What's Appening: Don’t Sleep On Web3 ✈️ 🎟️

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👀 TLDR:

In this week’s What’s Appening, we jump back into the world of web3 and NFTs. Both Ticketmaster and the airline Flybondi announced major initiatives last week, showcasing utility-driven NFTs that could transform the music and airline industries respectively. A lot of focus has gone on AI recently, but we shouldn’t forget about web3 just because tech commentators are jumping on the next hot thing… Though admittedly, yes, ChatGPT is the hotness ❤️‍🔥. We also drop back in on Twitter this week, where it seems Elon Musk has made a right ol’ mess of verification (again). We have news of a new (in a sense) app from TikTok owner ByteDance. Our Stat of the Week looks at how AI is making coding a cinch on GitHub. And What’s dAppening reports on Coinbase’s claim that unclear regulations could cause the loss of up to 1 million tech jobs in the US. Meanwhile, don’t forget about our What’s Appening video series. 📺 Scroll on down to learn how we’ve shaken it up this month!

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Takes 🎬️

✈️ 🎟️ NFTs – Ticketmaster & Flybondi Launch Programs with Real Utility

Much of the tech world’s focus has moved to AI of late. And it’s even become reasonably fashionable to mock its supposed supplantation of web3: On Twitter, there’s something of a running joke to say that ‘Crypto Bros’ have now become ‘AI Bros’. But we aren’t sleeping on web3, and nor should you. As we have said countless times, the dam will eventually burst with true value use cases, and this week we have two great stories that support it. First up, it’s the news that Argentinian airline Flybondi will be issuing all tickets as NFTs. Now, this is about more than getting a commemorative mint of your ticket: It’s about putting control in the hands of the customer. Having the ticket as NFT means you own the ticket, meaning you can sell it on to a stranger, change names, transfer it to a friend, and so on. There are small fees on the NFT marketplace if you choose to do so, but it’s a world away from the hoops you have to jump through to change a regular airline ticket. Having the transactions covered on the immutable blockchain, of course, means that everything is secure and transparent. To us, this is a perfect example of how NFTs and blockchain put real utility into a legacy industry. Ticketmaster is also taking a big step with NFTs by launching Token-Gated Sales, which allows holders to get priority access to sales and unique concert experiences. Starting with the metal band Avenged Sevenfold (probably not a gig to take the kids to 🤘), Ticketmaster intends to roll out this program further, allowing artists to connect directly with ‘verified’ fans. We think this has a long way to run, possibly helping to eliminate scalpers, allowing the real fans to get priority access, and empowering both the artists and concert-goers to build communities. AI might be the talk of the town, but web3 is only getting started rolling out real utility that will transform traditional industries. #NoSleepWeb3 Read more here.

✅ 👎 Twitter – Check Mark Debacle Continues with “Schrodinger’s Verification”

Musk’s Twitter in a nutshell? Over the last few days, the official New York Times Twitter account was tweeting without any verified tag – you know, the blue, gold, or gray tick that tells us that it’s the legitimate account of the institution or celebrity. In the meantime, pranksters launched ‘verified’ New York Times accounts, posting all sorts of nonsense and fake news. What happened? Well, Elon Musk has decided to remove the idea of legacy verified accounts, claiming that everyone must pay for the privilege. The Times, as well as other media organizations and institutions like the White House, have said they won’t pay for verification for official accounts or staffers. The cut-off date is supposed to be mid-April, but Musk seems to have a real beef with the Times, so he decided to remove the verified status of the main NYT account (with over 55 million followers) earlier than everyone else. Petty, right? Aside from the shenanigans with The Times and the confusion with the overlap between legacy and paid accounts (it’s been joked about as Schrodinger’s verification), the crux of the argument goes like this: Musk claims that offering everyone the chance to be verified creates equality (and pays the bills). Detractors say it delegitimizes the content, allows impersonation, and that they already line Musk’s pockets by creating content (and thus advertising dollars) for free. Like many things on Musk’s Twitter, this looks like it’s going to get worse before it gets better. #NewMuskTimes Read more here.

🤳📱ByteDance – TikTok Owner’s Lemon8 Soars in the App Store Charts

TikTok might be in the eye of a congressional oversight storm in America, but one of its sister apps, Lemon8, has quietly winded its way to the top 10 of the App Store in the US. Lemon8 is something of an Instagram rival, aimed at influencers and fashionistas. But what’s notable here is not the technicalities of the app, but how it was launched. Lemon8 had a global roll-out back in 2020, with the US and UK the notable absentee marketplaces. That might seem strange, but it’s also no coincidence, given the UK only trails the US in trying to throw the regulatory hammer at TikTok’s Chinese owners ByteDance. But Lemon8 has had a quiet launch – a very quiet one – here in the US, yet it has managed to climb the charts thanks to a kind of word-of-mouth-led popularity. The main question, though, is whether it catches the eye of politicians like TikTok. There remains an outside chance that TikTok is banned in the US, or that it has an enforced sale: what would that mean for this hot new social app? #WhenLifeHandsYouLemon8 Read more here.

🧐 Stat of the Week: 41% of Code

🤖✍️ GitHub – Goldman Sachs Event Speaker Claims 41% of Code Is Written By AI

This is something we touched upon in last week’s newsletter covering Copilot X, GitHub’s new AI tool. An audience at the 2023 Goldman Sachs Disruptive Technology Symposium was told by Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque that 41% of all new code is now created by AI. GitHub, as we stated last week, claims it’s even more at 46%. Splitting hairs over a couple of percentage points isn’t important here. What is important is that developers are getting AIs to almost half their coding, saving time, energy, and money. Again, we marvel at just how quickly this sea change has occurred. And it won’t be just coding: AI will transform the way you do everything from sending marketing emails to ordering products for your business. #CodeLessWithAI Read more here.

🕸️ What’s dAppening?

A dApp is a decentralized app. Here’s the latest in web3, NFTs and blockchain apps.

🪙⚖️ Crypto – Coinbase Claims Poor Regulation Will Drive 1M Tech Jobs from US

Our main take this week covered some of the innovations in the web3 industry that are transforming legacy industries, but the path forward remains unclear in the face of regulation. Last week, Coinbase warned that regulatory uncertainty could cause the loss of 1 million tech jobs here. The worry is that innovative businesses and founders could flee to places like Dubai and Hong Kong, which have been actively promoting themselves as global crypto hubs. It’s a bold claim, but it has merit. Both Coinbase and Binance have faced US lawsuits in the last two weeks, and we even hear rhetoric from Washington that suggests the US could become one of the most unfriendly places on the planet for web3. Just this week, Senator Elizabeth Warren claimed she wanted to build an “anti-crypto army”. The industry is crying out for regulation in the US, but it is often forced to operate in a semi-legal limbo in the absence of transparent rules. Until there is a clear path forward, there remains the real possibility that the US will become a follower, not a leader, in one of the most important industries to emerge in the 21st century. #CryptoRegulation Read more here.

Meanwhile at 3Advance…

📺 Check out the latest What’s Appening video episode!

We’re making some changes to our video series… What, you haven’t watched our videos? 😳 Well, every month now we’ll be doing a recap of What’s Appening, where Kate and Paul will give you the lowdown on all the previous month’s ‘appenings. Check out our April edition below, and let us know what you think!

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