GM Scoop familam - Spoons at the ready, today’s trio awaits… 🍦

SCOOPS OF THE WEEK 

⛓️ NFT’s

• Blur’s Blend Continues To Dominate The Market

• Reddit To Hit Significant NFT Milestone

👨‍💻 WEB3

• China Releases Web3 White-Paper

• A Big Week For Web3 Funding 

• Russia Set to Use Crypto For Cross-Border Transactions

🪙 CRYPTO

• A sleeping ETH whale emerges

• Prosecutors say Sam Bankman-Fried's arguments to dismiss cryptocurrency charges are meritless

• Bali warns tourists using crypto for payments

⛓️ NFT’s

Blend Continue To Dominate The Market

At a glance 🔎 

• From the 1st of May to the 22nd of May the NFT loan volumes totaled $375m

• Blend accounted for $308m of the total volume

• The closest rival X2Y2 accounted for $20.7m

🕵️ Scoops take:

With the recent introduction of Binance into the market we don’t envisage that Blend’s dominance will continue at the current rate.

For the success of the space, healthy competition is required so it’s an extremely exciting time for the loan market. Blur’s recent activity has shifted from trading to lending, with lending representing 46% of weekly operations.

With the continued use of loan facilities, NFTs are clearly here to stay, and many are enjoying the ability to enter markets they were once unable to invest.

Reddit To Hit Significant NFT Milestone

At a glance 🔎 

• The Reddit Avatars are on the verge of reaching 10 million holders.

• They have been in circulation for less than one year, launching in July 2022

• The surge has been continuous with an 80% rise since the start of 2023.

🕵️ Scoops take:

Reddit has set the benchmark for those with huge Web2 communities on how to successfully navigate to Web3.

The company are continuing to offer utility to users and is making it as simple as possible using as few crypto/Web3 phrases as possible.

The latest utility came as support for Ubisoft’s Rabbids NFT collection, a free drop. The avatars have been hugely popular and have resulted in widespread adoption.

🌐 WEB3

China Releases Web3 White-Paper

At a glance 🔎

• Beijing has released a white paper detailing its commitment to promoting Web3 innovation and development, indicating a significant policy shift in China towards embracing decentralized technologies.

• The document highlights plans for regulatory frameworks and support measures, emphasizing blockchain, digital identities, and decentralized finance (DeFi) while also addressing the environmental concerns associated with blockchain technologies.

• This move positions Beijing as one of the few global metropolises with a concrete plan for Web3, possibly setting the stage for a competitive landscape in global tech innovation and advancement.

🕵️ Scoops take:

Well, butter my toast, Beijing's just dived into the Web3 pool with a cannonball. Releasing a white paper for Web3 innovation and development, China's capital city has decided to trade its 'watch and wait' approach for some rather chic swimming trunks. Here's the scoop: this white paper is a substantial pivot toward fostering blockchain-based applications and services. But the juicy bit isn't the 'what' – it's the 'why.' Is it to play catch up in the global tech race, or to better monitor citizen data in the age of decentralization? Well, that's up for debate. What we can say is this – with Beijing furthering its pace in the Web3 race, we're bound to see some interesting shifts in the balance of technological power. Let's grab our popcorn because this plot is thickening by the second… 🍿🎬

A Big Week For Web3 Funding 

At a glance 🔎

• Web3 development platforms had a strong week, collectively raising over $151 million in funding, showcasing the accelerating pace of capital flow into this burgeoning sector.

• Openfort drew $3m to develop its suite of web3 games, Visa’s crypto team explore ERC-20 transactions & Sam Altman’s Worldcoin bags $115m.

• This inflow of capital signifies increasing confidence from investors in the future of Web3, highlighting the potential for innovation and disruption in various industries from finance to entertainment.

🕵️ Scoops take:

This whopping $151m injection into Web3 platforms is nothing short of a Marvel-esque superpower boost for the crypto-verse. The fact that privacy / indentity verification focussed Worldcoin snagged more than half the pot, illustrates just how crucial the need for a safer, securer internet is becoming - and investors are noticing.

Just like our aversion to clunky dial-up internet in the 90s, we're itching for the next upgrade: a web experience where security isn't an optional add-on, but baked right into the core.

Russia Set to Use Crypto For Cross-Border Transactions

At a glance 🔎

• Russia ditches plans for a National Crypto exchange

• Instrad plans to establish a framework for the operation and establishment of crypto exchanges in the country.

•  Exchanges will be utilized for cross-border settlements. According to a statement, these include bypassing sanctions while at the same time complying with the rules.

🕵️ Scoops take:

Here we go, comrades: Russia, known for its love-hate relationship with crypto, seems to be taking a bit of a softer stance with a new bill on the horizon. It's like watching a game of chess where the Queen (crypto exchanges, in this case) is finally being given some legitimate space to move.

If the bill comes into effect, it will do much more than just put a tick on 'legal' status for cryptocurrencies; it's set to be a whole playbook for exchanges, from handling operations to ensuring the validity of their customers. That’s not all - it's also a move towards a better tax strategy (no surprise there, it's Russia). While the land of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky still ain't down for crypto payments, this potential step toward embracing exchanges could be the plot twist we've been waiting for in the great Russian crypto novel.

Whether or not this is simply an elaborate plan to bypass current sanctions and hedge against potential future ones remains to be seen…. 👀

🪙 CRYPTO CRUNCH

😡 THE REKT SECTION 😡

Moonbirds

When your project is down, understandable in market conditions, highlighting other projects doing worse than you isn’t the way to go.

We have always been massive fans of Kevin Rose and everything he has done in the space but we feel he has had a bit of a nightmare here.

In a recent Twitter Spaces, Rose went on to say that even though Moonbirds is down a bigger % than Bored Apes, Bored Apes are down a higher % in terms of dollar value.

It seemed like a pretty cheap shot, and as far as the Moonbirds community goes, they won’t care how other projects are doing so the whole comment seemed a bit meaningless.

As we say though, we are huge fans of Kevin Rose’s work so we hope he rallies back up.

You can check out the clip below.

🏆 WEEKLY WINNER 🏆

One thing that this space will teach you is that it’s never too late to admit you are wrong.

Notorious Crypto hater Peter Schiff is set to drop an Ordinals collection.

The reason we make this a winner is that someone who has a large platform and has previously slated the space has now smelt the coffee and realised that there is huge potential in blockchain technology and is set to fully embrace it.

He is continuing to have let’s call reservations about Bitcoin but the fact he has turned to the Blockchain shows even the biggest enemies want a piece.

His project Golden Triumph is set to drop at the end of the week and you can check out all the details in the attached article.

Annd that's a wrap for today gang!

Love and sprinkles as always, catch you back here soon for the latest

~ Scoop~

*Disclaimer*

The Triple Scoop newsletter & podcast is not financial advice, it is provided for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only.