Beyond Plastic Cards

Hey, it’s Marc . ??

This week is all about Web3 sports fandom, spearheaded by Visa and Mastercard. Plus: High-profile NFT debuts and why crypto X AI is getting hotter. My week? Owned by Farcaster and Apple’s Vision Pro. ??

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?? Top 6 Reads

• Read Write Own Manifest. By a16z. Link ?
• Branding in the Age of Social Media. By Douglas Holt. Link
• The Future of Sports Fandom Report. By Myosin, Spartan Labs, Sporting Crypto. Link
• Headless Marketplaces: Go Where the Wallets Are. By Jesse Walden. Link

See all top reads...

? Web3 + NFTs

Beyond plastic cards??

As if the launch of Visa’s Web3 loyalty solution wasn’t enough (deep dive ), the two industry behemoths are doubling-down:

• Visa enabled crypto withdrawals on debit cards, allowing wallet users to sell crypto directly to a Visa card without using centralized exchanges. Link
• Visa’s is also extending their FIFA worldwide partnership for “connected fan experiences”. Did I hear NFTs? Link
• Mastercard, meanwhile, partnered with Champions League on a gamified, NFT-powered soccer trivia game powered by MoonPay . Link

Connected fandom: With digital assets fan experiences can become more interactive, connected, and community-driven — and extend beyond the start and end of a live event.

Recently, the Vegas Golden Knights partnered up with Theta Labs for an NFT loyalty experience.

By the numbers:

• 64% of global sports fans say they would like to engage with their favorite teams in the metaverse.
• An estimated 61% of Gen Z sports fans engage with sports through video games and virtual spaces.
• Over 70% of Gen Z fans would be interested in digital assets if the right benefits were offered.
• 75% of sport leaders say they don’t have a Web3 strategy.

Punchline: The future of sports fandom lies at the intersection of video games, virtual spaces, and social media, all with a focus on helping fans get closer to the game — with Web3 under the hood.

More on Web3:

• Disney buys $1.5B stake in Fortnight maker Epic Games. Link
• Japan Airlines launches an NFT collection. Link
• Mercedes-Benz NXT introduces its next collection, Superdackel. Link
• GoDaddy users can now link ENS and domain names. Link
• Animoca Brands appoints new COO to drive web3 expansion. Link

?? Crypto & Macro

Crypto X AI ??

Competing for cash, converging in tech:

• In 2023, Web3 startup funding fell 73% in 2023 while Gen AI startups raised $50B, up 9% in the same time period.

Yes, but: The intersection of crypto x AI is heating up.

• The token for Bittensor , the network geared toward incentivizing the development of open-source artificial intelligence, has risen by more than 90% in two weeks.
• FetchAI , an AI lab building an open, permissionless, decentralized machine learning network, more than doubled in value since November.
• Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin , Jacobs , and Outlier Ventures weighed in.

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