Br3akthroughs #7
by Markus Hujara – August 9, 2024
In today’s world, compute is abundant, but attention is scarce. Consumers hold all that valuable attention yet give it away for free – to companies like Google, Meta and Bytedance. Suppliers pay these behemoths for access to their distribution network of consumers. Token-based engagement networks will change all of that soon: They are the most promising way to align incentives of both consumers and suppliers and unlock the full potential of global attention. Below, we cover two emerging engagement platforms, which recently launched their tokens: EtherMail, pioneering consensual email marketing, and Layer3, pioneering onchain token distribution.
Let’s dive into Br3akthroughs issue #7:
- Backing: Layer3 | Liquorice | Arcium
- Building: EtherMail
- Broadening: Confidential Compute | Onchain analysis
- Community: _Founders’ Offsite | Summer event season recap
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_Backing
CONSUMER | Layer3 – the decentralized distribution network
Greenfield is co-leading Layer3’s $15M Series A. Layer3 is building the onchain value distribution platform to serve and connect two distinct groups:
1_Crypto users who want to explore Web3 in a guided and trusted way and get rewarded for their actions and attention.
2_Networks, protocols, and dApps that want to attract and retain the right users. The $L3 token recently launched on several exchanges.
_Recent media coverage: The Block and Decentralized
–> Backing post
DEFI | Liquorice – the next evolution in DeFi Intent-based infrastructure
Greenfield is leading Liquorice‘s $1.2M pre-seed funding round. Liquorice developed a novel approach to connecting intent-based decentralized exchanges to a network of solvers and market makers through an API. With that, they are addressing some of the most pressing challenges in DeFi: enabling the optimal execution for traders by broadening the access for non-vertically integrated solvers to get offchain quotes.
–> Backing post
INFRASTRUCTURE | Arcium – the first parallelized confidential computing network
Greenfield is leading Arcium’s $5.5M strategic funding round to launch the first parallelized confidential computing network. Arcium will enable use cases that combine the old network effects of Web2 with the new network effects and capabilities of Web3: liveness, permissionlessness, composability, censorship resistance, verifiability, and, last but not least, ownership.
_Recent media coverage: The Block
–> Backing post
_Building
CONSUMER | EtherMail – the “Email token”
EtherMail‘s $EMT token is live on several exchanges. EtherMail combines one of the largest communication channels on the internet (300bn emails are sent every day) with the functionalities inherent in Web3. It lets people onboard and use crypto from their email inboxes. The launch of $EMT generated a lot of attention for the product itself: In the first 48 hours after the launch, EtherMail registered more than 200,000 new sign-ups. We celebrate the TGE with a deep dive into what has been built since our backing in 2022. TL;DR: With EtherMail, email has evolved from a communication tool bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3 to becoming an integrated instrument in the Web3 engagement and payment stack.
–> Buiding post
_Broadening
INFRASTRUCTURE | 7 things you should consider re Confidential Compute
Privacy has always been a critical area to resolve and yet we can’t claim a clear win. The technical problem is real. However, the industry is making it even more difficult by oftentimes lumping together different solutions. Our latest research effort attempts to break down the differentiating attributes of the widely used primitives in Confidential Compute: ZKP, MPC and FHE. We also expand into how said cryptographic primitives are implemented on the system and dapp levels. By clearing up misconceptions, a more straightforward path to solutions could open up.
CONSUMER | Onchain analysis: Every Web3 player will need a Layer3 strategy
As part of the investment process in Layer3, we used our internal onchain analysis capabilities to determine the impact of the engagement platform. We have published some of our most intriguing findings together with OurNetwork, an industry-leading data-driven newsletter. One example: Users sustainably transact significantly more after starting to interact with Layer3. Conclusion: Layer3 is becoming a core supplier of network activity to top protocols. Soon, every team might need a Layer3 strategy.
_Community
EVENT | Greenfield hosts _Founders’ Offsite in Brussels
Providing space and time to forge meaningful connections, explore synergies but also to discuss entrepreneurial challenges founders in crypto face. This has been the idea behind our offsite on the weekend before ETHcc in Brussels. But the true value originated from the dedicated participation of the founders of our portfolio companies and the lessons – good, bad, and ugly – they shared.
EVENT | Summer event season recap
This summer event season has given us many possibilities to connect with vibrant crypto communities in Europe and beyond. Some highlights:
1_Brussels/ETHcc:
Together with Layer 3, Near and Pantera Capital, we hosted a joint networking event.
2_Brusels/IDAF:
Christian, our Partner and CLO, joined a panel at the Institutional Digital Assets Forum during EThcc hosted by Bpifrance and the European Crypto Initiative. He appealed to regulators not to find any possible angle to regulate but to accept the uncertainty that comes with the deliberate choice to exclude decentralized applications from Mica and give projects the space they need to grow and innovate.
3_OMR&Finance Forward/Hamburg:
Our Founding Partner Jascha discussed crypto as “Europe’s big opportunity in tech” with Julius Nagel and Florian Adomeit for an on-stage episode of their podcast, Alles Coin Nichts Muss.
–> Recording
4_Abu Dhabi/Blockchain Funds Forum:
Jascha was also invited to share our views on the competitive position of the European crypto ecosystem at the Abu Dhabi Blockchain Funds Forum for institutional crypto investors co-hosted by the ADGM, Lw3 and Coinbase.
5_Berlin/Blockchain Week:
Together with our portfolio companies Near, Celo and Q, we hosted a drink deception.
We look forward to meeting you at further gatherings this fall!
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