📝 Field Notes #44: Singapore Slings & Yuga's Gaming Move

Web3 shopping app skyrockets. Yuga Labs restructures amid layoffs. MoMA acquires NFT. Wall Street wakes up on blockchain. Coinbase, Ripple, Sygnum & GSR enter Singapore. Fundings & more.

Oct 13, 2023

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

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“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." — Marcus Aurelius

📚 Top 6 Reads

When the world goes phygital. By Aleksija Vujicic. Link
The consumer crypto stack. (video). By @nnnnicholas. Link
Exploring the design space for dynamic NFTs. By 1kx. Link
The state of virtual brand experiences in 2023. By GEEIQ. Link
How unchain attribution will catalyse crypto’s growth. (audio) By Lightspeed. Link
After studying all EIPs, we summarized 9 future directions of NFTs. By ABCDE. Link

🚨 Top Stories That Caught My Eye

✨ Web3 + NFTs

Web3 retail app in Singapore skyrockets 🇸🇬

Singapore-based KaiKai app, a shopping platform created by Cosmose, introduced a crypto-based cash-back and rewards function.
Its introduction last month caused a sharp increase in daily active users (DAUs) on the NEAR blockchain, outpacing Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism combined.
It’s now the second most widely used Web3 dApp with over 1.6m unique active wallets.
Cosmose was valued at $500m in the latest strategic investment from NEAR Foundation back in April 2023.

Punchline: This shows the power of consumer-friendly blockchain applications in retail.

Yuga Labs: Gaming the bear market 🏗️

CEO Daniel Alegre is refocusing Yuga Labs on gaming and the development of its gamified metaverse, Otherside.
The company, which owns significant Web3 IPs like Bored Ape Yacht Club and Crypto Punks, raised $450 million earlier this year.

Zooming out: Web3 has officially plunged into a bear market. While crypto reached its low point earlier this year, Web3 is now in survival mode, facing budget cuts, staff reductions, and funding shortages. We've been here before; remember that the core tech remains unchanged. Onwards.

🌎 Crypto & Macro

Wall Street wakes up on blockchain🗽

JPMorgan executed its first live blockchain-based transaction involving BlackRock and Barclays. Link
Meanwhile, UBS is testing a tokenized fund on Ethereum. Link
Citigroup launched "Citi Token Services" in September, and Goldman Sachs unveiled a Digital Asset Platform in January

Punchline: Traditional finance is waking up to blockchain's transformative potential for legacy infrastructure.

Crypto companies rush to South East Asia 🇸🇬

This week, Coinbase, Ripple, and Sygnum got Singapore Institutional Payment licenses; GSR received a preliminary approval.

In search of revenue. Regulatory woes in the US and the search for revenue push US crypto companies abroad. This week, CCData reported Coinbase’s quarterly crypto spot trading volume dropping 52% YoY, hitting a low since its 2021 public debut.

Emerging hubs. Meanwhile, London, Hong Kong and Dubai are vying to become the next crypto centers. Hong Kong started issuing new licenses in August. Last year, Dubai created a body to regulate digital assets and the UK stated its ambition to make Britain a global crypto hub.

Punchline: The crypto landscape is shifting. Expect more consolidation and regulation, with new centers like Europe, the Middle East, and SEA emerging.

🧠 AI

Adobe updated its AI creative tools. Link
ElevenLabs launched an AI dubbing tool that keeps the original voice while translating. Link

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💰 Money Moves

Blackbird Labs: $24m Series A for hospitality loyalty solutions, led by A16z Crypto.
Membrane Labs: $20m Series A for crypto trading/lending, with Brevan Howard, Point72 backing.
Parsec: $4m from Galaxy Digital to launch DeFi, NFT analytics product.
Game of Silks: Adds $5m, totalling over $10m for crypto-based fantasy horse racing.

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

– Marc

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