Web3 Wrap-Up: NEARCON is here and Meta doubles down on the metaverse… 👥👀

Hey Linkedin! Happy Tuesday and welcome back to the Web3 Wrap-Up! If you’re new, feel free to take a walk down memory lane and catch up on some of the past editions 😊

We’re heading into week 2 of September and the Web3 community have a lot to be excited about, First and foremost this week’s #NEARCON [ NEAR Foundation / NEAR Protocol ] Lisbon which will see the ecosystem get together to connect and hear the latest about building on the network, how to grow Web3 business, gaming trends and insights from hiring tips to DAO governance. Speaking of DAOs, we’re starting to see some of the effects of the crypto crackdown and the market crash on decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs). With increased regulatory scrutiny, community pressure, and incidents like the Tornado Cash enforcements, DAOs like MakerDAO are needing to define their purpose and align on what kind of growth trajectory they want to embrace and what level of authority compliance will be included. 

While there are endless questions, opinions and debates on the topic of regulation, another topic that is still at the forefront of minds is what industry will be responsible for driving the next billion Web3 users? Some think it will be gaming. Some suggest sports and entertainment. The one thing that’s for certain is that brands and platforms need to start thinking about their Web3 strategies - from how they will engage their community to how they will think about monetisation approaches. According to a recent study from Market Decipher , the sports NFT market doubled from $1.3 billion to $2.6 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 36.3% to reach $41.6 billion by 2032. Tokenised video clips, player accessories and collectibles are just some of the avenues creating new revenue streams for sports and entertainment brands. In the gaming world, we’ve seen Revolving Games, Inc. Games just raise $25 million in a funding round led by Pantera Capital . The fundraising also attracted participation from Animoca Brands , Polygon Labs , Rockstar Games co-founder, and Dapper Labs - among others. The company said it will use the funds to accelerate the development of its Web3 gaming technology. Gaming, sports, entertainment. The industries to drive mainstream adoption? The debate continues…

Before we dive into this week’s Web3 Wrap-Up, let’s talk about one more market update. Ethereum’s Merge. The Bellatrix hard fork has just been activated on the Beacon chain and now only the Paris event remains before Ethereum 's switch to proof-of-stake. While Bellatrix is not The Merge itself, it’s a necessary step to prepare Beacon Chain for the consensus switch. The Merge is currently scheduled to complete on 14th September - an exciting event for all of us in this space.

Continue reading for a look at the past week’s news, recent events and market activity across Crypto, Web3, DeFi, NFTs and the Metaverse.

I present to you the Web3 Wrap-Up!

• Saudi Central Bank's new hire to work on crypto regulations - Saudi Arabia's central bank had appointed Mohsen AlZahrani, a former managing director at Accenture , to head its virtual assets and central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative. Dubai announced in July its plans to be one of the top 10 cities globally in the metaverse economy, creating 40,000 virtual jobs and adding $4 billion to the city’s economy in five years. It will be interesting to see what else Saudi Arabia has in store for its Web3 strategy.
• Animoca Brands raises $110 million in funding round - Game software and venture capital company Animoca Brands has raised $110 million from Temasek , Boyu Capital and Notable Capital . Animoca Brands is cementing itself as one of the world's leading groups in blockchain, as a company that has invested in numerous Web3 startups and also created its own games, they plan to make use of the new funding to continue to grow their open metaverse, fund strategic acquisitions and secure licences for other popular intellectual properties. Animoca Brands is currently worth over $5.5 billion and is on course to continue to grow.
• LG launches proprietary NFT marketplace for its smart TVs - Consumer electronics company, LG Electronics , has launched its own NFT marketplace called “LG Art Labs,” making it the second South Korean TV manufacturing giant to do so this year. It has served on the Hedera Governing Council since 2020 and aims to bring NFTs to television screens through its platform built on the Hedera network. The NFT platform will be available to all US LG television owners who are running webOS 5.0 and will be accessible from the LG home screen. Users will be able to buy and sell digital collectibles directly from LG Art Labs.
• EU unveils project to tackle counterfeiting via NFTs by 2023 - As part of its efforts to combat the counterfeiting of real-world goods, the European Union (EU) has revealed that it is developing a strategy that would use blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) hopes to establish a functioning system by the end of 2023. However, in order to achieve this goal, the EUIPO will need to create a registry system that will bring together all of the EU’s intellectual property holders, logistical operations, and retailers. 
• BNB Chain announces zero-knowledge proof scaling technology - Binance ’s Layer 1 BNB chain has announced its own zero-knowledge (ZK) proof scaling technology, which it coined zkBNB. Zero-knowledge proofs are one of the viable long-term solutions for decentralised blockchain scalability. It is an emerging scaling and privacy technology that utilises mathematical proofs to enable the verification of specific information without the need to reveal the details. BNB Chain is one of the most widely adopted Layer 1 blockchains, hosting more than $5.4 billion in total value locked and sits at the number 3 spot across all chains.
• Ripple hints at new CBDC announcements - Ripple ’s (XRP) advisor on central bank digital currency (CBDC), Antony Welfare , revealed that the company has “several pilots” in the works related to CBDCs which will be made public very soon. The company has become increasingly active in the development of central bank digital currencies since piloting a private version of the XRP Ledger in March 2021, providing a platform for central banks to securely issue CBDCs. Ripple also joined the European think tank Digital Euro Association as a supporting partner in February to jointly drive the development and growth of CBDCs and the Digital Euro.
• Renault South Korea moves into the metaverse with The Sandbox - Renault Group South Korea has teamed up with The Sandbox to bring virtual automobile experiences into the metaverse. The French automaker is taking advantage of the rapid adoption of Web3 technology with virtual reality, NFTs, and gaming products. Car racing games are already popular in the metaverse with The Sandbox among the leading platforms for auto racing games. The two companies have agreed to offer users of The Sandbox metaverse to experience Renault’s vehicles in the virtual space. The automaker also plans to launch various marketing campaigns with other brands on The Sandbox platform. By having a presence in the metaverse, Renault South Korea hopes to build a long-term relationship with younger users as they are the base of potential clients.   

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a great rest of the week. Until next time - don't forget to share this Wrap-Up! ✨

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