Meta’s latest results show why it needs Metaverse ??; Coinbase NFT Marketplace Beta launch with ridiculous numbers ??; Crypto Super Bowl Ads failed???

?? Hey,?Linas here!?Welcome to a ???weekly free edition??? of my daily newsletter. Each day I focus on 3 stories that are making a difference in the financial technology space. Coupled with things worth watching & most important money movements, it’s the only newsletter you need for all things when Finance meets Tech.

If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you missed this week:

1. FinTech Bank of the Future from Plaid’s co-founder ??
2. 2 Bitcoin graphs you need to know today (and what they mean) ??
3. Why does everyone want to work in crypto? ??

and more! Don't miss out and join the community just here????

Last week (25-30 April) was another super exciting week in the world of Blockchain & Cryptocurrency.?We will look at Meta’s latest results that show why it needs Metaverse; Coinbase NFT Marketplace Beta launch that showed some ridiculous numbers; try to understand whether crypto Super Bowl Ads failed, and other interesting news and developments.

Without further ado, let us dive into what happened in the Blockchain & Crypto sector last week. Let’s connect the dots.

Meta’s latest results show why it needs Metaverse ??

The news ???Meta?posted?its slowest quarterly revenue growth since going public as Facebook in 2012. In the?previous?quarter, Meta?reported?a $1B profit hit and its first-ever dip in daily users. Although in the latest financials, users actually ticked up, financials weren’t great.

More on this ???The latest results show that sales growth majorly slowed to 7%, from 20% in the previous quarter. Profit fell for the second quarter in a row, down to $7.5B, from $9.5B a year earlier. One can add that Meta has spent as much as $10B on its meta-ambitions. Despite all of this, Meta stock popped 16% after it reported the results, as investors were surprised by better-than-expected profit.

What’s next? ???You want to hear a crazy story? It’s this - Meta stock had lost nearly half its value this year alone. And this is exactly why it really needs the Metaverse. Here’s the takeaway:

?? THE TAKEAWAY

Diversification matters. Again.?Let’s zoom out a bit and stress that Meta isn't the only Big Tech firm that has been struggling with its growth as of late. Netflix tanked?recently on the news that it lost 200K subscribers, Google?reported?slowing sales growth and profits while?Snap posted?disappointing earnings too. This brings us to the key point here, which is this - revenue diversification matters and often is crucial. The economic situation is too fragile right now to rely on a single revenue stream. A brilliant example here could be Microsoft which crushed earnings thanks to?strong demand?not only for its software but also for its cloud and cybersecurity services. How is Metaverse related here??Well, it could come to the rescue…???♂? Meta just announced it is testing means for creators to sell virtual goods and experiences within its?Horizon Worlds?metaverse platform, as well as a creator bonus program. The moves are a notable step toward forming the building blocks for Meta’s metaverse concept, where creators can get paid for their assets, and Meta takes a (meaningful) cut in the process. Meta sees its nascent metaverse delivering greater revenues as time passes, and given all the hype and growth of the space, this could be a winning key ?? for a more diversified future. The open question here is how many metaverses there will be and whether Meta will be big enough to matter.

Coinbase NFT Marketplace Beta launch shows ridiculous numbers ??

New data ???As I’ve written here, crypto exchange Coinbase has finally launched the beta version of its long-awaited non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace last week. It seems that some initial activity data has become available.

More on this ???According to data from crypto analytics site?Dune, Coinbase’s marketplace had less than 900 total transactions since its launch on April 20.

Total trade volume on the marketplace in that time has been 73 ETH (roughly $217,000), with around 650 users so far transacting on the platform.

For the perspective, established NFT marketplace OpenSea did over $808M in Ethereum-based trade volume during that same period, amongst over 36,000 users.

?? THE TAKEAWAY

Relax, it’s early.?The low usage stats are definitely driven by the fact that Coinbase has only granted a small portion of its 3M person waitlist access to the platform. To add to that, Coinbase has earlier noted that its social-focused marketplace is still in its early stages of development, with plans to drive more users to the platform with exclusive partnerships to be announced in the coming months. So, everyone who’s bashing them for this: take a chill pill, it's still in beta. Let's give them at least a couple of months and then judge the performance.

Crypto Super Bowl Ads failed? ??

The money splash???This year’s Super Bowl was special as it draw a lot of crypto companies to open up their deep pockets and splash money on commercials so they could attract new users, or even loyal fans.

While I still believe that?Coinbase has won the Super Bowl and its ad is the best marketing campaign in FinTech ever, on aggregate, the results don’t seem to be impressive.

More on that ???According to Financial Times, myriad crypto ads, have not produced the results that were needed. Genesis Trading and other exchanges did not see a massive influx of retail investors into crypto after the Super Bowl ads.

Moreover, we must note that the measures show a drop in trading activity as of late, with The Block Legitimate Index showing spot crypto volumes remaining below $1 trillion every month this year. That’s a disappointment after the numbers were above that nine out of 12 months in 2021.

So what does that mean? ??

?? THE TAKEAWAY

Nothing to worry about.?First and foremost, we have to understand that the overall sentiment in the markets isn’t very positive. Crypto markets aren’t immune to that too. Hence, trading in crypto markets has been sluggish due to numerous factors that have dampened investors’ spirits - the key ones to mention are the Ukraine war and rising interest rates. To put it simply, volumes are currently low because of a huge amount of uncertainty in the world. On the other hand, Bitcoin continues to be somewhat stable, and Ethereum slowly transitions to ETH 2.0 while in parallel a lot is happening in Layer 2, NFTs, and Metaverse worlds. So from where I’m sitting, it’s nothing to worry about.?BTW, Coinbase is going to have a Q1 earnings call on 10 May, so we might have more data on the Super Bowl and its effect. Stay tuned!

Extra Reads & Quick Bites for Curious Minds??

• Stealing yachts ???The official Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) Instagram account and Discord server?were hacked on Monday after an unofficial “mint” link was sent out to followers.?At the time of writing, an estimated 24 Bored Apes and 30 Mutant Apes NFTs were compromised when their owners clicked the phishing link, with some of the NFTs being transferred to new wallets by the hackers.?Again… ??
• Luring Gen Z with NFTs ???When?Hyundai?wanted to highlight its mobility solutions to millennials and members of Generation Z — collectively dubbed “MZ Generation” — it did so by entering the community-based non-fungible token (NFT) market.?The automaker opened Hyundai NFT channels on Discord and Twitter on April 15 and plans to open its official NFT website in May. Hyundai Motor also released a short film introducing its NFT universe together with 30 limited-edition NFTs.?Will other automakers follow suit? ??

Money Moves??

• Decentralized FX platform?Vertex Protocol?raised?$8.5M in a seed funding round. Vertex plans to use the funding to build out the team, scale the protocol, and develop a robust backend ahead of its launch in summer 2022.?
• 0x Labs, which provides a decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol and non-fungible token (NFT) standards and infrastructure,?raised?$70M at an undisclosed valuation in a Series B round led by Greylock Partners.?
• Bitcoin miner?CleanSpark (CLSK)?has raised $35M?in a round backed by venture debt financing provider Trinity Capital (TRIN).

Continue reading by subscribing to?Linas's Newsletter.?You will receive fresh news about FinTech, Blockchain & Crypto with hot takeaways every day.

P.S.?You might enjoy my earlier pieces as well:

?? Bitcoin in 2021: a story in 5 graphs, and what might come in 2022

???A Wise pitch deck that led to London’s biggest and most successful direct listing ever

***

About: I am?a business developer, sales professional, FinTech strategist, as well as Cryptocurrency and Blockchain enthusiast. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, and strongly believe that it will change the world for the better. Apart from my daily job at a global payments startup where I'm leading the company's expansion into Europe, I'm an active member of the FinTech community and a TechFin evangelist.

If you've enjoyed this piece, don't hesitate to press like, comment on what you think, and share the article with others. Let's spread the knowledge together!

For more, hit the?subscribe?button, and follow me on?LinkedIn?&?Twitter. I'm building the best community the social world has ever seen!????