- Below is the latest edition of w3w, my free newsletter about emerging technology, including AI, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more . If you would like to receive it in your inbox every Sunday, please subscribe here.
- I used several AI apps to assist production of this edition of w3w. Final edit 100% by me. For fuller detail, see the newsletter's commit history on GitHub.
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I think it's fair to say Ethereum celebrated its 10th anniversary Wednesday in grand fashion.
In a headline, the financial network CNBC called the blockchain platform "Wall Street's invisible backbone." Then Joe Lubin, founder of the Ethereum-focused venture firm Consensys, rang the day's closing bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square, as if to underscore the point.
We should also mention here the ether token's roaring 49% gain in July, driven by increased buying among financial firms. They've been seeking a new crypto-related trading vehicle as a followup to their previous bitcoin spree.
That said, the gains in ether (ETH) for all of 2025 are more modest, up just 5%, as it had mostly languished until its recent surge.
Which brings us to some of the unresolved questions that still linger for Ethereum as it enters its second decade.
From its beginnings, Ethereum was designed to be a truly open, distributed app platform. Many people (myself very much included) find that a really compelling idea in a world where a handful of trillion-dollar tech companies, all based in a single country, run proprietary platforms that effectively dictate how billions of people around the world experience the internet everyday.
The public should never get overly accustomed to nor fully accept this oligarchy, in my opinion. We still sorely need open alternatives.
But in practice, if we're honest, Ethereum hasn't really worked out that way so far, no matter how high the current ETH price may be.
Instead, a decade after Ethereum's launch, it has ended up almost as "financialized" as Bitcoin, albeit through a very different route.
Bitcoin was designed expressly as a monetary network, whereas Ethereum wasn't. But the most popular apps that have been built on Ethereum, by far, have all been related to financial use cases to date.
They're decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms for trading other forms of crypto, custom tokens for smaller blockchain projects, side chains for trading real-world assets like real estate, bonds, and stocks, and so on. Hence CNBC's lofty reference to Ethereum as "Wall Street's invisible backbone."
But for all the other sorts of tasks people do on the internet everyday, Ethereum barely registers.
For a handy example, look at design platform Figma, which raised $1.2 billion in a record-breaking initial offering at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. Its cloud-based design tools have been a runaway hit the last few years — and built entirely on conventional, centralized servers.
Why are apps at that level of functionality and adoption still not running on-chain? And to be more specific, why not on Ethereum?
Look, I say this out of great regard for Ethereum and its community. Clearly, they've done many, many things right over the last decade. (Hence ether's market valuation north of $400 billion as I write.)
I also don't raise such questions rhetorically. I still hold out hope there are actual answers, so that we can indeed build a true web3 future.
I just want to recognize that there's still a loooong way to go in that regard. Sure, pause a moment to celebrate Ethereum's first decade. But don't linger too long.
Five Things: July 27 to Aug. 2, 2025
The week's top headlines about emerging technologies and trends reshaping the web:
- Big Tech's quarterly earnings showed surprising strength, even as they increased capital expenditures sharply, with a heavy emphasis on expanding AI projects. Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft all beat Wall Street analysts' profit expectations. On capital spending, Amazon led the pack at $115 billion in planned outlays this year. (Barron's)
- But listed crypto companies' results flashed mixed signals. Coinbase's shares fell 16% Friday after it reported a decline in second-quarter revenue. Analysts said the exchange giant's report also suggested stablecoin issuer Circle is facing shrinking profit margins soon because it pays so much interest on its reserves to Coinbase... On a more upbeat note, Robinhood's quarterly crypto trading volume jumped 32% from the year-ago period to $28 billion, driven by the company's push into tokenization and its acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp.
- Some month-end market factoids for July: In July, U.S.-listed funds holding bitcoin and ethereum saw a record $600 million of inflows per day. But August has started on a more sluggish note... Total trading volume on centralized crypto exchanges set a new monthly record in July, hitting $1.7 trillion. Binance maintained the largest market share at $683 billion... Bitcoin miners experienced their highest monthly profits since the last halving event in April 2024.
- Bakkt is shifting its focus to crypto infrastructure, selling its loyalty division to Project Labrador Holdco for $11 million. The company is also raising $75 million to pivot toward digital asset custody, trading, and stablecoin services. (Decrypt)
- Despite a $35 billion scam crackdown by U.S. regulators, Telegram-banned marketplaces Huione Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee have reportedly found new life on the platform Tudou Guarantee. (Cryptopolitan)
Market Snapshot
A quick look at some major indicators as of Friday's market close on Wall Street. For fuller detail, including additional indexes and asset classes, see my spreadsheet here.
| Indicator | Close | Weekly % | YTD % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $113,270.78 | -2.9% | +20.7% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 22,763.31 | -2.2% | +8.3% |
| Gold | $3,347.70/oz | +0.4% | +27.3% |
| USD Index | 98.68 | +1.0% | -9.0% |
| 10-yr U.S. Treasury Yield |
4.220% | -0.170 | -0.350 |
Looking Ahead
- Some CEOs have begun bragging publicly about AI-driven job cuts. Now there is almost a “moral neutrality” to staff reductions, said Zack Mukewa, head of capital markets and strategic advisory at the communications firm Sloane & Co. Yikes. (Wall Street Journal)
- OpenAI is expected to launch its updated GPT-5 model this month. In a recent interview, CEO Sam Altman told podcaster Theo Von that testing of the new release left him scared of its capabilities at some points. Hmmm...
- Two conventional Wall Street exchanges have proposed to federal regulators new listing standards for crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), aiming to streamline the approval process and reduce the time it takes for such listings to go public. If approved, the proposed framework could cut the review period for new funds by more than 90%. (The Block)
Odds & Ends
- In the Washington Post, longtime auto-industry journalist Josh Max advocated for better road testing of U.S. drivers to reduce traffic deaths from the country's current rate of 845,000 per year. This story is a good read for anyone interested in autonomous vehicles — a topic Max briefly mentions as well.
- A new leak of Spotify playlists from tech CEOs, including Coinbase's Brian Armstrong and OpenAI's Altman, has shed light on their musical tastes, including some surprising and humorous revelations. Apparently, notorious FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is a fan of... Coldplay?
That's it for now. Thanks for reading the newsletter today! If you want to know more about w3w's history and (ahem) the author, that info is available here.
If you need to reach me directly, please email peter[at]w3w[dot]media.
Best wishes for a healthy and productive week ahead. 😊