Unity walks back its fees
Algorand, Hedera and other crypto news for the week of Sept. 25, 2023
What’s up Frugalnauts? It’s another week of crypto news - and that’s coming off a long weekend that I largely took off. I scheduled some videos out, and did some other work ahead of time, and spent some time off at my parents’ cabin in the northwoods.
It’s a good reminder that sometimes we need to step away from all the madness, as fun as it is, and let the mind rest. It was only four days, and the time I spent up north with basically no internet (occasionally I get one bar of service, most of the time my phone is on “SOS only”) let me really refresh. Venkatesh Rao calls it “Walden Ponding” after Thoreau’s famous work.
While he doesn’t mean the term in a flattering way, I think there is value in stepping away from things for awhile. Especially in resetting the “busy” instinct a lot of us had. I did a lot of nothing while up north, and my mind is at rest right now. Soon I will be caught back up in the bustle of things, but I plan to make this a more regular occurrence. But anyway, back to the crypto news:
Unity walks back its crazy fees
As we reported last week, Unity’s new fee structure was… well, not well-received. They proposed a new fee structure that would have bankrupted many indie game publishers, and that includes a number of web3 game producers. We spoke with some of those ourselves. Now Unity says they’re going to change that fee structure so that it doesn’t impact small developers.
Who’s the most-beloved of all?
Algorand, it turns out. Here I make my case for why I’m bullish on Algorand, despite the market conditions.
Python integration into AlgoKit, expanding the user base of potential developers (eliminating the need to learn a whole new language).
Continued adoption of Algorand, including the recent migration of Asia Broadband from Ethereum to Algorand.
Best in class chain security, and one of the few setting itself up for quantum proofing.
Hedera introduces high-yield savings account
The Hedera hashgraph network is partnering with Freddie Mac to develop a high-yield savings account promising 10 times the typical rate savers expect. The program is meant to help first-time home buyers save for a down payment on their first house.
Town Star becoming Common Ground; earnings meh
The game Town Star, which is still very much in beta, has announced it is partnering with Gala Films and its documentary, Common Ground. And that means, apparently, that the game’s name will change to just that: Common Ground. As part of that, they also announced a new game mode of the same name that involves starting in a small corner of your town and needing to earn money to reclaim more of the soil to build on. While intriguing, should the team be working on new game modes while their old one is still full of bugs? Or is this just about selling more NFTs that come with the new name change? (hint, the answer is yes). Oh yeah, and guess what is getting put on the backburner while they work on the rebranding/new game mode?
Catch the live
We will be livestreaming at 1 pm, on YouTube and I will be trying it out on Twitter. I don’t know how it will go, but we will see.
Be sure to check out
Want to maximize your safety in crypto? Check out Ledger:
Also a big thank you to channel sponsors Non-Fungible Domains and Taco Coin.
If you’re coming across this in the wild, please consider subscribing - it’s free, and will help ensure I have a platform if I’m ever censored by YouTube.