Macauley Peterson

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">subscribe</a>.



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Alliance DAO continues to shape the crypto landscape as an influential accelerator, supporting Web3 innovators with high-growth potential.&nbsp;



With thousands of applications each year, Alliance leverages its extensive dataset to track trends and offer insights into evolving crypto sectors. This was evident in Alliance’s latest Demo Day yesterday, where a cadre of crypto prospects showcased their latest and greatest ideas to provide a snapshot of the future of crypto development.



The startup pitches jived well with Alliance’s <a href="https://alliance.xyz/essays/crypto-startup-trends-24">recent report</a> on industry trends. The report highlights Ethereum’s ongoing dominance as a preferred blockchain for building dapps, where approximately 62% of startups in Alliance’s program are rooted. Yet, interest in alternatives, particularly Solana, is <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/solana-mobile-app-season">growing</a>.



Optimistic rollups like Optimism, Arbitrum and Base are seeing rapid adoption relative to zk rollups. Base has captured significant developer interest since its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/base-dapp-layer-2">launch</a> in 2023, and now comprises a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/base-dex-volume-decentralization">major portion</a> of L2 activity.



Solana has rebounded strongly in the two years following the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-meltdown-timeline">FTX collapse</a>, accounting for 18% of recent Alliance applications. Meanwhile, Polygon, once a favored EVM scaling solution, has seen waning interest as it <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/polygon-validum-zk-tech-future">pursues a switch</a> to a zk validium.



Projects like Amihan game Farm Frens and Offramp are deploying as Telegram apps while tapping into other networks in the background. Farm Frens relies on NFTs minted on Solana, while Offramp partners with wallet-as-a-service and account abstraction solutions from Dynamic and Zerodev to enable embedded, EVM-based non-custodial wallets. This helps Offramp deliver user-friendly blockchain interactions within Telegram while abstracting away complex technical details from its users.



Product verticals in the crypto space are undergoing a shift, with increased attention on infrastructure, payments and DeFi applications, Alliance found.



Infrastructure projects have steadily gained traction, partially due to their high valuations and investor appeal. DataHive, a distributed data collective powered by AI, exemplifies this interest by addressing the need for data democratization and privacy in a crypto-native framework. Starpower, a DePIN for sustainable energy, combines DeFi with real-world assets to support distributed energy resources.



In contrast, interest in DAOs and NFTs has receded as founders increasingly prioritize utility-based applications that cater to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-depin-public-goods">specific user needs</a> over community-led governance structures.



Alliance partner Qiao Wang has also been vocal about the role of speculation in the crypto space, framing it as a pivotal driver for innovation and early-stage project growth. Wang argues that unlike traditional venture capital where risk aversion can stifle bold ideas, the speculative culture within crypto enables projects to secure resources and iterate rapidly.



This approach aligns with Alliance’s selection of startups. It backs protocols including the likes of Whalefare, which merges speculative gameplay with the allure of applications like Candy Crush. The goal is to demonstrate the appeal of gaming as an accessible entry point for crypto adoption.&nbsp;



The theme carries over to Demo Day participants Force Prime and Kiss or Rug. Force Prime, a prediction market built for strategy games, exemplifies how startups are creating gamified experiences that also cater to high-risk, high-reward speculation. Similarly, but with a “SocialFi” bent, Kiss or Rug is trying a spin on the dating app by applying game theory to its matching system.



Geographically, the trends report notes a significant drop in applications from the US and Canada, whose combined share fell from 45% in late 2021 to 29% in 2024.&nbsp;



This decline can be attributed to growing regulatory challenges in North America, leading founders to either relocate or build in more crypto-friendly regions. Startups like RPS, a Twitch-inspired platform for monetized competitive games, embody this shift, tapping into Asia’s active market for gaming and social platforms. Asia and Africa, meanwhile, are witnessing increased adoption, driven by real-world applications <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stablecoin-report-market-capitalization">like stablecoins</a>.



The report emphasizes that about 72% of startups within Alliance’s accelerator operate fully remotely, a setup that aligns with crypto’s inherently global and decentralized ethos.&nbsp;



However, Alliance still maintains a preference for in-person teams when possible, as face-to-face interactions are believed to foster stronger team cohesion and accountability.



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</li>



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Lightspeed</a>: All things Solana.</li>



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supplyshock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

0xResearch Newsletter

Alliance DAO’s Demo Day showcases industry trends

Shalini Nagarajan

<div id="highlights-block_6351059f58fa4" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Draft shows modifications to language that drew criticism for being incompatible with DeFi</li>
 <li>Sam Bankman-Fried said the bill will provide customer protection without jeopardizing DeFi</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Details around Bitcoin and Ethereum regulation have been “circulating secretly” in Washington, DC. Now, a copy of draft language for the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA), a bill in the US Congress, was <a href="https://github.com/LeXpunK-Army/Crypto-CaseLaw/blob/main/DCCPA%20Markup%20Latest%2010.19.22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">uploaded to GitHub</a> by crypto attorney Gabriel Shapiro. Views on the potential impact on decentralized finance (DeFi) are mixed.



The latest draft appears to cushion language perceived to be detrimental to DeFi — a category of blockchain-based solutions that aim to improve finance by replacing central intermediaries with software code.



It lays out what constitutes digital commodities, brokers, custodians, dealers and platforms. Also included in the document are rules and the core principles that apply to players in the digital commodities sphere.



Shapiro noted that the draft excludes people who develop or publish software from the term “digital commodity trading facility” — a move he said could be beneficial to the crypto industry by protecting software engineers.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">I have long been a believer in transparency and open discussion of the future of cryptolaw. Accordingly, I have obtained a copy of a draft of the notorious DCCPA circulating secretly in D.C. and am hereby making it available to the public. <a href="https://t.co/JdyomquQi6">https://t.co/JdyomquQi6</a>&mdash; _gabrielShapir0 (@lex_node) <a href="https://twitter.com/lex_node/status/1582814734587265024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



But he expressed doubt over the origin of this exclusion, calling for other commentators to review the draft and voice their opinions. The attorney, general counsel at Delphi Labs, said he shared the draft in the interest of “transparency and open discussion of the future of cryptolaw.”



The <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/bitcoin-ether-to-be-regulated-as-commodities-by-cftc-per-new-senate-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bipartisan bill was introduced</a> by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Boozman (R-AR) in August. Their legislation clarifies that bitcoin and ether are to be classified as commodities, as opposed to securities that come under the ambit of the Securities and Exchange Commission — implying that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would have exclusive jurisdiction over them.



After the introduction of the bill, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/03/stabenow-boozman-bitcoin-cftc-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Washington Post</a> reported Boozman said in a press call that the crypto industry “almost universally” prefers to be regulated by the CFTC.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Sam Bankman-Fried believes draft bill won’t kill DeFi</h3>



FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has expressed support for the framework, saying he was excited to see a “strong bill” that addresses customer protection in crypto.&nbsp;



On Wednesday, the crypto billionaire <a href="https://twitter.com/sbf_ftx/status/1582539579168419840" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a> that he was optimistic the Stabenow-Boozman bill would not jeopardize “the existence of software, blockchains, validators, DeFi, etc.”



He also shared his thoughts in a <a href="https://www.ftxpolicy.com/posts/possible-digital-asset-industry-standards" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog</a> on what crypto regulation should look like, specifically saying it’s important that “on-chain code and DeFi remain free and open, and uncensored.”



Even so, Bankman-Fried, chief of a centralized crypto exchange, has been <a href="https://twitter.com/richardchen39/status/1580617610789814277" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">criticized</a> for supporting a bill that appears to threaten decentralized protocols.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Concerns about Congress choking decentralization</h3>



On the critical side of the debate, Web3 startup accelerator Alliance DAO disparaged the DCCPA bill, saying it forces human intermediation and compels projects to sacrifice decentralization.&nbsp;



The DAO reckons the bill does not clarify what a digital commodity is, or make clear the distinction between tokens that are commodities and those that aren’t.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">The DCCPA greatly threatens DeFi innovation. The proposed bill: &#8211; gives CFTC new powers to regulate spot markets &#8211; forces human intermediation &#8211; forces projects to sacrifice decentralization It favors centralized incumbents and kills startups. Alliance opposes the DCCPA. 🧵&mdash; Alliance 👽 (@alliancedao) <a href="https://twitter.com/alliancedao/status/1582800340520312833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Framework Ventures’ co-founder Vance Spencer also <a href="https://twitter.com/pythianism/status/1582816353634832385" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">voiced opposition</a>, saying the venture capital firm “opposes the DCCPA and the shadow cabal that is trying to make it a reality.”



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“DCCPA kills DeFi and cedes market share to the centralized exchange that is pushing it,” Spencer added.</blockquote>



Most crypto exponents hope the draft can be amended to treat DeFi fairly.



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Alliance DAO

Leaked Draft of US Congress’ ‘DeFi Killer’ Bill Sparks Debate

<div id="highlights-block_62e2b4a5b30b2" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Despite the bear market, GameFi is dominating venture capital interest</li>
 <li>But there are some teething problems that venture capitalists face</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The growing <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tag/gamefi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GameFi</a> sector accounts for a significant chunk of blockchain investments. Related projects have shown a <a href="https://cryptoslate.com/is-the-gamefi-bubble-about-to-burst-2022-q1-gamefi-industry-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">194.2% jump</a> in funding in the first quarter this year, dominating other subsegments underpinned by decentralized technology.



Although well-known projects such as <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tag/axie-infinity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Axie Infinity</a> have <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/axie-infinity-active-users-nft-prices-continue-to-decline-after-bridge-reopening/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bled players</a> in recent months, over a million people are <a href="https://activeplayer.io/axie-infinity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">still active</a> in the market every day. 



Learn more: <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/can-gamefi-still-unlock-the-metaverse/">Can GameFi Still Unlock the Metaverse?</a>



The continued interest in the sector may explain why early-stage investment firm Konvoy Ventures rolled out a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/konvoy-ventures-launches-150m-fund-to-back-web3-gaming-firms/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$150 million fund</a> for budding gaming companies this month. Animoca Brands and Republic Capital have also recently <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/funding-roundup-despite-bear-market-money-is-still-pouring-into-crypto/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">poured money</a> into the gaming community.



Blockworks caught up with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/wbarobinson/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Will Robinson</a>, core contributor at <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tag/alliance-dao/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alliance DAO</a>, for his take on what’s keeping the sector alive during the bear market. Robinson, who holds a doctorate in video game design, said the noise around Axie and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/stepn-founder-wants-to-promote-healthy-body-and-mind-but-skeptics-question-the-apps-sustainability/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">move-to-earn app Stepn</a> has had a delayed effect and he believes now is the time to deploy capital in the space.



Blockworks: Are people still excited about playing to earn?



Robinson: I think the realization that people were playing to earn made them become a withdrawal source from the ecosystem. The ecosystem creates value, and people should come in and pay for that value. The idea is some players would be able to extract some value. But not everybody can come to extract value, that would make the game a full loss leader.



The thought in play-and-earn is to reproduce that model, where some people are going to be these <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2013/03/14/whales-and-why-social-gamers-are-just-gamers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">whale players</a> who love the game, whose identity is tied up with the game, who don&#8217;t care about money because they are born rich or they made lots of money. So they inject capital into the system, and the rest of the players can pull some capital out but share revenue with the team.



Blockworks: Which is the oldest GameFi project?



Robinson: There are some really old ones that you might not want to count, like <a href="https://golden.com/wiki/Satoshidice-GE8DXXA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Satoshi Dice</a>, which is about rolling dice on bitcoin — just really basic. And then there are some really old Ethereum experiments like <a href="https://www.kingofeth.com/rules/overview#auctions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">King of Ethereum</a>, where you put money in the contract, and if someone puts more, they become the king of Ethereum and you get a discount back on your capital. The contract was vulnerable. It got robbed twice because of the same vulnerabilities, no one patched it. But I think the real original example was the <a href="https://www.cryptokitties.co/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CryptoKitties</a> game in 2017.



Blockworks: Do you see GameFi projects as having a shelf life?



Robinson: They want to be like chess, or StarCraft, or World of Warcraft. They want to grow and evolve. But there&#8217;s a fundamental challenge there. For instance, World of Warcraft keeps reinventing itself. It&#8217;s very centralized and very coordinated. It&#8217;s at odds with the idea of on-chain game design.&nbsp;



Think about Vitalik’s famous reason for why he created Ethereum. Essentially, World of Warcraft nerfed the power of one of the spells he really liked and he thought it’s not fair that someone has total control over this game when it’s so important to his life. So, in his mind, Ethereum was meant to solve centralized game design.



Blockworks: Where do you see the GameFi industry headed?



Robinson: Things that are complicated now are going to become simpler. Things that are slow now are going to become faster. And if you invest now, the hope is you invest before anybody notices and get to ride this extremely powerful new feature that we get to introduce to games. But it&#8217;s really hard. You have to do a lot of research, you have to think carefully to find who are the good founders that are going to do this. Venture capitalists have to risk it in places where they think there&#8217;s a lot of upside, a chance to change the world. There&#8217;s lots of excitement from the best investors, but there are no clear people or projects yet that are accepting investment that would be good.



I think <a href="https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/smart-contracts/composability/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">composability in gaming</a> is getting bigger. We just had a good hackathon out of StarkWare on composable games. I keep yelling about it on Twitter hoping people will listen, and sometimes they do.



This interview has been edited for length and clarity.



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GameFi Projects Want To Become as Timeless as Chess: Alliance DAO Contributor Says

Jack Kubinec

<div id="highlights-block_5af1046aad9e9854b869d8872e94239c" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>“You should be scared of bridges. There’s a huge risk profile,” the head of DAOs at Alliance said</li>
 <li>DeFi bridges create trade-offs between simplicity, decentralization and cost</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Bridge protocols, designed to offer relatively seamless transfers between different blockchains, have been struggling to attract users as cryptocurrency markets continue to churn largely sideways.&nbsp;



Multichain, the largest such cross-chain bridge, has seen its total value locked (TVL) shrink to under $2 billion from $7 billion in March, according to crypto data firm DeFi Llama.



As competition for users intensifies, DeFi platforms are jockeying to become the preferred cross-chain protocol investors wary of bridges — which have wiped out <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/cross-chain-bridge-thefts-top-1b-in-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more than $1 billion in 2022</a>, largely via avoidable hacks.&nbsp;



Cross-chain bridging proliferated during the 2021 <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/what-is-yield-farming-what-you-need-to-know/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">yield-farming</a> bonanza. Will Robinson, the head of community at digital assets-focused investment manager Alliance, said consumers ought to do their research before using bridges.



“You should be scared of bridges,” Robinson told Blockworks. “There’s a huge risk profile. They’re still new, they break for unexpected reasons, and you don’t know what you’re getting into.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Alternative bridging solutions</h3>



Osmosis recently partnered with the decentralized network Axelar on a “one-click” bridge that runs on Ethereum. The cross-chain protocol’s security lies in its decentralization, according to Sergey Gorbunov, co-founder of Axelar.



“Other bridges have permissioned nodes that participate in the system, but Axelar requires no trust for liveness or safety,” Gorbunov told Blockworks. “Even if people can’t operate their machines, Axelar still works on smart contracts.”



Permissioned bridging was largely to blame for the $625 million Ronin Bridge exploit, where multiple validators securing the Axie Infinity bridge were housed by the company. Axie has since increased and further decentralized its validators.



Axelar delegates most bridging legwork to the protocol, so all consumers see is assets moved from one chain to another — regardless of swaps on the back end.



With bridges receiving <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/defi-exploits-top-1-8b-ytd-though-security-getting-better-immunefi-says/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lots of bad press</a> in 2022, some DeFi (decentralized finance) platforms are hoping to do away with the technology altogether.



The decentralized exchange (DEX) Hashflow went on a media blitz this year advertising its “bridgeless” cross-chain swap protocol. Rather than having smart contracts perform swaps, Hashflow moves assets by having dedicated market makers agree on prices.



“Mint-and-burn bridges can only generate representational assets escrowed by the underlying chain,” Varun Kumar, CEO of Hashflow, said in an email. Hashflow uses a “request-for-quote” model where market makers set prices and “off-chain components handle the gnarly parts where slippage and MEV would be introduced.”



Dominic Williams, founder of the protocol Internet Computer, believes bridging protocols like Axelar and Hashflow are not decentralized enough.&nbsp;



“If you have a centralized entity that’s taking funds, sooner or later things are gonna go wrong and you’ll get hacked,” Williams said to Blockworks. “Bridges require a trusted operator, so you get the same old problems.”&nbsp;



With wrapped tokens, “you’re basically asking the bridge to look after your money,” Williams said.



Wrapped assets are a common bridging practice where a protocol holds onto an investor’s original assets while providing an IOU to be swapped on different blockchains. Security breaches cause wrapped assets to lose their value. After the Wormhole hack, a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/wormhole-parent-commits-320m-ether-to-replace-massive-defi-hack-losses/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$320 million bailout</a> was needed to save Solana protocols that accepted wrapped ether as collateral.



Williams said his Internet Computer network will allow asset movement without bridges through an innovation called chain key cryptography — the splitting of validator keys into pieces to make a blockchain publicly accessible.&nbsp;



Internet Computer received over $100 million in funding from venture capital firms a16z and Polychain Capital in 2018 — before a 2021 market downturn stripped the project’s token of 95% of its value in just two weeks.&nbsp;



Internet Computer says its bridgeless protocol will soon integrate with Bitcoin, though the company has not provided a specific date.



Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, <a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/rwojtk/ama_we_are_the_efs_research_team_pt_7_07_january/hrngyk8/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warned</a> cross-chain bridges would have trouble keeping assets safe early this year. Security will likely remain an inherent risk investors take when moving assets between chains, but DeFi is a young industry, industry participants say.&nbsp;



In each of this year’s major bridge hacks, “protocols broke for way dumber reasons” than Buterin imagined, Robinson said. As DeFi matures, <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/156038/how-a-fake-job-offer-took-down-the-worlds-most-popular-crypto-game" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fake job offers</a> will be less viable means for exploiting consumer wallets.



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Bridge Protocols Race To Win Consumer Trust

Garrett Harper

In this episode of Empire, Jason is joined by Qiao Wang and Imran Khan, core contributors at Alliance DAO (the Y Combinator of Web3). Alliance DAO is a Web3 startup accelerator with a portfolio that includes 0x, dYdX, Paraswap, Synthetix and top Web3 protocols. 



Qiao and Imran are former founders who now assist Web3&#8217;s top entrepreneurs in building, launching and growing their own products. As a result, the duo has a front-row seat to the latest trends and innovations in crypto. This episode is for you if you want to know what it takes to build a top Web3 product.



We discuss: &#8211; how to think about tokenomics &#8211; why product should come before community &#8211; what tech stack developers are building on &#8211; why Qiao recommends launching your product on Avalanche &#8211; how to scale a team in Web3 &#8211; the top 3 things founders should think about &#8211; why you shouldn&#8217;t start a DAO, and much more!



Check out what they had to say in the video below.👇



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Web3 Founder’s Playbook | Imran Khan, Qiao Wang, AllianceDAO" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0ynPUXRPbO8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">About the show</h3>



&#8220;Empire&#8221; is a twice-a-week show where we share the real crypto stories that aren’t heard elsewhere. On Mondays, Jason and Santiago Santos interview crypto industry movers and shakers to talk about their struggles, bold moves and tough decisions. Finish off the week with Friday&#8217;s weekly roundup episode that covers the top news and narratives of the week.



For any NPR or Guy Raz fans out there, you can think of &#8220;Empire&#8221; as a &#8220;How I Built This&#8221; for the bitcoin and crypto industry.



Subscribe to &#8220;Empire&#8221; today on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/empire/id1554930038" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify</a>. Watch episodes on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEOv-8wHvYC6mzsY2Gm5WcQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a>.



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thebreakdown">The Breakdown</a>: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Empire</a>: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</li>



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Podcast: The Web3 Founder’s Playbook | Qiao Wang & Imran Khan, Alliance DAO

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_61df58d1065f7" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>“The next logical step will be turning [DeFi Alliance] into a DAO and giving up ownership of the accelerator program to the community,” Imran Khan, pilot at DeFi Alliance told Blockworks </li>
 <li>“Our goal is to be the nation state or DAO for builders that can scale Web3 to billions of users,” Khan said</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



DeFi Alliance has raised $50 million from contributors of its newly formed Alliance DAO to help founders grow in the space, Imran Khan, pilot at DeFi Alliance and venture partner at Volt Capital told Blockworks in an interview.&nbsp;



DeFi Alliance, in which Blockworks Co-founder Jason Yanowitz is an investor, is a Web3 startup accelerator that has helped more than 90 startups. Some of the top DeFi projects by market capitalization like 0x, Alpha Finance, dYdX, Kyber, Olympus DAO, Paraswap, Ribbon Finance, Sushiswap, Synthetix, and Zerion participated in past programs. 



“The next logical step will be turning [DeFi Alliance] into a DAO and giving up ownership of the accelerator program to the community,” <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/what-investors-have-to-say-about-defis-largest-hack-to-date/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Khan</a> said. “DeFi Alliance’s name will be deprecated over time and replaced with Alliance or Alliance DAO,” he noted.&nbsp;



The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) will run as the first “digital startup nation” and initially consist of roughly 300 contributors who were a part of the raise. The funds will be used to expand the team and software, Khan said.&nbsp;



The list of contributors includes notable members of the crypto community like <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/twitch-co-founder-justin-kan-talks-gaming-nfts-and-the-institutional-investment-case-for-crypto/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitch</a> Co-founder Kevin Lin, Gemini Co-founders and President/CEO Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Terra Founder Do Kwon, OpenSea Co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer, Aave Founder Stani Kulechov, Circle Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire and BlockFi Founder Zac Prince, to name a few.&nbsp;



While most accelerator programs are run by a centralized team, as DeFi Alliance was previously, having the DAO and community running it will change the landscape and ecosystem, Khan said.&nbsp;



“Ultimately, you go faster when you have a community that can help connect the dots,” Khan commented. “By bringing stakeholders together, you can help founders coming into the program. With the community, you can get an answer quickly,” through elements like crowdsourcing or token incentives, he added.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Our goal is to be the nation state or DAO for builders that can scale Web3 to billions of users,” Khan said. “Whether you have an idea, validating an idea or want to build in any sector in crypto. We want to be a platform for builders to succeed,” he added.&nbsp;</blockquote>



In 2022, the DAO will run three batches of its accelerator program and may re-evaluate in 2023 to lower it to two batches, Jocelyn Robancho, head of operations at DeFi Alliance said to Blockworks.&nbsp;



The program has a 2 to 5% acceptance rate and is targeting to bring on 25 startups for each cycle, but would increase to 30 to 35 startups if necessary, she said. Upon graduating from the program, founders can become contributors to the startup nation.&nbsp;



Within the next few months, Alliance will share a white paper and other materials to explain how it will govern, operate and what services it will provide.&nbsp;



“We’re taking a structured approach compared to a traditional DAO raise,” Khan noted. The DeFi Alliance team invited domain experts from certain crypto sectors to help provide support for Web3 startups in the program from areas like gaming and NFTs to DeFi and traditional finance.&nbsp;



Over time, the number of contributors will grow organically and on an as-needed basis, Khan said. 



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Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thebreakdown">The Breakdown</a>: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Empire</a>: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch">0xResearch</a>: Alpha directly in your inbox.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Lightspeed</a>: All things Solana.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thedrop">The Drop</a>: Apps, games, memes and more.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supplyshock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

DeFi Alliance Raises $50M, Shifts to DAO Structure

In the latest episode of &#8220;<a href="https://youtu.be/K88HLCIJnKM">Empire</a>,&#8221; Blockworks&#8217; founders, Jason Yanowitz and Mike Ippolito, are joined by Qiao Wang and Imran Khan of Alliance DAO. 



Not only are Qiao and Imran announcing the launch of Alliance DAO (in which Yanowitz is an investor) and a $50 million fundraise, they&#8217;re also diving into their thoughts on how the &#8220;Summer of DeFi&#8221; set up the current state of crypto. They also cover metaverse and gaming projects they&#8217;re interested in.



Plus, listen in to hear their thoughts on:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Web2 vs. Web3</li><li>The convergence of DeFi and TradFi</li><li>Tokenomics</li><li>and so much more</li></ul>



Check out what they had to say in the video below. 👇



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Alliance DAO on raising $50M and this year’s biggest DeFi trends | Qiao Wang &amp; Imran Khan" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K88HLCIJnKM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">About the show</h3>



&#8220;Empire&#8221; is a twice-a-week show. On Thursdays, Jason interviews crypto industry movers and shakers to talk about their struggles, bold moves and tough decisions. Friday&#8217;s weekly round-up episodes feature <meta charset="utf-8">co-host, Santiago Roel Santos and cover the top news from the past week.



For any NPR or Guy Raz fans out there, you can think of &#8220;Empire&#8221; as a &#8220;How I Built This&#8221; for the bitcoin and crypto industry.



Subscribe to &#8220;Empire&#8221; today on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/empire/id1554930038" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify</a>. Watch episodes on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvER9nHSRN3wPkrDGTT5_8VC4Hjcq0f9U" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a>.



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Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.



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