Hey, it’s Marc ✌️

First, our must read this week: State of Crypto Report 2024 from a16z. Three take-aways: 1) Stablecoins have hit product-market-fit 2) infrastructure is now truly scalable 3) and crypto activity is at all-time highs. On NFTs, they note:

“NFT activity appears to have shifted from high-volume secondary markets to low-cost social collecting experiences.”

Then: 51 Insights is evolving. Moving forward, you’ll receive our free weekly field notes every Friday—packed with insightful, opinionated highlights on Web3 for consumer brands and enterprises, including:

On top of that, our research team is working on new, deeper, more actionable formats, tools and frameworks for Web3 business leaders leaders. Stay tuned!

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📚 What we’re reading (and writing)

State of Crypto Report 2024. a16z. Link
Possible futures of the Ethereum protocol, part 1: The Merge. Vitalik. Link
OpenAI Is About To Make The AI Bubble A You Problem [PAID]. Will Lockett. Link
AI Chatbots Spill the Beans on Company Trade Secrets. Pymnts. Link
How AI Will Revolutionize Fashion Retail And Virtual Try-On. Forbes. Link

3D Ads Are Hitting 300M Roblox Users

WPP, the global advertising and communication company, has announced a global partnership with Roblox.

The goal? To scale expertise in immersive media for brands and agencies.

Why it matters: Roblox is combining gaming and advertising to deepen brand engagement. The WPP partnership supports this strategy by scaling in-game ads that enhance brand visibility without disrupting the user experience.

WPP Partners With Roblox To Leverage Gaming Sector - B&T

What you should know: WPP and its media investment company GroupM are joining Roblox’s Partner Program to build a long-term advisory relationship, setting new standards for 3D media and experiences.

Roblox Certification Program: First-of-its-kind training for marketers to master Roblox’s platform, with WPP teams being the first to get certified.
Joint Advisory Council: Partnership includes setting measurement standards for 3D in-game ads and shaping the future of brand engagement on Roblox.
Roblox Sprint Days: WPP and Roblox will host rapid-activation sprint days for clients, bringing together developers, creators, and strategists.

Stepping back: In May 2024, Roblox launched video ads for all advertisers, allowing brands to easily reach their Gen Z user base without custom 3D content.

🍏Today’s Top PRO Bite:

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The Stablecoin Race🏎

Ripple has entered the stablecoin race with RLUSD, looking to disrupt a market in which the top two incumbents account for nearly 90% of the value.

Why it matters: Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin launch directly addresses regulatory challenges linked to XRP.

Zooming in: RLUSD is fully collateralized by US dollar deposits, US government bonds, and high-grade commercial paper. Its key features are:

Ripple USD (RLUSD) is a USD-denominated stablecoin for enterprises.
Regulatory Compliance: It is issued under a New York Trust Company Charter.
Enterprise-Grade: Made for payments, tokenization of real-world assets, and decentralized finance.
Blockchain: It is launched on XRP Ledger and Ethereum.
Exchanges & Platforms: It is now available through Uphold, Bitstamp, Bitso, MoonPay, Independent Reserve, CoinMENA, and Bullish.
Transparency: Ripple will provide monthly third-party audited attestations of RLUSD reserves.

Use Cases of RLUSD: Cross-border payments, on/off-ramps for crypto exchanges, and tokenization of real-world assets.

Meanwhile: Paxos has launched a stablecoin payments platform that facilitates instant conversion between PYUSD, USDP, USDC, and USD, powering Stripe’s Pay with crypto products for merchants.

The big picture: Stablecoin is gaining traction for cross-border payments and faster and cheaper transactions. Recently, Robinhood, Revolut, Anzens, SG Forge, PayPal, and BlackRock have entered the stablecoin race, tapping into the $170B stablecoin market.

🚨 Highlights You Can’t Miss

Venmo and MoonPay bring crypto to 60M users with new integration. Link
Karate Combat introduces UP, its Layer 2 blockchain platform on Hedera. Link
Stripe has reintroduced crypto payments in the US, allowing customers to pay merchants in USDC or USDP on Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon. Link
Monochrome Asset Management launches Australia’s first spot Ethereum ETF, IETH, on the Cboe Australia. Link
Lacoste is launching its first Bitmoji fashion store on Snapchat. Link
OpenAI is projected to reach profitability by 2029, with revenue hitting $100B. Link

🏦Regulatory Snapshot

AED Stablecoin LLC has received approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to launch AE Coin, the country's first fiat-backed stablecoin tied to the AED Dirham. Link

💰 Money Moves

Funding Rounds:

Praxis: World’s first network state raised $525M for utopic crypto. Link
Blockstream: Bitcoin infrastructure company raised $210M. Link
Azra Games: Web3 gaming company raised $42.7M led by Pantera Capital. Link
Bitnomial: Crypto derivatives exchange raised $25M led by Ripple. Link
Ithaca: Paradigm invested $20M to build Odyssey, a layer-2 network. Link
Opacity Network: Data verification platform raised $12M led by Archetype & Breyer Capital. Link
Solv Protocol: Bitcoin staking platform raised $11M. Link
Delta: DeFi protocol raised $11M led by Figment Capital. Link

That’s all for now, folks.

Talk soon,

– Marc & Team

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📝#97: Product-Market-Fit