2024 Web3 Recap

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Hi, it's Lorenz. Welcome to the first newsletter edition of this year.

Today we will go back in time and talk about 2024's highlights. We'll discuss the major topics of the past year, some highlight activations, campaigns etc.

Finally, we will also dive into the predictions I made at the beginning of 2024 and rate them on a scale of 1 to 10.

Happy new year ??

The Agenda:

? Rewinding 2024

?? Reviewing my predictions

?? Concluding thoughts

? Rewinding 2024

Overall 2024 was quite a positive year for the broader Web3 and especially crypto market.

Sponsorship is back

We've seen a lot of price action on the crypto side of things, meme coin craziness and with that a lot of sponsorship deals by companies that have benefited from that.

• Kraken has partnered with Williams Racing, RB Leipzig, Tottenham Football Club, and Atletico De Madrid
• Bitpanda has doubled down on sports sponsorships with FC Bayern, AC Milan and the NFL being the sponsors with the highest profile
• Coinbase has added some rights holders to its portfolio and has done some onchain activations with them: Canadian Football League, Melbourne Marathon, LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Borussia Dortmund (extended)...
• Crypto.com is now the official sponsor of UEFA Champions League
• Meme (or culture) coins such as $APU (Udinese Calcio, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship), $BONK (BVB, Paris Musketeers), ApeCoin (BWT Alpine F1 Team), $MANEKI (Sheffield United), $FLOKI (Nottingham Forest, Sunderland AFC) and many more
• Polkadot, a protocol that connects blockchains, has partnered with a NASCAR driver and Inter Miami

There would be many more examples out there. While the deals may not have been as spectacular as they were in 2021 - mostly thanks to FTX - the sheer number of deals and clubs involved is impressive.

Loyalty and free-to-mint

Developments in loyalty and free-to-mint products were somewhat mixed. We have seen major brands such as Hugo Boss (integrated Web3 in their main loyalty program) and sports rights holders like ATP (Momentum program during the finals) finally tap into this area. A decent number of activations with free collectibles have been launched by a bunch of brands and clubs (often in partnership with their sponsors). Brands like Starbucks and Nike, on the other hand, have ended their programs and have ditched Web3.

Some more notable examples:

• OneFootball's onchain loyalty program OneFootball Club
• Cleveland Cavaliers have launched a loyalty program that integrates blockchain

• Olympics mascot claim (licensed deal)
• Manchester City x OKX (Un
• McLaren x OKX: Race Rewind
• MLS launched MLS Quest
• Mastercard's sponsorship activations with the Champions League and Arnold Palmer Invitational

It's safe to say that the hype and expectations were way higher than this year was able to deliver. For sure, we've seen some interesting stuff. However, there were too few really large scale projects that most importantly had any form of continuation or impact besides the claim itself.

I remain convinced that free digital collectibles, memorabilia, or credentials integrated into long-term programs can create significant value, particularly for sports rights holders and brands with passionate customer bases.

Web3 Gaming

The general Web3 gaming market has had some great moments this year (wether they lasted or not). Web3 gaming in sports has also produced some compelling case studies. A standout example is NFL Rivals, which reached 6 million downloads this year and successfully delivered an on-chain experience that users find engaging without being aware of the blockchain part.

The maker of NFL Rivals, Mythical Games, has also partnered with FIFA to develop a similar title. Beyond those two we've seen more examples of Web3 gaming in sports:

• Philadelphia 76ers and Crypto.com launched some onchain mini-games
• PGA Tour has announced a Web3 game in collab with Stratton Studios and Chain Games Ireland
• French Professional Football (LPF) has launched a fantasy game "Coach Ligue 1"
• Manchester United has also created a fantasy game with partner Tezos this season

It seems like Web3 Gaming could be one major viable way for onchain stuff to find its way into sports. Personally, I also see interesting potential in combining the gaming part with loyalty/free-to-mint to provide interesting value and build a more compelling and interconnected digital ecosystem.

RWAs

There is one use case of blockchain out there that has been declared as the first one to achieve product-market-fit. At least it's a part of the broader category. We're talking about stablecoins and more broadly the real-world-asset category.

The argument for stablecoins is undeniably compelling. They represent "real money", in most cases the US dollar, are therefore trusted by many users and business and can be used for payments. But instead of using a complex system that involves many intermediaries to transfer the money, stablecoins can be sent onchain and payments are settled within seconds at a fraction of costs.

Blockchain, in that case, is just a more modern and more efficient infrastructure.

That is not only true for cash but also other RWAs such as money-market-funds - we've seen some of them get onchain this year - bonds and other traditional asset classes.

In sports there has also been a project that has been kicked off this year. Watford FC has sold 10% of the club as digital equity in the form of onchain tokens.

Beyond all those assets, there has also been a lot of activity in creating digital twins of physical stuff like jerseys and alternative asset classes such as trading cards.

Although many projects in this category existed prior to 2024, this year saw the launch of numerous new initiatives, significantly increasing their density.

?? Reviewing my predictions

1) Loyalty will remain highly relevant and continue to drive brand adoption

5.5 out of 10

The two most relevant brands in this category have shut their programs and platforms. However we've seen a major brand leverage Web3 for their main loyalty program which is quite exciting. We've also seen the arrival and expansion of Web3 loyalty (or something similar) in the world of sports.

However, it wasn't as relevant as I have expected it to be. And some more detailed "predictions" were definitely wrong.

2) Cross-pollination and collaborations will start to be relevant

0 out of 10

It may be the case that I have missed the news here, but I haven't recognized anything relevant regarding this prediction. It may take some time and a more advanced stage of "data infrastructure" until we see something meaningful in this category.

3) Gaming continues to pick up momentum

9 out of 10

We have already talked about Web3 gaming above. Yes, gaming continued to pick up momentum and seems to do so in the future too. The growth of daily unique active wallets this year has been quite impressive. But we should still consider this a rather early phase.

4) Phygital & RWAs (Real World Assets)

10 out of 10

When the biggest financial institutions start to put traditional assets onto the blockchain and experiment with this infrastructure, it just isn't possible to rate this any lower. Yes, there is a lot of remaining potential but 2024 was probably the most interesting year so far when we look at RWAs.

5) Infrastructure will go where infrastructure has to go to

8.5 out of 10

Crypto has been quite complicated to use for a long time. It was difficult to build apps that consumers could easily interact with. Those times are over - at least they can be.

First of all, there are many low-cost blockchains out there that enable cheap and fast transactions.

Wallets have been simplified in many ways. Developers can easily offer users a range of familiar login options, can abstract away most issues with transactions and can simply offer owned "accounts" that just work.

The ability of developers and creators to do something doesn’t necessarily guarantee that they will act on it. I'd argue that many applications have been designed in a way that the "average user" can interact with it without problems. I'd also argue that there have been to many apps, drops or programs that weren't designed in that way.

Overall, developers and creators now have the ability to build user-friendly applications without requiring significant resources. The process is likely as straightforward and cost-effective as creating a "typical," less user-friendly crypto or Web3 applications.

?? Concluding thoughts

Overall, 2024 has been a remarkably positive year. Cryptocurrencies have reached new all-time highs, institutions have embraced the space, blockchain technology has been integrated into core offerings, and it's now possible to build apps that are as user-friendly as those without blockchain.

However, the excitement surrounding Web3 doesn’t feel as vibrant as it did two or three years ago. Several major companies, once seen as leaders in developing engaging Web3 products, have discontinued their initiatives.

That said, the market has matured significantly, with blockchain use cases beyond crypto achieving product-market fit.

Will 2025 add even more to the list? I’m optimistic it will! (And I hope we will find one in sports)