I am so annoyed by this right now

This 5min read will get you updated on:

• Trump's crypto shenanigans have the market in a tizzy, but don't panic - we've seen weirder stuff before.

• XRP and Cardano are suddenly the new cool kids? We're diving into why these coins made Trump's "strategic reserve" list.

• Here are 2 opinions from Julius on DOGE and the macro market.

• w3.labs is cooking up something spicy in the staking world.

• Berlin Blockchain Week 2025 is about to make Cannes look like a school disco. Here's how to get in on the action and avoid FOMO.

GM GM, and happy belayed Friday (it’s Saturday actually).

Your fave w3.hubber and co-founder Henrik here, hitting you up straight from a car heading to Austria.

What's the deal, you ask? Well, I'm about to dive headfirst into a wild ride with a bunch of normies at this massive ski lodge.

And guess who's totally clueless about skiing and low-key panicking about missing out on all the juicy crypto drama? Yep, you guessed it - yours truly.

I've been glued to X and Telegram groups lately, and let me tell you, it's an absolute circus out there. We've got everything from Donald Trump (because apparently, he's determined to be relevant in every single issue of this newsletter) to the Berlin Blockchain Week drama.

Don't worry, I've got you cc’d.

I honestly don't even know how to comment on this without losing my mind. Just watch it and form your own opinion, lol. Is this real life or are we living in some bizarre crypto-themed episode of Black Mirror?

So, after I managed to scrape my jaw off the floor following the Zelensky-Trump White House fiasco and those freaky AI-generated videos on X, we got hit with a tsunami of... wait for it... positive news on Sunday afternoon (German time).

On Saturday, I was doing my due diligence – reading articles, listening to podcasts like Julius' "Alles Coin Nichts Muss" (German one, but must-listen) – trying to figure out what the heck the next few weeks might look like.

Julius dropped this nugget of wisdom: if there's no price surge after positive news, we should start worrying.

And then, like clockwork, Trump swoops in with his "positive news," and the market... well, it did something.

It's nearly impossible to think about consumer crypto when your timeline is flooded with announcements about "strategic reserves" of coins that are about as "strategic" as my late-night online shopping sprees.

But let's break down what you need to know about this mess:

We’ve heard the “strategic reserve”-part many times before.

Here's the most random part – XRP and Cardano are joining the party. Now, because our scene loves drama and many of us think XRP and Cardano (sorry, Quinn) don't really fit in that announcement, we need to open this Pandora's box and ask: why the heck did Trump pick these?

The absurdity of stockpiling XRP, ADA, SOL, and "other valuable cryptocurrencies" (as the orange man so eloquently put it) gives off strong "I'm just trying to pump prices" vibes. It's like watching a toddler play Monopoly with real money.

Trump's trying to make the USA the crypto capital of the world, even though only XRP is actually based in the States.

I'm legit worried about the impact of Trump's market manipulation.

While everyone's been low-key excited about his election since November, the whole Trump Coin fiasco has left a bad taste in our mouths.

My heart bleeds for the space I've been grinding in for years.

Where are we now? Crypto czar David Sacks shared this banger of a tweet:

If you're feeling lost in the crypto chaos and want to make sense of this market madness, fear no more.

Just like Trump, Julius Nagel, partner of our liquid token fund w3.wave, is pulling his weight in the cc'd universe. I'm always stoked to share his galaxy brain thoughts with you (but if you followed him or his newsletter, you'd get the sauce straight from the source, just saying).

Staking, baby!

Many of you probably don't know this yet, but we've been cooking up something spicy with w3.labs. While I can't spill all the tea (yet), I can tell you we've got a ✨website✨.

If you're itching to get in on the action before the big announcements…

And if you're about to burst with excitement, hit us up. We're always down to chat.

Berlin Blockchain Week 2025

Let's talk about something that's been keeping me up at night: Berlin Blockchain Week.

For days now, crypto KOLs have been ranting on X about boycotting Cannes and targeting Berlin as the next big conference destination. Why all the fuss?

ETH CC is happening in Cannes this year – and people are peeved. Cannes in July sounds ridiculously expensive and misplaced for a community/dev conference.

I'm not throwing shade at the ETH CC team – they've done an awesome job in the past.

It's just a fact that it's a pain in the neck for many (especially after Brussels last year and the recent ETH Denver drama). Again, I did not attend both, but I'm hearing the community's echoes loud and clear.

What's this got to do with us? Well, Berlin is poor but sexy. Ever heard that before?

Berlin Blockchain Week is less of a week and more of a whole month.

At least if you're looking at the event calendar in w3.hub (can’t share our internal cal, but its full full in June already).

We're hustling hard to plan and make dreams come true for anyone who wants to throw cool events in any shape or form at w3.hub (& a second location around the corner).

We're kicking off our BBW campaigns! Here's how you can get involved:

• Want to host your own event? Our event team is itching to chat.

• Wanna be an ambassador? Slide into Quinn's DMs.

• Subscribe to our Berlin Blockchain Week calendar and be the first to know when events start dropping.

Full Circle Moment at w3.hub

1. Celestia is like an OG at w3.hub – been here since the early days. And Viet is probably the loudest voice.

2. M0Labs moved into one of our private offices a few months ago and are active members of the community.

3. Nobu's been grinding at w3.hub for the past few days, and now we know why they've been pulling those long hours with us.

That’s it.

See you next week 💅🏽

And while we're at it:

I'm on LinkedIn.

I'm on X.

Just started with YouTube and thinking about how to continue it.

Always here at w3.hub.

Active in the w3.group. Follow on LinkedIn to keep up with our projects.