Block 1 : Essential news

  • NFTs soon on YouTube? 

Susan Wojcicki, YouTube's iconic CEO, has stepped down after 25 years at Google and is being replaced by Neal Mohan, a Web3 advocate who envisions the use of NFTs to help creators leverage emerging technologies. The move could allow YouTube to diversify its revenue streams and gain a strategic advantage in the face of growing competition from platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Twitch. Non-fungible tokens (NFT) could, for example, complement YouTube's offerings in the form of paid subscriptions, loyalty programs, exclusive rewards or access to unique content. Neal Mohan also mentioned the metaverse, highlighting YouTube's desire to make the visual experience more immersive.

  • Binance wants to allow French people to pay everywhere in cryptocurrencies 

Binance has announced a partnership with Ingenico, the world's largest payment terminal manufacturer, to enable French merchants to accept more than 50 cryptocurrencies in their stores. The partnership is based on the Axium payment terminal solution produced by Ingenico and provides a turnkey solution for merchants to accept multiple payment methods, including cryptocurrencies, with a single device. The partnership paves the way for wider adoption of cryptocurrencies for retail payments in France. Binance and Ingenico are also working on a crypto-fiat payment solution to allow customers to pay cryptocurrencies and merchants to receive euros directly. For now, the initiative is in a test phase in two stores in Paris, before a potential nationwide rollout. 

  • Microsoft accelerates in Web3

Tech giant Microsoft has announced a collaboration with startup Ankr, which provides services related to blockchain infrastructure. Ankr will deploy its node services for enterprises through Microsoft's Azure platform, providing access to information stored in blockchains. The announcement had an immediate impact on the price of the ANKR cryptocurrency, which rose more than 45 percent in 15 minutes. Ankr's CEO said that this partnership with the tech behemoth across the Atlantic would be beneficial for businesses and Web3 projects under construction. To be continued. 

  • Google is expanding on the Tezos blockchain

Google Cloud has announced a partnership with the Tezos blockchain (XTZ), becoming a validator and supporting other entities in the Web3 ecosystem such as Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL). This partnership will enable enterprises and developers to easily host and deploy nodes for Web3 applications. Startups will be able to collect Google Cloud credits and be supported through the Google for Startups Cloud Program.

Block 2 : This week's cryptic analysis

Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto-currency platform, has big plans for its Ethereum scaling product. The project, named Base, built in collaboration with Layer 2 network Optimism on OP Stack under license from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), aims to reduce ETH transaction fees to 1 cent, and serve as a springboard for the company's "master plan" to bring 1 billion people into crypto by "buying, building or investing" in "open financial system projects." Yes, just that.

But that's not all, Coinbase also wants to integrate with other blockchains like Solana, Avalanche and Polygon. You might be wondering why they're not just sticking with Ethereum? Well, because they are ambitious at Coinbase.
 
But how does the company plan to accomplish this herculean task? Well, they have the aforementioned plan: to bring 1 billion people into crypto by "buying, building or investing" projects in the "open financial system." It's a simple, but effective strategy. But is it really possible? Only time will tell. For now the company has indicated that Ethereum's cryptocurrency, the ether, will serve as the operating token on the network. In other words, there will be no native cryptocurrency custom created for Base.  
 
The announcement comes at a pivotal time for the US cryptocurrency company. Coinbase's latest quarterly financial report showed a company in transition, with its main revenue stream from transaction volumes drying up in the middle of the crypto winter. But could Base become a revenue stream for the company that has long sought to diversify its balance sheet? 
 
Coinbase has long pursued a strategy of contributing to the technology and direction of cryptocurrencies, including dedicating 10% of its cash holdings to investment opportunities. Not all of these experiments have been successful. For example, its non-fungible marketplace (NFT) platform has struggled to gain market share since its launch last year, despite the company's brand. Base will be launched in an increasingly competitive and complex market of Ethereum scaling tools. On Tuesday, Arbitrum, a dominant Layer 2 network, surpassed Ethereum in terms of daily transactions. It's not going to be an easy task for Coinbase.  
 
Add to that the growing awareness of the risks that centralized entities pose to decentralized finance (DeFi), which could work against Base's growth. It's unclear how long Base had been planned, but its introduction comes as Coinbase is downsizing. In recent months, Coinbase has pulled out of India and other markets, and laid off hundreds of employees. Ultimately, it's unclear whether Coinbase will have all the resources it needs to fully develop Base, especially if the cryptocurrency market doesn't recover vigorously.
 
Apparently, the ultimate vision is for Coinbase to become a "contributor" to the network, and hand over governance decisions to the community. But, without details, that message sounds a bit like "if we build it, they will come" - something that rings hollow in an industry that is still looking for a use case. In any case, the company wants to build a new Foundation for the future of crypto.

Block 3 : Gainers & Losers

MarketScreener