web3 Memo #27
đ Iâm Than Khine, a strategy consultant, and web3 Memo is a weekly email with the best of web3 content Iâve consumed recently. If you havenât yet subscribed, get your free newsletter here:
đ° In the News
Disney backs web3 plays with the Disney Accelerator; focussed on building the future of immersive experiences and in technologies such as NFTs, AR and AI characters. 6 innovative companies were selected to join the program including the Ethereum scaling platform Polygon.
FARFETCH partners with Outlier Ventures to fund web3 startups through the new accelerator; focussed on supporting projects in digital fashion, immersive experiences, tokenised loyalty and the creator economy.
Nike teased a platform for digital assets with Swoosh.Nike; which says âweâre building a safe and secure platform for you to discover, collect, and create virtual products.â
Reddit is launching a new NFT avatar marketplace on Polygon, but owning a crypto wallet is not a pre-requisite.
GameStop launched an NFT marketplace with mixed reviews, but still achieved over $3.5M in volume in the first 48 hours. Collection stats here.
Limewire NFT marketplace goes live with exclusive digital collectibles created by the top artists including Travis Barker, Brandy, Dillon Francis, Maino, Fabolous, and Gramatik.
Siemens and NVIDIA announced an expansion of their partnership to enable the industrial Metaverse.
Magic Leapâs new AR headset arrives on Sept. 30, starting at $3,299. The company is also working with NavVis to develop enterprise 3D mapping and digital twins solutions.
Meta will call new VR headset the âQuest Proâ, according to Bloomberg.
Snap explores plans to let users showcase NFTs as AR filters.
Chinese Internet giant Baidu announced the next step of its Metaversal plans; the mass production of virtual beings to celebrate the companyâs recent breakthrough with its AI algorithm.
HBO Original will soon premier âWe Met in Virtual Realityâ, filmed entirely inside the world of VR.
Post Malone to perform a Metaverse concert in Horizon Worlds.
Tony Hawk teams up with The Sandbox and Autograph to build the biggest skatepark in the Metaverse.
Playboy partners with The Sandbox to build a MetaMansion.
Dr. Martens and Warner Bros collaborate on a virtual video store AR experience.
Warner Records joins Bose to offer free NFTs which will offer holders with perks such as access to live events, figurines, exclusive streetwear, and priority spots for future developments.
The famed festival Tomorrowland is set to launch a series of NFTs in partnership with Magic Eden and FTX.
Todd Kaplan, CMO of Pepsi, is feeling bullish on NFTs and all things web3.
Etihad Airways to launch NFTs on Polygon, as it attempts to take off towards a decentralised future.
Ducati has announced plans to launch its first NFT collection in partnership with NFT PRO and Ripple.
Christie's to auction NFT of COVID-19 vaccine.
Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (PSG) are selling premium NFT tickets worth $220,000 each for matches in Japan tour.
Manchester City adds OKX logo to the new training kit. Reports set the value of the partnership at $20M for the 2022-23 season.
Premier Lacrosse League announces Premier Pass NFTs.
Neo-bank Revolut launches âLearn & Earnâ crypto feature.
Robinhood enables Bitcoin and listed crypto assets transfers for all users.
Shanghai government allocates $1.5B to Metaverse Development Fund.
Spain announced it will dedicate $4M in grants for Metaverse-related projects.
Italy promises $46M in government subsidies for blockchain, AI and IoT projects, but instructs its museums to halt contracts with NFT companies, citing âunregulatedâ terms that could affect the countryâs cultural heritage.
ââđ» web3 Tech, Platforms & Marketplaces
Polygon partners with Taiwanese OEM HTC on a web3 phone. The Ethereum scaling platform is also teaming up with the British start-up Nothing to integrate into their first smart phone, the Nothing Phone (1).
Immutable X will allow Ether-to-Dollar withdrawals.
Ledger users can now swap crypto with FTX through Ledger Live.
Nansen launches a blockchain-native messaging app called Nansen Connect.
MoonPay to make web3 payments with Unstoppable Domains partnership.
đ» Notable NFT Projects
Otherside to conduct First Trip tech demo on 16th July.
RTFKT is casting audition for Clones to participate in their upcoming secret project.
PROOF / Moonbirds made public a roadmap discussion video.
World of Women airdrops Capacitors accompanied by an FAQ.
Cool Cats has a new CMO; Michaela Thompson joining from Neopets.
Zed Run (and its parent company VHS) goes for gold with the acquisition of horse racing analytics platform, Know Your Horses, before announcing the imminent arrival of the native Zed Run governance token.
STEPN announced it made $122.5M in second-quarter profits from platform fees and intends to spend over $6M to buy back and burn GMT tokens.
đ° Deals & Dollars
Unity is merging with ironSource in an all-stock deal valuing ironSource at $4.4B.
Multi-coin Capital launches $430M venture fund.
Animoca Brands raises $75M at pre-money valuation of $5.9B.
Gnosis rebrands as Safe, raises $100M to build multi-wallet ecosystem.
Arkive raised $9.7M to build the worldâs first decentralised physical museum curated & operated by its members.
DRAUP raises $1.5M in pre-seed funding to build a digital fashion platform.
Magic Eden launches a gaming venture arm.
and more tracked by the team at DoveMetrics.
Other things I read and listened to - and found interesting.
đ Read
How to Build Community and Never Say the F-Word (âFloorâ) by the Curious Addys team đ§”
9 design principles for a musical Metaverse by The Water and Music community.
đ§ Listen
Enabling True Creative Ownership Through NFTs w/richerd.eth (42 mins) by Rehash. Richerd, co-founder of the smart contract framework Manifold, explains how web3 is enabling creators to replace platforms as the centres of the content world.
Thanks for reading!