Q: What is the Metaverse and Web 3.0? [34]
Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and the rebranding of Facebook, the terms Web 3.0 and "the Metaverse" has come to the forefront of pop culture.
Hello, my friend!
I feel like I am just repeating myself endlessly in these introductions, but this week has been particularly true: I’ve been so unbelievably busy in this space, I feel like I’m just white-knuckling life when it comes to the work and opportunities in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.
Over the next week or two, I should have some significant announcements of my own to make with regard to projects I’ve been nurturing to fruition the last six to nine months or so, which will be exciting (for me, at least) to finally let loose out in the world.
This week saw the introduction of the term “Metaverse” as well as another companion term: Web 3.0, into the common vernacular, and we’re going to focus a bit on that in our deep dive.
In fact, one of my good friends, John Biggs, wrote in his substack on the topic. Not to steal his thunder, but he succinctly described it as the Read-Write-Participate-Own Web.
He also said, in his editorial surrounding it, that he didn’t ultimately believe that this would live up to the hype of decentralization promise. In our deep dive this week, I’ll talk a bit about where I share John’s concerns, and where I depart from him on his assessment, available to paid subscribers!
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Blockchain Bulletin
Ubisoft intends to create its own blockchain games.
The gaming giant Ubisoft has signaled its interest in its intent to build its own blockchain games during a recent earnings call, reported IGN, while quoting the company’s CFO who called blockchain a “revolution.”
Facebook rebrand to Meta includes possible NFT future.
Social media company Facebook recently rebranded itself as Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned potential support for NFTs in its upcoming “metaverse” content, reported CoinDesk.
New Photoshop feature will support NFT verification.
Software maker Adobe is adding the capability for artists to sign artwork with their Adobe ID so that when it is sold as NFT on marketplaces it can be certified as theirs, reported The Verge.
Blockchain Behind the Scenes
Defi protocol Cream Finance hack suffers $130M in losses.
An exploit recently hit the DeFi protocol Cream Finance for $130 million in losses – in part Ether and other ERC-20 tokens – has led to the lending protocol responding to the incident.
Alchemy, startup behind Adobe’s NFT certification, announces $250M funding round.
Alchemy, the startup being Adobe’s NFT certification, announced a $250 million funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz to help build out its platform.
Blockchain Bits
US Treasury puts out a report on Stablecoins.
Jake Chervinsky put out analysis on the topic as well: “For now, the highlight in my mind is the recommendation that "Congress act promptly to enact legislation...."
Prompt action from this Congress on anything is unlikely, let alone on something like stablecoins.”
CryptoLaw Bill of Rights Published
Far from anything other than a possible proposal at this point, but an interesting topic of discussion in CryptoLaw circles, cryptolaw twitter anon and regular fixture “Judge Jowday” published it and sparked quite a bit of discussion around it.
It’s been generally well received, and has potential to become or inspire a document on the level of the Crypto Anarchist manifesto or the Cypherpunk Manifesto.
Patreon announces a pivot to NFTs.
One of the common rejoinders against NFTs is that it’s far more beneficient to simply patronize your favorite artists with their Patreon account rather than buying their NFTs (as if giving 10-15% commissions to middlemen like Jack Conte is somehow a more virtuous angle to take.
As it turns out, Patreon in response to ongoing pressure from their payment proccessor overlords, is eyeing NFTs as a way to more efficiently support artists endeavors to be creative without caving to commercial pressures.
