Happy Monday Mates!

I know I know, in Friday’s newsletter I said we were going to do the second part in a 2 part series and look at the 2 young punks pipped to be the Solana killers BUT we’re going to give you an EXCLUSIVE inside look into what happened at Zebu Live with the hottest up and coming narratives. But before we do, a MASSIVE thank you and shout out to the full Zebu and events team for a cracking two-day conference.

Don’t worry anon, we still have plenty of time until the Solana killers are released and we’ll write about them on Friday. So grab a cuppa tea and hobnobs as this will be an alpha-filled issue.

And prepare yourself for the interviews we did with Peter Hill from Cudos and Jolly from Zebu & Spark World.

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In Todays Enclosure

• The Big Topic - Zebu Live an insiders look• Bitesized bits - Apple green lights NFTs, Code Red for Do Kwon andDOT’ty Dollars​• Chart of the day - $SPX on the monthly time frame• Hidden Alpha - 🕵️‍♂️

🔥 The Big Topic - Zebu Live an insiders look

IYKYK and if you don’t let us tell you. Last week Jedi and I went to London’s hottest blockchain conference, Zebu Live. So a massive shoutout goes to the whole Zebu team for putting on a fantastic 2-day event.

In today’s Big Topic we’ll share what the industry’s brightest minds see as the next big narratives over the next 12 months. Some of the ideas we’ve shared in the newsletter previously, so that’s double confirmation for you anon.

We all know crypto is fast, like really really fast and the conference was no different. There was A LOT going on, from alpha deep dives, casual discussions, and a whole bunch of nerds talking about giga-brained ideas that left a few satellites floating in space (for Dan that was!)

What was interesting is that no one really spoke about Bitcoin or the Ethereum merge, the degens and apes that were there were focused on building, networking, and front-running the narratives that are coming.

I know I know I’m waffling now…gib alpha gib gib gib! Scroll to the bottom for the TLDR version

Gaming, gaming and more gaming

It’s a super hot topic right now that was horrifically jaded during the last bull run as one big level 99 ponzi scam…which it kind of was back then with ridiculous valuations and teams that were in it for the $$. Let’s take GTA6 for example….that’s taken how long to develop?! Yeah, games aren’t made overnight, in fact, some are in development for years before coming to market. So why would a blockchain game be any different?

Everyone can agree games HAVE to be fun, the blockchain element NEEDS to be hidden and barriers to entry SHOULDN’T be any more difficult than popping into your local game store, buying the latest game, and taking it home.

There is a big shift in focus right now in the gamefi space to this (which should have been there from the start), with games like Big Time, Sidus Heros, Phantom Galaxies, and Pulsar leading the way. We also need to consider the in-game economies. One panelist mentioned that “we struggle to get it right in the real world by seasoned economic professionals, so don’t expect gave devs to get it right”. I have mixed feelings about this as gamers did well creating an economy in Runescape and WoW which evolved over time.

Key points, AAA games take time, focus on fun (duh!), low barriers to entry through a free-to-play model, play AND earn not play TO earn, tokenomics designed to not feel or be a scammy cash grab, mobile games are likely going to be the way we onboard more people onto the blockchain. PS, we are still SUPER early in the gamefi space and ‘23 is set to be lit.

Non Fungible Tokens

NFTs…despite the ice cold NFT winter that’s happening NFTs were a HOT topic of conversation. From profile pics to in-game assets to hybrid NFTs and exclusive membership flexes that make you feel like an absolute rockstar.

The technology behind an NFT is simple, it’s proof of digital ownership that, depending on what fence you sit on, has been jaded and associated with punks, apes, and dogs.

But hear me out.

Domain names, which You may remember reading in previous newsletters about domain names including .eth and .sol. These are as much of a flex as they are an identity and their psychological element shouldn’t be ignored. We often become what we portray online so it would make sense that if your profile picture is #1337 you’d want to own 1337.sol, .eth, .ada (lol) for your identity. PS, Solana's NFT scene is heating up 👀

In-game assets have always made sense. Imagine owning the first sword to have ever been dropped by the Lich King in World of Warcraft or owning a shield that evolves as you defend against the mightiest of raid bosses? Chances are that would increase heavily in value on the in-game marketplace.

Hybrid NFTs are bridging the digital with the physical by having a real-world action have a digital impact. For example, let’s say you owned a LeBron James NFT that evolved with how he played during the season, or if you owned an NFT of a real-life racehorse and its performance affected the stats of the NFT you own based on its performance that could be applied into virtual racing. Mass adoption anyone?!

Profile pictures, despite what you think of these having a real-life utility and exclusivity are proving to be a hot area. If you’re NFT is linked to the hottest private clubs in London, music stars, or fine dining then, for some, it’s worth it. And anyway doesn’t your top-tier AMEX cost the same?! and for the foodies out there a Heston Blumenthal experience would be worth the ape.

Key points, Solana NFTs are hotting up, domain names are a flex (APTOS and Sui?), NFT pfp and exclusive membership area access.

On and off ramping including stablecoins

It’s as simple as this needs to be easier and more secure before we no board the next 500m people into crypto. Stablecoins are a hot topic and will play an important role in how we make cross-border payments, pay employees and hold your net worth. Did you know that over the last 2 years the market cap of stable comes has gone from less than $2BN to now over $56BN…not to be faded anon?

De-Perps & Sportsbetting

Yes, it’s official…we here at blocmates are coining this term as we’ve not heard anyone else use it, therefore we are first movers. Which you should already know seeing as we’ve released a lot of articles pertaining to perps, options and exotics. We’ve seen massive growth in De-Perps aka Decentralised Perpetuals space with the likes of HXRO, GMX and DYDX. Robinhood made options trading cool, fun, and easy during the lockdown and we are now seeing the same thing happen in crypto. PS, there will be a huge first mover advantage in sports betting (HXRO 🤫).

Our Take

The biggest takeaway from the conference was the need to cross the digital into the physical to give crypto a real-world use case and utility (plus make it sexy as defi, for most, can be boring and complicated). We are seeing this even more, especially in the NFT space, as your NFT becomes your membership card to the elusive whale club you’ve just joined, identity ownership, and ego flexing.

In order for all of this to be possible and for widespread adoption to occur the main ingredient is liquidity. Without it, none of this will ever happen. What we are seeing is a lot of external investment into the space which is the first step, along with the growth of stablecoins.

There is so much more that we could add such as metaverses, incubators, scalability, zk, privacy, and mergers and acquisitions but we’ll save some of those for a later date as these were five of the most talked about topics.

TLDR,

• Gaming is still early but the rights moves are being made.• NFT’s are growing including domains, Solana ecosystem, Hybrid NFTs, in-game assets, and exclusive profile picture flex membership clubs.• Seamless on and off ramping of funds including stablecoins.• De-Perps are a thing and are a hot topic.• Liquidity and stablecoins are fundamentally the two most important elements we need for mass adoption.

🗞 The Bitesized News Bits

Apple allows NFT sales but there’s a catch, 30% commission. A step in the right direction even if it does feel like walking in quicksand.

CODE RED CODE RED, as Interpol issued a Red Notice for fugitive Do Kwon whilst the price of LUNC continues to decline.

Defi at Disney, as the media giants look to hire transaction lawyers as they explore “next generation storytelling”…storytelling NFT meta incoming anon?!

DOT’ty Dollars, as USDT officially launch on Polkadot. This is huge news for stablecoins and the DOT ecosystem.

ERC-Reverse? Researchers at Stanford University create a prototype for “reversible Ethereum transactions” that could mitigate the damages of theft.

🛡 Chart of the day: $SPX

Our Take

Went on a bit of a dive into the SPX chart last night to see what might be in store for us on the monthly timeframe. We can see that we’ve not tested the 50/100/200 EMA for a very very long time and the next 1-2 months are likely to see us test the 50 EMA at the very least. A question to always keep in mind is “where do market makers want to take us?” Do they want a massive flush out towards the 200 EMA and a 50%+ retracement? Or is that too risky with the mid-term elections coming?

Bull case, as the market continues to become heavily oversold we have a short-term relief bounce off of the 50 EMA.

Bear case, we ignore the 50EMA and head down towards the 0.382 Fibonacci line as global tensions continue to rise.

🤝 Here’s the Deel

and a quick word from our super awesome sponsors who help us make this all possible

If you are a builder in this space and are hiring a remote-first team take a look at one of our partners, Deel. They allow you to hire, manage, onboard, and pay from anywhere in the world without the hassle. Yes, Deel allows you to pay your team in crypto too…

🦧 Updates from the bloc

The latest thread

The Cosmoverse is happening in Columbia and all eyes are on ATOM as it has outperformed most other cryptocurrencies since June in the run up to the announcement of ATOM 2.0 tokenomics. Here is an absolute MEGA thread on ATOM by @defi_naly.

The latest podcast

Here’s the second part of this EPIC 2 parter with @NoahSeidman and @Ubenjammin2 as they take a look into “how to buy cash flow in crypto” and “wen bull?!”

🎉 Monday Mooning Motivation

Give this man the job ASAP! Prof Siegel’s passionate frustration is enough to get your inspiration pants on for the Monday ahead. Well done serrrrr.

🕵️‍♂️ Hidden Alpha

Something slightly different today as I want to share @ICO_Analytics with you, a research tool that helps to see what’s coming in the future. By seeing the macro you can dig into the micro. For example, zkSync coming in October and has me thinking zk projects might pop on that narrative 👀.

Stables, As always staying stable in an unstable time that needs a bit of stability is always a good idea anon.

🦍 The Ape Enclosure

We’re ready to ape in, at any time. Got a good idea that needs funding? Send us an email with all of the info to [email protected] - Equally, if you would like your project to be featured in our Sponsor Section, contact us and we will see if it is a good fit for our audience!