{"id":14575,"date":"2023-01-20T21:47:39","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T21:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/01\/20\/can-we-get-more-crypto-partnerships-and-less-crypto-layoffs-please\/"},"modified":"2023-01-20T21:47:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T21:47:40","slug":"can-we-get-more-crypto-partnerships-and-less-crypto-layoffs-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/01\/20\/can-we-get-more-crypto-partnerships-and-less-crypto-layoffs-please\/","title":{"rendered":"Can we get more crypto partnerships and less crypto layoffs, please?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/01\/12\/can-we-get-more-crypto-partnerships-and-less-crypto-layoffs-please\/<\/a><\/br>
\nCan we get more crypto partnerships and less crypto layoffs, please?<\/br>
\n2023-01-20 21:47:39<\/br><\/p>\n

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To get a roundup of TechCrunch\u2019s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m. PT,<\/em>\u00a0subscribe here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome back to Chain Reaction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the first time in a long time, there was less talk circulating about a certain three-letter crypto exchange, ahem, FTX. But of course, that didn\u2019t last long as the former FTX CEO (who also goes by three letters \u2014 SBF) created a Substack<\/a> and shared his perspective on Thursday \u2014 in a 2,300-word overview \u2014 detailing what FTX and Alameda were \u201cpre-mortem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past seven days, there have also been a handful of cuts announced across the crypto space, from the second-largest exchange Coinbase cutting 20% of its workforce<\/a> to NFT marketplace SuperRare axing 30% of its staff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is Coinbase\u2019s second round of major layoffs, after eliminating 18% of its employees, or about 1,100 jobs last June, but there was \u201cno way to reduce our expenses significantly enough, without considering changes to headcount,\u201d Coinbase co-founder and chief executive Brian Armstrong wrote in a post<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Amid the doomy and gloomy sentiment from these layoffs, a number of market players were trying to help<\/a> those affected by the cuts, including Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, who tweeted<\/a>, \u201cIf you are a departing Coinbase employee, reach out! I would love to find you a home in the ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n

See, not all hope in humanity has to be lost.<\/p>\n

It was also a big week for partnerships as more crypto companies joined forces with mainstream Web 2.0 and financial companies like AWS and Mastercard. But instead of saying more here, I\u2019ll let the stories speak for themselves. Read more about them below.<\/p>\n

This week in web3<\/strong><\/h3>\n

AWS partners with Avalanche to scale blockchain solutions for enterprises, governments<\/a><\/p>\n

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has partnered with Ava Labs, the company building out layer-1 blockchain Avalanche, to help scale blockchain adoption across enterprises, institutions and governments, the two firms exclusively told TechCrunch. \u201cLooking forward, web3 and blockchain is inevitable,\u201d Howard Wright, VP and global head of startups at AWS, said to TechCrunch. \u201cNo one can call the time or date or quarter that it\u2019s going to happen and it\u2019ll be mainstream, but we\u2019ve seen the cycles of growth before. The velocity of this one seems like it\u2019s accelerating and we\u2019re just excited to be a part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

6 crypto investors talk about DeFi and the road ahead for adoption in 2023<\/a> (TC+)<\/p>\n

The crypto venture capital industry has become more selective thanks to the general market downturn and wavering trust caused by a slew of scandals and market disruptions, but investors at major firms are still writing checks in the space. As the market looks toward the future, some venture capitalists are revamping their investing strategies, while others are holding to their current plans, with perhaps a small tweak or two. Read on to find out how active investors are thinking about DeFi, how they\u2019re advising their portfolio companies amid the lack of funding, the best way to approach them and more.<\/p>\n

Mastercard launches web3-focused artist incubator with Polygon<\/a><\/p>\n

Mastercard, one of the biggest financial payments providers in the world, is launching a web3-focused incubator to help artists connect with fans through a new medium, the company shared. Mastercard partnered with Polygon, a scaling blockchain built on top of Ethereum, which has been making huge strides in the Web 2.0 ecosystem lately. After joining the incubator, participating artists should know how to mint NFTs, represent themselves in virtual worlds and establish a community, Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard, said to TechCrunch.<\/p>\n

Web3-focused Beacon launches flagship demo day with 13 crypto startups<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019re only in the second week of 2023, but demo days have already begun as founders try to keep momentum alive in the ever-changing crypto market. Beacon, a web3-focused early-stage accelerator program, launched last year, and its flagship cohort just graduated. The teams in the first cohort, known as Cohort 0, presented their ideas on Tuesday during a demo day, exclusively covered by TechCrunch.<\/p>\n

When it comes to web3, investors say they\u2019re in it for the long haul<\/a> (TC+)<\/p>\n

Hyped or not, web3 companies seem like they\u2019re here to stay, and investors seem more than willing to keep backing them. To get a better idea of how the people writing the checks are thinking about web3, TechCrunch surveyed more than 35 investors, and it turns out the majority are not only actively investing in the category, they also harbor hopes of a shining future for what they feel is a potentially transformative technology.<\/p>\n

The latest pod<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Chain Reaction is back in action with the launch of Season 2!<\/p>\n

For this week\u2019s episode<\/a>, I talked to Ryan Wyatt, president of Polygon Labs, one of the biggest market shakers and layer-2 blockchains in the crypto space that\u2019s building on top of the Ethereum ecosystem.<\/p>\n

The past year has been huge for Polygon as it partnered with big-brand names like Starbucks<\/a>, Disney and Mastercard<\/a> to launch loyalty rewards and accelerator programs. Now, Polygon is looking to 2023 and new opportunities, and Wyatt shares what\u2019s in store for it and how the space still has room to grow.<\/p>\n

We also discussed:<\/p>\n