coolSh*t E1 : KlimaDAO & Humane
a carbon credit crypto protocol and an ex-Apple fueled startup to give you a "third eye"
Hello all,
I’ve been dying to write, but haven’t been able to decide what exactly to write about. Since I often find a lot of cool shit pop up on my radar, I’ve decided it might be fun to share anything new that I think should be on your radar.
You might not give a shit about cool shit, but something I post on here will probably make money or make you money or make you spend money, so you might want to give a shit about cool shit. 😭
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Welcome to coolSh*t
I like crypto so I’m starting off with an upcoming crypto project that is getting a lot of hype. This is not financial advice - just cool shit. Don’t splurge your life savings!
1. Klima DAO
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KlimaDAO | Website: https://klimadao.finance/
A greener crypto project.
Crypto has a bad rep for being bad for the environment. Launching 18th October at 8PM UTC, Klima DAO is a crypto carbon credit project that wants to reverse that.
Carbon credits?
Essentially, companies can voluntarily buy carbon credits to show that they care about the environment. Carbon credits represent a verified metric ton of carbon saved from green projects (eg. a reforestation effort in Guatemala).
There are also carbon credits used in compliance systems (learn more here in the footnote1), but Klima DAO will operate on the voluntary side since compliance credits are regulated. Started in the 2000s, the voluntary carbon credit market has been growing, with more companies wanting to show they are actively thinking about the climate situation.
As a carbon credit project, Klima DAO wants:
Many people to join the DAO2 and fund it with lots of crypto (by selling their token, $KLIMA at high prices)
To buy and hoard a lot of carbon credits with that crypto and keep track of it on the blockchain
Force the price of carbon credits up by buying up supply, essentially driving up the price of carbon emissions and pollution
Fund other carbon credit projects that the members agree on with the DAO’s money to save the world
Why should you care about Klima DAO?
Klima DAO isn’t just asking you to give it crypto - it is highly incentivizing you to do so by ridiculously compounding the $KLIMA it gives you in return (four digit APY to start)3.
Klima DAO takes its inspiration from Olympus DAO and believes that the high rewards will suck enough capital into its system so it can buy up those carbon credits.
Apart from high (albeit risky 4) returns, this is an opportunity for you to invest in a crypto project that is deliberately trying to be good for the environment.
If you want to learn more and participate:
Watch this primer on the carbon credit market
Watch this primer on Klima DAO (did it on 1.5x speed, so can you)
Watch this primer on Olympus DAO, Klima DAO’s padre, if you don’t know about it (3,3)
Join the Discord
Buy and stake KLIMA by following this guide
2. Humane
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Humane?s=20 | Website: hu.ma.ne
There are not many companies I want to work for, and Humane tops my list. You might have seen Humane, but this is the coolest shit imo, so I wanted to specially feature it on the first edition of coolSh*t.
“Technology that improves the human experience and is born of good intentions”
Founded in 2017, Humane is still in stealth - they have been quiet and mysterious about what exactly they are working on.
However, do have clues from their patents and website. It seems to be a wearable that can read your surroundings, 3D model it, and send data passively to the cloud to be processed - like a constantly opened “third eye” connected to an Internet brain.
It seems to take air gestures and be able to laser project a UI onto your hand.
It seems to be a product that will get people off their phones, but stay as connected as they were if they were looking down, as shown on an early version of their website5.
Their secrecy has elevated the brand and created an aura of anticipation ahead of a product launch, but what I love is their pledge to make tech better suited for humans.
On our responsibility to make tech Humane (aside):
Being the first generations to have lives so integrated with technology, I believe it is our responsibility to set a precedent for what technology should stand for.
I believe it is our job to decide whether future generations will use technology to build better or instead be used by technology and build backwards.
Most startups are creating tools that thrive in today’s world, but our world is one where being addicted to technology is a given. These startups might build cool shit, but the coolest shit will come from those that keep the bigger picture in mind - that we have the responsibility to build tech that is deeply humane at the core.
But why should you care about Humane?
Humane has deep Apple roots. It was co-founded by ex-Apple senior designer Imran Chaudhri and senior software engineering director Bethany Bongiorno and has poached plenty of big name executives like Ken Kocienda.
Humane seems like a group led by Apple veterans who want to bring back the excitement and paradigm shifting products that Apple seems to have grown out of.
A lot of people lament Apple losing its innovative spirit post-Jobs. If you are one of those people, you should be following Humane.
Cool Tweet of the Week
Artist Danguiz creates these Blade Runner-esque pieces. The one featured, Three Friends, just sold for 60.0 ETH ($227,469.00) as a 1-1 NFT on SuperRare. Find more of his stunning work here.
That’s it for this week!
Next week we will check out electric scooters & 3D tools.
Follow me on Twitter @samuelc1231 and message me about cool shit!
Carbon credits in a compliance system link excess pollution emitted with financial penalties. In a compliance system, if Company A emits more pollution than mandated by the government, they will need to buy carbon credits to give them the “right” to emit that extra pollution, therefore be financially disincentivized to do so.
The entire system is very intricate - Paia Consulting has created a great infographic on it:
A DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization - if you’re not into crypto this is kind of like a democratic Internet community
The rewards will taper off, but at that point they are hoping that the $KLIMA will be backed up by the carbon credits they have bought up
My big concern is that many people will be blindly investing in this without understanding carbon markets because it is just too hard to understand. There is also minimal visibility in the market - how will we know Klima DAO actually owns the carbon credits
This emergency pod by Jason Calacanis goes through a lot of details and his concerns regarding privacy
such an L that it's not named Klina ("Cleanuh"). in a serious note, how does Klima have the right to sell carbon credits? what does buying Klima actually do for a company? it almost sounds like companies selling star naming rights in the early 2000's.