We'll keep this brief, because you probably have some egg nog to get to and there are already so many year end lists to read that (Xzibit voice) your year end lists need year end lists. Here at Myosin HQ, we've already gathered around the (metaversal) fire and given out our Secret Santa NFT's so, in the spirit of the season, we're giving out props to other corners of the web3 industry in celebration of a formative phase in this crazy space.

Back next year. Kisses!

NC

Emerging tech that made us go, “Man, that’s cool!”

1. Consumer Crypto, by Blake Minho Kim.

One of my favorite parts about 2023 was starting to see other builders get excited about the concept of consumer crypto. Since we started Myosin in Feb '22, all I had heard about was web3 infrastructure, and everyone building the picks and shovels for the inevitable wave of adoption. But as someone who's been building in tech for a long time, this approach was always confusing because it seemed to assume that the users of said picks and shovels would just somehow materialize. And I think this year we've started to see that isn't the case, and that for consumers to use infra, we need to make it dead simple and easier for people to participate onchain.

Big shout out to our friends at Seed Club for continuing to push the meta, as well as Spartan Labs and the Javelin community, and ofc our own Product team here at Myosin.xyz. Together, we're working to make sure that web3 as infra helps elevate EVERYONES digital experiences in the end. Happy Holidays!

2. Memecoins, by Simon Yi.

The viral moments behind $BONK, $POINTS, $TURBO, $PEPE and other meme coins deserve a deeper look. While these tokens are a way for degens to earn a quick buck, the FOMO draws more people in to the ecosystem. $BONK is Solana's first meme coin and $POINTS is Farcaster's first community token. Solana Saga phones are now sold out and trading on eBay for $10,000/phone. $POINTS put a spotlight on the Farcaster community and the KOLs in the space. Give a dog a bone and he'll find his way home. Give a person some $BONK and he'll shill his friends to join in on the action.

We need more meme coins launching on the blockchains that are struggling to acquire new users. Normies want a clearer narrative of why these meme tokens exist in the first place. There's a way to acquire net new wallets OUTSIDE our industry if these meme coins are rooted in consumer insights. Make no mistake -- these are cultural stablecoins that tap into the zeitgeist online. There's a huge opportunity here to bring more people into web3.

3. Brands entering web3, by T-Pan.

2023 has been a rough year for web3, but that hasn't deterred trailblazing brands from entering, building, and executing on the blockchain. In fact, entering during this slower period allowed established brands like Nike (.SWOOSH) and Starbucks (Starbucks Odyssey) to acquire a larger share of attention, build dedicated communities, and run experiments with less of a spotlight.

Additionally, web3 native communities are becoming brands themselves. The most notable example of this is Pudgy Penguins, boasting 1.1 million Instagram followers, 250k Tiktok followers, and 130k X followers. The fact that there are significantly more followers outside of X (the primary social media platform for crypto and web3) indicates that Pudgy Penguins has broken the historically difficult barrier of reaching mainstream audiences. Pudgy Penguins is going physical as well, with toy distribution partnerships with retailers such as Walmart, Smyths, and Hot Topic, and projected sales of ~$10 million over 8 months.

This trend will likely accelerate going into 2024, as brands explore new ways to engage, acquire, and retain audiences that are becoming crypto-curious, looking for something fresh, and increasingly care about ownership.

4. The rise and adoption of Layer 2 blockchains, by Eliot Couvat.

In 2023, Layer 2 blockchains (think of them as fast lanes on a busy highway) gained momentum, reaching $13 billion in total value locked across their contracts in November, providing quicker transactions and expanding possibilities on Ethereum.

I believe this development mainly comes down to two factors. Firstly, Ethereum’s high gas fees during the bull market left an indelible impact on users, prompting them to seek alternatives. Secondly, Layer 2 networks emerged in the bear market thanks to effective marketing campaigns by development teams like Base with their “Onchain Summer” campaign, Optimism with “We ❤️ The Art,” and Zora with their “Mint First” feature, incentivizing collectors to mint a piece onchain and share the profits with the artist.

As these solutions gained traction in 2023, and with the Bitcoin Halving approaching, potentially initiating a new bull market, we can anticipate a 2024 blockchain ecosystem that is more inclusive, efficient, and capable of supporting a wide range of applications, from finance to Social.The future onchain seems bright!

5. The year that brands adopted generative art, by Abigail Carlson.

I’ve long been fascinated by generative art. A marriage of art and code that results in an unpredictable rendering, there is beauty not only in its end form but in the element of surprise which accompanies it.

While generative art has been around since the 60s (you heard that right, before cell phones and mainstream internet), its popularity has skyrocketed in recent years. This past year especially saw not just more collectors flock to generative art (cue this article about generative art being the next frontier for NFT bros, Lord help us all…), but also more big brands start experimenting in this space. Let’s take a look at three interesting generative artist X brand collaborations from 2023.

But wait, there’s more! Click the button below to get three more highlights 👇

Quick Bites

• What Would Happen if Google, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok Started Sharing Their Ad Revenue With Users?

• Solana Leapfrogs XRP as Fifth-Largest Crypto, Spurred by Meme Coin Mania

• Art of Confusion: Humans Prefer ‘Real’ Art to AI Art, But Struggle to Tell the Difference

• If You're in Crypto, You're a Criminal

• Imagine Getting Shares of Apple Each Time You Bought a New iPhone (This Is the Crypto Version of That)

That's it. That's all we got! Talk next week.
The Netcetera team 👋

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