Welcome to No Standing's Web3 Weekly Recap. In this newsletter, we’ll keep you up to date on the most important news and developments from the world of Web3.

If you missed the news this week we've got you covered. Here are the highlights and latest developments in blockchain technology, new projects, events, and much more. Stay up to date on all things web3 by subscribing to our newsletter, and let us know if there's anything you'd like to see covered in future issues.

Story 1: Meme Coin Season is Back, PEPE’s Surge Sparks Investor Concerns

Meme coins are experiencing a resurgence, with tokens like Pepe Coin (PEPE) leading the charge and eclipsing previous gains of Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB). PEPE has quickly gained traction with a 1,900% price rally in less than three weeks. PEPE's market cap surged from $50,000 to over $600 million, and other meme coins such as AIDOGE and MONG have also seen significant gains. However, DOGE and SHIB have not enjoyed similar success, with both experiencing losses. Investors are turning to newer meme tokens in pursuit of higher returns, while the original coins face stagnation. Caution is advised, as scammers may also deploy fraudulent tokens to exploit unsuspecting investors.

https://twitter.com/apes_prologue/status/1648654431322349568?s=20

An Ape’s Prologue, a research arm of Thanefield Capital, highlighted concerns about "mysterious whales" who acquired 28.9 trillion PEPE (7% of the total supply) within minutes of it trading on exchanges. This raises questions about whether these wallets belong to insiders or the Pepe development team. If even a small fraction of these tokens were sold, Pepe's thin liquidity would cause the token's price to collapse.

Smart contract auditing firm GoPlus Security identified three potential security risks associated with Pepe, including the possibility of developers suspending trading, limiting transactions, and blacklisting addresses from interacting with their tokens. These risks suggest that Pepe could be a honeypot, an exit scam designed to enrich project insiders.

Despite these concerns, Pepe continues to draw attention as a memecoin. However, potential investors should be aware of the risks and treat the cryptocurrency with caution, especially given Pepe's own disclosure: "PEPE is a meme coin with no intrinsic value or expectation of financial return. There is no formal team or roadmap. The coin is completely useless and for entertainment purposes only."

Story 2: Mastercard Partners with Public Blockchain Firms for Crypto Credentials Initiative

Mastercard is partnering with public blockchain firms, including Polygon, Solana, Aptos Labs, and Ava Labs, to create Crypto Credentials, a new set of standards aimed at instilling trust in cryptocurrencies for consumers, businesses, and governments. The Mastercard Crypto Credential aims to enhance crypto transaction security and metadata transparency while masking wallet addresses. By ensuring traceability and compliance, Mastercard hopes to facilitate cross-border crypto asset transfers and integrate the system into its NFT and Artist Accelerator programs.

https://twitter.com/MastercardNews/status/1652003395052380160?s=20

This collaboration seeks to improve verification for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), ticketing, and enterprise solutions. Mastercard claims the credential will rank crypto transactions by type rather than generally, with different verification levels for NFTs and fungible tokens like Polygon or Solana. This enables the establishment of common standards across NFTs, helping to enhance verification and build trust.

Raj Dhamodharan, Head of Crypto at Mastercard, emphasised the potential for the Crypto Credential to enable interaction across Web3 environments while meeting defined standards. The initiative may open up various use cases, as verification demands differ significantly between consumers and businesses depending on the market and required standards.

Mastercard has a history of collaborating with crypto firms, including Binance, Nexo, Gemini, Bit2Me, Lirium, Mercado Bitcoin, and Uphold. The company has worked with these partners to offer crypto-linked debit cards and crypto wallets, focusing on connecting the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Story 3: Microsoft-Activision Deal Collapses, A Potential Benefit for Web3

The UK Competition and Markets Authority's recent move to block Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has left Web3 game developers and their investors feeling relieved. Paul Hsu, co-founder and CEO of blockchain-focused venture capital firm Decasonic, sees this decision as a net positive for the Web3 gaming sector, providing an opportunity for small gaming companies building titles and related NFT applications on blockchains, as well as their backers and incubators, to thrive.

Hsu points out that these smaller blockchain game developers may be lean in terms of resources but are "constantly shipping" new titles and iterations on existing games. This is in contrast to large traditional gaming studios, which may be complacent in their existing business models and revenue streams. Intellectual property is becoming increasingly important in the Web3 gaming sector, with companies like Microsoft looking to build out their own intellectual property streams tapping into crypto-native content.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US also previously expressed concerns about the deal, fearing it would give Microsoft an unfair advantage by tying Activision Blizzard's gaming titles to Microsoft's Xbox. Meanwhile, Web3 defections from executives tied to the deal continue to rise.

The roadblock for the Microsoft-Activision deal ultimately allows Web3 gaming developers and their investors to continue innovating in the space, fostering the growth of Web3 native brands and providing more variety for gamers.

Story 4: Blur Debuts NFT Lending Protocol Platform

Blur, a top NFT marketplace, has launched Blend, an innovative NFT lending protocol that offers Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options and peer-to-peer lending with NFTs as collateral. Initially supporting CryptoPunks, Azuki, and Milady collections, the Blend protocol is designed for any asset to be collateralised, providing users with flexibility and accessibility in the NFT lending space.

https://twitter.com/blur_io/status/1653051809240604674?s=20

Traders can now access a BNPL option, allowing them to purchase NFTs without the full cost upfront. Borrowers can either acquire the token once they have the funds to repay the loan, or sell the asset if it appreciates in value. Blur's peer-to-peer lending feature enables users to borrow against their NFTs, with specific amounts and interest rates offered by individual lenders.

The introduction of Blend places Blur in competition with existing NFT lending platforms like NFTfi, PWNDAO, BendDAO, and ParaSpace, all of which offer forms of collateralised NFT lending. Despite the crowded market, Blur's Blend aims to differentiate itself by providing increased flexibility and accessibility to NFT owners and potential borrowers.

As the NFT lending space continues to grow, Blend's permissionless, oracle-free design offers a unique approach to borrowing and lending in the market. The platform's versatility, along with Blur's reputation in the NFT marketplace, could propel Blend to become a major player in the rapidly expanding NFT lending sector.

Story 5: Blur's NFT Lending Protocol Surpasses $16M Milestone

Blur's Blend, a perpetual NFT lending protocol, has reached a milestone of $16.37 million in loans just one day after its launch on May 1. Developed in partnership with venture capital firm Paradigm, Blend allows users to pledge nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as collateral for loans. The Azuki, Wrapped CryptoPunks, and Milady NFT collections represent the largest collateral, with over 8,000 Ether (ETH) worth of market value pledged.

https://twitter.com/blur_io/status/1653459789635043336?s=20

Leading Blur lender and Taiwanese celebrity Jeff Huang, also known as Machi Big Brother, has issued 58 loans worth 1,180 ETH. A prominent figure in Taiwan's music industry, Machi is also an avid collector of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT series and was one of the largest recipients of the Blur token airdrop in February.

At the time of publication, there are 846 active loans on the platform, with eight refinancing events. As a perpetual lending protocol, Blend automatically extends the duration of loans at expiry, assuming neither the borrowing nor lending party objects. Loans can also be refinanced or held at Dutch auction in case of interest rate changes. The protocol developers claim that Blend charges neither borrowing nor lending fees, but only interest.

https://twitter.com/blur_io/status/1653420586188812288?s=20

The impressive milestone highlights the growing interest in NFT lending and the potential for protocols like Blend to become major players in the rapidly expanding NFT lending sector.

Story 6: Bitcoin Surpasses Previous Record for Daily Transactions

Bitcoin has reached a new milestone, processing more than 568,300 transactions in a single day, breaking its previous record set during the 2017 bull run. This significant increase in daily transactions can be attributed to the introduction of Ordinals in January, which contributed to over 307,000 transactions on the record-breaking day. Ordinals allow data such as audio, art, or video games to be attached (or "inscribed") to individual satoshis, creating unique digital assets similar to Ethereum-based NFTs. The primary difference is that the relevant data for Ordinals exists entirely on the Bitcoin blockchain, unlike external hosting for other NFTs.

To date, over 2.39 million Ordinals have been inscribed, according to data from Glassnode. The analytics firm also noted a "marked character shift" in Bitcoin mempools this year, with text-based Ordinals inscriptions growing in number. Aside from Ordinals, most Bitcoin transactions are monetary in nature, often triggered by crypto exchanges.

https://twitter.com/glassnode/status/1652804151817170944?s=20

Glassnode stated that "Inscriptions represent approximately 30% to 40% of mined transactions — 10% to 20% of fees paid." This recent surge in Bitcoin transactions demonstrates the increasing utility of the Bitcoin blockchain, as well as the growing interest in new digital assets such as Ordinals. As more use cases for Bitcoin continue to emerge, it is likely that daily transaction records will continue to be broken in the future.

Story 7: CoinMarketCap Launches 'Shark Tank'-Inspired Web3 Reality Series

CoinMarketCap, a leading cryptocurrency price tracking platform, has announced a partnership with Hello Labs to create a reality TV show called 'Killer Whales.' Inspired by the popular American show 'Shark Tank,' aspiring entrepreneurs will pitch web3 projects to a panel of influencers and founders of web3 companies. CoinMarketCap's Chief Marketing Officer, Jonathan Isaacs, expressed excitement about bringing the entrepreneurial energy of the Web3 space into homes worldwide.

https://twitter.com/CoinMarketCap/status/1653400013433880576?s=20

The show aims to educate and entertain a global audience about the intricacies of the Web3 world and emerging technologies. In collaboration with Paul Caslin, founder of Hello Labs and producer of the MTV VMA Awards, the show is designed as a Web3 entertainment company focused on creating and developing entertainment IP.

Auditions for 'Killer Whales' began on May 2, with interested parties invited to submit applications for their crypto and NFT projects through hello.one and CoinMarketCap. Following selection, filming is scheduled to begin in June, with the show set to be released on major streaming services and the Hello TV service.

Hello Labs CEO Sander Goertjes stated that the show aims to bring Web3 to the next billion users by entertaining and educating them about cryptocurrency. The platform also plans to make the show more interactive by allowing the Web3 community to vote for their favorite projects, encouraging project creators to engage their communities for a chance to claim a "wildcard" slot on each episode.

Story 8: Sports Illustrated Debuts Polygon-Based NFT Ticketing Platform

On May 2, SI Tickets, the ticketing subsidiary of Sports Illustrated, launched the "Box Office" platform, a self-service event management and primary ticketing solution powered by the Polygon blockchain. Developed in partnership with Web3 software developer ConsenSys, Box Office enables event organisers to create, manage, and promote ticketed live sporting events with ease.

https://twitter.com/si_tickets_/status/1653386380456730630?s=20

As part of the new platform, SI Tickets and ConsenSys are collaborating to create a "Super Ticket" that utilises NFT technology to provide attendees with highlights, collectibles, exclusive offers, and loyalty benefits. SI Tickets CEO David Lane believes that "blockchain is the future of ticketing," and the platform aims to disrupt the primary ticket market.

Through the Super Ticket, attendees can access expedited entry passes, drink coupons, and music downloads before the event. After the event, they can receive post-event video content and rewards. The platform encourages event organisers to utilise NFTs, as "guests will keep their tickets to your event in their digital wallet forever."

SI Tickets, launched in June 2021, has grown to over $2.5 billion in marketplace inventory. The platform claims to charge zero transaction fees on any purchase and guarantees a 100% refund if an event is canceled for any reason. For event organisers, Box Office charges a $1.40 and 3% commission per ticket, plus 3% merchant pass-through fees.

Thank you for reading this week's edition of the No Standing Weekly. We hope you found it informative and enjoyable. If you're not already a subscriber, be sure to sign up to receive our newsletter every week and stay up to date on the latest and greatest in the world of Web3. We'll see you next week with even more news and updates! Thanks for reading, and we look forward to bringing you the best in Web3 content.