Yes, I’m alive.
Sorry for ghosting you for all these months… I know, I know. Words aren’t enough, so keep reading and I’ll try to make it up to you!
Since the last issue of Blockchain Bounty was published, I’ve gone through a bunch of life changes both personally and professionally. Let’s sprint through the major updates.
First, I went back to school after a five-year hiatus.
Something about being immersed in web3 ignited a spark inside of me that I didn’t know was still there. So, I enrolled in a Masters programme for a degree in Law applied to technology with a specialisation in the law of data-driven markets. Yep, it’s a mouthful. And yes, there’s a story in there but that’s for another day.
Did I mention that my new alma mater is in Lisbon? I had to uproot myself from my world back home in Nigeria, fit my entire life into three bags and hop on over to a whole new continent—where I don’t even speak the local language.
Looking back now, I should probably get a PhD in ill-advised life choices too. I mean, who the hell relocates in the dead of winter? But here I am in Portugal, building from the ground up once again.
Speaking of building, you’ll probably love what I’ve been up to here.
I joined the ICP Hub as a core contributor (Translation: I’m an online hype-man/programme coordinator/DAO decision maker). Since February, we’ve organised two hackathons, helped accelerate a bunch of cool web3 projects building real-world value, and built one of Lisbon’s most vibrant IRL communities.
PLUS, I joined the founding team at FailSafe, Singapore’s leading blockchain cybersecurity company. I know it may sound biased coming from me but this team has pumped out some next-level tech for users and enterprises over the past year. It’s been a challenging experience but one that’s led me down a rabbit hole of doing some pretty cool research on cybercrime in blockspace (more on that soon… probably hehe).
“Cool story, bro. What’s the new project about?”
Do you get tired of seeing the same old tired shills from threadoors and content creatoors hyping stuff that they probably never even touched?
Ok, let me dial it back a bit. Have you ever bought something online, only to realise that your actual experience was not really the same as it was advertised?
When was the last time you splashed some cash on a new piece of tech like a gadget or software upgrade without scouring the internet to find out if other people would recommend said purchase?
Isn’t it funny (read “ironic”) that in web3 where we emphasise “trustless yada yada” philosophy, users like you and I are often expected to take shills at face value—essentially trusting what a website says or whatever narrative a KOL amplifies?
And this doesn’t just apply to tokenised projects trying to squeeze you for a few bucks. It’s difficult to find hands-on perspectives about hardware or infrastructure tools, unless you’re willing to dive into a Discord or Telegram and pray that you find some useful information.
I promise, I’m getting to the point.
When you think about problems from the standpoint of an average consumer, it’s easy to see how the entire industry seems to ignore friction that results from a lack of contextual data. And it’s even easier to see how this prevents more people from having an intuitive experience with blockchain products.
So, here’s my one-liner thesis: web3 product reviews.
Every week, my team handpicks a few interesting finds and we get our hands dirty testing them. Then we publish a newsletter spotlighting a standout product along with two short features on web3 products that we think you’d enjoy or find useful.
We believe that while it’s fun to print magic internet money, it’s great products that will define the golden era of blockchain. And so with our work, we hope to create a home for builders, users, investors, and everyone across the wide spectrum of curious humans who love gud tech.
Our first newsletter is launching on September 23, and our website launch will follow shortly. As a subscriber to Blockchain Bounty, you will be automatically signed up to receive our weekly emails. You can also sign up here for good measure.
In the future, we intend to build more channels for organic community contributions, so stay tuned for that!
If you’d like to support us, please follow us on Twitter (I refuse to call it X).
PS: This work is not funded externally in any way, so you can be sure that our reviews are 100% unbiased.
About making it up to you…
Here’s my Calendly. Feel free to book a FREE 15-minute brainstorm sesh with me and I’ll do my best to answer all your web3-related questions.
See you on the other side!
— Bandit.