Why Ethereum's founder remains optimistic

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Catch up on the past week in crypto in 10 mins or less. Here's what we're covering today:

• What excites Vitalik about the ETH ecosystem⚡

• SBF can't stop tweeting 🐤

• More from around the web 🗞️

WHAT HAS ETHEREUM'S FOUNDER EXCITED?

On Sunday, Ethereum's famous founder, Vitalik Buterin, posted on his blog for the first time in almost a month.

Following the fall of FTX among many other exchanges and crypto lending platforms, in a year when markets are down sharply from failed crypto projects like Terra/Luna and macroeconomic factors causing market decline, it can be hard to find something to be excited about.  Especially in the crypto markets. But that isn't stopping Vitalik Buterin, who's been around for several crypto market crashes. He remains optimistic.

Vitalik's post highlights 5 things that he's excited about within the Ethereum ecosystem. Although, as opposed to times in the past, he's not excited about things that might happen in the future, he's excited about what there already is and how it can grow. Here's what he's excited about:

1/Money - The most classic example of a use case for Ethereum, Vitalik is still excited about this for a few reasons.

• Crypto provides protection against de-platforming

• Stablecoins are not volatile and are resistant to censorship

• Makes donations more convenient

• It can still be private in a fully cashless society

2/DeFi - Although the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem has gotten out of control over the past two years with unsustainable promises of yields, there are a few redeeming products in the ecosystem.

• Decentralized stablecoins are by far the most important product, allowing for a system of money completely free of centralization.

• Prediction markets are mad more globally accessible and trustworthy

• Other real-world assets like stock markets and real estate can follow the same formula of stablecoins

• Efficient trading between currencies

3/The ID ecosystem - Differing types of identification like attestations, names, proof of personhood, and basic authentications can be done on chain, and keep track of all proofs. Doing this not on-chain would be near impossible and allows for smoother identifications across all sorts of systems.

4/DAOs - Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) represent a structure of ownership and governance, owned by token holders of the organization. They can protect against inside threats by decentralizing power and cause organizations to act more efficiently by allowing organizations to make decisions quickly via token votes.

5/Hybrid applications - These include applications that are improved by being on-chain but not completely taken over by it.  This includes things like voting, gaming, accounting, supply chain applications, and registries. 

SBF JUST KEEPS TWEETING

The ousted CEO of the bankrupt exchange FTX has been on a media tour of sorts recently.  Taking interviews with several national media outlets, some see Sam Bankman-Fried's public comments as a ploy to claim ignorance in criminal trials (if they ever come). 

Now, after going quiet on social media less than a month ago following the speedy collapse of his crypto empire, SBF is back on social media again, Tweeting like he never left. Except this time, he's defending himself in a very public manner, with some shocking revelations.

Here are a few of the things that have happened in the last week:

• SBF & Rep. Maxine Waters had a back and forth over the past week about coming to testify in front of the House Committee on Financial Services on 12/13. SBF has now agreed to participate.

• SBF & Binance founder, CZ had a back and forth earlier today, arguing about how Binance exited their position in FTX. The thread began when CZ accused Kevin O'Leary of taking payment to lobby for SBF publicly.

• SBF has been accused by several sources of manipulating markets and potentially causing the crash of the Terra/Luna ecosystem from Alameda. Zhu Su, founder of 3AC, the hedge fund that went down shortly after the collapse of Terra/Luna, has now accused SBF of "hunting" him through the media. SBF has responded in kind. Who to believe?

• Now he wants to restart the exchange?! I mean, seriously, who lets this guy Tweet? SBF replied to crypto influencer @crytpomanran after he suggested that FTX should restart with the same scheme but pay out all profits to token holders.

Who knows what SBF's strategy is here. Some seem to think he's being truthful and feels sorry, some claim he's trying to save face, and others think he's trying to build a case for ignorance and incompetence in a potential criminal trial. Whatever it is, its really hard not to watch the train wreck that is his public appearances and tweets.

More from around the web(3)

Looks like the bottom is in.. Jim Cramer urges investors to exit crypto – ‘it’s never too late to sell’ - Cramer made these remarks warning about several different cryptocurrencies after speaking about Fed tightening. 

Binance's Bitcoin Reserves Are Overcollateralized, New Report Says - The report from Mazars said Binance's in-scope assets exceeded its total platform liabilities. The report is not an official audit however, and has been called "worthless" by Francine Mckenna, an industry expert.

New FTX CEO Testimony ‘False,’ Bankman-Fried Says - SBF is claiming that John J. Ray's testimony of lack of record keeping is false, saying that documents did exists.

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