Meta and the metaverse + All the Web3 news you missed this week

It was reported that Meta lost $2.8 billion on its virtual reality ambitions during Q2, which includes its Reality Labs, its AR and VR arm. The company logged $28.8 billion in sales for the quarter, its first-ever quarterly decline in revenue. As with any new technology, there’s always going to be an investment period. However, capitalizing on tech trends are more like waves in the ocean that need to be caught and surfed. Forcing a trend on consumers is a bit like artificially creating an ocean wave - its possible, but would take a tremendous amount of energy to start and sustain. Only time will tell how it plays out for Meta.

Here’s the Web3 news from the past week

General

How will Web3 impact the future of work? (World Economic Forum)

While the lack of legal status for DAOs presents a major challenge in adoption among traditional businesses, the World Economic Forum has several suggestions for organizations looking to move toward a more decentralized model: create a community DAO for brand promotion and product ideation, use a DAO to pursue ESG goals, and investigate use cases for the metaverse in core processes.

When worlds collide: Joining Web3 and crypto from Web2 (Cointelegraph)

Web3 players share their experiences transitioning from Web2, including feelings of culture shock (“In Web3, traditional business etiquette often isn’t followed”), observations of a stronger work ethic due to Web3’s tokenomics, and wariness of the tax implications of being paid in tokens.

FTX CEO and Solana co-founder offer advice for building Web3 ecosystems (Cointelegraph)

At the Web3 Builder’s Summit, Sam Bankman-Fried shared his early misfires at FTX — including an original goal of 99% uptime (it should have been 100%) and the decision to make certain security features optional (they should have been mandatory) — as well as his advice for Web3 founders (only hire on teams that well-run and over-burdened). Meanwhile, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko stressed the importance of choosing early partners carefully and focusing on “good products that people want.”

Crypto

Why the Messy 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager Bankruptcies Will Drag on for Years (Unchained)

The Unchained podcast got into the weeds of the recent spate of crypto bankruptcies, breaking down the meaning of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, creditors’ challenges in getting their money back, the question of whether these founders will face jail time, and Celsius’s “weird” restructuring plan.

NFTs

GameStop 9/11 NFT Pulled After Selling Dozens Of Times (Kotaku)

A NFT that was a clear riff on “The Falling Man,” a famous photo of a man falling from the World Trade Center on September 11, was traded dozens of times on GameStop’s nascent NFT marketplace. Eventually the company removed it, but only after it appeared on the blog “Web3 Is Going Great.”

Bill Murray’s NFT Drop On Coinbase Provides A Blueprint For Future Celebrity Launches (Forbes)

Coinbase’s “floundering” NFT marketplace just got a boost, thanks to a new collection from Bill Murray that includes “unique stories containing anecdotes, observations, advice, memories, ‘Murray-isms’, and more” and gives NFT owners access to exclusive merch and live events with the beloved actor. The inaugural sale of 82 NFTs brought in roughly $180,000, with more than 60% of purchases coming from wallets that had no other NFTs.

DAOs

The “D” in DAO doesn’t stand for democracy, says Upstream CEO Alexander Taub (TechCrunch)

Alexander Taub, a previous Web3 Roundup interview subject, went on TechCrunch’s Chain Reaction podcast to discuss the rise of DAOs, use cases for the model, and the complications of DAO voting structures.

Metaverse

Zuckerberg says Meta and Apple are in ‘very deep, philosophical competition’ to build the metaverse (The Verge)

The Verge obtained a recording of Mark Zuckerberg’s comments at a Meta all-hands meeting this month and transcribed his lengthy answer to an employee question about how the company is affected by Apple’s forays into the metaverse and AR. Per Zuck: “This is a competition of philosophies and ideas, where they believe that by doing everything themselves and tightly integrating that they build a better consumer experience. And we believe that there is a lot to be done in specialization across different companies, and [that] will allow a much larger ecosystem to exist.”

Karlie Kloss Is Entering the Metaverse (Vogue)

Supermodel Karlie Kloss — who has long aligned herself with the tech industry, having founded a coding camp for teens called Kode with Klossy — partnered with Roblox to launch five pop-up shops offering virtual fashion items. The stores, which distributed a mix of free and paid items, were open for business from July 12 to 25.

Gaming

Reporting on Play-to-Earn Gaming (Vice)

Vice went behind-the-scenes on its own reporting on Axie Infinity and play-to-earn gaming, talking to journalists about what it was like telling this story. “It keys into all these larger conversations about what the metaverse is, what cryptocurrency and the crypto marketplace looks like and what it does, especially for people who are economically vulnerable, and maybe even what the future of work looks like,” said Vice News host Krishna Andavolu.

Off topic stories I found interesting

Eerie deepfake tech turns random guy into Angelina Jolie (The_Byte)

Deepfake technology keeps getting “better,” as evidenced by a new project out of the Samsung AI Center in Moscow. Behold these ordinary people transforming into realistic, moving avatars of Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and the Mona Lisa.

In case you missed it - this was the most opened article from last week’s news roundup

Crypto is crumbling, and DeFi hacks are getting worse (Protocol)

A recent report from PeckShield found that DeFi hackers made off with $1.57 billion in the first four months of 2022, compared to $1.55 billion in all of 2021. “The biggest hacks of 2022 were carried out by attackers spotting vulnerabilities in smart contracts and protocols, especially in cross-chain bridges and flash loan protocols,” writes Protocol’s Lindsey Choo.

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About Me

Hi, I’m Andrew Chang - I created the Web3 Roundup to share what I’m learning in this space. I’ve spent my career at the forefront of the technology industry in areas such as crypto/blockchain (Former COO @ Paxos, co-founding partner of Liberty City Ventures), video and adtech. I learn by meeting with founders, investors and other thought leaders and approach Web3 with the same enthusiasm – and skepticism – I had about crypto/blockchain technologies 10 years ago. 

You can connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter (@DigitalDrex)