Web3 Round Up 3-20

A roundup of activity in NFT, Metaverse, Gaming and AI

Brand Activity

Salesforce Launches Platform on Polygon to Create Turnkey Token-Based Loyalty Programs

• Polygon continues to be the ‘Brands’ Blockchain’

• This will be yet another strong onboarding event as Saleforce will make (easily) available token-based loyalty programs for thousands of their clients

Ryan Wyatt (fwiz.polygon) @Fwiz

We are excited to share that @salesforce has launched on @0xPolygon! Salesforce will help their clients onboard to Polygon with its management platform to help its clients create token-based loyalty programs.  “Most Salesforce customers use Ethereum or Polygon” - Salesforce

RTFKT / Nike Physical Apparel Receives Mixed Reception

• Shoes and jackets have been received poorly with the accusation that they were oversold

• This is the latest in a string of controversies and setbacks for RTFKT with their flagship collection “Clone X” down roughly 45% in the last 30 days.

Bag Holder @BagHoldingNFTs

Seeing additional discrepancies on what @RTFKT sold customers… it seems to approach the level of a fraudulent bait-and-switch This should be the final nail in the coffin for CloneX.

• But Footballverse Jerseys have seen positive sentiment:

Alex - Cryptobam @Cryptobam_

Hell Yeah!! Just received my Jersey from @RTFKT ⚽️ Glad to finally see a physical product from them, it is unique and very nice!

Instagram and Facebook Sunset NFT Integration

• Meta has quietly shutdown the NFT integration support on both Instagram and Facebook

• Meta has announced another round of lay offs and recently backpedaled from its Metaverse centric approach, leaving many questioning what is next for the tech giant

• Article Link: https://decrypt.co/123477/meta-layoffs-nft-plans-metaverse-ai

NFTs

Beeple Studios Opens in Charleston SC

• The 50,000 square foot space is designed for NFT / Digital Artists to display their work in the real world

• Includes a 13,000 square foot experiential space

• Article Link: https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2023/03/13/nft-artist-beeple-opens-digital-art-gallery-in-charleston/

RD @RogerDickerman

Welcome to Beeple Studios 🔥🧵👇

Doodles Announces Strategy Shift

• Doodles has pivoted into a “media franchise” rather than NFT project to the dismay of many holders

• Since this announcement, a number of blue chip NFT projects have publically doubled down on their web3 philosophy and community orientation

DCinvestor.eth ⌐◨-◨ @iamDCinvestor

all “utility” NFT projects will eventually end in tears from holders, to founders, to teams, to onlookers. everyone when the value prop is “airdrops, parties, merch, and pumping value,” it is simply not long-term sustainable without on-going membership fees so teams pivot

gGFunk @Gfunkera86

Preface: I say this with love, and good intention - as someone who has been there but feel free to disregard: @doodles @poopie These “web2” strategies are not going to work in web3. It doesn’t need to be a hype cycle, it just needs to be inclusive. Build WITH your community 👇

10KTF Ships First Physical Versions of Their Custom Digital “Comfy Hoodies”

• The hoodies showcase 10KTF community PFPs printed onto the hoodies and have received largely positive reception

  

• Article Link: https://nftevening.com/10ktf-hoodies-wear-your-nft-love-proudly/

Coinbase Launches Wallet-As-A-Service Platform

• “Coinbase’s wallet as a service (WaaS) is a scalable set of wallet infrastructure APIs that allow companies to create and deploy customizable on-chain wallets to their users”

• This means companies can natively integrate wallets directly into their apps so users won’t be redirected to separate applications to connect their wallets (i.e. having a MetaMask extension)

• Article Link: https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/08/coinbase-launches-wallet-api-to-help-integrate-web2-0-devs-into-web3-world/

LinksDAO Purchases a Golf Course

• The golfing community and DAO voted overwhelmingly to place a bid on Spey Bay, a Scottish Links Course achieving a major milestone goal of the project

• The bid was accepted ($900,000) and now LinksDAO is in the due diligence process

• After the sale, the goal is to renovate the course and make it a popular destination for golfers

• Article Link: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/links-golf-club-buys-spey-bay-golf-links

Getty Launches NFT

• Working with Candy Digital, Getty is launching a ‘70s Music & Culture Collection’ featuring photography of the era’s greats as an NFT collection

• “People who purchase the images will retain limited usage rights, being able to print the photographs on t-shirts and the like. However, Candy is working with Getty on potential future products that include different types of commercial rights for collectible holders to “empower the next generation of creators””

• Article Link: https://nftnow.com/news/getty-unveils-first-nft-drop-featuring-stevie-nicks-david-bowie-and-more/

AI News

Open AI Launches ChatGPT4

• ChatGPT4 is a more complex and powerful version of ChatGPT3 and is seeing seeing hundreds of novel use cases:

  Eckler by Design ✦ @daniel_eckler

  GPT-4 is only 48h old… 48 🤯 ways it can change your life today👇

• Link: https://openai.com/product/gpt-4

Metaverse / Gaming

Yuga Owned Meebits Builds Hub in Solana Based (but Interoperable) Metaverse, Portals

• Portals is a scrappy metaverse that has been steadily building for over a year now and is worth keeping an eye on

MeebitsDAO @MeebitsDAO

Gm! We had a great morning meeting in the @_portals_ Metaverse! We are building fun, interactive spaces for the Meebits to play in! #Meebin ‘Stairway to Meebin’ 🤫 @kerimbonia @adamq_q

Crypto News

SVB Failure Leads to Fincancial Crisis Concerns

• Crypto prices soared and decoupled from the stock market as the Fed moved to save the failing Silicon Value Bank

• The general takeaway is that the “Crypto as an inflation hedge” narrative is coming true

• Article Link: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/03/16/crypto-observers-believe-us-banking-crisis-could-strengthen-crypto-ecosystem-in-the-long-term/