1/ Introducing the MVP Hackathon by Alliance
Take your idea to MVP in two weeks.
The Grand Prize?
Immediate admission into the next Alliance Accelerator cohort (ALL13).
Apply by May 15th:
1) 📢 Announcing Alliance DAO 📢
DeFi Alliance and hundreds of other top builders are coming together to form Alliance, the world's first digital startup nation, to accelerate the best Web3 startups.
The DCCPA greatly threatens DeFi innovation.
The proposed bill:
- gives CFTC new powers to regulate spot markets
- forces human intermediation
- forces projects to sacrifice decentralization
It favors centralized incumbents and kills startups.
Alliance opposes the DCCPA. 🧵
We’re excited to welcome
@Solana
to our Ecosystem Partnership Program!
This enables Solana-specific programming for our next cohort.
We believe Solana will play a key role in the multi-chain future of decentralized finance.
The DeFi Alliance is excited to support
@Polkadot
-specific programming for our Accelerator's current and next cohort.
We believe Polkadot will play a key role in the multi-chain future of decentralized finance and we can't wait to see what new projects get built.
1/ We’re happy to announce a new strategic partnership with
@foundersfund
which will equip Alliance-accelerated founders with increased access to resources and mentorship.
To kick off this partnership, Alliance co-founder
@lmrankhan
sat down with several Founders Fund team…
Last night in Illinois, a bill advanced that would make unlicensed “digital asset business activity” (i.e., most blockchain activities) a felony.
If the House passes the bill, it could become law in a matter of weeks.
Alliance opposes the Digital Assets Regulation Act (DARA).
DeFi Alliance is delighted to welcome
@avalancheavax
to our Ecosystem Partnership Program to accelerate teams building on the Avalanche protocol.
DeFi startups apply here:
Web3 game startups here:
Apply by Dec 20!
We’re excited to welcome
@Terra_Money
to our Ecosystem Partnership Program!
This enables Terra-specific programming for our next cohort.
We believe Terra (and the broader
@cosmos
ecosystem) will play a key role in the multi-chain future of DeFi.
1/ Last week eight awesome teams graduated from
@alliancedao
's ALL11 cohort to build great companies. These founders are now members of the DAO and will be there to share their experiences and learnings with future Alliance Founders.
Introducing the Alliance HQ
Over the last three years, Alliance has accelerated 12 cohorts, 200+ startups, and built a community of more than 500 founders.
While we have organized a series of offsites, our founders and mentors have primarily interacted virtually. Today, that…
1/6
@Solana
Foundation will continue to enable Solana-specific programming for the next cohort of our Accelerator program. We're so excited and believe Solana will play a key role in the multi-chain future of decentralized finance.
Building on Solana?:
1/ 2024 Crypto Startup Ideas
Below are some crypto startup ideas and themes that we’re excited about at Alliance.
This list serves two purposes:
To encourage builders to apply to join our community and get funded.
To inspire you, if you are not sure what to build.
Read the…
Calling all DeFi startups —applications are now open for Accelerator Program Cohort 4!
Are you:
- A DeFi startup (or startup that intersects w/ DeFi)
- At any stage
- Anon or not
- looking for liquidity & other support?
If so, apply today!
This week we're diving into the world of
@AxieInfinity
.
Tune in Wednesday @ 2:45 EST for a livestream walkthrough hosted by
@DangerWillRobin
.
Find us on Twitch:
Due to the sheer number of applications Alliance receives, we have a strong sense of what’s happening in crypto.
We’ve shared this alpha with Demo Day attendees in the past. Today, for the first time, we’re doing it publicly 🧵👇
1) Alliance is delighted to partner with
@avalancheavax
to enable Avalanche-specific programming for the next cohort of our Accelerator program.
Apply by April 11:
Alliance works with founders to build world-changing companies of the future — and we'd love to work with you.
The deadline to apply for ALL11 2023 is June 14th.
Submit your application at
DeFi Alliance is delighted to welcome
@0xPolygon
to our Ecosystem Partnership Program to enable Polygon-specific programming for the next cohort of our Accelerator program.
Apply Here:
We had a blast at Cohort 4 Demo Day!
Here are some highlights from an amazing fireside by
@balajis
and
@soona
!
Full video with demos at the end 👇
Let's start with the Pincer Attack aka the DeFi Mullet.
1) Accelerator Cohort 6: Teams and Stats! 📊
Cohort 6 was our first Web3 Games Cohort!
We selected 12 teams of 65 applicants that we felt we could best support and that represented the best Web3 game startups.
Check out the teams and stats below 👇
DeFi Alliance welcomes
@aavegotchi
as the 8th acceptance into our genesis Gaming Accelerator cohort!
Digital frens for the crypto generation! Aavegotchis are playable
#NFTs
with a
#DeFi
♥️
@aavegotchi
The DeFi Alliance has responded to FinCEN's midnight rule on self-hosted wallets.
Special thanks to our Regulatory Taskforce members including
@jchervinsky
and
@colleenklein
.
🚨Event Alert🚨
DAA5 Demo Day is Oct. 8th @ 11:30am EST.
Join us for a fireside chat w/
@joeykrug
, CoCIO of
@PanteraCapital
& Cofounder of
@AugurProject
, followed by presentations by startups in our DeFi Accelerator.
Register to attend:
The DeFi Alliance is renewing its support for
@polkadot
-specific programming! Our Accelerator's teams will once again have the mentorship of
@peterhaymond
and
@suragsheth
.
It is not too late to apply:
On July 7th @ 10AM ET, we’re excited to host Cohort 4 Demo Day
This event is for DeFi startups in our accelerator to showcase their products to liquidity providers
@Soona
Amhaz, GP
@volt_cap
, will host a fireside with Balaji Srinivasan (
@balajis
), prev. CTO
@coinbase
& GP
@a16z
DeFi Alliance is extending support to China by establishing the first ever chapter today
The chapter will be lead by
@Mable_Jiang
@xinshudong
@cryptoricky_ALT
@QwQiao
Our goal is to bridge the gap between China based founders and Western communities
Mentor lineup for our genesis gaming track is strong.
We're proud to welcome
@calebapplegate
@BoredElonMusk
@pierskicks
to our mentor roster.
Building a web3 game? Apply by 9/8 for the opportunity to learn from some of the very best.
Apply here:
1/ Announcement: Launching DeFi Alliance European Chapter
This chapter will be led by
@Melt_Dem
@_MinTeo
@samharrisonvc
@EvgenyGaevoy
and many others.
European founders will now have dedicated resources for regulatory support, network and liquidity
As investors in both
@MercurialFi
and $LUNA, we're very much FOR this proposal
It's important for
@terra_money
and for crypto generally that UST becomes the dominant cross-chain stablecoin
@solana
presents a huge opportunity and $UST should establish itself as a leader early on
Announcing DeFi Alliance India Chapter
There is a massive opportunity to leverage local talent base to build products while utilizing the DeFi Alliance core infrastructure to support Indian founders
Led by
@joel_john95
@shutterbugsid
@kichsr
@zsparta
We onboarded several new members to our DeFi Alliance industry association!
-
@blockchainCap
-
@chainlink
-
@egirl_capital
They will help our startups with liquidity provision, mentorship and more.
2) Over 300 contributors have joined the DAO and its initial round, contributing $50m.
Our contributors are talented individuals and include incredible Web3 builders that have created the core protocols of today or are building the next crop of tomorrow’s protocols:
Definitions aside, this bill kills DeFi.
The bill applies old market concepts to a new frontier, forcing innovative projects to sacrifice decentralization in order to conform with rules and concepts that only make sense to traditional intermediated market practices.
#DeFi
won’t succeed unless users, investors, traders, and other institutions have full regulatory clarity.
This requires educating policymakers to earn their support and trust.
This is why the DeFi Alliance launched its Regulatory Taskforce:
📢 Last call for applications!
Thanks to all the incredible startups that applied
We’ve already received a record-breaking number of submissions
We can’t wait to welcome the next batch of Web3 founders 🤝
Apply now:
Further, the bill does nothing to clearly define what a “digital commodity” is or clarify the distinction between tokens that are commodities and tokens that are not.
And yet the bill identifies bitcoin and ether as commodities. Why? What test applies to them, but not other tokens?
What's more, the CFTC has already acknowledged that bitcoin and ether were commodities without the need for new legislation.
Why is this bill problematic?
First, it gives the CFTC power to regulate spot digital commodity markets whereas it never had the power to regulate spot markets before.
Historically, it only regulates derivatives markets.
We're delighted to welcome
@CeloOrg
to our Ecosystem Partnership Program!
This enables
#Celo
-specific programming for our next cohort.
We believe Celo will play a key role in the multi-chain future of decentralized finance.
The Fantasy Airdrop is now live! 🛫
We're excited to announce the first phase of our deployment to the
@Blast_L2
mainnet.
Connect to to claim your rewards:
✨ Mainnet FAN points
🪂 Free Packs
🛍️ Discounted Mints
A huge thanks to our investors…
2) Avalanche was launched in September 2020 and is now seeing exponential ecosystem growth. A large number of DeFi and Web3 game projects call Avalanche home today and we expect many more in the coming years.
Ultimately, founders who are building tokenized projects will have no greater clarity as to whether their tokens are commodities, securities, or neither.
The DCCPA is a bill in the US Congress that may become eligible to pass as part of an end-of-year omnibus bill.
The text was introduced by
@SenStabenow
and
@JohnBoozman
in the Senate Agriculture Committee (
@SenateAg
).
Supporters are marketing the bill as a win for the industry because it provides the CFTC with jurisdiction over spot trading in “digital commodities”.
The premise behind this enthusiasm is that the CFTC is a pro-innovation regulator.
The jury is still out on that.
For example, the bill would require that every DEX have emergency powers that provide for the authority to liquidate or transfer positions as well as to suspend trading in a particular digital commodity “in consultation or cooperation with” the CFTC.
The bill doesn't specifically mention DeFi. Rather, many DeFi projects would likely be classified as “digital commodity platforms” and DEXs would be considered as “trading facilities” because DEXs “facilitate the execution or trading of digital commodity trades between persons”.
The deadline to apply for Alliance’s ALL12 cohort is tomorrow
If you’re a serious builder in crypto, and looking for funding and community, here’s why Alliance is the place to start 👇
1/ Our Founder Community (Alliance DAO)
Having accelerated 150+ startups, Alliance has…
The bill creates a compliance architecture that precludes the concept of a system of smart contracts operating decentralized infrastructure with little or no reliance on human activity.
The rules that apply to platforms and facilities assume—and in fact, require—human activity at the center of the project, effectively banning decentralization and therefore DeFi.
Proponents of the bill claim that it has broad industry support. That is false.
We have spoken to many entrepreneurs, businesses and industry groups in IL.
Most hadn’t even heard about it.
Those who have are shocked by its language.
All of them oppose the bill.
Alliance is delighted to partner with
@0xPolygon
to enable Polygon-specific programming for the next cohort of our Accelerator program.
Apply by April 11:
The bill enables the CFTC to charge platforms fees to pay for new registration requirements and conduct oversight of trading.
The fee rate is not subject to review by the courts.
The bill requires that all digital commodity platforms have a chief compliance officer who reports to a senior officer of the platform and bears responsibility for ensuring the platform’s compliance with the act and with CFTC rules.
On March 31st, we’re excited to host our second Liquidity Demo Day
This event is for DeFi startups in our accelerator to showcase their products to liquidity providers
Jim Bianco
@biancoresearch
will discuss macro conditions + crypto & a Fireside with Joe Lubin
@ethereumJoseph
🚨 Join the DeFi Alliance!
After raising a $15M fund led by Mark Cuban & others, we're expanding the team!
We’re looking for energetic Program Managers to run and grow the following accelerator programs:
• NFT
• DeFi
Further, the bill flouts the strong principle of economic liberty at the core of the crypto economy, requiring that trading facilities comply with “core principles,” which include providing a “centralized market for executing trades”.
Visualizing RWA Adoption Over Time
This excerpt from
@qwqiao
’s latest piece shows the phases different assets are in on the adoption spectrum.
• Stablecoins are firmly in the crypto-agnostic phase. The most important use cases here are currency hedging and cross-border…
DeFi startups have none of these bureaucracies in place and thus innovation will be heavily stifled by significant upfront compliance and financial costs.
This creates an insurmountable barrier to entry.
Only large, well-funded incumbents will survive.
By forcing the above, the bill places tokenized DeFi projects in the impossible position of implementing centralization that has the knock-on effect that the project’s own token now looks much more like a security.
A win for regulatory jurisdiction, but not for innovation.
Ethereum’s Layer-2 ecosystem is on fire! 🔥 🚀
Big props to all the projects who are already building on L2 and those launching very soonTM.
Here’s to
#ScalingEthereumTogether
💜 💜 💜
This is at odds with the CFTC’s prior comments about DeFi.
Its own Commissioners have acknowledged that the regulatory structures of the past (which feature prominently in this bill) are not well-suited to DeFi.
Recently,
@MohamedFFouda
published a blog post detailing the Bitcoin ecosystem, with a focus on L2s.
Wednesday, we’ll host a Spaces to dive deep into Bitcoin L2s with
@0x_orkun
,
@alexeiZamyatin
, and
@iansagstette
.
Set a reminder below ↓
The current bill is now being revised behind closed doors and could be passed as soon as December in an end-of-year omnibus package.
The time to raise awareness and your voice is now!
🎬 Highlight from "Axie and its Tokenomics" session!
Co-founder
@AxieInfinity
Jeff Zirlin (
@Jihoz_Axie
) on community and games:
"Community is the beginning and the end."
Want to work in DeFi?
We're proud to announce our DeFi Jobs Board! 👇
Our job board is:
✅100% DeFi focused
✅Features some of the top DeFi projects
✅Includes all projects who went through our Accelerator Program
📣Demo Day is TOMORROW @ 9:30am Eastern.
We're excited to showcase some of the best Web3 games in the space.
Tune in via livestream here on Twitter or Youtube.
Check the teams below 👇
Commissioner Berkovitz for example acknowledged that “CFTC regs are made for a different world than DeFi”.
He pointed out that CFTC regulations “are based on an intermediation model”.
📢 Apply for early admission to Alliance Accelerator Cohort 10 (ALL10)!
Early application deadline — Nov 30
Cohort begins — March 2023
Open to all early stage Web3 startups
Apply here:
And yet this bill imports legal concepts that only make sense to platforms with some form of traditional intermediary.
It seems to deal with the unique aspects of DeFi by eliminating DeFi.
🗓Last week at the DeFi Alliance(May 14)🗓
We welcomed
@solana
@terra_money
&
@CeloOrg
to our Ecosystem Program!
This enables us to provide ecosystem-specific programming for our Accelerator Cohort 4 as we believe each will play a key role in the multi-chain future of DeFi.
Therefore, as written, the bill suffocates DeFi startups and thus innovation and further does not recognize the unique properties of decentralization and disintermediation that DeFi can offer.
Centralized exchanges have deep compliance and legal teams ready to conform to the bureaucratic requirements that the bill and subsequent CFTC rule-making will impose.
Some are likely already preparing.
📢Attention Web3 founders! It's that time of the year again.
Early admissions are open for the next Alliance Accelerator Cohort (ALL11).
We're seeking diverse and innovative minds to join the community.
Open to all early stage Web3 startups.
Apply by April 26, 2023 👉…
📣 1 day left to apply to Alliance Accelerator Cohort 11 (ALL11)!
Early application deadline — April 26.
Cohort begins — August 14, 2023.
Open to all early stage Web3 startups.
Don’t wait. Apply here: