This Week in Web3: Friday, March 18, 2022
Time Magazine as an NFT, (some) NFT sales plunge, ApeCoin pops, then drops, NFTs on Insta, how to value digital assets and more the forthcoming ETH merge and more!
Hi friends,
Yet another whirlwind of a week, SXSW happened, and people went, and some people were clearly feeling the FOMO. I felt fairly indifferent, but it was fascinating to follow the news and updates coming out of the festival. Clearly, Web3, NFTs, and the Metaverse were the main topics of conversation. No surprises there.
This week’s digest feels a little all over the map, but I like it that way. I’ve thought about doing deep dives or making certain week’s topic focused, and then I look across the Web3 landscape and there’s simply too much happening that cannot be ignored. So there you have it.
Love your feedback, so keep it coming and please give us a RT on Twitter or a share on LinkedIn as we continue to grow our community here.
Thanks!
Toby
TL;DR
Time Releases First-Ever Full Magazine Issue as an NFT
NFT Sales Plunges To $63 Million Over The Past Week, Bubble Burst?
Bored Ape Yacht Club Ethereum NFT Sales Surge as ApeCoin Price Pops, Then Drops
NFTs will be on Instagram soon, according to Mark Zuckerberg
Upcoming TV show will let NFT holders choose the plot
Adobe is taking another step into NFTs
Flow: The Normie Blockchain
Network Effects and How to Value Digital Assets
Ethereum just kicked off a critical test that will decide its future, with $26 billion at stake
The Benefits Of Venture Capital In Web3
Bankless Podcast: ETH Merge Soon | Yuga Labs Acquisition | ApeCoin | Raises & NEW Releases Galore
Means of Creation Podcast: Ethereum Explained ft. Preethi Kasireddy
Bankless Podcast: Does Decentralization Matter? | Kevin Owocki & Cooper Turley
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News we’re following
Time Releases First-Ever Full Magazine Issue as an NFT
Today (March 18), Time announced the release of a full magazine issue that will be available as an NFT. This latest endeavor from the legacy publication will mark the first time any digital or print publication has released an entire issue on the blockchain.
NFTs will be on Instagram soon, according to Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta would add NFTs to Instagram, according to Engadget and The Daily Beast. While he didn't describe exactly what that would look like, he said during a session at South By Southwest that "over the next several months, the ability to bring some of your NFTs in, hopefully over time be able to mint things within that environment."
NFT Sales Plunges To $63 Million Over The Past Week, Bubble Burst?
Earlier this year, the NFT market was bursting with energy. Gaming companies, tech giants, fashion and sneakers companies turned to non-fungible tokens as the next big tech thing.
However, three months later, NFTs are no longer being discussed, with big publishers steering clear of them in the wake of considerable controversies and a massive drop in the NFT market as a whole.
Bored Ape Yacht Club Ethereum NFT Sales Surge as ApeCoin Price Pops, Then Drops
The APE token launches to volatile price action following some $88 million in sales for Bored Apes and related NFTs. ApeCoin (APE) was released this morning, with NFT holders able to claim free tokens. Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs have been selling at a rapid rate over the past day. ApeCoin, the Ethereum token built for the expanding Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT ecosystem, launched this morning and rapidly rose in value before shedding much of its initial momentum.
Upcoming TV show will let NFT holders choose the plot
Television could become a lot more interactive if a movement by NFT enthusiasts catches hold.
Actress Mila Kunis’s Sixth Wall production company has launched a Web3-enabled animated NFT series called The Gimmicks, which will let fans decide how each episode ends.
Adobe is taking another step into NFTs
Behance is adding support for the Polygon blockchain
Adobe’s social network Behance is adding support for the Polygon cryptocurrency platform, letting users more easily showcase Polygon-based non-fungible tokens or NFTs. The company is touting Polygon integration as a more environmentally conscious way for artists to create NFTs, which Behance began supporting late last year. While that eco-friendliness is debatable, it’s part of Adobe’s ongoing expansion into crypto — as well as an attempt to placate artists that are worried about its potential negative effects.
Things we’re reading
Flow: The Normie Blockchain
Zigging When Others Zag and Progressively Decentralizing to Win the Future
TL;DR
This is the longest Not Boring essay in history, so let’s start with a quick summary:
Dapper Labs, the team behind CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot, built the Flow blockchain to solve scalability issues with Ethereum and support open worlds.
The crypto community has largely written off Flow as too centralized.
Flow wants to onboard the next billion users, not to fight for crypto-natives.
It’s made bets that attempt to solve the Scalability Trilemma with time.
Since going live in late 2020, it’s progressively decentralized across dimensions.
With the Brud acquisition, it’s adding DAO skills and doubling down on youth.
The Flow ecosystem is gaining steam and has a pivotal summer ahead.
Flow is a sleeper to build one of the most vibrant web3 ecosystems.
Network Effects and How to Value Digital Assets
For Global Macro Investor, my independent research service, Remi Tetot and I spent a long time analyzing various on chain data sets to see what were the key drivers of network price and network effects …
Ethereum just kicked off a critical test that will decide its future, with $26 billion at stake
The blockchain powering the second-largest cryptocurrency is facing final preparations to undergo a massive change to its structure, with billions at stake, and it passed the test with flying colors. Mostly.
Kiln, an important test for Ethereum, just finished and puts the blockchain closer than ever before to the “merge.”
The Benefits Of Venture Capital In Web3
There is a lot of criticism of venture capital in web3. Bitcoin did not have or need venture capital. Ethereum did not have or need venture capital. So why would any web3 project need venture capital? It is a good question. In the age of community-funded projects, why would a web3 project want to take funding from venture capitalists?
Podcasts we’re listening to
Bankless Podcast: ETH Merge Soon | Yuga Labs Acquisition | ApeCoin | Raises & NEW Releases Galore
Means of Creation Podcast: Ethereum Explained ft. Preethi Kasireddy
In this episode of our web3 explainer series, we take on an ambitious task: explaining Ethereum from the ground up. We unpack what Ethereum is, how it works, and why it matters.
We spoke to Preethi Kasireddy, founder of DappCamp, which introduce students to the Ethereum ecosystem and helps them build their first web3 product in just three weeks.
Bankless Podcast: Does Decentralization Matter? | Kevin Owocki & Cooper Turley
What is most important in crypto? What wins out in the end? Today, we find out if user experience is more important than decentralization. As we progress through crypto's cambrian explosion, we often observe the tradeoff between immediate product viability and a 'no cutting corners' approach.