

There's more movement from TradFi to incorporate blockchain elements in their business.

So why is this good for the industry?

Well, let's first assess the UX issue.

These banks and institutions have an established user experience. Often it's sub-par (IMHO), but it's an experience their users know how to navigate.

By implementing blockchain elements into their current offerings, it acts as almost a bridge between the existing UX and the UX needed for blockchain solutions.

It's basically an easier portal to onboard people into Web3.

Is it perfect?

No.

But it's better than trying to get some of the less tech-savvy members of society to forget the actions they've spent years learning in favour of picking up a more complex approach to engaging online.

Then we come to the trust element.

Blockchain projects (especially crypto) have a low trust score with the majority of non Web3 users.

We can tell them about the verifiable transactions and immutability of records till we're blue in the face. But they won't listen.

But when the organisations they trust on a daily basis with their most valued assets mention how they're leveraging the tech to offer a better service, it'll get them to listen.

Maybe not believe, but listen.

And that's the first step in growing the industry.

If we can get even 10% of the established TradFi users to believe in blockchain, we'll have what we need to start a snowball of trust and community building in the space. Which, of course, will benefit the industry as a whole.

I'm not saying that we should focus on TradFi.

What I am saying is that the recent promotion of blockchain and positive signals from TradFi will do far more for mass acceptance and usage moving forwards.

It might seem a step backward for many, but it's what's needed to build trust and usability in the space.

Tweet me your thoughts at @DecReviews or @HeyPJB​

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Featured projects

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

• ​Streamflow - Streamflow is a token vesting and payroll solution for Web3 brands. Basically offering what I mentioned above. A much easier UX to achieve your payment goals in Web3.
• ​Binance - The big daddy of exchanges. Binance has one of the best examples of using understood and commonplace UX to onboard more users.
• ​Coinify - A really simple and easy-to-use payment gateway that helps brands and creators to accept crypto-focused payments for their brands online.

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