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Welcome back to Decentra Daily, where we bring you the latest NFT and Web3 news.
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Table of Contents:
Coinbase + BlackRock partnership
Mindset shift needed for Web3
MiamiCoin! The Web3 city to be
Coinbase partners with BlackRock
This looks like a pretty big one to us!
BlackRock (the world’s largest asset manager) just announced an integration with Coinbase, which means that a bunch of institutional organizations and investors are about to increase their crypto holdings.
Starting initially with Bitcoin, Coinbase and BlackRock are connecting their “institutional access points,” Coinbase Prime and Aladdin.
Coinbase Prime is the exchange’s platform built specifically for institutions to trade and manage crypto.
Aladdin is Blackrock’s portfolio management software that “provides investment professionals a way to view and manage daily investments.”
Here’s the official Medium post by Coinbase, announcing the partnership.
The whole thing seems like a paradigm shift for BlackRock (and by proxy, the rest of traditional banking). Just five years ago, BlackRock chairman Larry Fink famously slammed bitcoin as nothing but an “index of money laundering.”
And it’s great news for those wanting more mainstream crypto adoption. It’s basically a big greenlight from the financial sector, admitting that crypto is here to stay – even at this low point in the market cycle.
Coinbase has been keeping the wins rolling in recently. Also this week, Mark Zuckerberg announced an integration with Coinbase’s wallet, as NFTs come to Instagram in 100 more territories.
– how quickly things change in web3!
The mindset shift needed for web3
Some thoughts on wider web3 adoption from LongHash Ventures fund & accelerator founder Emma Cui.
Here are three things she thinks need to happen before web3 will truly replace web2:
Users need to shift their mindset to a “user-owned” model
Users will have far greater responsibility for their chosen platforms, since “tokens enable early and decentralized ownership.” We’ll need to become better at understanding and acting on those responsibilities.
Investors need to change to a “community-driven, collaborative, and participatory” mentality
Traditional company ownership models, where “investors vie for a percentage of control and board seats,” clash with the philosophy of decentralized organizations.
Projects need to think of a sustainable way to attract users
Instead of creating lots of hype and capital from a wide, speculation-focused audience, startups should only allocate tokens “after projects have found the right audience that shares similar interests and goals.”
Thoughts? Here’s the full article on VentureBeat.
The most corporate NFTs ever?
MiamiCoin
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez continues to pursue his dream of a tech-topia with another web3 stunt.
After last year’s questionable MiamiCoin, the Miami city government is now collaborating with TIME media, Mastercard, and Salesforce to create an NFT collection.
Designed by 56 artists to represent Miami’s 56 square miles, the city’s 5,000 NFTs generate funds for the government and local artists – while offering holders exclusive perks like access to local restaurants, businesses, events, etc.
Candidate for the most corporate NFT collection yet?
Miami: wannabe home of web3
Austin, New York, and a handful of other US cities have made moves to position themselves as the most web3-friendly place around. But nowhere is as thirsty for tech immigration as Miami.
After paying himself in bitcoin and hiring the city’s first chief technology officer, Suarez is pushing Miami as natural home of the new digital economy – with some success.
Beyond 2021’s Art Basel, Miami also hosts the annual Bitcoin conference. A few local businesses have embraced NFTs, such as nightclubs with holder-only areas (virtual and physical) and luxury condos where owners get an NFT alongside their purchase.
MiamiCoin
MiamiCoin (MIA) was one of several CityCoin projects that aimed to generate media attention and local government funds by assigning wallets to city treasuries.
MIA is an altcoin powered by the Stacks (STX) protocol, which enables smart contracts on Bitcoin. A percentage of STX goes directly into the city’s wallet when it's mined.
In just two months, MIA made almost 8 mill USD for Miami. Now, its value has been pretty much wiped out, forcing the city to lock or stake most of its MIA for Bitcoin.
What will Miami NFT holders get?
Holders of Miami NFTs get rewards from the Mastercard Priceless Miami program. It’s a collection of tickets, events, experiences, etc. from local businesses and non-profits, meaning that holders get to do something fun while stimulating the local economy.
Is there utility here?
The whole Miami NFT project seems like a decent idea that’s been swamped by corporate interests.
What if communities were able to directly increase their control and ownership over local resources through NFTs – without big companies interfering?
Need to save your local coffee shop/swimming pool/library from closing? Turn it into a fractional NFT and allow local people to support & benefit from it.
Salesforce NFT cloud
Also according to the press release – TIME media are behind Miami’s NFT strategy, while Salesforce will be minting and selling NFTs through their new, as yet unreleased platform, NFT Cloud.
The city of Miami NFT collection is scheduled to drop this winter on Ethereum. If you’re interested in an NFT – or you’re a local artist that wants to create one – stay tuned for more announcements in the fall.
Headlines of the day
Disclaimer: Nothing in this article/newsletter should be considered financial advice. The purpose is to inform readers of the current trends and news in the web3 space. We encourage every reader to do their own research and not act upon information put forth by Decentra Daily.