Love-Love in the First Set

Hi. It’s Dana. Welcome to the Web 2.5 newsletter featuring news, content, musings, and memes at the intersection of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.

I'm here watching Art Basel from my couch, doom-scrolling Twitter, all while getting ready to bring you another week in Web 2.5. We've got:

• A generative art tennis NFT + my 3 criteria for brands launching into Web3

• A podcast plug for Amber Vittoria

• The news and views from the week

So grab your cold wallet, your warm wallet, and your cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs wallet. We're off to this week in Web 2.5.

💥 Breakdown of the Week: ATP 💥

I've been thinking a lot about the "right" use cases for Web3 for brands. There are a lot of really clear examples in education, healthcare, supply chain, gaming, and more. But when it comes to consumer brands, I find companies can struggle and swirl. Meaning, if you want to get in the game, be innovative, and test this all out, it's not always clear which applications and activations are the right ones and why.

Well, I happened to come across a brand activation this week that felt "right" to me. So I spent some time thinking about why.

The activation was from the ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals). And they are launching LOVE, the world's first NFT art collection made from in-game tennis data. Basically, the collection will capture actual in-match data from the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals, and use that data to generate unique and iconic works of digital art that fans can collect. It's like NBA Topshot meets tennis meets generative art.

Why is this so cool? Well, it seems to embody three things that I see among successful Web3 projects (I reserve the right to keep evolving and improving my framework if that's ok).

1) What's "Yours." It's always a good idea to leverage a unique superpower of your brand or business in any activation. Maybe it's your mission. Or your competitive advantage. Or perhaps an untapped asset. But leveraging something that's uniquely yours creates a moat. In this case, that asset was in-game data. It's special. It's cool. And it's a unique asset that is of-interest to others, but hard to typically access. Which brings me to...

2) What's "Wanted." It's always better to create something that people want. And you already know what that is from Web2. Think about fans watching a tennis match through their iPhones. Why do people record the moment instead of watching and enjoying a live event phone-free? Well, it's really about the desire to capture and collect personal memories. And digital collectibles can capture a specific moment perhaps more beautifully than your 2x pinched-in iPhone video AND also make it "yours" via the blockchain. The point is, you probably know your customers' needs. You now just need to solve for it in a new way. Which then brings me to...

3) What's "Better." Not everything needs to be in Web3. I think Subway stamp cards were great just the way they were! But if Web3 can actually make something better by saving time, money, or sanity, then that's great. So in this case, generative art makes a tennis match experience better by making it two things — dynamic and unexpected. In generative art, you take the inputs from an artist, and fuse it with other inputs (user-generated or, in this case, game-generated), and create something unique that isn't possible in Web2. The key is, you have to really have a high bar about making sure the blockchain is necessary and not just noise. In this example, I think AI makes the collectible way better than its Web2 counterparts (swag shop, anyone?). (PS Zeneca does an incredible job explaining generative art in our recent Web 2.5 podcast @27:40 for anyone interested).

So, my takeaways for brands feeling the swirl is this to ask yourselves:

1. Is it leveraging a unique asset to your business?

2. Is it something your customers actually want?

3. Is it actually "better" by adding in the Web3 technology?

If yes to all three, sounds like an ace (zomg, sorry).

And now onto the news...

💥 But First, A New Podcast Episode 💥

How are NFTs transforming opportunities for artists? Great question, I thought you'd never ask. On this week's podcast, we talk with the artist and poet Amber Vittoria to find out. The TLDR is she is a BIG deal and we are very lucky to cover Amber's career, her book, her merch, her partnerships -- and how NFTs are changing the game for both artists and collectors.

🎙 Have a listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts 🎙

💥 Weekly Web 2.5 News Roundup 💥

📉 FTX and Friends

That was a very good category title, if I do say so myself. Anywho, BlockFi Inc., a cryptocurrency lender, followed in FTX's footsteps by filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy this week. The exchange blames its downfall on falling crypto prices as well as FTX's recent collapse (in the court papers, it was disclosed that Alameda Research, FTX's affiliated trading firm, failed to pay the $680 million owed to BlockFi in early November). So, yeah.

Lights, camera, crypto. Amazon and the Russo Brothers, best known for their work on the Marvel movies, are creating a TV series based on the epic collapse of FTX. The drama will go into production in Spring 2023. But also, the drama is still ongoing (obviously).

There was also this wild & viral thread about an FTX connection to a Washington State bank.

And lastly, here's the full transcript from SBF's interview with ARS (Andrew Ross Sorkin).

💰 Boring Finance Stuff

Pretty sure everything in web2 will make its way into web3. Like insurance! Aegis Trust, a crypto custodian company, is now offering a $25 million insurance policy for NFTs. The policy will be provided by insurance marketplace Lloyd's of London and will provide protection for institutional investors, hedge funds, and exchanges.

Holding a few bags? Not handbags, but worthless NFTs? A new website, Unsellable, is offering the ability for holders to offload "worthless" NFTs by purchasing the assets for pennies and providing an official receipt for tax purposes. Tax loss harvesting, but make it fashion Web3.

🚘 Cars

Luxury sports car manufacturer Porsche is racing into Web3 with its first NFT project. The 7,500-piece collection, inspired by the Porsche 911, is scheduled to be released in January 2023 as 3D assets. Here's how it works.

📺 Media, Advertising & Entertainment

Sony, the electronics powerhouse, is entering the metaverse with its new Mocopi product. Mocopi retails for $358 and comes with six motion-tracking bands that are worn on the hands, feet, back, and head to track actual body movements to operate digital avatars in metaverse apps. FWIW the ads also look like the old iPod ads.

🌴 Travel & Leisure

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is checking into Web3. The company is teaming up with Claire Luxton, a British artist, to create and auction off 10 NFTs valued between £3,000-£5,000 (~$3,577-$5,960) each. The assets, which can be bid on by the company's loyalty program members, will come with InterContinental Ambassador and Platinum Rewards status in its IHG One Rewards program and a one-night stay at the InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace.

🦈 Toys, Games & Gaming

Pinkfong has signed a licensing agreement that will showcase its Baby Shark IP on the Toekenz Collectibles Web3 gaming platform. The characters will be available as NFT collectibles that players can customize and share with other players. The platform, which will feature blockchain-based games in which kids can earn tokens, provides a place for youth to learn about Web3 and cryptocurrencies. Also, I can't stop thinking about poor William, the only doxxed team member on the project's website ahahah.

🌎 Entire Countries

During the International AI Journey Conference in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin shared his support for a blockchain-based international payment system.

🍎 Education

Sotheby’s Institute launches an education program to help creative business leaders master Web3 fundamentals.

Morehouse College launches a Black history metaverse course for the spring semester.

✨ Web3 Deals, Drops & Alpha

Two big Web3 NFT gurus who had previously been anonymous shared their Web2 identities this week -- Frank DeGods and Gmoney.

💸 Fundraising

Web3 Games Company Midnight Led by Ex-Soundcloud and Disney Execs Emerges From Stealth with $7.5M Seed Funding. NFT Gators.

Play Casual Games, Win NFTs: Burn Ghost Raises $3.1M for Gaming Platform. Decrypt.

a16z Leads $15M Round for Game Studio Roboto Games. The studio, which was founded by Web2 veterans, plans to add Web3 elements to its forthcoming survival/crafting game. Coindesk.

📚 Weekend Reading

• Yam Karkai’s Illustrations Made Her an NFT Sensation. Now What? The New Yorker.

• Tokenization of Customer Loyalty in Web3. Newsweek.

• Activists Tackle the Metaverse. Politico.

• For $20 a Month, You Can Host Meetings in Mozilla’s Mini Metaverse. TechCrunch.

• 5 Ways Musicians Are Using NFTs to Take Back Control. Make Use Of.

• What to Watch in Web3. Vayner3.

🧰 Jobs & Career Moves

• Executive Who Brought Time Magazine Into Web3 Is Leaving for MoonPay. Decrypt.

• Candy Digital Cuts Over a Third of Workforce Amid Tech Tumult. yahoo!sports.

• What Are All Those "Chief Metaverse Officers" Actually Doing? Axios.

• Crypto Layoffs: Kraken, Lemon Cash, Coinbase, Meta, Among Firms Forced to Make Mass Job Cuts. CoinDesk.

☠️ And Finally

🫶 And that’s a wrap! Thanks for reading Web 2.5. See you out there in the interweb3s.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is strictly educational. None of this is financial or investment advice — and not a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please always Christian DYOR (Do Your Own Research).