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We went to NFT Paris last week. We were impressed by the queue at the entrance, almost 2 hours of waiting. This clearly shows the popularity of Web3. Inside we met many artists promoting their collections, Web3 agencies, Web3 companies but also consulting firms and investment funds. What is most surprising is that very few use cases are handled with NFTs. The hype and speculation are still far too present, which shows us that the ecosystem is still young. Too often, still today, NFT is considered only as a means of speculation. But NFTs does not necessarily mean “pixel”. This is where our ecosystem still has a lot of margin of evolution. Digital Art or play objects remain in the majority. In order for adoption to be greater, technology must find more use cases, especially ones that may have real impact on our daily lives and provide value: represent diplomas, certificates, real estate assets, intellectual properties, match tickets, authenticity of luxury objects, digital identity, advertising spaces, traceability of charities, food, medical records, renewable energy credits... And I obviously do not speak of finance and securities where the only blocking point is regulation. What was the first thing you did on the internet? Not the most useful in the world. We are just at the beginning.
Coinbase wants to catch on-chain market
Coinbase has announced its entry into the layer 2 market on the Ethereum blockchain with "Base" , which is a sector of parallel networks that aim to offer lower fees and less congestion than the traditional medium. The platform's goal is to bring more than a billion users into the global crypto-economy through a network that is expected to become decentralized over time. This move also aims to establish Coinbase as part of a Web3 dynamic, allowing it to move away from the application infrastructure used by other Web2 companies. The open-source code presented under MIT license is the first step in achieving this goal. In summary, Coinbase's Layer 2 launch aims to facilitate the mass adoption of decentralized digital assets by providing a secure and accessible base for the general public. This tool can serve as an effective on-ramp towards the world of blockchain, particularly in DeFi, while keeping costs low. Using DeFi for institutions include increased transparency, security, and accessibility, as well as lower costs and faster transaction times. Additionally, DeFi allows for the automation of financial services and eliminates the need for intermediaries, making it a more efficient system. As the DeFi space continues to grow and innovate, it presents exciting opportunities for institutions to leverage these benefits and stay at the forefront of the industry.
Japan in Metaverse
Several major Japanese tech companies, including Mitsubishi and Fujitsu, are collaborating to build the "Ryugukoku," or "Japanese Metaverse Economic Zone," with the goal of powering Japan's next-generation games. The companies will use their respective technologies and areas of expertise to design the social infrastructure for the metaverse, focusing on interoperability, gamification, fintech, and information communications technology. Users will engage in the metaverse through role-playing game characters, with security being a significant focus. The project will initially begin within Japan but eventually move outside of the country. The move to create an interoperable metaverse comes after the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan published a proposal on Web3 policy.
The worst week of the year
Bitcoin's price broke above $25,000 last week, but not for a long time, following regulatory pressure from the US, which claimed that everything other than Bitcoin is potentially a security instrument and falls under the Securities and Exchange Commission's jurisdiction. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also stressed the importance of implementing a strong regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. However, since these declarations, it’s more calm, indicating that the impact of the regulatory newsflow has been limited. The global stock market reacted positively yesterday after the US Commerce Department reported durable goods orders down 4.5% in January versus the previous month. However, the consumer price figure, PCE Core, caused an earthquake last week, recording the worst week of the year at Wall-Street. The probability of an increase of 50 basis points of the Fed guidelines in March has increased sharply. Bitcoin still has a strong correlation with risky assets including the Nasdaq.
Sources: Blockworks, Cointelegraph
