Time to Learn

Position yourself for the next bull market

👋 Welcome to the seventeenth issue of The Syllabus from Invisible College – a weekly newsletter that helps you navigate the fast-moving world of web3. To get this newsletter delivered to your inbox, subscribe here:

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Invisible College Updates

• Token Gating – Our content library has officially been token gated! Going forward, to access our Discord server, community events, or lesson recordings you'll need to register your Decentralien NFT through Audiograph. If you don't currently own a Decentralien, you can purchase one on Magic Eden.

• Our First Courses – We just finished filming our first two courses. You can get a sneak peek here. As promised, Decentralien NFT holders will get free access to both courses once they’re released (as well as the future courses we are already working on).

• Upcoming Events – You can check out some of our upcoming learning events here.

Now onto this week’s post…

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Unless you were on a digital detox last week, you probably saw the turmoil in the crypto market. To recap, we saw UST and LUNA plummet in value and wipe out an unprecedented ~$50B in market cap over the course of just three days. This caused panic across all of crypto and massive sell-offs of basically every other crypto asset.

Combine this event with ongoing macroeconomic issues like the war in Ukraine, historic levels of inflation, rising interest rates, and an uptick in layoffs, and it’s increasingly clear that we’re entering a bear market.

While the mood may feel bleak, it’s times like these that offer the best opportunity to position yourself for the next bull market.

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If you want to learn more about what happened with UST and LUNA, last Friday we hosted a community discussion about it. Check out the recording (token-gated) to learn how it caused ripple effects across the broader crypto market:

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Crypto as a technology is still extremely early in its adoption cycle. And because it’s effectively creating a new permissionless economy, there’s a lot of money involved, which means it’s inherently risky from a financial standpoint.

When times are good, you’ll hear about people who put all their funds on the line and strike it rich. But those anecdotes can easily transform into cautionary tales when the winds of the market shift.

larry - $LUNA $OSMO validator #IBCgang @larry0x

ok guys, it seems i just had 90% of my net worth wiped out (which at peak was ~43 years of my salary 🤯) gotta restart from scratch

In web3, you can’t help but become an investor. Even if you’re just earning money completing bounties for DAOs, you can suddenly find yourself holding a basket of volatile tokens.

During a bull run, it can be exciting to watch your portfolio of tokens suddenly shoot up in value. It’s easy to get caught up in the euphoria and inadvertently over-extend yourself. This can make the inevitable market correction all the more painful.

When the downturn does come it can sting. It’s tempting to ruminate on your choices and feel a sense of shame. The whole thing can make you simply want to turn your attention away from crypto so you don’t have to think about it. But this too can be a mistake.

Nick deWilde (✌️,👽) @nick_dewilde

My biggest regret from the 2018 bear market was shifting my attention away from crypto. Had I kept learning and meeting people, I would have been better positioned to take advantage of all the great opportunities over the past year. Not making that mistake again.

Downturns are when the noise quiets from the market and the real builders start launching projects. While they may get less buzz and attention, these are the projects that will be positioned to take advantage of the next bull run. In order to spot them, though, you need to maintain your focus and keep learning, even if it’s uncomfortable.

Bull and bear markets come and go, but the knowledge and relationships you build are what will help you weather any market cycle.

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Recommended Reads and Listens

• Terra: To the Moon and Back
  Jon Wu explains how the de-peg of UST disrupted the entire Terra blockchain.

• How to Make $800m in Crypto, Soros Style
  OnChainWizard breaks down how the UST attackers pulled it off.

• The Biggest COLLAPSE in Crypto History
  The guys from the Bankless podcast provide some historical context to the events of the past week.

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Invisible College, is a learning DAO that helps people learn to build and invest in web3 projects. To access our courses, events, and learning community, you’ll need to hold at least one Decentralien. You can get yours on Magic Eden.