Sup, nerds!

Here’s what you’re getting in today’s edition:

• 💅 This is cool: R.I.P Starbucks Odyssey

• 🔎 This seems important: The market tanked, here’s why...

• 🤝 Partner: The easiest way to convert cash into crypto​

• 🔪 Let's dissect this: Why Binance won’t be the next FTX (…in theory)

Terms used in this edition (click for an explanation, or ask Web(GPT)3!):
NFT, Web2, Web3.

💅 This is cool:

The Worlds Most Successful NFT Loyalty Program Just Failed (R.I.P Starbucks Odyssey)

In one sentence: The Starbucks ‘Odyssey’ NFT reward program is coming to an end, but will provide a solid blueprint for others if/when Web3 adoption breaks out.

Alright, so this story was more ‘Not so cool’ at first glance…

But after mulling it over, taking a step back and thinking on it, we’re confident we can write about it under the ‘This is cool’ heading.

So let’s rip the band-aid off:

The Starbucks ‘Odyssey’ NFT reward program — one of the most successful Web2-to-Web3 consumer programs — is coming to an end.

For our facetious friends out there muttering “…can’t have been that successful” at their computer screens — we hear you! The bar for success is (unfortunately) set a whole lot lower in the NFT world.

If a project not only avoids crashing and burning, but lasts a year or more — that’s a wild success at this point.

Now, here’s why we’re still seeing this as a ‘glass half full’ result…

Remember when e-commerce as a business model came in reach of anyone/everyone — whether you were selling hand-made jewelry, or lawn care services?

It was somewhere between 2010 and 2015 — the years when smartphones and social media proliferated from ‘some folks have it’ to ‘everyone has it.’

At the end of that period, most businesses could spin up a website and reach new users via paid ads cheaply/easily, cause just about everyone had a smart phone and social media account of some sort.

The smart phone equivalent of adoption drivers is yet to hit in Web3.

…and in hindsight, the Starbucks Odyssey program was something that really needed an external adoption driver in front of it, creating tailwinds for it to ride.

The exciting part is this:

Once that adoption driver hits — anyone looking for a blueprint on ‘how to enter the Web3 market without instantly crashing and burning’ will have it!

All thanks to the Starbucks Odyssey program.

We salute you 🫡

🥇 Want the news before anyone else?

🔎 This seems important:

The Market Tanked Over the Weekend, Here’s Why…

In one sentence: This weekend, the sell pressure mounted as the price begun to plateau and investors decided to take some early profits (seeing as we’re so far ahead of schedule).

Last Thursday morning, the market was riding high!

Most major tokens were pulled up after BTC reached a new all-time-high of $73.7k…

By Saturday afternoon, things had taken a violent turn for the worse.

Bitcoin had found its way down to $64.5k, “pulling a Mantacore*” and reminding everyone that despite the inflow of cash coming from the ETFs:

It is still a wild animal.

(*Mantacore is the white tiger that mauled Roy, of ‘Siegfried and Roy‘).

“Cool reference, nerds — you still haven’t explained WHY it happened.”

We’re glad you liked the reference! In that case, we’re going to go ahead and make an analogy using another age-old cultural reference…

You know the story of The Tortoise and the Hare?

Remember the part of the story where the Hare takes a rest break, mid-race, because he’s so far ahead?

Bitcoin is in a similar situation (it’s WAY ahead of schedule).

Going off historical patterns, the new all-time-high wasn’t set to be reached until December of this year…

We’ve already hit it and passed it multiple times this month. 

And now that the ETFs are pouring cash into Bitcoin from Monday-Friday, the weekends have become weak points for BTC price action.

(There isn’t as much buying pressure to prop the price up).

And this weekend, the sell pressure mounted as the price begun to plateau and market players decided to take some early profits (seeing as we’re so far ahead of schedule).

Alright, now you know!

🤝 Partner:

The Easiest Way to Convert Cash Into Crypto

We can count on one hand the amount of times we’ve converted fiat cash into crypto and thought:

“Hmmm…that was easy!”

1. The time we bought ETH via MoonPay from within our wallet.

That’s it. That’s all the times.

MoonPay offers a fast and simple way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, allowing you to buy crypto with your credit card, bank transfer or even Apple Pay!

(They’re basically the Visa/Mastercard of crypto).

If you want a seamless, hands off fiat to crypto conversion & payment experience:

Click this link to buy crypto right away; or look for the MoonPay logo within your chosen crypto app!

🔪 Let's dissect this:

Why Binance Won’t Be The Next FTX (…In Theory)

In one sentence: ‘Binance Labs’ is now officially a separate entity to ‘Binance Group’ which is Richard Teng’s first big move, and it reduces the risks on the industry as a whole.

Binance is practicing good structural hygiene – and we’re all for it!

What does that mean exactly? ‘Binance Labs’ is now officially a separate entity to ‘Binance Group.’

Sounds kinda ‘meh’ - right? But here’s the thing…

By making Binance’s venture capital investment arm (Binance Labs) a completely separate entity to Binance Group (which includes their exchange and other products/services) if something goes wrong with one, it shouldn’t impact the other.

To explain what we’re talking about, we’ll use the example of FTX and Alameda Research.

ICYMI, FTX (the exchange) and Alameda Research (the investment arm) were separate entities, but, Alameda borrowed from FTX in order to make its investments.

(The waters were muddy at best).

And those borrowed funds didn’t come from FTX as much as they did FTX’s customers.

So, two big things here… 

First off, this change seems to have happened some time since Richard Teng took over as Binance’s CEO in November of last year. 

That change was all in the spirit of steering towards greater regulatory compliance and this is the first big move we’ve seen to help achieve that.

Secondly, by making these entities entirely separate (check out the disclaimer in the footer), it reduces the risk of the success or failure of one to the other. 

Bravo, Mr. Teng.

What NFTs Mean for Brand Loyalty