We Spoke To An IRL Spiderwoman 😉

Good morning, folks!

🤗Welcome to Switch Daily.

We’re officially at the end of a slow week. But, Web3 never ceases to amaze us—like this Mango case. Defi platform Mango got hacked for $100 million; the hacker proposed to return most of it if the DAO voted against pressing charges, and then—get this—used the coins he stole to vote in his favor. Aam aadmi, he is not! 😂

Here’s what we have for you today:

• Market pulse

• Web3 future

• News that makes noise

• Creator's Spotlight

• Community of the week

• The Crypto Comic

Market pulse 📈

The market’s also excited for the weekend 😁

The crypto market was steady during Thursday's session as the total market cap hovered in the $920-$950 billion range. The top 10 cryptos posted marginal gains in the last 24 hours with Bitcoin and XRP leading the charts.

Despite the tech-heavy NASDAQ ending the day with a 2.23% gain, the crypto market failed to capture the positive momentum. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures investor sentiment in the market continues to be in the extreme fear zone.

An OG’s Web3 Story

Yo folks! It’s a Friyayyy. The glorious day of the week, when Switch Daily goes out of the ordinary and brings you some 🔥hot takes from some really cool peeps.😎

This week, we spoke to Gyanlakshmi, an IRL spider woman who helped spin India’s Web3 story. She’s an ancient Web3 believer and today she spills the beans on all the what’s and why’s of Web3.

Who is Gyanlakshmi, though?

🚀Gyanlakshmi, a.k.a Gyan, is an OG woman leader in the Web3 space. She has been around since 2016.

🚀She co-founded Pheonix Guild—a community built to foster education and diversity in web3.

🚀She empowers women and non-binary folks #buildoors to hop onto the Web3 space.

🚀She’s even written a book on Machine Learning before her Web3 entry.

🚀A super active member of the Women in Web3 community.

Now that we know who Gyan is let’s dig into what she has to say about India’s Web3 scene.

💥Hey Gyan, you’ve been into Web3 even before it was called Web3. What got you interested in this technology?

Funny that you have to mention it, I’ve been around for about eight years now, and back then, it wasn’t called Web3; people called it other things like DLT i.e., Distributed Ledger Technology. I thought DLT would stick around coz I love acronyms, but I guess people warmed up to Web3.

Circling back to why I got into this technology—I did not want to be another corporate rat, no offense. I wanted to be at the forefront of emerging technology and the education space. This is one space where the world has come together to innovate and that makes me bullish on Web3.

💥You’re in the education space of Web3. What percentage of Web2 folks do you think are aware of Web3 and how many are willing to make the switch?

The level of awareness differs based on each geographical location. If we take countries like the US, since there is some regulatory clarity around the field, more people are aware of Web3.

But in developing countries like ours, people are less aware—maybe 60-65% of the Web2 folks are aware of the emerging technologies. The number could be slightly higher, but only 1/3rd of those who are aware show some interest in switching to Web3. Women are, especially, more reluctant than men.

💥And, why do you think Indian women are more hesitant towards adopting Web3 and crypto?

Firstly, it’s very difficult to find women leaders in this space, especially those in the core tech. There is a rise in non-tech women exploring Web3, but the core technology still has a big gender gap. There could be many reasons why, but some of what I’ve heard are:

• Switching to Web3 is a steep learning curve, and women have to spend extra time to upskill themselves along with working a full-time job. Most women don’t have the luxury of time due to personal commitments.

• They come with a fear of stability—given the regulatory scene in India, women don’t feel safe to take a leap from Web2 to Web3.

To solve this, we need more voices talking about the opportunities Web3 can provide. We spend a lot of time talking about the what of Web3, it may be time to start conversations around the why of Web3. When women or anyone are aware of why the technology is great, it won’t take long for them to choose between Web2 and Web3.

💥What gets people interested in Web3?

Well, there are three ways people get into Web3:

1. The traders/investors - They get into crypto with the goal of making money and then learn about Web3 as a technology.

2. The Opportunists - Some folks explore the web3 space because it is very lucrative. There are good chances of making money if you have some niché skills in this industry.

1. The OGs - This is a very small bunch, but these are the folks who came in for the ethos of the technology and have stayed through thick and thin. These are the go-to folks for mentorship.

So, many folks explore Web3 for various reasons, but in the end, what matters is they all become a part of the community and BUIDL.

Well, that was Gyan for you folks! While you ponder over these deep thoughts, share this issue with your fellow Web3 bruhs and shout out to Gyan and us. It’s very simple, just click on the SM icon on the top left of this email and tag CoinSwitchKuber and Gyanlakshmi. Thanks!

Creator’s Spotlight 📹

Meet the metaverse with Crypto Kranthi. This week our editor-in-chief takes us through all things metaverse with some amazing industry experts like Farheen Ahmed, Himanshu Goel and Prakhar.

Aur, Batao! 😀

⚡Bitcoin’s Lightning Network made a blunder

Lightning Network, a network meant to improve Bitcoin’s efficiency, recently missed an entire block due to a complex multi-signature (multi-sig) transaction implemented as a crash test. This, in turn, caused the network’s nodes to fall out of sync with Bitcoin, the blockchain it runs on. Read more.

🏦America’s oldest bank starts crypto custody services

Institutional adoption of crypto is catching on, and America’s oldest banking corporation, the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), has joined in. Starting this week, the bank will provide custody for BTC and ETH. Read more.

💰Crypto startup raises funds worth $18.1 million

Amid the ongoing crypto market crash, a Singapore-based crypto investment startup has managed to raise $18.1 million in a Series A funding round. The startup called Pillow is a digital asset management platform. It has three Indian co-founders, Arindam Roy, Rajath KM and Kartik Mishra. Read more.

🇰🇵Crypto meme attack on North Korean scams

The crypto community has bombarded North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with a series of memes. The meme attack comes in response to North Korea launching cyber attacks on crypto exchanges in 2022. Read more.

Okay now shout out time! 

Community Spotlight 💥

This week on our community spotlight we introduce Web3 Bharat.

A community on a mission to bring Web3 to India, including Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. They dream of making India ONE (Opportunity, Network, and Education) in Web3 to resonate India in one voice. And, you can find Web3 Bharat in 30+ cities.

They are hosting a workshop on building a Voting app on Polygon.

Or if you are interested in learning Web3, you can join their #30daysinWeb3 event.

Check it out! 👇🏽You can win an NFT on completion too.

The Crypto Comic

Well, that's a wrap for today!

Have a good weekend. See you Monday! 👋🏽

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