💵 Digital dollars, explained

PLUS: Crypto pours into Ukraine. March 7, 2022 [The Hustle] “The One,” a Bel Air mansion that originally listed for $295m, recently sold for $141m, including fees. Among 105k square-feet, it’s got 21 bedrooms, a nightclub, a 40-person theater, a bowling alley, and 5 pools. What, they couldn’t afford 6? In today’s email: - Digital dollar: The pros and cons of digital currency. - Chart: Crypto donations pour into Ukraine. - Digits: Metaverse taxes, a McFlurry mess, and other wild digits. - Around the web: Lost Wikipedia articles, a fancy color palette generator, and more cool internet finds. 🎧 On the go? [Listen to today’s 10-minute podcast]( to hear about how NFTs are helping Ukraine, Netflix’s gaming strategy, McDonald’s McFlurry fury, taxes in the metaverse, and more. The big idea [digital dollar]( The federal government is mulling a digital dollar. Why? If you’re the type to misplace your wallet, we’ve got good news for you. Per NPR, the Federal Reserve recently [released]( a paper laying out the pros and cons of a digital currency, meant as a primer to kick off discussions about actually launching one. How would it work? While details aren’t fully fleshed out, the options include a digital cash offering or a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which would be stored in a wallet app on smartphones. Other than “digital dollar” having a nice ring to it, a digital currency serves several purposes: - Cuts out middlemen: Namely, financial institutions, which logged $110B in transaction fees in 2020. - Helps the unbanked: 5%+ of American households are unbanked with no way of using digital payments. - Simplifies government benefits: A digital currency would make it easier for the government to distribute benefits (e.g., pandemic relief checks) But there are 2 sides to every coin… … Even digital ones. Among the biggest concerns are: - Privacy: The government would have visibility to a wealth of personal transaction data. - Cybersecurity: The US would likely need to overhaul much of its financial infrastructure to safeguard from hacks. Another challenge is something any PM or Growth Marketer knows all too well: getting people to download the app. In China, the government [built integrations]( with WeChat and Alipay to increase adoption of the digital yuan. How close is this to becoming a reality? Not very. It’s still in the “market research” phase, and experts estimate it’ll take 5-10 years to launch. So unless you’re already using contactless payments, you’ll have to keep ol’ reliable in your back pocket for the time being. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=The+federal+government+is+mulling+a+digital+dollar.+Why%3F%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F03072022-digital-dollar%3Futm_campaign%3DDigital%2BDollar%26utm_content%3D03072022-digital-dollar%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS Stopify: BigCommerce [partnered]( with Bolt to offer customers a 1-click checkout alternative to Shopify. Ready your remote: Netflix is [launching]( “Trivia Quest,” a TV series that requires viewers to correctly answer questions to move the story along. It follows “Cat Burglar,” another quick trivia TV game that we tried — and thoroughly enjoyed. Control center: Verizon [announced]( it’s launching +play, a service that helps customers manage all their streaming subscriptions through Verizon. Disney+ ads: Disney [announced]( an ad-supported subscription tier debuting later this year at a lower price point, the next step in its effort to reach 230m-260m subscribers by 2024. Switching careers? A record number of employees are quitting their jobs to pursue new opportunities. If you’re one of them, The Hustle [rounded up]( expert tips for making a career change. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hey — enjoy getting quick updates on what you care about? Take [20 seconds]( to personalize your Snippets. Pick your preferences👇 and we’ll send you more of what you love. Boom. [Personalize my Email →]( Chart [crypto donations chart]( Selina Lee People are sending crypto and NFTs to Ukraine Ukraine has received $57m+ in cryptocurrency donations since Feb. 24, per [Elliptic](, a blockchain analysis company. This includes transfers to the Ukrainian government and Come Back Alive, an NGO providing aid to Ukraine’s military. Ukraine has spent $15m of the donations on military supplies thus far, [according to]( Alex Bornyakov, deputy minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. Some contributions were huge: - Polkadot founder Gavin Wood [donated]( $5m+ - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and digital artist Pak donated nearly [$1.9m](, using a portion of funds raised from their NFT sale earlier this month - Chain CEO Deepak Thapliyal, who paid $23m for a CryptoPunk NFT, donated [~$290k]( People are also donating NFTs, including a CryptoPunk worth $200k+. A Russian national living in the US recorded herself as she [burned her passport](, and will donate sales from an auction of the NFT video. And Holy Water, a Ukrainian gaming startup, launched [a gallery of NFTs]( by Ukrainian artists to benefit the nation. As of Sunday morning, it had raised $33k+ in sales. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=People+are+sending+crypto+and+NFTs+to+Ukraine%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F03072022-crypto-donations%3Futm_campaign%3DDigital%2BDollar%26utm_content%3D03072022-crypto-donations%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Free Resource 30 refined follow-up email templates Speaking from experience, emails can take up too much of the workday. So we’re dropping another resource worth saving, curated by HubSpot. Email experts eliminated the guesswork from a ton of potentially awkward communications, like after interviews, events, and sales meetings. Here are [30 follow-up email narratives]( to stash wherever you keep useful things. Take all 30 follow-up email samples: - Concise, customizable, and professional templates - For prospects, recruiters, colleagues, and networking - Crafted to save time, but not at the cost of personal touch Land the gig, secure the connection, close the sale. And more. [30 easy email templates →]( Digits [diner]( Even in the metaverse, you can’t escape sales tax. (Source: Linden Lab) By the numbers: Metaverse taxes, a McFlurry mess, and more. 1) Being overworked is a problem, but being underworked is, too. It’s partly why hourly workers at fast food restaurants are now quitting after just [1.8 months]( on average, 55% faster than before the pandemic. 2) The set of “Lupin,” a hit Netflix show about gentleman thief Assane Diop, was (ironically) robbed of [~$330k]( in equipment during a heist involving fireworks. The set of “The Crown” was robbed of $200k in props just a day earlier. 3) McFlurry fury: Kytch is suing McDonald’s for [$900m]( after McDonald’s reportedly told franchisees to stop using Kytch’s troubleshooting device for McFlurry machines. (FYI: You can check the live stats on broken McFlurry machines across America [here](.) 4) “Second Life,” a metaverse game that (underratedly) launched in 2003 and generates [$600m]( in annual economic activity, says users will have to pay sales tax on purchases thanks to a 2018 Supreme Court ruling. Guess you can’t escape taxes in the metaverse, huh? 5) In February, PwC Canada was reportedly fined $900k+ by regulators after they found [1.1k+ auditors]( at the Big Four accounting firm were involved in exam cheating practices. Sometimes even the auditors need auditors, eh? [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=By+the+numbers%3A+Metaverse+taxes%2C+a+McFlurry+mess%2C+and+more.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F03072022-digits%3Futm_campaign%3DDigital%2BDollar%26utm_content%3D03072022-digits%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( AROUND THE WEB ☎️ On this day: In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell [received]( a patent for the telephone. He would make the 1st ever call to partner Thomas Watson a few days later. 🔍 Cure boredom: [Deletionpedia.org]( contains 91k+ articles that have been deleted from Wikipedia. 🍯 That’s cool: The New York Times’ Wirecutter recently [featured]( 10 of its staff favorites from Black-owned businesses, including games, candles, honey, and more. 🎨 Useful: [Huemint]( is a color palette generator for when you need a color scheme on the fly. 🐱 Aww: And now, would you like to see [the baby](? Meme of the day [wallet meme] Can digital wallets fix this? (Source: [Memes Monkey]() SHARE THE HUSTLE Hey. Stop keeping us a secret. Refer just 3 people and we’ll start to send some goodies as a thank you. [My First Million ebook]( Spread the news. Help us grow 🌱 [Share The Hustle 🤠→]( Or copy this custom referral link: [ Your referral count: 0 How did you like today’s email? Today's email was brought to you by [Jacob Cohen](, [Juliet Bennett Rylah](, [Rob Litterst](. 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