Welcome to our #235 weekly newsletter.
“For women taking control of their financial future”
-Jana Hlistova
From The Purse
In this week’s newsletter, we spotlight the interview with Rachel Cook, who is the Founder and CEO of Seeds. It is a Web3 startup which allows contributors to build their wealth through crypto by giving.
After working as a stock trader and encountering gender discrimination, Rachel decided to start building a new economic ecosystem which values women’s contribution.
Listen here to the full interview on The Purse Podcast
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And you can review the news in brief so you stay on top of global financial, economic and investing trends.
I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.
Until next week,
Jana
Seeds: build wealth with crypto by giving
We interviewed Rachel Cook, Founder and CEO for Seeds about the new economic ecosystem she is building in Web3.
Seeds is a Web3 startup which turns the existing economic ecosystem on its head.
Rachel Cook, who runs and founded the startup, used to be a professional stock trader in Chicago and Wall Street until the misogyny forced her to quit.
She did all the right things:
attended a good university
received good grades
and eventually got a job as a trader.
Growing up, she was told she would be rewarded for her achievement.
But at 24 years of age, she discovered she was paid a lower base salary than all the men who had started with her. Despite having more for-profit trading experience.
This was the first time she bumped up against sexism in the workplace. Why was she being devalued within the system?
But she managed to outperform all the men on her team anyway. And received a much larger bonus.
However this forced her to question the design of the system itself.
Why was it that if she made a dollar, it meant someone else had to lose that dollar by design?
“It was this manufactured sense of zero sum”.
And this didn’t make sense because “money is not scarce”. Money is everywhere and governments continue to print money.
There are 180 different fiat currencies in the world generated by governments plus add crypto into this ‘money equation’.
It didn’t take long for Rachel to start waking up to the misogyny baked into the entirety of the financial system.
And she started thinking about building a new economic ecosystem.
The context for Seeds:
We should have a system that brings yin and yang, masculine and feminine energies, present in people of all genders, into balance which contributes to making healthy individuals and healthy societies.
The current economic system overly prioritises toxic masculine energies. We chase productivity at all times.
And it is about continual linear growth, which isn't the way things work in nature. We move through cycles in nature.
It devalues divine feminine traits, like nurturance and creativity. These values do not really have a place within the current economic system.
For this reason, Rachel wants to make sure she speaks to women and to make sure women are acknowledged and feel heard.
“If you're a woman, you've experienced discrimination because that's what this world does to us. And that has to be acknowledged and addressed”.
Also, speaking in terms of energies that impacts all of us, could be a more useful way to frame conversations so that they don’t become about identity.
Moreover, the design of capitalism dictates…
… that those who have more money can make more money passively. If you don't have that money, you can't do it.
So part of the design of Seeds is meant to prevent other people from having that experience. You can redeem a SEED to ask for help when you need it and receive those funds in thanks.
What is Seeds and how does it work?
Seeds is meant to present an alternative economic ecosystem and which doesn't ignore and devalue feminine contribution.
It is a global, digital giving circle in Web3.
So anyone who would like to help someone in need through Seeds can do so as easily as you would give to a charity on any site. It's just a donation, but it is called a contribution because Seeds is not a non-profit.
A user will need to have one SEED to redeem; to ask for help. You can receive a SEED by helping someone else in need and then you'll receive SEEDS in thanks.
Anyone can make a gift to someone in need through the Seed site.
The aim is to have ‘giving people’ to hold SEEDS so that they benefit, when and if the cryptocurrency markets go up and in that way, giving is a net neutral for the contributor because it does not cost anything.
And it can be for literally anything you need it to be so long as it is legal…
A SEED has been redeemed to fill up a tank of petrol. And SEEDS paid for a cornea surgery for a young man who had gotten into a car accident in Nigeria. And they helped pave the area around a well in South Sudan…
Listen to the full interview with Rachel Cook
News in Brief
Financial news
Stocks and bonds rally following soft US jobs data. Hiring slows to 175,000 jobs in April way below the forecasted 240k+, lowest figure since October 2023’s +165k+.
US Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady as inflation ticks up. Fed announces it will keep interest rates at 5.25% to 5.5% as rate of inflation remains above target of 2%.
The US Fed to slow pace of balance-sheet runoff starting in June. Central bank to lower Treasuries runoff cap to $25bn, from $60bn. Reduction was larger than market observers had expected. This will inject ‘liquidity’ into the market.
Traders pull forward first US rate cut to September from November following soft US jobs data. Price in 2+ cuts this year.
UK will be worst performer in G7 next year, OECD forecasts. UK constrained by high interest rates, price rises and staff shortages but thinktank offers optimistic outlook for global economy.
S&P affirms Tesla 'BBB' rating; outlook stable although free cash flow fell to -$2.5bn in Q1 2024 from +$2bn in Q4 2023.
The AI boom is set to drive a rally in what's traditionally the most boring corner of the stock market: utilities. Utilities to see booming demand as more data centers go online.
Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi
Bitcoin plunged almost 16% in April, most since FTX collapse in November 2022 as Crypto ETF flows are reversing as Fed rate-cut hopes fade. The price of Bitcoin is now at $63,700.
US Bitcoin ETFs see highest daily outflow. Investors pulled $564m from Bitcoin ETFs on Wednesday. The current lull is likely to be followed by a new wave from a different type of investor. The coming months could see financial institutions such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and endowments start to trade in the spot ETFs.
Meme coins continued their run, with Ethereum-based Pepe striking big gains and Solana-based Bonk having a good week too. Despite a bumpy seven days, they are up over 20% and 15%.
Other alts, like Ordinals-based ORDI and Toncoin, started a rally on Friday. ORDI is now priced at $41, a 24-hour jump of 10%, and Toncoin at $5 is up 9%.
The Purse Podcast
We cover the following in this conversation:
Why did Rachel transition into crypto and Web3?
Context: what is Web2 vs Web3?
Bitcoin halving and the crypto market
Seeds: building a new economic ecosystem based on abundance
The challenges of being a female founder
What is the future of Seeds?
How do more women engage in Web3 and invest in crypto?
More+
Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+
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We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.
The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved.
Seeds: build wealth with crypto by giving. And listen to the podcast with Rachel Cook, Founder and CEO of Seeds.