📝 61: Beyond Plastic Cards

Visa enables crypto withdrawals. Visa & FIFA. MasterCard & Champions League. Disney's 1.5B stake in Epic. New NFTs from Japan Airlines & Mercedes-Benz. UBS goes Ethereum. Robinhood, Metamask & more.

Hey, it’s Marc. ✌️

This week is all about Web3 sports fandom, spearheaded by Visa and Mastercard. Plus: High-profile NFT debuts and why crypto X AI is getting hotter. My week? Owned by Farcaster and Apple’s Vision Pro. 😎

Be inspired✨

“Owning digital objects will be the primary business model of any consumer facing application that is digitally native.” Brett Shear

From our Partners

Gamify Your Brand: Redefining Consumer Engagement

Webinar: Learn how and why to gamify the actions within your brand's app, website, shop, and earned media channels with incentives and rewards.

When: Feb 15, 2pm ET, hosted by Kazm.

📚 Top 6 Reads

  • Read Write Own Manifest. By a16z. Link 

  • Branding in the Age of Social Media. By Douglas Holt. Link

  • The Future of Sports Fandom Report. By Myosin, Spartan Labs, Sporting Crypto. Link

  • Headless Marketplaces: Go Where the Wallets Are. By Jesse Walden. Link

  • How AI reinvents marketing. By Andrew Chen. Link

  • How AI is finding its way onchain. By Jacob. Link

✨ Web3 + NFTs

Beyond plastic cards💳

As if the launch of Visa’s Web3 loyalty solution wasn’t enough (deep dive), the two industry behemoths are doubling-down:

  • Visa enabled crypto withdrawals on debit cards, allowing wallet users to sell crypto directly to a Visa card without using centralized exchanges. Link

  • Visa’s is also extending their FIFA worldwide partnership for “connected fan experiences”. Did I hear NFTs? Link

  • Mastercard, meanwhile, partnered with Champions League on a gamified, NFT-powered soccer trivia game powered by MoonPay. Link

Connected fandom: With digital assets fan experiences can become more interactive, connected, and community-driven — and extend beyond the start and end of a live event.

Recently, the Vegas Golden Knights partnered up with Theta Labs for an NFT loyalty experience.

By the numbers: 

  • 64% of global sports fans say they would like to engage with their favorite teams in the metaverse.

  • An estimated 61% of Gen Z sports fans engage with sports through video games and virtual spaces.

  • Over 70% of Gen Z fans would be interested in digital assets if the right benefits were offered.

  • 75% of sport leaders say they don’t have a Web3 strategy.

Punchline: The future of sports fandom lies at the intersection of video games, virtual spaces, and social media, all with a focus on helping fans get closer to the game — with Web3 under the hood.

From our Partners

First Google Analytics alternative for Web3 marketers

Why use Cookie3?

1. Discover the most effective marketing channels by analyzing real on-chain transactions, not only clicks or views.

2. Evaluate user quality through wallet age, token holdings, and balance.

3. Build targeted personas using on-chain data, and export their X handles for precise marketing.

Receive free 3 weeks trial and 20% off lifetime with promo code "MARC"!

More on Web3:

  • Disney buys $1.5B stake in Fortnight maker Epic Games. Link

  • Japan Airlines launches an NFT collection. Link

  • Mercedes-Benz NXT introduces its next collection, Superdackel. Link

  • GoDaddy users can now link ENS and domain names. Link

  • Animoca Brands appoints new COO to drive web3 expansion. Link

🌎 Crypto & Macro

Crypto X AI 🤖

Competing for cash, converging in tech:

  • In 2023, Web3 startup funding fell 73% in 2023 while Gen AI startups raised $50B, up 9% in the same time period.

Yes, but: The intersection of crypto x AI is heating up.

Why it matters: AI will change creation and marketing for brands. Ownership, IP, authenticity, and fair monetization will be key challenges for which blockchain can be a solution.

More on crypto:

  • UBS Launches tokenized warrant on Ethereum. Link

  • Ethereum staking booms, with 25% of all ETH locked up. Link

  • MetaMask users can now purchase crypto through Robinhood to fund their wallets. In May last year, Metamask launched its PayPal integration.

🏗️ Start-ups & Tools to watch

  • LimeChain: A leading blockchain consulting & development agency with 120+ chain-agnostic devs. Link *

  • Privy: Consumer crypto API-builder hiring after 100x growth and a $18M series A. Link

  • Bello: The Web3 analytics start-up launched for the public. Link

*partner of Dematerialzd.

💰 Money Moves

  • Oobit: Crypto mobile payment app developer raises $25M Series A. Link

That’s all for now, folks. Thank you for being part of the journey.Talk soon,

– Marc

PS: You know what’s cool? Future+, a global network of Founders, C-Suite, and disruptors in creative culture and emerging technology. I’m part of it too and their last event was a hit! Apply-only.✨Use the code “FUTUREPLUSDEMA” for a preferential rate.

📈 Top 3 Charts to Share with Friends

Blockchain developer count declined last year
Partner with us

⚡️ Get in front of 8k+ of Web3 industry leaders 👀

Partner with Dematerialzd to get your brand in front of thousands of Web3 industry leaders. Get in touch today or reply to this email.

👩‍💻 Top Web3 Marketing Jobs:

more.

Are you hiring? Get listed here →

Help us improve! 🙌

👉 More feedback? I would love to hear from you! Just reply to this email.

Reply

or to participate.