Big companies, small experiments
Web2 giants playing catch-up on cryptocurrency
If you are reading this newsletter, it’s probably because you don’t want to get left behind on the whole cryptocurrency thing. You’re not alone! In fact, some names you might know are also playing catch up, Brady writes.
Names like Twitter, Google and eBay.
- Why it matters:These companies have huge networks and if one of them finds a way for crypto to complement their business, they could switch on millions of new users with the stroke of a digital pen.
What they’re saying: “The market size is too big to ignore now,” Electric Capital managing partner Avichal Garg, an alum of both Facebook and Google, tells Axios. “Everyone under 30 is doing this, so, to stay relevant, they have to.”
Details: Here’s how the internet oligarchs — referred to now as Web2 — have been tiptoeing into the kiddie pool of crypto (with waders on — floaties, too).
- Twittermade a special emoji for #bitcoin forever ago. Recently, it’s offered a tipping function in bitcoin. Plus, users who want to show off a favorite NFT can verify they own it.
- Ebaymakes NFTs available to buy on the site (but don’t look for any of these to be the next Bored Apes).
- PayPalmight launch its own stablecoin, a cryptocurrency designed to track the price of regular money (probably the dollar).
- Reddit,the so-called front page of the internet, had been the top spot for crypto conversation until Twitter usurped it. Nevertheless, these days, it is slowly experimenting with tokenizing community points.
Yes, but: It’s not all been sparkles and light on the old-fashioned web.
- Telegram,the messaging app with more people on it than live in the United States, tried to launch a cryptocurrency long before Facebook, but it got shot down by securities regulators.
- Microsofthas been nosing around in crypto since forever. In 2015, it launched a blockchain-as-a-service product. In 2021, it quietly backed away. (Google seems to be stepping into the space that Microsoft vacated.)
- Discord,the forum for gamers, vaguely hinted at some crypto integration and got scared off almost immediately.
The most epic crypto flameout in Web2 award — without a question — goes to the company now known as Meta, which announced Libra, changed it to Diem, and then finally sold it for parts in February.
The bottom line: Old companies always have a tough time with the new thing, but it’s nice to see them try.
-Charted: Billions to borrow in DeFi
Billions of dollars are available to borrow on the blockchain, right now, Brady writes.
Details: Aave, Compound and Anchor are all money markets. Users deposit one asset, and it serves as collateral to borrow another.
- There’s no loan officers or credit checks. There’s no names at all in this kind of lending, in part because every loan is way over-collateralized (the value of what you deposit in one asset is larger than that of what you borrow).
Why it matters: Crypto wants to reinvent every corner of finance. Proving demand for even crude financial products is a start.
What’s happening: Users usually do this because they want to do some kind of crypto trading.
- For example: Maybe they hold ether and don’t want to sell, but think some new token will pop in value. So they borrow a little, buy the token, pay off the loan when it goes up and pocket the profit.
Be smart: It’s lending for sure, but crypto loans are no way to finance a house or car just yet.
-Blockchain.com joins sports partnership race
Blockchain.com, a 10-year-old crypto company that began as a digital bitcoin wallet, is the latest in the industry to double down on sports marketing with the hiring of Marissa Brooks to head its global sports and entertainment partnerships, Axios’ Kia Kokalitcheva writes.
Why it matters: Crypto companies have increasingly looked to sports audiences as a way to acquire new users — and spread the gospel of digital assets.
The big picture: Crypto companies like FTX, Coinbase, and Crypto.com (among many others) have been inking all manners of marketing deals to get their brands in front of sports fans.
- Those have included sports stadium naming rights, team and league sponsorships, and getting star athletes as ambassadors and investors.
- And this year’s NFL Super Bowl in February featured adsby four crypto companies, which used everything from comedian Larry David to floating QR codes to pique viewers’ curiosity.
What they’re saying: “I think it’s been interesting to see the land grabs,” Brooks, who spent 10 years at the NBA’s Miami Heat before a recent detour to luxury goods, tells Axios of watching other companies ink headline-making deals.
Between the lines: Educating consumers about crypto —in addition to touting specific brands — remains a big part of what the companies still have to tackle, Brooks admits.
- While a bigger proportion of young adults in the U.S. are familiar with crypto, it’s still not the majority.
What’s next: Like its peers, Blockchain.com plans on expanding its marketing efforts beyond sports into additional verticals, says chief business officer Lane Kasselman.
Plus
Fairchain uses Ethereum to keep track of art from the studio to the gallery to the mantle. (Axios)
Apple booted an NFT app, Sticky, for selling NFTs that weren’t crypto enough. (Techcrunch)
Strike — which builds on the Lightning Network, which we wrote about Wednesday — announced a partnership with Shopify to make spending bitcoin easier. (The Block)
– Culture hash: First tweet resale
The owner of an NFT memorializing Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet is asking 14,969 ether ($48 million) to sell it to a new owner, Brady writes.
Why it matters: If anyone bites, he’ll give half the proceeds to GiveDirectly, a charity that does direct cash transfers in the developing world.
Flashback: Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sold his first tweet as an NFT for $2.9 million worth of crypto a year ago. Now it’s for sale again.
The intrigue: Dorsey gave GiveDirectly all the money (in bitcoin — he loves bitcoin). He thinks the new owner should do the same.
