Ori | cofounder of @orca_so
@oritheorca
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Formerly design / software @Stanford @IDEO @Coursera 🖌️📚🌴
BUIDLing & DESINGing
Joined June 2021
1/ .On Feb 28, @orca_so had ~5,000 daily active users (unique, non-arb wallets). Today is Apr 28, and we just passed 100,000 DAUs. So, how'd that happen?
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Today marks a personal milestone:. I’ve officially been a full-time digital nomad for 365 days… all while running @orca_so!. In this thread: Reflections from a year of nomad life 🧵.
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Top 4 pieces of advice I received during our fundraise:.
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$ORCA just broke $20. Happy fall (festival), y'all 🍁😉.
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Everyone loves TVL. But when we're talking AMMs, trade volume is a stat worth watching. @orca_so broke 9 digits yesterday. probably nothing 😉
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1/ Was an honor to share @orca_so's vision of what a human-centered mobile trading experience could look like at the @SolanaMobile announcement in NYC 🗽.
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1/.-- ☀️ BREAKPOINT RECAP ☀️ -- . My #1 takeaway from @SolanaConf is: . Branding matters. (Yes, even in DeFi.). The effects may not be obvious right away, but investing in a clear, differentiated, and lovable brand pays off in the long run.
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2 months in to @orca_so adopting a 4-day workweek, I'm pleased to say that it's here to stay. Contributors are more efficient, creative, and happier, without any noticeable change to overall productivity. Done right, I honestly believe it's the better way to run a startup.
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Just a year ago, the narrative around @solana sounded like a YouTube tech reviewer talking about a new device. "Super fast. and incredibly cheap to boot!". Now, I'm hearing people say:."Solana's tech enables the best UX in web3.". Bullish. ☀️.
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@doyouevenwoof @orca_so @WoofSolana Wow, that's a wooful lot of woofers!.Thanks, fren of Willy — your request is duly noted 😉.
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Over the past 24h, @orca_so drove 2.5x as much volume as @ProjectSerum. with less than 1/3 of the liquidity. TVL: It's not the size. It's how you use it 😉
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Yes, it's a bear market. Yes, everything is okay at @orca_so. In fact, we're hiring!. Why hire in a bear? 👇.
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1/ As of today, @orca_so has enabled 8 people to quit their jobs and dive full-time into a passion (DeFi)!.
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Just 2 months ago, @orca_so had <$50M in TVL. What changed?.• We set a clear vision.• We ruthlessly prioritized.• We built an incredible team. For the first time, it feels like our ship is sailing. without @rawfalafel and me constantly manning the sails. ILY team 💛.
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Had a showerthought to start 🏥 Ori's UX Clinic 🏥:. You, a @Solana project, bring me your wireframe/hi-fi design/live product. I give you my honest design critique (free of charge!) and we livestream it for the entire eco ☀️. Anyone interested?.
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Through the grapevine: The top contenders for @Solana Breakpoint 2023 are Mexico City, Amsterdam, and Lisbon 👀.
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Thank you for all the love re: my thread on nomad life! 💖. If you're curious about life on the road, I was recently on The Maverick Show, a podcast that interviews remote entrepreneurs. I'm a listener myself and recommend it to any aspiring traveler!. 🎤
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So, why BOOGLE?. The best communities are tight-knit, supportive, and intentionally designed. I'm grateful to have found that in @solBOOGLE and totally spooked to make it my first NFT community. Thanks for welcoming me in with open arms, ghost fam . 👻💛.
SECONDARY SALE ① . We are excited to welcome @oritheorca to the graveyard after acquiring BOOGLE #073 for ◎ 3,420.69 via OTC sale.
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Something big is coming for @orca_so. Your favorite trades: Smoother. Faster. Sexier. I call it. The New Orca. 🐳💖.
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1/ I had the distinct pleasure of hanging out with @cindyleowtt, cofounder of @DriftProtocol, yesterday. It's a joy to meet another woman leading a project on @solana. .
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Day 5 of owning a @solBOOGLE (honest review):. ✅ Active community.✅ Win-win mentality.✅ Dealflow and alpha. 👇.
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Thinking of building something on #Solana?. Join these 11 teams in using the best building block in DeFi:. Questions? Developer advocates are on deck in the #integrate-with-orca channel in the Orca Discord for ideas, help, and moral support!.
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A huge THANK YOU to the @orca_so community for rolling out to the first ever #Orcanauts theme party at #NFTNYC!. The positive vibes were a fish come true 🐟 . See you in Lisbon next! 💛
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Will be speaking at Breakpoint again this year!. The theme is roughly "Human-centered design for crypto," but what I'd really like to speak about is whatever you want to learn. So, with that—any topic requests?.All ideas welcome! 🐳.
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(1/4).Smart contracts may sound intimidating, but they don't have to be. In fact, they're not really all that smart — they're a lot less like AI robots, and a lot more like vending machines. 🍫. So, what does that look like in practice? 👇.
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Reveal #2:. While the number 4 is unlucky in Chinese culture, 888 represents great wealth and good fortune. WDYT @MonkeDAO — did I make the right choice? 🙈.
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A product I designed is in a *physical store* in NYC 🤯. I spent the first 6 months after launching @orca_so in a state of perpetual awe. "Is this really my life?". These days, much of that awe has faded, but moments like this make it flicker back to life ✨.
Solana Spaces NYC is now open: We’re the world’s first retail & educational space dedicated to Web3. Brought to you in collaboration with @solanafndn, and partners @phantom, @stepnofficial, @orca_so, @magiceden, @metaplex, @degenapeacademy and more.
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Though we're proud to have bootstrapped @orca_so, I'm equally proud of how we've grown the Orca family through our Series A. Now, we have not only a clear runway, but new mentors, friends, and ever more confidence in our team. Now, back to building 🐳.
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1/ .A learning from countless user interviews:. Most casual LPs are more afraid of impermanent loss than they need to be.
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1. Decide on the structure of your round and stick to it. Once you start getting attention, funds will bully you to change it to suit their needs. Remember, the ball is in your court.
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4. Practice self-care. and cofounder care. Fundraising is a grind. At one point in our raise, I was seriously depressed. Lean on your cofounder—no one understands better than they do—and do the same for them. (Shoutout to @rawfalafel for being my rock!).
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1/ .@orca_so turned 2 years old yesterday 🎂. This made me realize that I've never actually shared our story on Twitter. So, in honor of our cake day, I present:. How Orca came to be (part 1) 🧵.
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Founders get all the attention, but it's the team that does the heavy lifting. A huge thank you to everyone on the @orca_so team for making our baby whale the leading DEX on #Solana and to #ForbesUnder30 Asia for the honor! 🐳.
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3. Fundraising is building a team. It's not just collecting checks. Each investor plays a unique role. You want a warrior, a mage, and a healer—not three of one class.
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TL;DR: This situation sucks. But we're still bullish @solana, @orca_so, and DeFi as a whole. For crypto to be of real-world value, we need easier ways to self-custody, manage, and trade assets directly on-chain (read: better UX). Our motivation has never been higher. 🐳.
Folks have been asking us how we feel, so I’m sharing the message that @oritheorca and I sent to our team:
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0x on Ethereum was iconic. Whether or not it makes sense from a technical perspective, the lack of a recognizable prefix for #Solana addresses was a missed opportunity. sol just isn't the same 😢.
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Today, @rawfalafel and I will be recording TWO conversations (to be published later this month):. The first is an episode of @henkakuorg, a Japanese podcast on the future of crypto hosted by @Joi. 🇯🇵. 今日、@Joiさんの「変革」と言う仮想通貨がテーマのポッドキャストを録音します！.
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The Magic Bar was a pipe dream for me as an Ethereum AMM user. 🪄. These days, most of my work at @orca_so is "higher impact" than writing JS. But it's a simple joy to be able to design and code something end-to-end — and an even greater joy to see thousands of people use it. 💛.
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9/.In the rush to ship, it's easy to sacrifice branding. But thanks to our brand, we've achieved every founder's dream: Sustainable growth, driven by word of mouth. To everyone who's ever told a fren about Orca: Thank you. We couldn't do it without you! 🐳.
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A long-overdue aloha to my 3rd blue-chip NFT:. Mr. Shinobi Stache 🦊🥷. My favorite art of any collection on @Solana, but on top of that, I'm impressed by @FamousFoxFed's ability to ship, ship, ship. Can I get some love for this foxy fella? 💖
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When your normie friends ask, "Where can I buy $ORCA?". Never thought that my suggestion that @rawfalafel and I hack on things "over the weekend" would turn into this. They say finding the right cofounder isn't easy — grateful I never had to look 🐳.
Inbound transfers for Bonfida (FIDA) and Orca (ORCA) are now available on @Coinbase and @CoinbaseExch in the regions where trading is supported. Trading is not enabled at this time. Trading will begin on or after 9AM PT on Tuesday, February 1, if liquidity conditions are met.
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It's not just about building a product. It's about building a brand.
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Just a couple of builders hangin' out in Tokyo 🇯🇵. Keep an eye out for snippets from our panel with:.— @Joi, Chief Architect of @digitalgarage.— @EvanWeb3, cofounder of #SUI.— @rawfalafel, cofounder of @orca_so.— Yours truly ✨
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1/.What if Web3 actually needs to be more like Web2? . Last week, I wrote an op-ed on @CoinDesk on how web3 could learn a thing or two from web2. Here’s a TL;DR: 👇.
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Meet the Orca Climate Fund 🌎:. A group of wonderful humans from all over the world who are volunteering their time to ensure that the >$1.3M (and counting!) raised by @orca_so has the biggest possible impact on climate change. This makes me so proud to see.
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So, what did I really think of 2022?. Today, I shared some reflections with the @orca_so community on Discord. It feels vulnerable to speak so frankly, but I hope they help shed light on where we've been and where we're going. Happy holidays, podmates. and thank you! 🎄🐳💛
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2. The first commit is the hardest. At first, it might feel like no one wants in. Discouraging doesn't begin to cover it. But that first partner can be your greatest ally. Everything can change in an instant.
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5/ Founders: Don't be afraid to do things your way. I was once told that "Orca makes too many puns.". Guess they just couldn't appreciate our kriller personality 🦐.
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Just finished reading Sleep: The Myth of 8 Hours by @sleepsportcoach, a sleep coach for pro cyclists + footballers. I have a good feeling that this could be one of those special books that has a lasting positive impact on my life. Here's my TL;DR in 5 key points: 👇.
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Who's in town for #SolanaBreakpoint?. The first [non-team, non-investor] person I see in @orca_so swag will win a custom avatar drawn by yours truly, in the same style as mine 👈. Of course, I'll mint it as an NFT for you too ☺️.
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Officially the initiative I'm proudest of in my career to date. HUGE kudos to @corcorarium, @jnwng, and everyone on the @orca_so team. There's an incredible amount of blood, sweat, and tears that go into any NFT launch, but we can all be proud of the impact we'll make! ✨.
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2/.Breakpoint was my first-ever crypto conference, and as expected, it was intense. Endless meetings, media interviews, speaking on a panel, losing my voice (twice). But the coolest part—and what I DIDN'T expect—was the overwhelming wave of enthusiasm from @orca_so fans. 💛.
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In this thread 🧵. What's been happening behind the scenes at @orca_so. AKA: 5 things we've invested in operationally that allow us to be bullish in a bear. Let me explain.👇.
Folks have been asking us how we feel, so I’m sharing the message that @oritheorca and I sent to our team:
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So, just an idea. but if @orca_so held a private party for #Orcanauts holders during #NFTNYC, who'd be there? 🐳.
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2/ .The answer is *composability.* 🛠️ . Everyone talks about how Orca has a beautiful, easy-to-use UI. The same is true of our SDK—which is why @Stepnofficial, among others, chose to integrate Orca under the hood for swaps.
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Reason #1 to 💛 Orcanauts: . The mint revenue distribution. 75% ➡️ financial literacy education.25% ➡️ the artist, @corcorarium . 0% ➡️ shameless cash grabs 😉.
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Really proud of all the artistic, engineering, and writing talent that's gone into this project. Can't wait to share these deep-sea secrets with y'all ✨.
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Closed-source is not a moat. Given @Solana's level of maturity, there really is no good excuse for not open-sourcing major smart contracts anymore, especially when it comes to key infrastructure like DEXes and wallets.
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A chain that evolves is a chain that survives 🔥.
It's true! .Move is coming to Solana, without the need to add a second VM, which would limit composability. Look for it somewhere around ~q3.
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When I was a kid, it was never my dream to be personally famous, but I *did* dream of creating something that people around the world would use (and love). To that end, It's been an honor to see @orca_so evolve from scrappy underdog to core infrastructure. 💛.
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Honored (and honestly flabbergasted) to be a speaker at the first ever @SolanaConf!. See you on stage at #LxFactory in 9 hours 💛.
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Visually, my favorite part of the new @orca_so™ is the price chart. 📈. It's a gorgeous visual anchor, but it serves a practical purpose, too.
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3/.From badge pickup to the closing party, we couldn't walk through a venue without having someone run up and say:. "Are you from Orca?! You have the best UX in DeFi—I tell all my friends about you! ⚡️". Or even. "This is like a rock concert—I've met so many celebrities! 🤩".
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I've been largely off Twitter lately. Put simply, I've been building. Building what, exactly?.
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We've learned a lot of things in the past 365 days since launching @orca_so, but one of the most rewarding was this:. Being a founder gives you the power to make a difference. even if your product doesn't appear to have any obvious social impact. (Warning: Looong thread).
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I'm proud to be one of the few web3 founders who call themselves a designer first and foremost. Especially in a field as technically complex as crypto, outsourcing your UX to some design firm that's working for a paycheck is a surefire way to get something that lacks soul.
It's time to design crypto for actual humans. In this episode, @oritheorca of @orca_so tells @Austin_Federa how bad UX in web3 is not just from blockchain's software constraints — but also because of the underrepresentation of designer's voices. 🎧
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Coming back from 2 weeks of vacation, all I can say is. BONK.
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Nailed it. Concentrated liquidity isn't designed to maximize returns for passive liquidity providers (like vaults). It IS designed to maximize capital-efficiency — AKA: .1. Better prices for traders.2. Higher yields for skilled MMs. or as we like to call them, sharks 🦈.
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Visited my alma mater for the first time in 5 years with my old roomie. Walked up to a student in front of our old dorm. After kindly taking our photo, he said, "Wait. Orca. The DEX for the people, right?!". Still gets me every time 🥲
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@orca_so 3. A bear is the best time to build. and maybe even hire. 🎣. In a bear market, you find true believers: People who have done their research, and therefore hold the long-term view that crypto is simply a better foundation for finance than the status quo.
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Anyone know a generative artist who might be interested in working on a small project with a built-in audience?. DM me 😉.
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I used to be extremely skeptical of expensive PFPs. I would have described them as boys' clubs—exclusive groups that exist solely to scratch the ego of the super-rich. I've started to think that I'm wrong.
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5/ So if you're a strong engineer trying to break into the space, even if you've never written a line of Rust. We're hiring 😉.
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Something new is in the works at @orca_so. Think: Better prices. More reliable. And for traders, "it just works.". Whatever could it be? 👀
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"Did my trade go through?". Though Solana's confirmation times are much faster than Ethereum, those few seconds can still be nerve-wracking. The new Orca™ solves this with transaction history.
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Looking to make an impact in climate x crypto? 🌍. Apply to join the Orca Climate Fund's inaugural working group! 👇.
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How to get the most out of a user interview:.
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Orcanauts theme party in NYC is a GO 🐳. Sat, Jun 25 from 4-6pm. Spots reserved for #Orcanauts HODLers ;). Wanna party with @orca_so? 👇🎉.
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3/ .In the future, most Orca users may not know they're using Orca. This is bullish—a true example of a DeFi lego in action. 🐳.
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What are the most interesting things happening at the intersection of web3 x climate change right now?.
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Whirlpools is the #1 thing I'm most excited for since launching Orca. Here's why:.· A step-by-step UX for concentrated liquidity provision, with that special Orca touch.· Built-in yield farming, a first for CLAMMs🔥.· An entirely new, soon-to-be open-source smart contract. LFG 🍥.
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(4/4).In other words, smart contracts are actually pretty dumb. But in that simplicity lies their beauty — anyone can read the code and understand what they can and can't do. TradFi = Black boxes. DeFi = Vending machines. complete with glass panels 😉.
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Recently, I've been spending more of my time mentoring other designers to help them learn the unique nuances of designing for DeFi. I never thought of myself as a natural mentor, but it's been a much easier and more rewarding shift than I imagined. Having a single clear vision.
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8/.My favorite tidbit of proof: . During @rawfalafel's panel, he introduced @orca_so as follows. "Orca is the easiest swap experience in all of DeFi—so easy, my dad can use it." 👴. The audience broke out in applause.
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1/ .Can you actually make money with concentrated liquidity? 🌀 . A thread 🧵. (Not financial advice. Transact at your own risk 😉).
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7/.By that, I mean:.1. Committing to a fair launch. 2. Donating via the Impact Fund. 3. Making DeFi more accessible to everyone. These actions, among others, align with the ideals of a more equitable financial system that drew many of us to crypto in the first place. 🤝.
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ChatGPT is great and all, but what I really want is a dishwasher that will put away the dishes.
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What I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving: 🦃. The opportunity to simultaneously.1. Support budding NFT artists.2. Help @Aflatoun teach thousands of kids around the world about DeFi.3. Call this cutie my own . 💕
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Feeling blue 🐳.
.@orca_so been steadily gaining Solana DeFi user share, went from ~15% of DAU at end of Feb to 42% today 👀.cred @SeaLaunch_
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