Sei might acquire 23andMe

I certainly didn’t have this on my bingo card for the unfolding 23andMe saga, but earlier today Sei announced that they were exploring the acquisition of the bankrupt genomics and biotech company.

What’s 23andMe? It’s a genetic testing company founded in 2006 that became popular with its DTC (direct-to-consumer) model which became a popular gift during the holidays and a borderline fad. Call me a grumpy old man, but it felt weird giving my DNA data to an organization that wasn’t a medical institution, so I didn’t partake.

And no shade at anyone who did this, as I’m someone who holds a zoo of animal jpegs (LOOOOOOSERRRRRR).

As with many products in the ‘one-time use’ vertical of the DTC world (mattress companies like Casper, Instant Brands of Instant Pot fame), it’s tough out there and 23andMe is no exception.

This week 23andMe announced that they would be filing for bankruptcy and selling the genetic data from 15 million US users to the highest bidder, causing an uproar from users and privacy advocates. Users can delete their genetic data, but once Pandora’s box is opened, is it ever truly shut? Not to mention, there was a data breach of 6.9 million users’ info back in October 2023.

What’s interesting to note here is that this data is not protected under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), which would normally prevent this type of data from being sold, because 23andMe is not a healthcare provider or insurer. Users are regarded as consumers and customers instead of patients, so their data is treated differently (aka sold).

Alright, enough backstory. Why is Sei’s announcement interesting?

Meeting prospective users where they’re at

At this point, most individuals who are interested in blockchain or crypto for the financial/investment component are already on board (institutions are a different story, and that’s exciting!). So what’s the next frontier? Applications of said technology, duh :)

As always, I’m a fan of actual use cases of the technology, and Sei realizes that there’s a real opportunity to meet these ~15 million 23andMe users where they’re at: backed into a shitty corner where they didn’t know that their genetic data was going to be sold to the highest bidder decades later just because they wanted to see if they were 0.1% [insert ethnicity they visibly aren’t].

Acquisition play

Every blockchain and ecosystem is looking for users, and this is certainly a unique and timely way to acquire and onboard potentially millions of (likely net new) users with the right motivation.

If Sei ends up being the winning bidder, this isn’t only just a win for them. It’s a win for the broader industry and DeSci!

Ownership

One painful truth that 23andMe users learned is that the data they shared wasn’t theirs once they checked a few digital boxes and ignored the mountains of fine print associated with them. That data could be used by or sold to parties that, if explicitly revealed, may have been something some of those users wouldn’t have actually consented to.

And Sei’s proposal would be one that would ‘allow users to choose how their data is monetized and share in the revenue’, something other bidders wouldn’t be willing to do.

Many of these 15M users probably don’t care for blockchain and some may even hate it. But wait…it can do things like let me own my health data? And sell it in an encrypted, confidential way if I wanted to?

I’m sure it may take some time for the 23andMe bankruptcy proceedings to finalize, but I hope Sei gets a real shot at acquiring 23andMe as it’d be a win-win for both blockchain applications and consumers.

Do you have DNA? If so, share this with someone else who also has DNA, I promise I won’t sell it!

Memecoins are still doing interesting things

For all you haters out there and as a nod to the meme:

If millions of people are bullish on memecoins, TPan is one of them.

If 10 people are bullish on memecoins, TPan is one of them.

If 1 person is bullish memecoins, TPan is the only one.

If nobody is bullish on memecoins, TPan is no longer on this earth.

If the world is all bearish on memecoins, TPan is against the world.

I guess I would never be the only one as Murad of Token2049 conference speaker fame is still doing his regularly scheduled bullposting.

To be clear, I’m not a maxi on all memecoins, but rather the fact that memecoins are one of the most interesting social coordination vehicles out there, incorporate some of the more creative marketing and growth tactics, and are evolving beyond just pure memes as the world is becoming increasingly tokenized.

And with the dust clearing from the wreckage of the memecoin mania of the past few months, there are some interesting recent developments worth noting.

Pit Viper x MOG

A couple weeks ago, the CEO of Pit Viper Sunglasses, the sunglesses worn by the MOG cat character, announced that he was the official MOG CEO.

Although Chris’ stint as MOG CEO only lasted 10 days, he changed his handle to ‘mogceo’, grew his following by 10x (from a few hundred to a few thousand to be fair), and teased a limited edition pair of MOG x Pit Viper sunglasses through a poll.

BONK acquires Exchange Art

Earlier today, BONK announced that they acquired digital art marketplace, Exchange Art.

Although BONK is a memecoin at first glance, it has gradually become a portfolio of products powered by the token itself.

Abstract adds NOOT to stream tipping

Yesterday Abstract added its first ecosystem memecoin as a form of tipping for streamers. If you want to know how it works, check out my Abstract Portal breakdown.

Despite the deserved ridicule memecoins have categorically received, there are select memecoins (and teams behind them) that are doing interesting things. Don’t write them off completely 😉

See you next week!