The Fed Boosts Solana, Solana Enters Professional Soccer & More

Welcome back!

This is J264G and this week I’ve got these titbits for you:

• Crypto Safari: What Solana DeFi can learn from Africa.

• Professional Soccer: Superteam brings Solana to professional soccer.

• Solana Curriculum: FPT University pilots Solana internship course.

I’m not getting involved in the Eclipse kerfuffle.

But I’ll +1 what Chris says ⬇️

Why? Well, because Solana got that settlement rizz.

The stars are aligning 🫡

Let’s get into it!

Click on any underlined heading / hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Crypto Safari

My professor of economics used to say that, inherently, there are two types of products and services: vitamins and painkillers.

Vitamins are products and services that are “nice to have” and not really necessary, such as a Birkin bag, Rolex, PlayStation 5, spa treatments, or omakase. Painkillers, on the other hand, are products and services which are always needed and popular — regardless of the economic climate. Among these are grocery staples, petrol/gas, rental units, basic banking services, or prescription medicine.

Particularly in Africa, people overindex on painkillers.

Why?

Well, most regions in Africa are classified as “low income” with limited spending power — so people don't really have the time of day to think about frivolous things.

Just recently I went on a safari in Southern Africa — Namibia, South Africa, and Kenya.

In Kenya, I came across a mobile service I've never heard of before: M-Pesa.

M-Pesa is a financial service for unbanked and underbanked people in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Tanzania, and various other African countries which doesn’t require an Internet connection – just a basic old school mobile phone (think Nokia 3310) with a mobile plan.

M-Pesa | Key Features:

• Deposit & Withdrawal: Users can deposit money into their M-Pesa accounts at authorised agents (often small shops or businesses) and withdraw cash from these agents as well.

• Bill Payments: Moreover, M-Pesa can also be used to pay bills, such as utilities and school fees.

• Money Transfer: Users can send money to family members, friends, or anyone with a mobile phone, whether they have an M-Pesa account or not.

• International Remittances: In some countries, M-Pesa can be used for international remittances, allowing users to receive money from family members working abroad.

• Savings & Loans: Some versions of M-Pesa also offer additional microservices, e.g. allowing users to save money and access small loans through their mobile phones.

• Merchant Payments: Lastly, M-Pesa is widely accepted by merchants and businesses, enabling users to pay for goods and services at most venues.

Generally speaking, M-Pesa has had a transformative impact on financial inclusion.

But what does all this have to do with web3/crypto, though?

Services such as M-Pesa are referred to as “mobile money,” and about a third of adults in sub-Saharan Africa now have a mobile money account. Having said that, mobile money doesn’t provide the global interoperability inherent to digital assets such as stablecoins and Bitcoin.

Consequently, this is one of many white spaces which begs to be disrupted by DeFi.

I can hear you thinking: “Well, how profitable can a financial service for low-income countries really be?!”

** drum roll **

Based on Safaricom’s results, we can expect a conservative profit margin of 30%, which would imply that M-Pesa brought in a profit of ~$266 million in 2022.

This makes M-Pesa more profitable than all DeFi protocols on Solana — combined.

M-Pesa and the like are exactly the types of “painkiller” businesses we should be building.

Mainly, because Solana is primed for all things payments — as highlighted in our previous newsletter.

It's up to us to leverage the network to free payments from the grasp of the traditional financial system, which is based on murkiness, inequality, and predatory fees.

So let’s get cooking! 👨‍🍳

Numbers Of The Week

News Bites

Tokenization Discussions: In a paper, the Federal Reserve Board discusses tokenization, and its potential benefits and financial stability implications. In this context, the board also highlights permissionless blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

Professional Soccer: Xolos, a professional soccer club based in Tijuana, has partnered with Superteam Mexico to bring unique Solana-powered experiences to its dedicated fanbase.

Solana Curriculum: FPT University is piloting an internship programme with Superteam Vietnam which enables students to gain credits for learning about and building on Solana.

Levelling Up: With Light 3, one single Solana transaction can now include atomic zk-SNARK verification (instant settlement, full composability), private state compression (zero state cost), and atomic Merkle tree updates.

Web3 Linktree: Phantom rolled out Shortcuts, basically an in-wallet Linktree for NFTs. As such, Shortcuts allow developers to push interactive experiences straight to the wallet of NFT holders — further enhancing community interactivity, while reducing phishing and scamming.

Caught In 4K

Weekly Take

Keks & Giggles

And that's a wrap!

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Talk soon!

J264G

_{DISCLAIMER
None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research. Lastly, please be advised that we discuss products and services from our partners from which our team members may hold tokens / equity.}