Hey it's Taylor, CEO of Hedgehog, and I'm walking in a winter wonderland.

Most of my team has gathered in Tahoe for our first company retreat. Plus two genuine infant babies, who are not yet employed, but equally diligent in their duties. When you're only a few months old, putting anything that you can grab into your mouth at least once is a priority! Luckily the coffee machine is out of reach. Imagine caffeinated babies… too powerful.

Anywho, here is the Hedgehog team!

Missing a couple of people — you were in our hearts during this moment!

By the way, thank you for the well wishes on Hedgehog's recent growth! I am touched and encouraged. 2022 is gonna be litttt, just you wait 😈🔥🦔 Track and trade, baby, track and trade.

Don't forget, there's a giveaway question at the end of the newsletter. Answer and you'll be entered to win a Ledger Nano S hardware wallet. Without any further ado…

NFT gaming is future history that's currently being discovered. Gamers, gather round to ponder the contributions of your tribe:

The history of WoW economics foreshadows the advent of cryptocurrency and NFTs as well as highlights many of the problems it solves. The very existence of Ethereum itself may be traced to a specific WoW nerfing event.

Tldr: I would say "the rest is history," but it isn't yet. Hey, maybe you could be history. But like, in a metaverse-y / not-getting-assassinated kinda way.

Prison, on the other hand, isn't a game. Many people in the crypto community feel that Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has been unfairly heavily persecuted by the United States government (a topic on which there is heavy debate, with passionate arguments coming from all corners).

DAOs — decentralized autonomous organizations — provide an opportunity for organized activism:

Despite being formed a week ago, FreeRossDAO won the auction [for NFTs created by Ulbricht] with a bid of 1,446 Ethereum (roughly $6 million) after raising more than 2,836.6 ETH from more than 1,320 members of the crypto community. Now it plans to use the proceeds to fund a bid to reduce or overturn Ulbricht's life sentences.

Ambitious! I suppose we'll find out whether the approach works. Whistleblower Chelsea Manning received her respite with the help of supportive technologists — maybe Ross Ulbricht will too.

Tldr: Fascinating how much of a moral hazard it is to be around massive sums of bitcoin. (Secret Service investigators included!)

For years, an Australian artist had the username @metaverse on Instagram. Then Facebook mysteriously removed access, around the same time when the company announced its rebrand to Meta.

The artist's stolen handle went a lil viral, so she got it back, but the incident is about as poetic as when Amazon yanked copies of 1984 from customers' Kindle e-readers. Yes, seriously, 1984 of all books.

Tldr: @metaverse's meta-metaverse account should tweet George Orwell quotes for maximum meta…ness.

Quick hits before I frolic through the fresh snow with my team:

Tldr: Crypto is the ultimate "blink and you miss it" industry. Anything that works will spawn a thousand imitations. "Great artists steal," and apparently great devs steal too… but it's… legal?

Here's that giveaway question I mentioned: What's the last good idea you copied? Doesn't have to be crypto-related, though I would enjoy that. Reply to this email with your answer and you'll be entered to win a Ledger Nano S. As a token of my appreciation 💖

Partying with Frosty tonight,
— Taylor

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