📝 Field Notes #46: Lightning Strikes

Macy's & Maison Margiela launch Web3 activations. Mastercard doubles down on Web3 with MoonPay. All eyes on Bitcoin. Deutsche Bank's first stablecoin swap. Next-gen payment infrastructure & more.

Oct 27, 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: 4 min

Be inspired✨

“The future of brand marketing is world-building. Modern brand stories are vibrations that become strong enough for the culture to hear.” — Ana Andjelic

📚 Top 4 Reads

The Glory of Storytelling. By
Ana Andjelic
Link
The Evolution of Non-Fungible Tokens. By WEF. Link
Real World Assets. By Bitcoin Suisse. Link
Accenture Life Trends 2024. Link

🚨 Top Stories That Caught My Eye

✨ Web3 + NFTs

Vogue or vague? 👗

Macy’s launched its new digital fashion platform, mstylelab, using Journee’s tech platform. This isn’t blockchain based. Link
Maison Margiela, the French fashion house, launched its inaugural Web3 minting experience. Link

Meeting users where they are: Macy’s experience is stunningly designed, but the user journey is still too complex for the average consumer and the fun factor is limited. For Margiela's mint, the minute-long wait by a timer, hoping to get lucky, seems hardly worth the reward—yet.

The bet on virtual. Brands like Dyson, Alo Yoga, Armani, Ralph Lauren, and others, have built their own immersive shopping stores. Meanwhile, top platforms among next-gen consumer are Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft and Sims.

Punchline: Virtual engagement shouldn’t reward unnatural behaviors, but instead meet people where they are. For next-gen consumer worlds, brands need to infuse their experiences with community, content, and utility.

🌎 Crypto & Macro

Lightning strikes: All eyes on Bitcoin⚡️

Rumors about an upcoming Bitcoin ETF are firming, with BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF listed on Nasdaq’s trade clearing firm. Link
This week, Lightning Labs released "Taproot Assets," introducing stablecoins to Bitcoin. Link

Strong fundamentals. Bitcoin dominance has risen to 51.47% – the highest since the second quarter of 2021. Bitcoin mining difficulty, indicating network security, is at an all-time high.

Punchline: Bitcoin remains the darling among institutional investors. With the upcoming halving, solid fundamentals, technological progress, and an expected spot ETF, the stars are (again) aligning for Bitcoin.

Blockchains: Next-gen payment infrastructure? 🌎

Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Ventures performed the first stablecoin swap between USDC and EURS on a permissioned blockchain. Link
JPMorgan now handles $1bn in daily global blockchain-based wholesale payments for institutional clients.

A protocol for money. Start-ups like Noah, Lightspark and Strike are building cheap, global payment rails with real-time settlement on Bitcoin Lightning1, which has grown by over 1200% in the last 2 years.

Zooming out: Using blockchains as universal settlement layers for monetary and physical assets (aka. “real world assets” (RWAs)) dovetails with the vision of a fully digitized, “computable” economy.

💰 Money Moves

Blockaid: Web3 security startup, raises $33m backed by Sequoia, Variant, etc.
Threedium: High-fidelity 3D commerce start-up raises $11m Series A.
Neon Machine: Web3 game studio raises a $20m led by Polychain Capital.
Aera: Raises $8m for financial management for DAOs.
Triple-A: Singapore-based crypto payment gateway raises $10m in series A.
Nocturne Labs: $6m seed round to bring private accounts to Ethereum, backed by Bain Capital Crypto, Polychain Capital, Vitalik Buterin, i.a.
Rymedi: Web3 healthcare platform raises $9m in series A.
smlXL: Raises $13.4m in seed funding from a16z crypto, Greylock.
Memeland: Web3 project by 9GAG team raises $10m.
Nym: a16z-backed firm launches $300m privacy-centric 'Innovation Fund'.