thinkgurls, It Boys, and bank crashes...oh my

it's been a week.

March 12, 2023

gm,

The highs and lows have been intense, friends. We’re going to just continue to show up and keep doing the work because…that’s what feels right? Honestly idk!

Love,

The Boys

Writer: RachlolEditor: Deana

Have you met our first-ever Zine? She launched Friday and already hit almost 50,000 mints in 48 hours. More thots here.

With writing from Steph Alinsug, Gaby Goldberg and a long-form feature on cover star Latashá, it’s the hopium you might need rn.

Love to Ledger, Lens Protocol, OpenSea and Celo for supporting this vision.

GM it’s 2008 again. Silicon Valley Bank, one of the most trusted and widely-used banks for startups (both crypto and traditional startups), experienced a devastating yet classic bank run this week. Hit an explainer thread to get the full view of what happened. The FDIC has taken over to try to find a solution to return assets to customers, though there are rumors that the FDIC is also blocking a sale of the bank. Honestly, IDK, but Janet seems to be at least looking at it. The discourse around this being a tech-bro, coastal elite problem is simply not true, and its impact is being felt far and wide. If the government doesn’t step in, expect an “extinction-level event” for the startup ecosystem. It’s giving Margin Call, in the absolute worst way possible.

Peg Me. Late Friday night, the USDC stablecoin depegged from $1 down to $0.86 (up to $0.94 late Saturday) prompting a worldwide prayer to sky daddy to save us. We refuse to FUD on this, so go elsewhere for doomsday takes. Why the depeggging? $3.3 billion of the reserves backing the stablecoin are tied up at SVB. Since USDC could not be “redeemed” by funds stuck in SVB, folks panicked and the depegging ensued. Late Saturday, Circle (USDC’s mom) said it would cover any missing liquidity tied up in SVB using corporate funds, which is good news. Monday will be telling.

Trigger warning (banks). Kraken, a popular US-based crypto exchange, is gearing up to launch their own bank despite regulatory challenges. Be the change you want to see the world, amirite? The need for a crypto-friendly bank is at an ATH. Kraken may just be the win we need. We just need a win, ok?!