🛋️ The Future of Money

Welcome to today's edition of our newsletter. Today we're discussing the potential of blockchain technology and its various drivers, including the adoption of central bank digital currencies, the tokenization of financial and real-world assets, and the gaming industry.

We're also covering news from the past week from the world of fintech, web3, crypto & defi, and beyond.

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Now let’s dive in.

🌐 What’s New in Fintech & Payments

• The Saudi fintech sector is going through exceptional growth, with a 79% YoY increase in the number of operating firms.

• The UAE central bank will cancel the licence granted to MTS Bank, a Russian bank under British and U.S. sanctions.

• Crayon Data is partnering with Visa to create AI-led personal digital storefronts for issuers using its Personalised Lifestyle Marketplace platform.

• Acorns, a U.S. savings and investment startup, acquired London-based GoHenry, which provides money management and financial education services for 6 to 18 year-olds.

🌐 The World of Web3

• The Dubai International Arbitration Centre launched its Metaverse for dispute resolution, where you can participate in proceedings from anywhere in the world.

• Meanwhile, Disney is cutting its Metaverse division as part of the company’s layoffs plan.

• Flybondi, an Argentinian low-cost airline, launched NFTs flight tickets to give its passengers greater flexibility and control over their trips.

• Verse Estate opened a Metaverse showroom in Dubai to help businesses leverage the immersive and interactive experience for visitors.

• Despite being indicted by a grand jury on March 30, the sales volume of Donald Trump's NFT collection soared by 461% to $185,783.

🌐 Crypto & Defi

• Saudi Arabia invested in nearly 40 US venture capital firms, including some in crypto, blockchain and Web3-related investments through Sanabil, the venture arm of the Saudi sovereign wealth vehicle Public Investment Fund.

• Bitcoin mining is now greener than electric vehicles – under certain conditions – with hydro energy being the major energy source at 23%.

• Matt Damon said he did the Super Bowl Crypto.com ad to raise money for Water.org because the nonprofit had a down year.

• DeFi had a successful Q1 with increased TVL and a new focus on Arbitrum, according to DappRadar's latest report on the state of DeFi.

• The CFTC has filed a lawsuit against Binance, which could potentially lead to the closure of the crypto company, citing charges and penalties that could end the business.

• Crypto.com has obtained the MVP Preparatory License from Dubai's Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority.

🌐 The State of Investment

• Loyalty app Bink secured £9 million funding from Barclays and Lloyds to last until Q1 2024.

• Supply chain finance fintech Finverity has secured $5 million in an equity funding round.

• Fintech funding took a dip this week, with only $479.4 million raised across 30 deals, following two weeks of strong performance where a total of $1.1 billion was raised across 25 deals last week, and $7.2 billion two weeks ago.

• Egypt-based Camel Ventures has launched a $16 million VC investment fund to support fintech startups.

🌐 Money, Tokens, and Games

Disruptive innovation can often take us by surprise. History is filled with examples of game-changing inventions that transformed industries and created new ones, leaving us to wonder how their potential wasn't noticed sooner.

While some innovations, like the automobile or the smartphone, were relatively easy to identify, others, like blockchain technology, are less tangible and harder to grasp.

While blockchain has been around for some time now, it’s only in recent years that people have started to understand its potential. And it may take six to eight years for mass adoption. 

Blockchain user numbers will be boosted by daily activity – things like money, games, social, and more. Successful blockchain adoption will be when it has a billion-plus end users who don’t even realize they are using the technology.

One of the main drivers of blockchain's success will be the adoption of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) by large central banks. Tokenization of financial and real-world assets could also be the killer use case driving blockchain breakthrough, with tokenization expected to grow by a factor of 80x in private markets and reach up to almost $4 trillion in value by 2030.

In recent months, central banks in multiple large countries have announced plans for CBDCs this decade, giving almost 2 billion people the opportunity to experiment with digital currency.

Another driver is the gaming industry. The next generation of gaming will include tokenized assets. Micropayments, including in Metaverse games, will also likely be blockchain-based. 

It's becoming more and more clear that blockchain will play an important role in our lives.

But for blockchain to be successfully adopted, we’ll need to overcome some significant hurdles. These include regulatory considerations, technological challenges, and legal changes. But despite these challenges, I believe that blockchain has the potential to change the world for the better.

🌐 Report of the Week

…And Man Created AI in His Image: This Viewpoint 2023 report by Arthur D. Little explores the rapid adoption of ChatGPT and the role of anthropomorphizing in its success. Despite not being a new technology, ChatGPT quickly gained 1 million users within five days of its launch. Anthropomorphizing, or attributing human-like characteristics to machines, was identified as a key factor in the chatbot's rapid adoption. By making it easier for users to interact with the technology, anthropomorphizing can reduce barriers to adoption. However, the report also highlights the potential risks and benefits of this approach. Click here to read the full report.

🌐 In Other News…

• ChatGPT: Italy orders ChatGPT to be blocked immediately due to data protection concerns, launching an investigation into OpenAI for allegedly breaching the GDPR.

• 5G: Zain KSA and Huawei build are working together on a ‘5.5G City’ innovation project that strengthens digital infrastructure, tying into Saudi’s Vision 2030.

🌐 The Podcast for Fintech Enthusiasts

In this week's episode, I talk to Navin Gupta , Managing Director of South Asia and MENA at Ripple, a blockchain company that provides enterprise-grade solutions for faster, more transparent, and more cost-effective financial services. Navin explains Ripple's mission to enable a world where value moves as seamlessly as information flows today. Give the episode a listen for an insightful understanding of the potential of blockchain technology in the financial industry and Ripple's innovative solutions for cross-border payments.

🛋️ And that brings us to the end of today’s Crunch

If you enjoyed today's edition of the Couchonomics Crunch, be sure to share it with all the other fintech enthusiasts you know. 

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And a special thanks to our sponsors Adyen, ToYou, Visa, Geidea, and M2P Fintech.