Issue #1

🚨 News & Updates

Covering February 8th, 2023 - February 22nd, 2023

🚀 Company Updates

Unchained Capital completes SOC Type 1 & Type 2 certifications governed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The verification reassures existing and future clients that the organization has implemented effective internal controls in line with best practices related to finances, security, confidentiality, and availability. Unchained specializes in collaborative custody solutions, which is "the most secure and reliable way for businesses, financial institutions, and trusts to take ownership of their bitcoin by holding their own private keys."

Zion announced raising $6M in their latest funding round led by XBTO Humla Ventures as their valuation reaches $53M. The funds will be used to build upon their recently launched v2 app which seeks to replace traditional centralized social media infrastructure by using decentralized Web5 standards combined with the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Zion is a "Web5 social network that empowers creators by facilitating the free and open flow of conversations and transactions."

LocalBitcoins will be shutting down their peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin exchange by the end of February 2023 and users have one year to log in to withdraw their bitcoin citing recent low volume exchange due to the crypto winter. As one of the earliest exchanges founded over 10 years ago, the timing is interesting considering the recent SEC crackdown on crypto exchanges. The exchange is one of few P2P bitcoin exchanges available to individuals and experienced weekly trading volumes ranging from $5M to upwards of $100M.

🟠 Product Updates

Coinkite released a brand new Bitcoin hardware wallet called the Q1. The new product builds upon the popular Coldcard Mk4 featuring a QWERTY keyboard, QR code scanner, and a large LCD screen. The Coldcard is considered one of the most trusted and secure bitcoin-only hardware wallets on the market and the upgraded Q1 adds extra functionality to type in your passphrase faster and scan QR codes without compromising security.

Start9 announces a new online Bitcoin-only store powered by BTC Pay Server. Start9 makes it possible for anyone to run their own sovereign private server. The announcement aligns with the company's ethos to move away from centralized data harvesting servers such as Shopify in an effort to eventually move onto a full bitcoin standard and put users back in control of their data.

CleanSpark Inc. acquires 20,000 brand new Antminer S19j Pro+ units for new facilities as part of its ongoing expansion. The miners worth $43.6M will add an additional 37% bitcoin production capacity to the organization as the miners are installed in several locations across the United States. Cleanspark is a publicly traded American Bitcoin miner focused on managing, constructing, and maintaining renewable energy facilities.

Strike released their Sending API Documentation that allows businesses to send USD over the Lightning Network. The API is challenging legacy USD payment networks such as Visa, SWIFT, and ACH and will make USD transaction fees nearly zero. Strike is the leading digital payment platform built on Bitcoin's Lightning Network

👥 People Updates

Argo Blockchain's CEO Peter Wall resigns after 3 years with the company to pursue other opportunities. This announcement comes a week after their CFO Alex Appleton announced his resignation to also pursue other opportunities. Argo Blockchain, the publicly traded London-based mining company, is struggling to stay afloat as it recently had to sell its largest mining site to avoid bankruptcy.

Fedi announced Skyler joined their team as Head of Design. One of the most exciting new projects of this decade in bitcoin now has one of the best designers in the community seeking to make bitcoin custody intuitive. Powered by Fedimint, an open-source federated e-cash protocol, Fedi allows anyone to use Bitcoin easily, securely, and collaboratively with their Lightning wallet app.

🎙 Interviews

KEY: 🎙 = listen, 📺 = watch, 📖 = read

TFTC #396: How to Get Hired In Bitcoin with Bitcoin Talent Co.: Host Marty Bent interviews co-founders of Bitcoin Talent Co., Andy Thompson and Michael Tanguma, about the launch of their Bitcoin-focused recruiting firm. (🎙, 📺)

Citadel Dispatch #90: Spiral Initiatives with Steve Lee: Host Matt Odell interviews Lead of Spiral, Steve Lee, about funding open-source bitcoin projects. (🎙)

WBD #620: The Frontier of Bitcoin Mining with Lee Bratcher: Host Peter McCormack interviews the President of Texas Blockchain Council, Lee Bratcher, about the important work of the Texas Blockchain Council in educating decision-makers and providing a link to Bitcoin businesses, which has helped Texas to become a global leader in Bitcoin. (🎙, 📺)

Bitcoin Rapid-Fire: BoltObserver, Risks to Lightning, & The Value Enabled Web: Host John Vallis interviews the CEO and co-founder of Bolt Observer, Aljaz Ceru, about Bolt Observer and the software which provides monitoring and management services for Lightning nodes. (🎙, 📺)

Simply Bitcoin: Brady Swenson and the Future of Bitcoin Media: Host Nico Moran interviews the Head of Education at Swan Bitcoin, Brady Swenson, about the future of Bitcoin Media. (🎙)

SLP #459: Q1 and Bitcoin Security with NVK: Host Stephan Livera interviews the Founder of Coinkite, NVK, about Bitcoin security and the launch of their new hardware wallet, Q1. (🎙, 📺)

SLP #457: Bitcoin as International Money with Bill Hill & Malcolm Weed: Host Stephan Livera interviews the COO of Neutron Pay, Malcolm Weed, and VP of Pouch, Bill Hill, about Bitcoin as international money and the scene in Asia. (🎙, 📺)

🔦 Company Spotlight

Zion

Total Funding

$6M (Source: Zion)

About

"Zion is an open global scalable decentralized community platform that facilitates transparent and direct flow of content and payments between creators and their audiences.

Social media companies extract billions of dollars in revenue by serving as the “middleman” between content creators and their fans, followers and subscribers. Zion challenges their monopoly as brokers of online content, just as Bitcoin challenges banks’ monopoly as facilitators of financial transactions.

 By replacing digital intermediaries with transparent, open source protocols, Zion sidesteps corporate profit motives and empowers every user with full sovereignty over their digital identity, absolute freedom of expression, and irrevocable custody of their personal information. On a decentralized social network that cannot collect or store user data, there are no hyper-targeted ads, no increasingly-polarizing “recommended content,” and no threat of surveillance or arbitrary censorship. The rules are enforced by technology — not technology companies.

We believe that technology should serve people, not the other way around. That’s why communities on Zion are fully independent micro-economies that unlock opportunities for anyone to create wealth. Zion was launched to make it easier for creative people to pursue what they love and share their passion with the world."

Leadership

• Justin Rezvani, Founder and CEO

💼 Working in Bitcoin

Bitcoin Talent Co. is the first recruiting firm to focus exclusively on the Bitcoin landscape. We see through the noise of crypto, blockchain, Web3, and all other buzzwords to help Bitcoin-focused companies operate at scale. Below are some of the positions we are actively recruiting candidates for.

Open Roles

1. Sales Director - An AI-focused technology company that uses the Lightning network to pay users for completing micro tasks is looking for an experienced sales hunter to bring their product to market. A candidate with existing contacts within the traditional media industry is a plus.

2. Bug Bounty Program Manager - A Bitcoin company leveraging the Lightning network to create a bounty marketplace is looking for a sales expert with a technical vocabulary who is able to attract quality developers to the platform to complete bounties. A candidate with existing contacts within bitcoin companies is a plus.

3. VP of Engineering - An interoperable Web 5 company using the Lightning network for decentralized bitcoin payments is hiring a VP of Engineering to work closely with the CEO. The role requires a candidate willing to work more than 60 hours per week writing code and managing an engineering team.

🤔 Interested in an open role or know someone who may be interested?

Reply to this email or send us a message!👇

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That's a wrap for this biweekly newsletter. See ya in +2016 blocks from now!

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- Eric (@epodrulz)

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