Today we deliver you our obsessively-curated insights on Web3 consumer + gaming.

Plus: We untangle how digital identity will shape your business.

Crypto, Macro + AI follows on Tuesday.

👉 Want to get in front of 50k+ business leaders or accelerate your growth? Work with us here.

Traders across the U.S. and EU can now buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and hundreds of cryptocurrencies using their PayPal account, powered by MoonPay.

OpenSea received a Wells notice from the SEC, indicating a potential lawsuit over NFTs being classified as securities.

Why it matters: The SEC's focus on NFTs could disrupt thousands of creators who rely on OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, to sell their work. This would also further dampen the market and discourage new creators from entering the space.

By the numbers: OpenSea's trading volumes imploded from $5B/month in January 2022 to 43M/month last July, a decrease of 99%. It has more than 3M active users as of January 2024 and has facilitated over $40B in NFT trades to date.

So what? NFTs as we've known them would become practically unusable for the mainstream consumer. This is another big blow for the NFT space.

Over the last year, NFTs imploded massively. Prices of most blue chip collections dropped 50%+ in 2024. More pressure will follow with this. Trading volume shrank from $18B in 2023 to $4B YTD. And about 90% of the 180+ consumer brands with NFT projects stopped them due to lack of engagement and revenue.