Welcome back, Pilgrim. Here’s what’s happened in town since you’ve been away…
Welcome back to the Reformer Newsletter, where we can take a dive into various projects and activities from around Web3 and across the Christian community. You have joined this network to contribute to our collective mission of building for Christ’s Kingdom, and we will use this newsletter as a platform to enable that.
Around Web3
The Empire Strikes Back: Across the crypto and macro markets, entrenched players continue to try to reseal Pandora’s Box. Making the news this week, the staff of Mojang Studios released their policy for NFTs (and all blockchain technologies) for in-game use in their popular game Minecraft. An excerpt from the statement:
Each of these uses of NFTs and other blockchain technologies creates digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, which does not align with Minecraft values of creative inclusion and playing together. NFTs are not inclusive of all our community and create a scenario of the haves and the have-nots. The speculative pricing and investment mentality around NFTs takes the focus away from playing the game and encourages profiteering, which we think is inconsistent with the long-term joy and success of our players.
“Inclusivity,” “speculation,” and “haves vs. have-nots” are all well-worn refrains. This may or may not end up as a fair move for the studio, and it will be up to the community to decide.
On an unrelated note, Minecraft has averaged over $400 MILLION in annual recurring revenue for Mojang Studios every year since it was acquired by Microsoft for $2.5 BILLION in 2014. Microsoft is worth $450 BILLION today.
The Standards Innovation Paradox: What role does standardization, or even centralization, play in innovation and technical progress? Today’s quasi-anarchists who claim to be libertarians would argue the ideal is a future in which we have no centralization, while the status quo warriors say any move towards decentralization is only appealing to criminals. This question is economic in nature, and therefore has no correct answer. There is only a discussion of potential options and acceptable tradeoffs. This thought-provoking article does just that as it explores how to strike the right balance between free-wheeling invention and enabling compliance.
Web3 Use Cases: Today and Web3 Use Cases: The Future: The inimitable Packy McCormick comes in with the LONG breakdown on the current state of Web3 real-world applications and some of the most promising things around the corner. Perfect reading for newcomers to the space or for cycle veterans wanting to get started researching the narratives for the next cycle.
Better Than Free: A vintage (2008) essay from Internet veteran Kevin Kelly, discussing the new paradigms that open up when information at its basic level is easily and cheaply copied and transmitted. Important discussion that pushes us to consider what value we are really offering.
What Do I Think About Network States?: Vitalik Buterin of Ethereum renown responds to Balaji Srinivasan’s recent book with a thoughtful and rich essay. Call it a transnational DAO, call it the “overworld,” call it what you like, but communities like these seem to be on everyone’s mind lately.
Around the Kingdom
Maintain Unity in a Disagreement: Above we see two small examples (NFTs and standards innovation) of the many narratives separating the crypto space, and which sit within the backdrop of larger divides in our culture. While the tension in society becomes more palpable daily, we are reminded to be “peacemakers” yet stand firm in our convictions. This article does a good job breaking down how that can be accomplished.
Reformers Essay Series
The Reformers community is a network of Christ followers who believe there is an opportunity to spread the Gospel Truth by using the next generation of digital tools we have available, commonly referred to as “Web3” or “crypto” tools. We believe this can be accomplished both by educating and connecting Christians in this space, as well as evangelizing to creators, builders, and doers across Web3. We can look to past heroes of the faith and study how they operated and engaged in the era in which they were placed so we can learn how to navigate these exciting times.
This week we continue our study of the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul as he travels throughout the Roman Empire to spread the good news of the risen Christ he so recently persecuted. Last week we focused on how we might harness our talents for the Kingdom, and through the lens of Paul’s missionary journeys we also learn the importance of maintaining a posture of diligence and humility in our sacrifice.
Check out Apostle to the Nations, Part II: Paul the Tentmaker on Mirror.
The Call
The Reformers is a community of Christ followers who want to continuously explore new tools which can extend the reach of His Kingdom. If you want to lean in and support that mission, check out a Reformers NFT, become a patron of the community, get news and updates to start building with us, and help us run this race with endurance.