📝 Field Notes #39: Visa's Quiet Revolution...

Casio enters Web3 with G-Shock. Google changes ad policy on NFTs. Binance's slow trainwreck. $55m from a16z & Balaji to reorganize the Internet's IP. Charts & more.

Sep 08, 2023

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

⏱️ Reading time: 4 min

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“Start where you are. Use What You Have. Do What You Can.” – Arthur Ashe

📚 Top 5 Reads

Ethereum Investment Thesis. By Fidelity. Link
We Have Built the Foundations for the Next Supercycle, and It Has Begun. By Joe Lubin. Link
A history of crypto art and NFTs. By Piero Scaruffi. Link
On-chain > Web3: Language is a Map. By Cody Brown. Link
Activewear and luxury brands are pushing ahead with Web3 innovation. By Julia Hood. Link

🚨 Top 4 Stories That Caught My Eye

✨ Web3 + NFTs

Remember your old Casio? ⏱️

Casio launched a “Virtual G-Shock” community around its famous G-Shock brand.
The launch will take place on a dedicated Discord channel, followed by an initial distribution of 15,000 free limited-edition “G-Shock Creator Pass NFTs” (Polygon-based) starting on September 23.
Pass holders will be able to participate in co-creative projects and other events held in the community (e.g. color design contests).

Punchline: Casio is the latest global brand that launches a token-based community with co-creation and IRL-events elements (other notable brands include Nike .Swoosh and Lacoste UNDW3 et al.). Key will be to bring these experiences to everyday consumers that aren’t hanging out on Discords.

Marketers, be aware 🔍

Google changed its policies regarding cryptocurrencies and related products, broadening the range of permissible advertisements for NFT-based games.

Takeaway: The devil lies in the details. Most ads besides news, education or job ads are still forbidden.

🌎 Crypto & Macro

Visa doubles down on crypto 💳

In a newly announced pilot, Visa said on Tuesday that it would begin sending USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, to select merchants via the Solana blockchain.
This will allow instant, lower-cost settlements between credit card companies, banks, and merchants – something which takes days.

Punchline: This is big. Crypto is starting to creep into existing payment infrastructure might not be as sexy as Lufthansa’s recently announced NFT-based loyalty program, but it’s going to be just as important for mass adoption. Meanwhile, the news broke that Swift, the system powers most international money transfers, is experimenting with blockchains for movement of tokenized assets. This is also a big win for Solana, given its difficult last year due to FTX.

Binance’s Slow Trainwreck 🚂

This week, Binance’s Head of Product quit. This is the latest in a series of negative development over the last months.
InJune the SEC sued Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), accusing the company of mishandling billions in customer funds, lying to regulators and investors, and more. Here’s the full timeline.

Punchline: Simply put: Binance is “too big to fail”. The implosion of the largest exchange by volume would arguably shake up the entire space. Or, as Travis Kling put it: “What happens to Binance is the single most important factor for crypto right now”.

🧠 AI

Zoom launched AI Companion, an AI assistant embedded across its platform to increase productivity. Link
CRM giant HubSpot announced HubSpot AI, a hub with AI-driven features for sales, marketing, and service teams. Link

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💰 Money Moves

Story Protocol raised $54m, led by a16z crypto, Samsung Next, and angels like Balaji. It aims to build an open IP collaboration platform to grow the creativity of the internet era. Link
GenTwo, a Swiss-based B2B fintech company, raised $15M in Series A, led by Point72 Ventures, targeting global expansion. Link

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

– Marc

PS: In case you missed it: European Blockchain Sandbox announces the selected projects for the first cohort. Link