Can Crypto Go from Degen to Regen?

Can Crypto Go from Degen to Regen? 

With memecoins like $PEPE clogging the Ethereum network and our Twitter feeds, we can definitely say crypto is having a degen moment. During these FOMO fueled moments, it’s hard to cut through the noise of croaking Internet frogs and feel connected to crypto’s greater purpose.

While Web3 and crypto does enable memecoins, they also enable regenerative digital frontiers that create positive impacts across the ecosystem. Over the long time horizon, the good created by regens in crypto will outlast the greed of degens. It’s the fate of Web3 evolution, according to Kevin Owocki of Supermodular. 

To explore the exciting regenerative digital frontier and how it creates sustainable public goods funding, SheFi hosted a conversation with Supermodular’s Gloria Kimbwala. At Supermodular, Gloria runs hackathons and in-person events through Buidlbox. She also focuses on making Web3 a more inclusive space and is a SheFi member, mom of two, hiker and yoga teacher.

We encourage you to listen to this inspiring conversation with Gloria on Twitter Spaces here.

Maggie: To start, tell us how you got into Web3.

Gloria: Before Web3, I worked with the Cash App team at Square, where we dealt with the challenges of moving money and navigating laws around payment rails. I found out about blockchain before my maternity leave, and while on it, I decided to explore the engineering side of blockchain. Ethereum was an open ecosystem with many resources and calls I could listen to and take notes. I started participating in hackathons, attending more meetups, and asking questions about the protocol and community. At this time, I was married and wasn't allowed to buy crypto. However, I could earn crypto by participating in hackathons and hold on to it in my wallet. When I finally split from my spouse, it was those ETH earnings from hackathons that helped me have financial sovereignty. This experience showed me the impact Web3 could have for women in becoming financially solvent. Then, I earned an opportunity to go to Devcon in Prague, met Kevin Owocki and after that, started doing hackathons for Gitcoin. It's been a learning curve, but I've been able to jump in, contribute and learn throughout the process.

Maggie: Thanks for sharing that powerful story, Gloria. Now you are at Supermodular, which recently spun out of Gitcoin. What is it?

Gloria: Supermodular comes from the concept that one plus one equals three. It's about bringing together full-fledged identities to build something that is also full-fledged. This idea of supermodularity is rooted in game theory, which is foundational to Web3. As a regenerative studio, we build upon different regenerative concepts, such as Buidlbox, Kevin's Green Pill, and Hypercerts within the regenerative crypto economic space. These projects are used to support each other and the wider Web3 community. For example, Supermodular partners with Gitcoin to organize events such as Schelling Point, a yearly conference. As part of Supermodular, I handle in-person events and look forward to continuing to support the Web3 community through our work.

Maggie: To summarize, Supermodular is building out all these modular pieces, and allowing other people to build on these pieces too. When all of these pieces are combined together, they create this new regenerative digital frontier. Can you explain what this is?

Gloria: The regenerative digital frontier is about creating a system where public goods are funded, created, and maintained. It's important to think about public goods in any way, whether it's open source contributions, green projects, or any ecosystem. These ecosystems need to be nourished and supported in order for them to thrive and have a lasting impact. Regenerative crypto is not just about financing, but also measuring the impact and creating an ecosystem around it. It's about showing the impact of a venture across time and creating a sustainable system.

Maggie: You mentioned the word public goods a couple of times. What is a public good?

Gloria: A public good can be anything that benefits a shared group of people, ranging from open source code to air or clean water. It can also include infrastructure like roads or even a podcast. These shared resources are used by the public and sometimes funded by the public themselves. So it doesn't just have to be infrastructure, but it could be a talk that leads to impact or funding in some way. Within the Web3 space, public goods can take many forms, such as contributors to the protocol, events, longevity, or tracks within the Gitcoin ecosystem. There's a lot of things that are public goods that we interact with every single day, but we don't think about like, how are they funded. And like, would this be even better if like people themselves, were able to decide how it was used and how it was funded?

Maggie: Gitcoin leverages quadratic funding for public goods. Can you tell us more about quadratic funding?

Gloria: A simple explanation for quadratic funding is that it prioritizes the number of people who contribute to a grant rather than the amount of their contributions. In a quadratic funded matching pool, you're much more impacted by the amount of people that contributed to your grant rather than the amount of the contribution. So there is more power in the number of people. Gitcoin can have contribution sizes where the average contribution will be like $1, or maybe $2, but the amount of people who want to see the grant get funded is almost exponentially bigger. Quadratic funding allows grantees to leverage their network in a way to get funding even if their network isn't the richest network in the world. If they have a lot of people that believe in or benefit from their public good and contribute to the grants rounds, they can get a higher proportion of the matching pool. It allows for a more democratic distribution of funding and provides opportunities for those who may not have access to traditional funding sources.

Maggie: How can someone participate in public goods?

Gloria: I believe there are many possibilities for public goods, and one way to get involved is to join a DAO or share your knowledge and explain it to others. Public goods are essential for the entire ecosystem, and everyone can participate in some way, shape, or form. It's crucial to have different perspectives and voices, and for everyone to feel that they have a say in shaping the future of this new digital frontier. DAOs are particularly important, as they allow women to have more ownership and flexibility in their careers, especially during life changes such as caring for parents or having children. With DAOs, women can have more autonomy and control over their careers, work when they need to, and take breaks without being stigmatized. DAOs are also more inclusive, and there are many opportunities to contribute and make proposals that can be quickly accepted based on merit. You don't necessarily need a specific degree or background to contribute, and bias is less likely to be a factor in the process. Another way to get involved is to look at forums and communities where you want to participate. For example, I'm particularly interested in helping women get started in protocol engineering and understanding that landscape, as having more women in protocol engineering will benefit the entire Ethereum ecosystem.

Maggie: What does the future hold for Supermodular and the regenerative ecosystem?

Gloria: I believe in this space, we need more modularity and engagement with those who require solutions to be built. Supermodular offers services such as hosting hackathons on Buildbox. If you are interested in running a hackathon, please reach out to me at [email protected]. Moreover, we strive to collaborate with others as we collectively shape the future. Currently, we are focused on Hypercerts, which enable us to measure and demonstrate the impact of a venture beyond revenue.

This conversation has been edited for this newsletter. To listen to the full conversation, click this link here.

ICYMI

Join SheFi’s next expert series: Participating in Web3 Accelerators with Gabriel Anderson of Graph Paper Capital. RSVP here: https://lu.ma/hzqkm2zf 

SheFi launched Robo Novas: a Participate-to-Earn NFT collection, where members unlock traits for participating in Web3 and our community.

SheFi is partnering with Umoja Protocol and Umoja Labs. Learn how they’re democratizing access to #DeFi credit throughout Africa and providing income opportunities to DAO members through Umoja DAO Bounties. To become a #Shujaa, tap: https://tinyurl.com/umojdadao 

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