📝 Field Notes #49: Web3 is Dead

Disney's new NFTs. xNFTs: A game changer for brands. NFTs in Roblox? Big finance goes big on crypto. Goldman invests. PayPal embraces crypto. Layer 2s break records. Blackrock eyes ETH ETF & more.

Hey, it’s Marc. Welcome to my weekly, obsessively curated field notes on crypto & Web3 to help you filter out the noise. ✌️

⏱️ Reading time: 5 min

Boson Protocol – Real Web3 Commerce, with Web2 UX

As the next bull market emerges, so does a new crypto-rich, Web3-savvy demographic, who are demanding authentic Web3 commerce experiences. Uniquely, with Boson, you can sell physical things as NFTs, with a slick Web2 experience while running on a fully decentralized Web3 backend. No more Web3 washing required!

Be inspired✨

“But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.” – Aldous Huxley

📚 Top 4 Reads

  • PayPal says crypto is the future of payments. Link

  • 2023 State of Crypto: Policy Spotlight. By a16z. Link

  • The Case for Product Tokenization (DPP). By BCG. Link

  • The Post-Mint Problem. By Mason Nystrom. Link

🚨 Top Stories That Caught My Eye

✨ Web3 + NFTs

Web3 is dead 😇

  • This week, Disney teamed up with Dapper Labs to create collectable pins on the Flow blockchain, dubbed “Disney Pinnacle”. Link

  • The pins feature Disney, Pixar, or Star Wars characters – a classic NFT use-case of monetizing brand IP.

Bear market what? In 2023, over 40 top brands have launched Web3 initiatives (see the list here).

Punchline: Disney's pins are interesting, but considering the loyalty and Web3 commerce applications that brands are experimenting with, we can expect more innovative Web3 use-cases to emerge.

New frontiers for NFTs 🖼️

  • Smart Cat NFTs, the first “xNFT” on Polygon, launched as a Tamagotchi-like game.

  • xNFTs, or “executable NFTs”, are a new, programmable token standard on Solana and Polygon.

Punchline: Unlike traditional NFTs, which are static and require issuing new tokens for each update, xNFTs allow dynamic updates based on user interaction, offering brands novel ways to engage with customers.

More from Web3:

  • Ryan Wyatt, former President at Polygon, joins Optimism. Link

  • Roblox CEO envisions in-game NFTs as part of open ecosystem 'dream'. Link

🌎 Crypto & Macro

Gradually, then suddenly🔥

With Bitcoin up 120% year-to-date and a possible US BTC spot ETF inching closer, big finance goes big on crypto.

  • J.P. Morgan and Singapore Central Bank start tokenization pilots.

  • J.P. Morgan also launched programmable payments, letting companies set rules to shift cash automatically. Siemens AG is its first user. Link

  • Standard Chartered launches tokenization platform. Link

  • Commerzbank obtains a crypto custody license. Link

  • This month, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and DZ Bank, one of Germany’s largest banks, announced crypto custody services.

Big bets. Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas lead a $95m investment in Fnality International, a blockchain-based wholesale payment system.1 South Korea’s national pension fund invests $19.9m in Coinbase shares. Plus, Superstate secures $14m to bring traditional funds on-chain. Many of the top global banks2 have invested hundreds of millions in blockchain companies.

Punchline: Big finance is waking up to blockchain's transformative potential to increase efficiency, lower costs, or speed up transactions.

Layer 2s reach new heights 🔥

  • Total value locked (TVL) in Ethereum’s layer 2s (L2s) hits a record $13bn.

  • Back in January, Arbitrum, one of the popular L2 chains, counted more transactions per day than the Ethereum main layer (L1).

  • L2s offer secure, low-fee, high-throughput transactions.

Infrastructure play. Coinbase’s own L2 chain “Base” has generated about $5m in revenue. Now, Kraken and OKX, the 4th largest crypto exchange, want to build their own L2s too.

Punchline: L2s have driven a lot of value to Ethereum this year and will be instrumental for enabling Web3 mass consumer applications.

More from crypto:

  • BlackRock files application for spot ether ETF. Link

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💰 Money Moves

  • Taproot Wizard: The Bitcoin-focused Ordinals project raised $7.5m. Link

  • Atlas: The 3D generative design studio for Web3 game developers launched from stealth with $6m in funding. Link

  • Modhaus: South Korean Web3 K-pop agency has raised $8 series A. Link

  • The Block: The news site was bought by Foresight Ventures for $70m. Link

  • Blockchain.com: The crypto exchange raised $110m in Series E. Link

  • Lightspeed Faction launches $285m fund for early-stage Web3 startups. Link

That’s all for now, folks. Thank you for being part of the journey. Back to building! 🚀

– Marc

📈 Top 3 Charts to Share with Friends

Artwork: Refik Analdol, Unsupervised — Machine Hallucinations — MoMA

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