📝 Web3 Field Notes #25 - Beijing Loves Web3

Hey, it’s Marc. I write about Bitcoin, Web3, and brands. ✌️ Welcome to another issue of my obsessively curated field notes to help you filter out the noise.

⏱️ Reading time: 4 min

“Reactivity is enslavement. Responsibility is freedom.” – Sadhguru

📚 Key Reads

• The network effects of the metaverse and the economies of Web3 communities. By Claudio Tessone & Andrés Luther. Link

• Galaxy research report on crypto Q1. High quality stuff. Link

• The sociology of business. Terrific overview of what’s happening with brands & culture. By Link

• Kulturindustrie. The best brands are cultural. By . Link

• A theory of justice for Web3. By . Link

• Regulating crypto. By World Economic Forum. Link

🚨 What caught my eyes

✨ Web3 + NFTs

• Nike and video game developer EA SPORTS announced a partnership bringing .SWOOSH (Nike’s Web3 hub) virtual creations to the EA SPORTS gaming ecosystem. This showcases the benefits of open and transparent blockchains and is also a huge win for Polygon, serving as the underlying blockchain. In case you missed it: I just published a case study on Nike, currently at the forefront among consumer brands. Link

• Magic raises $52 million to grow crypto ‘wallet-as-a-service’ used by corporate clients like Mattel and Macy’s. This is a big win for the ecosystem to improve the Web3 onboarding and wallet experience. Link

• Beijing has released a white paper promoting Web3 development. The local government plans to invest a minimum of 100 million yuan ($14 million) annually until 2025 to promote the local “Internet 3.0” ecosystem and become a national leader. This is significant but I would see this as a local initiative apart from China’s stance on crypto as a whole. Link

• SAP is working on an NFT Launchpad (currently in alpha). It aims to make creating, administering, and managing NFTs more user-friendly and web2 compatible. Earlier this year, Salesforce and and Shopify also launched NFT tools. Creating and managing NFTs is slowly turning into a commodity and will likely become a standard tool in marketing software. Link

🌎 Crypto & Macro

• Year to date, Bitcoin has been the best performing asset when compared to a range of securities (both equities and fixed income), indices, and commodities (see graphic at the bottom).

• Crypto is the most popular investment among Gen Z and millennials. 56% of US Gen Z report owning one or more investments, more than twice as much as NFTs. Data from the Federal Reserve says that about 10% of Americans use cryptocurrencies, and 15% among 18-44 year olds. The top reasons for transacting in crypto are that the receiver prefers crypto, because it’s quicker and more private. Link

• The amount of ETH staked surged to over 18% of ETH in circulation, rising from 18.3 million to 21 million since enabling withdrawals on April 12. Nevertheless, the much higher staking ratios of other proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies — between 40% and 60% — suggest it still has plenty of rising left to do. This means: Confidence in Ethereum is increasing and its circulating supply could decline in the coming months. Link

🧠 AI

• OpenAI and DeepMind executives, Geoffrey Hinton, and 350+ others sign a statement saying “mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority”. Link

• A remarkable demonstration of how AI I’ll change gaming by Nvidia. Link

• Elon Musk’s Neuralink gets FDA’s approval for brain implant technology. Link

If you’re new here, we welcome you to join 4’150 bright + avid readers by subscribing here:

💡Word on the street:  

For the first time, community and culture can be built on a digital, decentralized layer of trust and owned by the users.

Web3 tech will be a tool to supercharge any brand in co-creating brand culture in the digital realm.

The value chain of business models and marketing will shift from linear, top-down, to circular, bottom-up models – from purely social towards socioeconomic. 

That’s all for now, folks. Back to building! 🚀

– Marc

📈 Top charts to share with friends

🎨 Artwork: “Everlasting - ‘Levitate’” by Ryan Koopmans (26Ξ)