This makes me excited

The perfect kickoff into your week in less than 5mins:

• My Co-Founder Got Me Excited About This - Henrik's insights on DePIN and why this infrastructure model solves three critical problems traditional systems can't touch.

• We're Going to Celebrate This - Ethereum turns 10 next week! Join our celebration at w3.hub, plus my conversation with Tim Beiko about the roadmap ahead.

• What I've Learned at a VC Dinner - Key takeaways from Solana Superteam Germany's investor dinner (and which startups caught my attention)

• Nuggets You Need to Know - From Bitcoin making it to Tagesschau to The Ether Machine becoming the "MicroStrategy for ETH" with their $1.5B vehicle

• Staking Research - I'm talking to everyone about their staking habits (and my calendar is packed with your insights - thank you!)

Be sure to read until the end, as I still need more volunteers for my staking research interviews!

GM GM,

and welcome to the 20th edition of cc'd, the newsletter with absolutely zero consistency that sometimes comes out weekly and sometimes... doesn't.

As a wannabe busy founder, I'm actually proud that I've been able to maintain my streak since Berlin Blockchain Week (even if the newsletter doesn't come out on Fridays, despite me constantly communicating that it will). Ok, enough with the excuses.

This Wednesday I attended a VC dinner hosted by Solana's Superteam Germany. Besides the pitches, which I'll dive into in the following sections, I had some genuinely awesome conversations with my honorable friends from Staking Facilities.

During our convos at the table, we focused a lot on imposter syndrome, something I once wrote about in a LinkedIn post:

I've prepared several sections for you, keeping them concise so you get the perfect glimpse into my week. Because for all my experiences & learnings, I've got you cc'd.

Lately I've been reading a lot about DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks), both in our current Web3 Investor Briefing where Henrik shared some insights, and in the latest Blockworks newsletter.

For those who aren't familiar yet: DePIN basically describes projects that use crypto incentives to build and maintain physical infrastructure. Think of it as using tokens to motivate people to provide real-world services or resources, like internet coverage, computing power, or sensor data.

Henrik points out in our Web3 Investor Briefing that DePIN represents one of the most promising real-world applications for Web3 technology. The idea is simple but powerful - instead of centralized companies building infrastructure, decentralized networks of individuals can contribute resources and get rewarded with tokens. This creates more resilient, community-owned networks.

A perfect example is Helium, which started as a decentralized wireless network where people could set up hotspots in their homes and earn HNT tokens for providing coverage. While they've had their ups and downs (who hasn't in crypto?), they've actually built something tangible - a network with over 1 million hotspots worldwide.

What's interesting about Helium is that they've managed to pivot and evolve. After some struggles with their original model, they've expanded to include 5G and LoRaWAN networks, showing the adaptability that's crucial in this space.

The most compelling part of DePIN for me is that it's addressing actual real-world utility rather than just being another financial instrument. It's crypto being used to build something physical and useful, which is exactly what the space needs more of if we want mainstream adoption.

So why DePIN and why now? Honestly, it's because traditional infrastructure is kinda broken in three ways:

1. It costs a s**t ton of money upfront (hello, monopolies!). DePIN spreads these costs across thousands of participants - way more capital efficient.

2. The incentives are totally misaligned. Traditional providers want to squeeze users for max profit while doing the bare minimum. With DePIN, everyone's interests are aligned - you contribute, you benefit.

3. Innovation? What innovation? Monopolies don't need to innovate. DePIN networks are permissionless playgrounds where anyone can build and improve.

The hottest categories to watch? AI data collection (like Grass, which pays you for sharing your unused bandwidth), decentralized AI compute (48% of the DePIN market cap!), energy networks (think selling your solar panel energy back to the grid via projects like Daylight), and transportation/mapping networks using dashcams to create real-time maps.

Is DePIN the future? Maybe not in its current form, but the concept of using crypto incentives to build real-world infrastructure definitely has legs. I'm keeping my eye on this space.

For everyone who doesn't follow us on X (which I absolutely cannot understand, because the w3.hub X account is top-tier likeable. Of course, I'm biased).

But Ethereum isn't just OG and the most important of the smart contract chains - it's also still on everyone's lips.

During the Ethereum Foundations offsite at w3.hub, I had the opportunity to chat with Tim Beiko and finally got more clarity on the current Ethereum roadmap.

My personal highlight? His perspective on staking.

And as if by coincidence, Ethereum is celebrating its 10th birthday next Wednesday (July 30th). Together with ETHGlobal, we'd like to celebrate this together at w3.hub. And you're all invited:

Other updates from the Ethereum ecosystem:

Speaking of staking - first of all, a huge thank you to everyone who reached out to me after my last LinkedIn post.

My calendar looks like this almost every day. And I've already learned so much, which I'll distill into shareable learnings after a few more interviews to share with all of you. Basically, I'm trying to understand your staking behavior - so we can tailor our fresh w3.labs product exactly to your needs.

If you feel addressed and want to support, you can book a quick 20-minute slot through the comments on my LinkedIn post and answer some of my questions. Every opinion helps, regardless of your relationship with staking.

This is what I’ve learned during a VC Dinner

We are inviting you to w3.hub

Our members have been cooking

• Bitcoin made it into tagesschau (the Germans will know what I mean)

• Electric Capital argues for Ethereum as money beyond stablecoins, positioning ETH as a credible neutral reserve asset thanks to its monetary policy and programmability. They see ETH becoming the backbone of a new financial system, not just its platform.

• Farcaster's new Collectibles feature challenges Base's micro-earnings model by turning posts into 24-hour, $1-starting auctions for 1-of-1 NFTs - testing whether intentional collecting beats passive tips for creator revenue.

• The Ether Machine launches as a $1.5B "MicroStrategy for ETH," actively staking and deploying ETH for yield instead of passive holding. With hundreds of millions already committed by insiders, it signals Ethereum's institutional moment.

• David Phelps reimagines prediction markets as "persuasion markets" - tools for collective action rather than just forecasting. These could transform DAOs by creating financial incentives that align communities toward actually making things happen rather than just predicting them.

• Telegram brings its crypto wallet to US users, instantly creating one of crypto's largest potential onramps with its 950+ million users. By pivoting to wallet provider rather than token issuer, they've navigated past regulatory hurdles that killed their original TON project.

That’s it.

See you next week 💅🏽

And while we're at it:

I'm on LinkedIn.

I'm on X.

Always here at w3.hub.

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