Education
Vietnam Businesses Urge for Blockchain Training of Students and IT Specialists
Members of the expanding blockchain sector of Vietnam have called on government and educational institutions to turn more attention to the deficit of talent. With the shortage of qualified personnel being a global challenge, they say the country needs to address the lack of training. Industry Players Highlight Growing Need for Blockchain Experts in Vietnam […]Decentralized Storage Alliance seeks to bridge the Web3 gap through education and advocacy
The organization said that it intends to promote awareness and adoption of decentralized technologies, such as Filecoin, IPFS and Libp2p.
Decentralized storage network Filecoin has partnered with Protocol Labs and other participants within the Web3 ecosystem to launch the Decentralized Storage Alliance. According to the announcement, one of the main goals of the newly formed alliance is to help Web2 enterprises transition to Web3 through education, advocacy and best practices.
The Alliance said it hopes to achieve this by bringing together diverse viewpoints from leading Web2 and Web3 industry players, such as Advanced Micro Devices, Ernst & Young and data storage solutions provider Seagate. The organization aspires to become a trusted space where different companies can collaborate around Web3 technologies like decentralized storage in order to accelerate its adoption.
It also seeks to provide access to educational materials and technical resources that will improve the process of onboarding data to decentralized storage networks, and make it easier for new data centers to onboard to the network.
Stefaan Vervaet, head of network growth at Protocol Labs, claimed:
“With top-tier leaders across Web2 and Web3 coming together to explore the unrealized potential of decentralized technology, this Alliance has the power to transform the foundation of the internet.”
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On Oct. 25, Cointelegraph reported that another Protocol Labs initiative launched CO2.Storage, a Web3 data storage solution that intends to enable transparency for carbon offsets and address traditional storage solutions for all types of digital environmental assets, including renewable energy credits. The initiative was designed with the intention of reducing the environmental impact of Filecoin.
Tech talent migrates to Web3 as large companies face layoffs
Web3 companies continue to hire amidst a bull market as tech giants undergo layoffs and hiring freezes.
As inflation continues to grow, coupled with a looming recession, many tech firms are having to cut portions of their staff. To put this in perspective, data from Layoffs.fyi found that over 700 tech startups have experienced layoffs this year, impacting at least 93,519 employees globally. It has also been reported that tech giants like Google, Netflix and Apple are undergoing massive job cuts.
While many of these layoffs are likely due to an economic downturn, this has resulted in an overwhelming amount of talent flocking to early-stage Web3 companies. For example, Andrew Masanto, a serial entrepreneur who has founded a number of startups, told Cointelegraph that he recently launched Nillion, a startup specializing in decentralized computation, to help ensure privacy and confidentiality for Web3 platforms.
Although Nillion is still in its early stages, the technological innovation behind the company has already proven to be appealing. Since the company’s inception in October this year, leading talent from companies like Nike, Indiegogo and Coinbase have joined the growing startup.
For instance, Slava Rubin, founder of the crowdfunding website Indiegogo, told Cointelegraph that he had recently joined Nillion as the company’s chief business officer based on the opportunity to join a startup with an innovative business model.
“The tech behind Nillion is massively innovative, as it focuses on advancing secure multiparty computation (MPC). MPC is known for being slow and unable to work for certain use cases. The risk of failure doesn’t concern me here since it’s such a huge opportunity to solve this problem,” he said.
The notion of building technology to advance MPC also attracted Lindsay Danas Cohen to Nillion. Cohen previously served as associate general counsel at Coinbase before joining Nillion this year as the company’s general counsel.
Although Coinbase announced in June that it was cutting its staff by 18%, Cohen explained in a recent blog post that she left Coinbase to join Nillion due to the opportunity to help advance privacy and data sharing through MPC. “This would be a true zero-to-one innovation,” she wrote.
While the crypto industry continues to face a bear market, it’s clear that the projects being built during this period are seen as an exciting opportunity. “I built Indiegogo during the 2008 bear market, and I think we will see the same thing in this market. In about three to five years, we will see some very strong companies emerge that know how to use capital efficiently,” Rubin remarked.
Indeed, well-funded Web3 companies continue to hire, while large tech companies face layoffs and hiring freezes. Sebastien Borget, co-founder and chief operating officer of The Sandbox, told Cointelegraph that the popular metaverse platform currently has a total of 103 job openings. “The excitement of working in the front row of Web3 is big, and we are enjoying this interest towards our open positions,” he said.
According to Borget, The Sandbox has grown to 404 employees this year, almost doubling in size from its 208-employee workforce it had in December 2021. Borget added that The Sandbox’s virtual real estate known as “LANDs” is now worth over $1 billion in total market cap.
Moreover, as Web3 companies continue to bring on both new and acquired talent, young jobseekers seem to be displaying a greater desire to obtain the skills needed to join these firms.
Priyanka Mathikshara Mathialagan, president of the Stanford Blockchain Club, told Cointelegraph that she has seen an increasing number of undergraduate students at Stanford taking blockchain-focused courses in preparation for careers after graduation.
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“This year, we had more students enrolled in professor Dan Boneh’s cryptography class than those enrolled in traditional computer science courses,” she remarked.
Despite the bear market, Mathialagan also believes that there have been significant improvements made within the Web3 space, resulting in a more positive outlook toward the sector. For example, she mentioned that the Ethereum Merge that took place on Sept. 15 has helped ensure a more energy-efficient platform, creating appeal for students that may want to leverage the Ethereum network for Web3 projects. Mathialagan added that while a numerous amount of theoretical research has been performed for years within fields like computer science, Ph.D. students are considering Web3 due to new opportunities for advancement. She said:
“The math used in theoretical computer science and cryptography is similar to the math needed to advance zero-knowledge proof-based applications. There is now an industry that wants to pay Ph.D. students for their research and put these findings to use. For example, there is a large demand for distributed system engineers since every single blockchain is really a distributed system. These are the people who can design consensus algorithms and new architectures for scalable and secure blockchains.”
This seems to be the case, as Masanto shared that Nillion has hired 10 engineers within the last six months. Borget added that The Sandbox is currently hiring 17 engineers, along with game designers, architects and other individuals capable of supporting brands building in the company’s metaverse.
Skepticism remains
While it’s notable that Web3 companies are actively hiring, a number of concerns remain. For instance, although companies remain focused on building during a bear market, fundraising may be problematic.
Given this, it’s important to point out that Nillion is currently being bootstrapped by its founding team. A spokesperson from Delphi Digital, a crypto-focused research firm, also told Cointelegraph that while the company is currently hiring across the board, no funds have been raised.
“We have been completely bootstrapped up until now.” While impressive, running a company based on personal finances or operating revenue may be concerning for job seekers. For instance, Mathialagan noted that students starting a career in Web3 want to be assured that the company will exist two to three years down the road.
Jessica Walker, chief marketing officer of Fluid Finance — a fintech company focused on revolutionizing banking with blockchain — further told Cointelegraph that it is a waiting game to see what companies have the strongest communities and teams capable of withstanding the crypto winter, adding:
“It’s important for organizations to build partnerships and roll out products, while also being able to budget their overhead costs during this time.”
Moreover, Mathialagan believes that it’s challenging for students, along with individuals within the Web2 sector, to get connected with Web3 companies. For instance, while companies like Nillion have brought on individuals from organizations like Coinbase, Indiegogo and Nike, Masanto shared that he already knew a handful of these people prior to hiring.
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Walker also remarked that due to the bear market, recruiters need to pay additional attention to detail when onboarding new team members. “Some uncertainty comes from new hires about the security of their role, especially during a bear market. At Fluid, we often try to hire from our community first,” she said.
Although strategic, Mathialagan mentioned that the Stanford Blockchain Club is compiling a list of job postings to help students connect better with Web3 firms as more hiring takes place: “For students, hiring remains the biggest single problem even beyond security issues faced by Web3 companies today.”
Metaverse schooling to help Japanese city combat growing absenteeism
Government data showed that 244,940 Japanese elementary and junior high school students were absent for at least 30 days in FY 2021.
The Japanese city of Toda, Saitama, adopted a metaverse-schooling service to encourage students — especially those staying far away from school — to attend their classes.
The metaverse schooling service opted for by the city of Toda allows students to explore the campus and study in virtual classrooms. However, the students must get approval from respective school principals for attendance via metaverse schooling, confirms local media NHK.
Government data showed that 244,940 Japanese elementary and junior high school students were absent for at least 30 days in FY 2021. NHK's report highlighted a fifth grader's interest in chatting online instead of attending school in person. While the child has not physically attended school in over two years, they shared an interest in meeting up with friends to play outdoor games, such as tag.
While ongoing efforts to improve school attendance remain a challenge, Japanese officials are placing their bets on metaverse schooling to help students connect with the people around them.
Sugimori Masayuki, the head of Toda’s education center, hopes to see metaverse students grow up and eventually live independently in society.
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The city of Fukuoka announced a collaboration with Astar Japan Labs as it strives to become the Web3 hub of Japan.
The mayor of Fukuoka, Soichiro Takashima, confirmed the city’s aspirations to lead the Web3 drive, as he stated:
“We have to do in the context of Web3 what large companies did for the world when Japan was strong.”
Astar Network founder Sota Watanabe revealed his intentions to “work closely with Fukuoka City to attract more developers and more entrepreneurs.”
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Celsius users concerned over personal info revealed in bankruptcy case
A website revealing personal information from Celsius creditors has created stress and chaos for many, leading some to question the privacy of centralized exchanges.
Crypto lending platform Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 13, 2022. Although the Celsius case involves digital assets, it remains subject to United States Bankruptcy Code under the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
While this may be, a series of unusual events have ensued since Celsius filed for bankruptcy. For instance, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn — the judge overseeing the Celsius case — stated on Oct. 17 that the court will look abroad for guidance.
Glenn specifically mentioned that “Legal principles that are applicable in the United Kingdom are not binding on courts in the United States,” yet he noted that these “may be persuasive in addressing legal issues that may arise in this case.” While the treatment of the Celsius case will abide by U.S. bankruptcy laws, Glenn still aims to determine how the Celsius case should be handled.
Additionally, publicly available court documents related to Celsius’ bankruptcy proceedings have revealed personal data from thousands of the platform’s customers. A large financial disclosure form filed on Oct. 5 contains customer names, account balances, timing of transactions and more.
While this may have come as a shock to Celsius users, releasing this information is subject to U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Adam Garetson, general counsel and chief legal officer at WonderFi Technologies, a regulated cryptocurrency exchange based in Canada, told Cointelegraph that bankruptcy proceedings should be open, public and transparent:
“It is a strong way of avoiding any suggestion of impropriety by the courts and the persons and entities involved in the proceeding. As such, courts can make requests and impose orders on the bankrupt entity, including with respect to release of information which is available publicly.”
Yet, it is unusual that committee investigations have revealed such a large amount of customer information. This point was highlighted in an article from The National Law Review published on Oct. 18, which states, “Debtor filings and Committee investigations have revealed a great deal more to the public about the Debtors’ financial affairs, insider activity, and the path and direction of the bankruptcy case.” The article also states that even though so much personal information has been disclosed, “there is still little indication of how claims will be treated and repaid in this case.”
Celsius users face unintended consequences
While Celsius customers continue to wait for decisions to be made by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the release of personal information has resulted in additional stress. To add insult to injury, customer data was recently made public on a website called Celsiusnetworth.com.
The website allows anyone to search Celsius users by their name to reveal their losses, along with the cryptocurrencies they had invested on the platform. If this wasn’t bad enough, the website includes a leaderboard that lists customers in terms of rankings for the greatest losses. Customer information can then be tweeted from the website, as a tweet button appears once user information is shown.
The creators of Celsiusnetworth.com — who go by the name "Avnx" — told Cointelegraph that the website was built using the public data published as a result of Celsius' legal operations. The source further remarked that the data on the website shouldn’t be considered as a leak, although they noted that releasing this information may have consequences similar to the Ledger data leak that occurred in Dec. 2020. “This data has been made public by Celsius. Whether we like it or not, it is a fact,” Aznx said.
According to Garetson, sites like these are uncommon when it comes to bankruptcy proceedings. However, he mentioned that such occurrences may arise from high-profile events that generate specific media attention, or the attention of a particular community. Indeed, Avnx mentioned that Celsiusnetworth.com was designed to create a “buzz,” rather than making it easy for individuals to explore losses of Celsius Creditors. Avnx said:
“For example, the Twitter button is a humorous approach, although nothing is funny in these events. Yet this creates a buzz to highlight several things, such as the fact that this information has been revealed, the amounts lost, or the balances of certain strategic people within Celsius.”
In any case, the information revealed via the Celsiusnetworth.com website has resulted in unintended consequences for many Celsius users.
For example, John Carvalho Jr., a Celsius user based in Massachusetts, told Cointelegraph that his personal information released on Celsiusnetworth.com resulted in a large amount of chaos, particularly on Crypto Twitter.
Carvalho explained that he has the same name as the CEO of Synonym, which is a Bitcoin (BTC) software company. As a result of information being made public, multiple users on Crypto Twitter assumed that John Carvalho — the CEO of Synonym — had invested thousands of dollars on Celsius. This created an uproar on Twitter, as users started accusing the CEO of “buying altcoins,” among other things. Carvalho said:
“I joined Twitter in 2020 but didn’t use it much. However, on the morning of Oct. 10, I was tagged multiple times, as Crypto Twitter had confused me for John Carvalho, CEO of Synonym. Users were talking lots of trash, accusing John Carvalho of being a ‘shitcoiner’ and calling him a ‘dummy.’“
“I had no idea who John Carvalho was. It’s unfortunate that user information was leaked initially, but this was made even worse when it spread on Twitter,” he added.
I jumped to conclusions on the Celsius list, attributing the John Carvalho to @BitcoinErrorLog.
— Peter McCormack ☠️️ (@PeterMcCormack) October 10, 2022
This was wrong and I apologise to John for this, a lesson learned.
Carvalho noted that the situation was clarified following a tweet sent from the Synonym CEO’s personal account, which referenced the mixup.
Meet @JohnCarvalho. We have the same name, but recently some shitcoiners tried to use his misfortune to smear my reputation.
— John Carvalho (@BitcoinErrorLog) October 10, 2022
John has a new baby girl and lost everything on Celsius. So I am asking you to help by donating some BTC to him here:
3Q5m2LTLZABvELbqUvSRmQnFFA8z2vP2qb pic.twitter.com/ViM5OIYdSh
Carlos DePaz, a Celsius user and certified public accountant, told Cointelegraph that, while he thinks it's unfortunate that user information has been made public, he doesn’t feel personally impacted.
“If I was number one on the leaderboard list on the website, I may feel differently. It may be embarrassing for those individuals for others to know how much money they lost. But for me personally, it’s not a big deal. It’s a live and learn situation,” he said.
Another Celsius creditor who wishes to remain anonymous told Cointelegraph that, while he wasn’t impacted by public information being leaked, he believes this specific situation violates user privacy:
“I am not sure if information of this sort is always public knowledge in similar cases, but it definitely feels like a violation of privacy being that the information is financial by nature.”
Lessons learned
While it’s unfortunate that Celsiusnetworth.com was created as a result of publicly available user information, this demonstrates the need for further education and regulatory clarity within the cryptocurrency sector.
For instance, DePaz shared that he initially viewed Celsius as a legitimate crypto lending platform, stating, “Celsius was partially intriguing because the website and regular ask-me-anything segments seemed very legitimate. It seemed like Celsius was run by people who knew what they were talking about, as they mentioned the platform was licensed.”
Carvalho added that he viewed Celsius as an opportunity to build financially for the future of his family: “I would regularly listen to the ask-me-anything segments and would hear Celsius say ‘put your money with us and we will give you yield.’ I didn’t realize the risks involved at the time.”
Ben Samaroo, CEO of WonderFi Technologies, told Cointelegraph that what’s unique about the Celsius case is that a lot of disclosure wasn’t initially provided to customers. He said:
“High returns were being promised, yet the risks that came with that may have not been disclosed or understood by customers. This especially could have been the case for entry-level users, but it also impacted those who had already been in the industry.”
While Samaroo is responsible for operating a regulated cryptocurrency exchange based in Canada, he pointed out that WonderFi was also put under pressure from investors during the 2021 bull run to offer lending products similar to Celsius, stating, “We couldn’t do this anyway, as this would have required us to go through regulators in Canada. We would have needed to present a plan and do risk assessments, while making sure safeguards and investor protections were in place.”
The current state of the Celsius case also demonstrates that platforms involving digital assets are still subject to traditional U.S. laws. Shedding light on this, Garetson mentioned that this case is yet another example that broad, formal regulation in the U.S. over the crypto asset sector remains pending.
“Traditional legal concepts like contracts, property and bankruptcy law continue to apply regardless of the status of any ‘crypto’-specific law,” he said. As a result, Garetson noted that the outcomes of the Celsius case are going to be determined in real-time — not by congress or a panel of experts, but rather by individual courts who are likely less familiar with the industry. “This emphasizes a greater need for thoughtful and harmonized regulation in the near term, particularly as it relates to oversight of centralized trading platforms,” he said.
Web3 projects focus on education to bring Latin American women to the sector
Women in Latin America are showing an increased interest in Web3 as organizations aim to drive participation through educational content and scholarships.
Interest in Web3 continues to grow despite the crypto bear market. A recent article from McKinsey noted that venture capital investments in Web3 exceeded $18 billion during the first half of 2022. Findings from Cointelegraph Research also show that Web3 attracted the most interest from venture capitalists in comparison to other blockchain sectors during Q2 of this year.
While notable, a lack of diversity has become apparent within the Web3 sector. For instance, it was found that only 16% of nonfungible token (NFT) creators are women. Although this number is low, women are taking an interest in owning digital assets. Given this, industry experts believe that a lack of education around Web3 is creating a barrier to entry for women, especially for those who are from underrepresented regions, such as those from Latin America.
Initiatives to bring Latin American women to Web3
Sandy Carter, senior vice president and channel chief of Unstoppable Domains — an NFT domain name provider and digital identity platform — told Cointelegraph that she has seen increased demand for Web3 content from women living in Brazil, Columbia and several additional Spanish-speaking countries, including Spain.
“On March 8, 2022, Unstoppable Domains launched ‘Unstoppable Women of Web3,’ which is a diversity and education group focusing on training talent to equalize the playing field in Web3. Following this, a number of Latinas reached out requesting Web3 content in various languages,” she said.
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In order to cater to these requests, Carter explained that Unstoppable Domains recently initiated a goal to onboard 5 million Latin American women into Web3 by 2030. Carter added that this initiative is being launched in partnership with H.E.R. DAO LATAM — a women-led developer decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) championing diversity — along with the Spanish-language crypto education platform CryptoConexión. She said:
“Education is the first step to building a more inclusive Web3. We have partnered with women from 25 different groups to help create educational materials around Web3 in Spanish. We are also distributing over $25 million worth of free NFT domains to five million Latinas to help them build and control their digital identity as a gateway into the sector.”
According to Carter, initiatives like these are becoming more important, as she pointed out that women who live in or trace their ancestry to Latin America continue to be underrepresented in the tech industry. To put this in perspective, data from the online tech community Built In found that only 2% of computing-related jobs in the United States are held by women of Latin American descent. The same applies in Latin America itself, where women are significantly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math fields, according to research from IDB.
Monica Talan, founder of CryptoConexión, told Cointelegraph that organizations must take an education-first approach that incorporates different languages to bridge the Web3 diversity gap, stating, “CryptoConexión has an initiative called ‘WAGMI LatAm,’ where our mission is to ensure access to Web3 content in English, Spanish and Portuguese.”
Additionally, Laura Navarro Muñoz, governor of H.E.R. DAO LATAM, told Cointelegraph that the organization is helping women in Latin America transition to Web3 by providing travel scholarships to events and hackathons.
Groups like H.E.R. DAO LATAM and CryptoConexión have already started making an impact. Bricia Gabriela Guzmán Chávez, community manager at Web3Equity — a Web3 platform promoting gender equality — told Cointelegraph that she got her first job in the sector after obtaining a scholarship from H.E.R. DAO LATAM to attend a cryptocurrency event:
“I heard a speaker say, ‘If we want to have more inclusion, we have to do it.’ That day, I joined the H.E.R. DAO Global Telegram where someone shared a position for ‘Discord moderator.’ I applied, and my life changed. Yet, at that moment, I didn’t have the hard skills that I have right now, so I’m grateful that they gave me their vote of confidence.”
According to Guzmán Chávez, H.E.R. DAO LATAM also created a scholarship program following ETH Mexico called “Hacker Mom Scholar.” Through this, she was able to attend Devcon VI with her three children. “Currently, I’m working full-time remotely on Web3 projects, and each chance that these projects provide me to attend Web3 events is an opportunity to improve the quality of my life,” Guzmán Chávez mentioned.
Talan further remarked that it’s important for Latin American women to get involved in Web3 due to the demand the sector is witnessing in the region, especially in places like Mexico.
“Mexico is seeing more people use crypto for remittances,” she said. According to World Bank statistics, Mexico was the second-largest recipient of remittances in the world last year. Given this, a number of Web3 companies are setting up shop in Mexico to enable crypto remittances. “We need information available about how crypto remittances can be used. I believe this can be better achieved if we have more women building these products,” Talan said.
Challenges for Latin American women seeking jobs in Web3
While it’s notable that organizations are focused on bringing women from Latin America to the Web3 sector, challenges such as hiring freezes and access to technology may hamper adoption. For instance, data from Crypto Jobs List noted that the number of job listings and talent interested in the space has declined about 30%–40% in comparison to the last bull market in February 2022.
On the flip side, Web3 is enabling more remote job opportunities, which may help drive a diverse workforce. “Web3 is helping people get high-paying jobs regardless of their location. All they need are the skills, which is why we are focused on education first,” Navarro Muñoz pointed out.
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Diana Carolyn Olvera Gómez, a Web3 researcher, told Cointelegraph that H.E.R. DAO LATAM gave her the opportunity to participate in her first hackathon. The organization also presented her with educational content in Spanish. In turn, Olvera Gómez shared that she remotely serves as a contributor to Web3Montréal, a Canadian nonprofit focused on Web3, and to Coinmiles, a Bitcoin (BTC) rewards platform.
However, Olvera Gómez mentioned that access to technology, such as Web3 initiatives, can be complicated for many women living in regions like Latin America. Yet she believes that a ripple effect will drive women’s involvement as more get involved.
“Web3 communities dedicated to women provide an opportunity to bridge the gender gap in the workplace.” Carter added that demand from women wanting to participate within Web3 is there, yet supplying the correct educational content is the next challenge:
“We are in a bear market, but this is the time for building. Energy and enthusiasm around the space haven’t waned. We just need to figure out how to supply education to those interested in learning more.”
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Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, has announced the launch of the supposed first police metaverse experience. This new virtual world, which allows users to visit the offices of the institution in Lyon, aims to advance the understanding of metaverse-related crimes and opens the possibility for users to receive training in different areas. Interpol Launches […]NFTs and crypto provide fundraising options for breast cancer awareness
Organizations are partnering with NFT projects and accepting crypto donations to draw attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The hype around nonfungible tokens (NFTs) may be fading, yet a number of organizations continue to implement Web3 initiatives. Nonprofit organizations and activists, in particular, have begun implementing nonfungible token projects to help fundraise and generate awareness for certain causes.
While these methods are still new, NFT projects for philanthropy have been met with relative success. A recent report from crypto donation platform The Giving Block found that nonprofits using The Giving Block received more than $12.3 million dollars in cryptocurrency donations from NFT-related charitable giving initiatives in 2021. The report further noted that charitable organizations using NFTs are presented with the opportunity to connect with younger donor demographics while diversifying donation methods.
NFT projects for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Benefits such as these can be especially helpful for raising awareness around life-threatening diseases. number of breast cancer-focused organizations have started implementing NFTs this October to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
For example, Shaney jo Darden, founder of the Keep A Breast Foundation (KAB) — a California-based nonprofit that aims to reduce breast cancer risk — told Cointelegraph that KAB focuses on engaging with younger generations to bring attention to breast cancer. She said:
“Even though women over the age of 40 are typically diagnosed with breast cancer, early detection can result in a 98% survival rate. Given this, KAB aims to generate awareness about breast cancer through encouraging and fun ways, like using NFTs to educate young women.”
Darden said that last year, KAB hosted an exhibition in the CryptoVoxels metaverse to raise money for breast cancer research. “We wanted to do an event in the Metaverse as opposed to conducting a membership drive or gala, since this opens access globally,” she noted. Based on the success of this, Darden explained that she wanted to continue to implement Web3 initiatives — especially those involving artwork created by women — to generate awareness around breast cancer. Most recently, Darden partnered with the NFT project NFTitties to raise funds for KAB’s breast cancer prevention and educational initiatives.
Carlota Dochao Naveira, founder of NFTitties, told Cointelegraph that the women-led project celebrates women, art and breasts to raise funds to fight breast cancer. “Emerging artists and activists were invited to submit an artwork representing breasts, following a set of visual guidelines. The artworks were then vetted and, if selected, included in the first release of NFTitties,” she said.
According to Dochao Naveira, almost 30 NFTs were sold during the first week the project launched on Oct.1. She further pointed out that NFTitties has helped onboard more women into the Web3 ecosystem since the initiative encourages women artists, activists and others to submit their artwork to be presented as nonfungible tokens.
Other organizations are implementing different forms of NFTs to educate individuals on this type of cancer that affects one in eight women. For example, the women’s handbag designer Vera Bradley announced on Oct. 3 that it will be donating almost 100% of the proceeds generated from its fashion NFT drops to The Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer.
Jennifer Bova, vice president of marketing at Vera Bradley, told Cointelegraph that to date, the foundation has raised and donated more than $38 million to support critical advancements in breast cancer research. Yet, Bova noted that Vera Bradley has started focusing on marketing in the Metaverse to attract new users by attaching philanthropic utility to its digital and physical fashion NFTs. “Through its NFT PFP backgrounds, Vera Bradley hopes to drive awareness for fundraising, as well as female-led conversations and initiatives in Web3,” she said.
We're proud to announce through @TheGivingBlock, we're now accepting #DOT donations to support lifesaving research in all areas of #breastcancer, from basic biology to prevention to treatment & to survivorship. Donate @Polkadot and 80+ other #cryptos today https://t.co/XoT7atRdV5 pic.twitter.com/JgTYBx1JkQ
— Susan G. Komen (@SusanGKomen) August 10, 2022
It’s also notable that Susan G. Komen, a leading breast cancer research foundation, recently began accepting crypto donations to enable cryptocurrency holders to give back. Michelle Strong, vice president of marketing strategy at Susan G. Komen, told Cointelegraph that about a year and a half ago, the organization began receiving requests from individuals interested in donating cryptocurrency:
“We implemented this feature nearly a year ago with the help of The Giving Block. This has driven interest from both current and new donors, as crypto donations have opened doors to those who haven’t been able to give before but were interested in being charitable.”
Based on the successful implementation of crypto donations over the past year, Strong mentioned that Susan G. Komen will be incorporating crypto donations, along with other digital donations received during the week of Oct. 9–15, to fund the organization’s metastatic breast cancer excellence in research award.
“Oct. 13 this year is ‘metastatic breast cancer’ day, which is the most advanced stage of the disease. Susan G. Komen is giving out the excellence in research award to bolster investment around this specific area of research and cryptocurrency is another great way to support this,” she remarked.
Web3 initiatives are helpful, but not necessarily better
While the use of NFTs and crypto donations to support breast cancer is innovative, these initiatives are still only helpful ways to bring attention to certain causes. For instance, Bova pointed out that driving awareness and funds for breast cancer research in the Metaverse is not necessarily better but rather an additive resource to tap into new donors and volunteers. Echoing this, Darden mentioned that incorporating NFT projects with KAB enables the organization to diversify its funding, yet it hasn’t proven to be a better solution in comparison to traditional fundraising mechanisms:
“Many NFT projects die out over time, so KAB is taking a risk by being a part of certain projects. However, NFTitties has a clear goal and beautiful art that resonates with the KAB community.”
Indeed, even though there are a number of risks associated with NFT projects, nonfungible tokens remain appealing when it comes to increasing user engagement and interest.
“Susan G. Komen is happy to benefit from NFT projects that others are able to pull together. We are currently in conversation with an NFT project that aims to benefit our organization,” Strong noted.
Yet, it’s also important to point out that, in addition to risks, there are challenges associated with implementing such projects.
According to Dochao Naveira, targeting traditional NFT investors can be difficult when it comes to women-led initiatives “There tends to be a bro-culture in the Web3 space that doesn’t care as much about certain projects. There can also be difficulties with helping mainstream users set up a MetaMask wallet,” she said.
But, as time progresses, Web3 projects aim to incorporate new features to help ease onboarding and educate new users. For example, Carmen Toal, CEO and co-founder of Sprkl NFT Studios — a platform working with nonprofits and individuals to implement NFT technologies — told Cointelegraph that mainstream users typically need more guidance when it comes to participating in NFT projects.
As such, she mentioned that Sparkl NFT Studios incorporates familiarities with charitable NFT initiatives. “We sometimes include a ‘donate now’ button that is not directly attached to an NFT,” she said.
Most recently, Sprkl NFT Studios partnered with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. (NBCF) on an NFT artwork fundraising campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Candice Hensley, senior manager of strategic partnerships at NBCF, further told Cointelegraph that working with Sprkl NFT Studios is part of the organization’s strategic plan to diversify its funds.
