A zero-sum game for female creators

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Working as an artist for the past ten years,?Maliha Abidi ?is all-but-too familiar with getting zero income for her work after the initial sale.?

In part, that’s why she created?Women Rise NFT , a collection of 10,000 art pieces representing women from around the world. Unlike when she sells a piece of her physical art, Abidi receives royalties in perpetuity every time a Women Rise NFT changes owners.?

But now, prominent NFT marketplaces like sudoswap and X2Y2 no longer require buyers?to pay royalties ?on certain purchases. And NFT trading volumes are?down nearly 100% since May ?due to the decline of cryptocurrencies overall.?

The result: The livelihood of Abidi and other Web3 creators is in jeopardy. This struggle is felt more acutely by female and underrepresented artists, who already face compounding obstacles in the art world.?

“The whole point of royalties is to set new foundations within the Web3 space that stop the exploitation of artists,” she said. “We should be setting an example and pushing the traditional art world to treat artists more fairly.”

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Catch Up Quick

Preparing for the Merge. ?Ethereum is anticipated to move from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism on or around September 14th. Our friends at Coinbase helped us with this handy guide for you to prepare.?

What’s good, Biden? ?Back in March, President Biden issued an executive order stating that in 180 days, every applicable Federal agency would need to deliver policy positions that address the risks of crypto. Those 180 days are now up and the report issued last week unpacks bitcoin’s energy use and its negative effects on the environment. This could lead to?possible executive action in the future.

• Related: In June, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis introduced the first significant piece of bipartisan legislation on regulating the crypto market.?Read more here.?

Follow the money. ?Despite fears of crypto winter, investments in blockchain and crypto startups totaled $14.2 billion this year. That’s less than half the more than $30 billion invested last year, but it’s still the second biggest year for crypto investment ever.?

Wrong number. ?The latest hot crypto scam — "pig? butchering"?— involves sending a message via Whatsapp, text or another app like Tinder, as if it was intended for someone else, only to then scam the recipient into sending crypto funds to their wallet.?

SEC all in on securities.? SEC Chair?Gary Gensler confirmed last week what we already knew: He thinks a majority of crypto tokens should be regulated like securities. That means tighter?rules on how they are bought and sold.?

BFF Updates

Welcome to BFF Discover. ?Launching today, BFF Discover is our original content studio for Web3 education, insights and interviews. In a recent survey, members of the BFF community told us that education is the single biggest thing that will help them advance their skills and knowledge in Web3. Now we have a homebase to help you do just that.?Check it out here.

From Our Founding BFFs

The next generation of social media doesn’t have to be so bleak,?Mysterious.xyz Founder Prerna Gupta?tells BFF. “We think about blockchain historically as a financial innovation, but I actually believe that the biggest long term impact that we will see in Web3 will be in how we socialize online.”?Read the full Q&A here.?

Rich Talent Group Founder and CEO Jana Rich?is?working with her team to get smart on Web3 and make room for an increase in requests for Web3 crypto hires.?“I feel energized, because the qualities and skills needed to be a successful leader in Web3 are fluid and evolving. We’re in uncharted territory.”?Read the full Q&A here.?

Freestyle Capital Partner Jenny Lefcourt?shares strategies and tips for entrepreneurs looking to?raise their Series A round of funding . “Series A typically needs a big vision and business traction, especially in the current market.”

Minted Founder Mariam Naficy?announced?the launch of Direct From Artist —an evolution of Minted’s marketplace featuring unique products created by independent artists and makers from around the world.

Variant General Partner Li Jin?was named by The Observer as one of the?Top 25 people Powering the Creator Economy . "Web2 was digital feudalism, and Web3 is digital capitalism,” she told Fortune.

We ?? Our Community

?? You asked and we listened!?If you didn’t get a chance to claim the Hands charm for your bracelet in the last round, we’re opening up another opportunity right now. You have until?September 14 at 7pm ET?to claim through our Perk Shop.

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?This newsletter and all the information in?it does not constitute financial advice. If you don’t want to invest money or time in Web3, you don’t have to. As always: Do your own research.

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