web3 Memo #24-25
GM frens 👋 and a warm welcome to the new subscribers. I’m Than Khine, a strategy consultant, and I publish web3 Memo — a weekly email with the best of web3 content I’ve consumed recently. If you haven’t subscribed, get your free newsletter here:
📰 In the News
GUCCI purchased 150,000 $RARE tokens to join SuperRareDAO and launch a digital “Vault Art Space” - via a partnership with the NFT marketplace SuperRare.
TAG Heur CEO Frédéric Arnault — son of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault — demonstrates how to flaunt your NFTs with the Connected Calibre E4 smart watch.
Salvatore Ferragamo opened a new concept store in NYC with an NFT booth complete with customisable sneaker holograms.
AMBUSH connects the Metaverse to IRL with recyclable 3D printed sneakers.
DKNY partnered with the NFT game studio Vulcan Forged and HUSL to create the DKNY ICON Hoodie NFT collection for HUSLVerse users.
PUMA announced collaboration with 10KTF’s meta-atelier WAGAMI-san as its largest web3 collaboration to-date, and that it sees NFTs as an extension of physical products.
Adidas partners with web3 investment organisation WAGMI United, which recently purchased the English League Two football club Crawley Town FC. WAGMI shares their vision for the club here.
Meta launches an Avatars store where users can buy designer brands like Balenciaga, Prada, and Thom Browne for their virtual selves. Can Zuck pull off the new Thom Browne looks in the Metaverse?
Meta re-branded Facebook Pay to Meta Pay, and detailed its ambitions to make it the digital wallet for the Metaverse.
Meta, Microsoft, Adobe and other tech giants formed the Metaverse Standards Forum, promising to foster & facilitate discussions on interoperability standards for the Metaverse.
KPMG is spending $30M to train employees in the Metaverse and other Web3 bets. They are not alone - big consulting firms such as Accenture are also investing in its workforce in order to assist their clients transition into web3 and the Metaverse.
HTC’s new Metaverse phone comes preloaded with "Viverse" apps to navigate the Metaverse and manage your crypto and NFTs.
Shopify declares C2C (Connect to Customer) is the future of e-commerce. Sorry D2C, it was nice knowing you! It also unveiled token-gated commerce as part of its new connect-to-consumer initiatives.
Lowe's releases limited-edition NFT collection, digital assets for builders.
The famed toymaker Mattel announced partnership with web3 platform Cryptoys to turn its iconic characters such as Barbie, Hot Wheels and Polly Pocket into playable and customisable avatars.
Singapore’s trendy play brand Mighty Jaxx also toys around in the Metaverse.
Bentley Motors announces an NFT drop coming in September.
Wimbledon to celebrate 100 years with an NFT collection.
DraftKings to release interactive UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) NFT collection.
NHL (National Hockey League) to partner with Sweet to launch an NFT marketplace.
Niantic unveils NBA All-World mobile game for ‘real-world Metaverse.’
Cristiano Ronaldo announces an exclusive multi-year NFT partnership with Binance.
Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant want to make NFTs and the Metaverse more inclusive with their Futureverse Foundation.
Jason Derulo slides into web3 with DCL activation - a Metaverse music experience.
Paris Hilton aka ‘Queen of the Metaverse’ is the highest female earner for the sale of an NFT.
Enjoyed the recent Netflix series Inventing Anna? Sorokin has now unveiled her own NFT collection. It comprises of 2,000 tokens or Anna Access Cards offering perks including AMAs and wait for it … access to her personal belongings; true to her own ethos “VIP is always better.” Mint at your own risk, but of course you can try asking if she’ll accept wire transfers 🤣
💻 Tech, Platforms & Marketplaces
Solana Labs announced a web3-native smart phone called Saga, and a Solana Mobile Stack SDK.
Arbitrum adopted by the Norwegian government to build a cap table for unlisted companies.
Ledger announced an NFT marketplace “Ledger Market” - claims that it’s the most secure platform for artists and brands to release their NFTs.
Moonpay to launch an NFT platform “Hypermint.” Launch partners include Selfridges, Universal Pictures, Fox Corporation and Snoop Dogg.
The Sandbox is partnering with TIME Magazine’s TIMEPieces initiative to build the TIME Square in the Metaverse.
🐻 Notable Projects
Snoop Dogg and Eminem headlined ApeFest where they dropped a new track (featuring their BAYC PFPs) and merch. The music video has so far seen 12M+ YouTube views and counting.
Noah Davis, Head of web3 at Christie’s, is leaving the auction house to join the CryptoPunks team at Yuga Labs. Noah was behind the sale of Beeple’s famous “The First 5,000 Days” NFT that sold for a record-setting $69M in March 2021.
Madonna, joined by renowned drag queens, celebrated the New York Pride with a live performance at the World of Women NFT.NYC party.
World of Women reveals a new brand collaboration; WoW Galaxy Monopoly Game.
Doodles announced they raised money from Alexis Ohanian (and his VC firm SevenSevenSix) and named Pharrell Williams as their Chief Branding Officer. To start off, Williams will produce an NFT-accompanied album called Doodles Records: Volume 1 with Columbia Records. They also announced Doodles 2, a second collection coming later this month.
Steve Aoki and broadway stars performed at the Goblintown.wtf and the debate continues on who hosts the best party in town during NFT.NYC.
Elton John announced a collaboration with web3 AR gaming platform Jadu to auction a super rare Metaverse hoverboard NFT with proceeds going to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Dolce and Gabbana x UNXD airdropped their Disco Drip NFT collection that will unlock Metaverse wearables.
Chris Cantino outlines Club CPG project’s vision for web3 e-commerce.
💰 Deals & Dollars
eBay acquired UK-based NFT marketplace KnownOrigin.
Uniswap acquired NFT marketplace aggregator Genie.
Magic Eden raised $130M Series B round at a $1.6B valuation. Despite being only 9-month old, the Solana NFT platform’s annualised secondary GMV sits at over $3B, with over 1.5M monthly transactions, 20M monthly uniques, and 250K users trading each month. More in Li Jin’s deep-dive.
and more tracked here by the MilkRoad team.
Other things I read, listened to and watched - and found interesting below.
📖 Read
web3 Use Cases: Today and The Future by Packy McCormick. A two-part series in which the use cases for web3 today and its potential in the future are discussed.
Decentralised Autonomous Organisations: Beyond the Hype by the World Economic Forum. A good report for those new to the space.
Metaverse - Opportunities, Risks and Policy Implications by the European Parliament. Nothing new here, but it’s great to see EP’s think tank taking an early interest in the space and are discussing policy proactively.
🎧 Listen
What the Music Industry NEEDS to Know About NFTs with Cooper Turley (53 mins) by nft now. A conversation on how NFTs can bring about the future of music fandom.
▶️ Watch
How NFTs are Transforming Shopify and Commerce with Alex Danco (59 mins) by Delphi Media. The Head of Blockchain at Shopify Alex Danco discusses the platform’s shift into web3, the importance of wallet UX for crypto adoption, the future of NFT-integrated commerce, and more.
Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed this email, share it with the smartest people in your network please.
Just started reading your newsletter Than. One of the best I’ve seen in the space. All encompassing and to the point! Looking forward to reading future editions