Web3 Watch: The Base space sweepstakes

Coinbase’s layer-2 Base has been running a summer-long promotion known as “onchain summer.” For its latest publicity stunt, it’s letting users sign up to try and go to space.

The flight is being pulled off with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and the Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA), an organization focused on broadening access to space research and exploration. SERA secured six seats on Blue Origin’s upcoming New Shepard flight, and Base users can sign up to be considered for the flight by minting from a set of NFTs on Base. The final crew is voted on by the SERA community.

In collaboration with Base, SERA released an NFT triptych that can be purchased one by one for around $3 — roughly the same price other astronaut candidates have paid . Users who collect all three NFTs are fast-tracked into the second round of the astronaut selection process.

Read more: A bitcoin headed for the moon may be lost in space

Base’s onchain summer has broadly looked to bring users to Base through games, NFTs, and giveaways, among other things. It’s a gamified attempt to draw users that, perhaps refreshingly, doesn’t involve a native token airdrop. 

Over the past 90 days, Base has seen roughly 280 million transactions, according to L2 Beat, which is the most of any layer-2 by a wide margin.

Read more: Airdrop backscratching is crypto’s latest dilemma

Following the announcement, Base users chimed in on social media with their typical rallying cry: “Based.”

Telegram doubles down on in-app currency

The encrypted messaging app Telegram — nearly ubiquitous among Web3’s faithful — announced further updates to its in-app Stars currency.

Users can now essentially tip content creators and Telegram channels with Stars text reactions. Stars live off chain but can be converted to the Toncoin cryptocurrency for nearly no commission, Telegram said . 

Read more: Web3 Watch: Telegram launches browser, ‘mini app store’

Telegram creators can also create exclusive channels where subscribers pay a monthly amount of Stars for access.

Earlier this month, Telegram launched a browser and mini app store to let users access games — which tend to draw droves of crypto users hoping to get their name on the list for token airdrops.

One interesting stat:

• Of 10,384 tokens launched over the past 24 hours on pump.fun, only 156 secured enough investment to graduate to Raydium, according to a Dune dashboard . That’s around a 1.5% success rate.

Also of note:

• The crypto NFT game Aavegotchi will be moving to a “members-only” layer-3 built on Arbitrum Orbit
• Crypto.com became a sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, two years after it pulled out of a $495 million deal with the European soccer tournament
• Donald Trump’s sons’ crypto project will involve digital real estate, they told the New York Post

Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter .

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the On the Margin newsletter .

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.