🚀 Welcome to the Magentaverse

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. This week we've got

• 🙏 My ask for feedback

• 👗 Rebecca Minkoff on the podcast

• 📰 News and views from Web 2.5

So, let's jump right in, and off we go. 

🙏  My Ask for Feedback 🙏

Why did you subscribe to this newsletter? For real, I want to know. Will you reply to this email and tell me?

There are a lot of web3 news roundup newsletters. Like a lot. And they all are starting to look the same. AND -- for anyone following the launch of ChatGPT (I write a bit on it below), news summaries just got commoditized. You can literally copy and paste a news article and get a three-sentence summary back if you ask for it. I even used it to help prep this week's newsletter.

So, I've been thinking about the unique point of view for Web 2.5's newsletter in a crowded and evolving landscape. And I need your help to answer that.

Will you write me back and tell me:

1. Why you read this newsletter?  

2. What's most and least valuable to you here?  

Thank you 🙏

🎙 New Podcast Episode 🎙 

On this week's show, I sit down with Rebecca Minkoff, the co-founder, designer, and entrepreneur behind the global fashion brand bearing her name, to discuss her company’s foray into the world of Web3 and NFTs. We cover her journey in Web3, her collaboration with Michelle Reeves and Mavion on a new collection of fashion-based NFTs, her advice for other builders, and so much more. Have a listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 🎧

📰 Weekly Web 2.5 News Roundup 📰

AI, Aye?

The word was abuzz this week with the launch of ChatGPT, a new artificial intelligence tool from OpenAI. Users of the tool type in a question or prompt, and ChatGPT simply responds. Basically it's like Google, but WAY more useful. While the technology has its limitations (it can't browse the internet and thus lacks some current information), the use cases for the tool have exploded. One million users plowed in to test the tool in its first 5 days alone, asking ChatGPT to write college essays, suggest holiday gifts, mimic Seinfeld episodes, tell jokes, and more. If you want to learn more, this NYTimes piece is a good place to start.

💰 Financey Things 

Stripe, the global payments processing firm, has built a new user-friendly widget that makes it easier for consumers to purchase crypto and transact online (the fancy term they use for it is a fiat-to-crypto onramp) According to Stripe, "The onramp is a customizable widget that developers can embed directly into their DEX, NFT platform, wallet, or dApp. Stripe handles all the KYC, payments, fraud, and compliance, removing the need to integrate multiple third-party services." Basically, it means that more developers will have another tool to simplify how users can buy crypto and transact.

 👛 What's in Your Wallet

In an effort to drive more adoption and infuse better design into wallet hardware, the crypto wallet maker Ledger has partnered with Tony Fadell, the well-known creator of Apple’s iPod and the co-founder of Nest, to create its new Stax hardware wallet. According to Coindesk, "The wallet is a credit card-sized device with embedded magnets so that multiple devices can easily be stacked. The outside is a wraparound e-ink display that can show transaction details and even NFTs." Basically the existing ledger wallets looks like clunky USB sticks. This marks the first time the wallets have a more interactive and well-designed user interface. 

🖼 Art Basel

MSCHF, the provocative art collective and creative agency, created a customized ATM for Art Basel Miami Beach, which allows visitors to check their bank account balance — and then find it displayed on a scrolling leaderboard. It's a pretty savvy activation meant at poking the bear on a taboo topic — What's in Your Wallet?!

⚔️ Pickle in the Middle

We used to hear a lot about cutting out the middleman. Well, Apple is trying to bring the middleman back. Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., and Apple are feuding because Apple would like to take a cut of all in-app NFT sales that take place on apps like Coinbase’s. But according to Coinbase, Apple NFTs currently cannot be traded in their app because Apple is blocking them from doing so. Apple wants Coinbase to either remove the feature OR implement transactions as part of Apple's in-app purchase system (which would require Apple to get its 30% cut from each transaction). The staring contest starts right now.

⚽ You're a Good Sport 

Last week I profiled the ATP (tennis), which is using in-game data to generate the artwork for its NFTs. There’s another example I spotted this week using in-game data, this time in the world of soccer. Coca-Cola and Crypto.com have joined forces to create a series of NFTs that are inspired by the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. The NFTs, which were developed in collaboration with digital artist GMUNK, are based on heat maps that show the movements and key moments of the tournament's players. A total of 10,000 NFTs will be created, and they will be available for fans to purchase on Crypto.com's NFT platform.

🎙️ Media, Ads & Entertainment

The connectivity between business and media is always a sensitive subject. But it turns out the media got ensnared in the FTX collapse, too. Here's what happened: A few week’s ago, media company CoinDesk was the first publication to write an article exposing FTX, leading to FTX's expeditious collapse and subsequent insolvency. But did you know that the collapse also ensnared CoinDesk’s parent company, DCG? It's a classic tale of a snake biting its own tail (btw, is that actually a classic tale??). 

🎨 Colors

This year marks the first time that Pantone selected a color of the year made for the metaverse. Pantone, a leading global color system, named Viva Magenta as its Color of the Year for 2023. Describing it as an "animated red that encourages experimentation and self-expression without restraint," the shade is designed to reflect the increasing amount of time people spend in the digital world. The hue giant created an immersive world, the Magentaverse (obviously), that explores the connection between nature and technology. 

👠 Web3, But Make it Fashion

America’s biggest fashion designers are headed into the metaverse with the CFDA. As part of its 60th-anniversary celebration, the Council of Fashion Designers of America is setting up a retrospective exhibition on the metaverse real estate platform The Sandbox. The exhibition will feature 60 American fashion looks from the last 60 years, along with NFTs for purchase. Seven designer brands — Coach, Michael Kors, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger, Vivienne Tam and Willy Chavarria — will each create one-of-one NFTs with unique utility as well (think a DVF wrap dress, access to invite-only events, meet and greets, and more). 

TIMEX, the watch manufacturer, has partnered with Bored Ape Yacht Club to create 500 one-of-a-kind watches. The customizable timepieces will feature the owner's Ape or Mutant character on the watch's face and can be customized with a selection of cases, straps, and etchings. TIMEX has also declared itself a "timekeeper of the metaverse" with the release of a gaming experience in the Fortnite universe.

Red Wing Shoes and gaming giant Roblox have collaborated to create the Builder Exchange Program, an industry-first initiative that aims to bring together virtual and real-world builders to address a skills gap in the U.S. The Minnesota-based company (hi to my home state!) created the Red Wing Buildertown on Roblox, where users can build virtual homes by collecting materials and consulting with the BuilderTown tradespeople. For every tiny home built on Roblox, Red Wing will donate to Settled, an organization that helps house the homeless via tiny homes. 

Popular clothing megastore Forever 21 recently debuted the F21 Metaverse Collection, its first Web3-inspired fashion range, on Roblox. The collection includes t-shirts and hoodies featuring designs from the retailer's virtual product line-up. Customers can also buy the IRL version of the Forever Beanie, the best-selling item in the Forever 21 Shop City on Roblox. The retailer is also releasing one limited-edition virtual accessory per day for 24 hours only. Ready, set, shop!  

🏢 Real Estate

My favorite news stories are the ones that take real world concepts and apply them to the metaverse. That's the case with the virtual reality platform Decentraland, which has launched a virtual property rental service for owners of LAND, the platform's digital property. Landlords can rent out their space for a predetermined period, earning passive income from their metaverse assets. Rentals are conducted using Decentraland's native token, MANA, which is paid upfront. The platform, which is built on Ethereum, will be available for use in the first quarter of next year. 

🎵 Musical Notes

It's Mariah Carey season in the metaverse, too. World-renowned singer and superstar Mariah Carey is entering the metaverse with a Christmas-themed experience in Roblox. Called "Mariah Carey's Winter Wonderland," the virtual experience features performances from Carey, holiday-themed treasure hunts, and special item drops. The singer has also partnered with Booking.com to offer two fans a "Mariah's Ultimate Holiday Experience" in her penthouse apartment. How this didn't end up being named "The Mariahverse," we'll never know.

🎮 Toys, Games and Gaming

WHP Global, the parent company of Toys"R"Us, has partnered with Web3 technology agency Anybodies to bring the iconic toy brand to the metaverse. The first launch under the partnership will include the release of 10,000 digital collectibles on the Solana blockchain and be available for purchase on the Magic Eden NFT marketplace starting December 9th. The collectibles will feature 3D animation of the brand's mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, and will allow holders to earn GCoins that can be redeemed for exclusive access to toys, in-store experiences, and early access to future digital releases and experiences.

💀 Retail is Dead

I swear the mall has come up more times that I can count on this newsletter. And here's another example. The Goblintown Art Basel party took place in an abandoned Macy's, complete with a tattoo bar at the customer service desk. 

™️ Trademarks Don't Lie

📚 Weekend Reading

• The Metaverse is a Vitamin, not a Painkiller. Medium. 

• Presenting CoinDesk's Most Influential 2022. Fifty people who defined the year in crypto. Coindesk.

🌶️ Hot Takes

• BlackRock CEO Says ‘Next Generation for Markets’ Is Tokenization. Decrypt.

• Who’s Training Our AI Apps? The Very Human biases behind AI. Rachel Sklar via Riveter.

☠️ And Finally

Who feels old?

🫶 And that’s a wrap! Thanks for reading Web 2.5. See you out there in the interweb3s. Don't forget to reply to this email with why you're here and what's most/least valuable.

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).