📝#82: Sports, Payments & Politics
📝#82: Sports, Payments & Politics
Manchester United brings “digital” kit to 77M Gen Z Roblox users. Meanwhile, Coinbase & Stripe aim to bring payments to the masses.
Hey, it’s Marc. ✌️
In this week’s field notes, your 100% signal in Web3:
Manchester United x Adidas Roblox release
Coinbase partners with Stripe for payments
Republican Party officially adopts Crypto
Tezos to launch crypto debit card
Around the corner: gas-free stablecoins
Blackrock’s BUIDL fund reaches $500M in market cap
Nigeria will develop its national blockchain
Claude AI launches new “Aritfacts” feature
Let’s dive in. 🦈 | Read time: 3min
📚 Top 5 Reads
Telegram: The Next Big Consumer Platform for Brands? By Marc Baumann. Link
Brands in Web3: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Future of Consumer Engagement. (audio). With Maja Vujinovic & Marc Baumann. Link
AI 'Digital Twins' approaching mainstream thresholds. By Michael Parekh. Link
2024 Elections: The Role of Crypto. By Grayscale. Link
Coinmarketcap Market Overview 2024 H1. Link
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!
✨ Web3 & Consumer
Manchester United x Adidas
Manchester United x Adidas bridge physical and digital with new phygital kit, targeting 77M Gen Z Roblox users
Zooming in: Manchester United and Adidas have launched their first-ever "phygital" collection, featuring the new 2024/25 home kit and various other apparel items available both physically and digitally within Roblox's "adidas Outfit Creator."
They partnered with the agency Dubit, a metaverse studio and research firm specializing in youth audiences and digital experiences.
Why it matters: Brand recognition in the metaverse boosts IRL purchases.
In the latest Roblox study, 56% of Gen Z users now say styling their avatar is more important to them than styling themselves in the physical world.
50% are “very” or “extremely likely” to consider a brand in the physical world after wearing or trying a brand’s item virtually.
84% of Gen Z users said their physical style has been inspired by their avatar’s style.
Punchline: We’ll see a lot more brands connecting their physical goods to gaming experiences. Hugo Boss joined Roblox last March to promote its new clothing line “Hugo Blue”, targeted at Gen Z.
Coinbase Base: The New Darling of Web3 Consumer
Coinbase has partnered with Stripe to make crypto faster and reduce the cost of crypto transfers and payouts. By integrating with Base, users can buy crypto instantly using credit cards and Apple Pay.
Why it matters: Coinbase has over 110M registered users. It is one of the most active and trusted exchanges in the US.
Punchline: Stripe’s integration on Base enables instant US fiat-to-crypto onramp with USDC with cheaper transfers to 150+ countries. With a 21% share of the global payment processing market, Stripe ranks as the second most widely used payment solution in the world.
Read the full story here.
More on Web3:
Ethereum Name Service (ENS) has launched a new brand identity and website to make Web3 more accessible and user-friendly. Link
The Tezos Foundation, in partnership with Baanx and Mastercard, is launching a crypto debit card for fast and cheap payments accepted by over 110M merchants. Link
Jupiter Exchange, the Solana DEX, launched Ape, a new platform for trading memecoins with enhanced security, token discovery, and automatic trade optimization. Link
Buy Crypto Using PayPal Balance
Traders across the U.S. and EU can now buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and hundreds of cryptocurrencies using their PayPal account, powered by MoonPay.
🌎 Crypto & Macro
Crypto is officially Political
The Republican Party (also called Grand Old Party) released its 2024 GOP Platform, highlighting crypto in Chapter 3: Building the Greatest Economy in the World.
Key Policies include:
No creation of CBDCs
Right to mine Bitcoin
Right to self-custody
No government control over crypto transactions
Zoom Out: This year, crypto has emerged as a political focal point. In a bid to challenge Biden, Trump has made a 180 on crypto post office. He’s even issued his own NFT and held $2.8M in a crypto wallet since last August.
Contrast with Democrats: They have taken a stricter approach:
The SEC has targeted major crypto companies without providing a clear regulatory framework.
Senator Elizabeth Warren proposed a bill to restrict self-custody wallets.
Yesterday, the US House of Representatives failed to override President Biden’s veto and rescind SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121.
The big picture: This is huge for crypto, following years of contention with Gensler and the SEC. Crypto enthusiasts have plenty to be excited about with the GOP's new stance. While many issues will shape the 2024 election, it's notable that crypto gets a nod in the GOP's Innovation section, right alongside AI, manufacturing, and space exploration.
Punchline: Trump and the GOP's commitment could boost the crypto industry. It's a win for firms pushing for improved regulations. Yet, it’s uncertain if wooing digital asset traders will translate into more votes.
More on Crypto:
Former U.S. President Donald Trump will speak at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville. Link
Goldman Sachs is diving deeper into crypto with three new tokenization products set to launch in the US and Europe. Link
BlackRock's BUIDL fund became the first tokenized treasury to reach a $500M market cap. The total market for tokenized treasury funds is $1.67B, with Ethereum dominating 75% of the market share. Link
Justin Sun, founder of Tron, announced a gas-free transaction solution for stablecoins, set to launch by Q4. This will allow issuers to cover transaction fees and be compatible with other EVM networks like Ethereum. Link
Nigeria is developing an indigenous blockchain called Nigerium to enhance data security and support its digital economy. The initiative aims to reduce dependence on foreign technology and foster innovation across sectors like finance and healthcare. Link
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🎙️ Podcast Highlights
Episode: SEPHORA goes Web3
In our latest podcast episode, we had the pleasure of hosting Vincent Benoist, Global Innovation Project Director at SEPHORA. SEPHORA, founded in 1969 in France, is a multinational retailer focusing on beauty products and cosmetics.
Key Takeaways:
Sephora Universe is a prototype designed to transform how people discover beauty products online through an immersive 3D virtual world.
Research by Sephora shows that customers spend about 45 minutes exploring and trying products in physical stores but only around 5 minutes online.
Customer interest in Sephora's virtual spaces was strong, but users also wanted connections to the physical world, such as samples or rewards. This indicates a shift towards more immersive experiences, and Sephora is committed to integrating these seamlessly into the customer journey.
Listen to it on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts.
🎮 Gaming
Ubisoft, the French AAA game developer, has partnered with Double Jump.Tokyo to integrate Web3 elements into its games, starting with NFTs for Champions Tactics using the Oasys blockchain. Link
TON-based recruitment platform Bondex launched the Telegram tap-to-earn mini-game Bunny Blitz and a $1M rewards campaign. Link
Over $100M was invested in web3 gaming in May 2024, driven by technological advancements and increasing user engagement. GameFi saw a record high in daily active wallets, with significant investments in infrastructure and new gaming projects. Link
🤖Data & Insights
Storj has acquired Valdi to merge its distributed cloud storage with Valdi's GPU compute platform, enhancing capabilities for generative AI workloads. The integration delivers scalable, high-performance cloud solutions while promoting digital sustainability. Link
🧠Artificial Intelligence
Claude ‘Artifacts’ are now shareable
Anthropic introduced Artifacts on Claude.ai, enabling real-time generation, editing, and integration of AI content, turning Claude into a collaborative workspace.
Users can publish, share, and remix AI-generated content, including documents, images, code, and interactive displays.
Zooming in: The feature is powered by Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Anthropic’s latest AI model, and it outperforms GPT-4o and Google's Gemini 1.5 on various benchmarks.
Read the full story on Claude 3.5 Sonnet here.
Why it matters: It is a small yet impactful update and encourages AI adoption for content generation.
More on AI:
Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, will build its own AI data center to ensure faster development instead of relying on Oracle, causing Oracle's stock to drop by 3%. Link
Andreesen Horowitz (a16z) is amassing over 20,000 GPUs, including Nvidia H100s, to support AI startups through its 'Oxygen' initiative. This program offers AI chips to portfolio companies at below-market rates for equity, enhancing a16z's appeal as a lead investor. Link
AMD is acquiring Finnish AI startup Silo AI for $665M to boost its AI chip capabilities and enhance software development. This move aims to help AMD compete with Nvidia in the AI market. Link
AWS has launched Guardrails API as a standalone feature to help users set safety, privacy, and truthfulness standards for any AI model, not just those in Amazon Bedrock. Link
Microsoft has stepped down from its observer role on OpenAI's board, and Apple has scrapped plans to join amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny of big tech and AI partnerships. Link
🪙 Regulation Update
The Chamber of Progress urged President Biden to establish clear cryptocurrency regulations, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive framework amid rising digital asset adoption and political implications. Link
The Bank of Italy will soon issue new guidelines for stablecoins to align with European MiCA regulations, ensuring consumer protection. Link
💰 Money Moves
New funds & grants:
Ethereum Foundation: The Ethereum Protocol Security Team and Immunefi launched a four-week Attackathon to enhance Ethereum's security, aiming to raise over $2M in rewards. Link
Marc Andreessen gave $50K in Bitcoin to an AI bot on Twitter, funding its goals, including hardware upgrades and a token launch. Link
Funding rounds:
Captions: AI company raised $60 million in a Series C funding round. Link
Volley: AI-powered game developer has raised $55M Series C funding. Link
Pi Squared: Tech startup raised $12.5M to propel the development of their Proof of Proof modular blockchain technology. Link
That’s all for now, folks. Thank you for being part of the journey.
Talk soon,
– Marc
PS: Follow me on LinkedIn and X for shorter insights.
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