🤠 Web3 Weekly Round-Up #13

Hey there, I’m Luca - lifelong startup nerd, crypto fanatic since 2016, and now keeping up with trends across Web3 is my second full-time job.

Here’s everything you need to know about the last week in Web3 - in 5 tweets 🐦

🏹 #1 - Robinhood's Crypto Wallet

• Robinhood (RH) has officially released its crypto wallet to users. RH users have been able to buy major cryptos since 2018, but it was more like buying an index representing the coins than owning the coins themselves (key discrepancy in crypto).

• Through its wallet feature, RH now plays the same role as Coinbase: enabling users to buy crypto with fiat and actually have ownership of their coins. However, RH is taking full advantage of its position as a middleman by charging significantly greater fees than Coinbase

• RH is just the newest custodial wallet on the block. Quick refresher: Custodial wallets are wallets offered and governed by a centralized source (e.g., Coinbase) while non-custodial wallets (e.g., Metamask) give users 100% unregulated control of their assets and transactions. The drawback to custodial wallets is that the custodian has the final say in what you can do with your assets. Given RH's suspect actions in the past, I certainly wouldn't trust them with my money....

🪙 #2 - Bitcoin Payments on Shopify

• Strike is a platform that allows users to buy, send, and receive Bitcoin with no fees via the Lightning Network. While we usually talk about Bitcoin as just a store of value, Lightning is a way for people to write smart contracts on Bitcoin similar to Ethereum's contracts.

• Strike has been building an API to facilitate easy Bitcoin payments for businesses, and Shopify is likely the biggest customer they've ever gotten. This means that every one of the over one million stores on Shopify's platform has the option to start accepting Bitcoin for payments.

• Talk about the proliferation of crypto to the masses. Combined with Bitcoin's top brand recognition, this could end up being a big step in the long run towards normalizing BTC as an actual medium of exchange, not just a digital reserve asset.

💳 #3 - Even More Crypto Payments

• Shopify's partnership with Strike just wasn't enough this week in crypto payments! Bolt is a major provider of one-click-checkout infrastructure for ecommerce. Wyre is a plugin that allows ecommerce stores to accept crypto payments at checkout. The deal was valued at $1.5B, making it the largest merger or acquisition in crypto ever.

• By combining the reach of Bolt with the functionality of Wyre, expect to see crypto payment as an option at a lot more online retailers now, whether they're built in Shopify or in-house. Along with the recent implosion of Fast, another one-click-checkout provider, Bolt is taking a resounding lead in the highly competitive space.

• Frankly, I was surprised that this came in as the largest acquisition/merger in crypto. Sure, $1.5B is plenty of money, but with all the capital sloshing around in Web3 and inflated company valuations, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a significantly larger deal than this by the end of the year (pending an incoming bear market).

📉 #4 - OpenSea Takes On Solana NFTs

• OpenSea (OS) has been the de facto home of Ethereum NFTs since shortly after its launch in 2017. OS had a bit of competition in the early days, but by building out key features quickly and hosting major NFT projects, it quickly snowballed into the biggest marketplace within the biggest NFT ecosystem, by far.

• Solana's NFT ecosystem is a drop in the bucket compared to Ethereum's, but it's the second-most popular chain for NFTs and has a robust offering of its own tools and projects. It was only a matter of time before OpenSea expanded its marketplace into Solana to steal marketshare from Magic Eden, the biggest marketplace for SOL NFTs.

• Despite OpenSea's dominance in the ETH market, it's struggling to gain much traction on SOL. A major reason for the lackluster performance is the story of OS as a bit of villain within the NFT space. OS is a privately-owned, opaque company that has killed any rumors of giving value back to its users through an airdrop. Magic Eden is much more transparent and community-driven by comparison, rolling out new features consistently and building a die-hard following along the way.

🏘 #5 - Joining a Social DAO!

• I love DAOs. They're like joining a student organization at school and one of the easiest ways for people to get involved in Web3. Most mature DAOs have step-by-step processes for new members to get involved, and it's generally easy to contribute on a part-time basis.

• Social DAOs are a subset of DAOs. They're essentially large online friend groups that use tokens to track membership and decision-making. They're also some of the lowest-barrier ways to join a DAO and see what's up!

• If DAOs are new to you, this article is a great place to start getting more involved in Web3!

🎉  If you learned something new, forward this to a few friends! It goes a long way for me, your crypto-curious friends, and the growth of the Web3 community :)

💬  What did you find most intriguing this week? Let me know by replying to the email or tweeting at me - any and all feedback is welcome!