Dear Future Whales,

Today’s note, and my final one for the year, covers my predictions for NFTs and Web3 in 2023. Thank you for reading my notes each week. I’d greatly appreciate it if you would share this subscription with your fellow future whales!

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NFT Predictions for 2023:

1. Web2 Adopts Web3

2. Gaming Delivers

3. The Top New NFT Project

4. The Most Disruptive NFT Innovation

5. Web3 Communication Gets a Make-over

2023 NFT Predictions:

I usually stay away from predictions because once in writing they last forever. Also, it’s yet another holiday gift to my friends who still consider NFTs to be digital beanie babies; they will be happy to remind me if I’m wrong. Let’s dive in.

1. Web2 Adopts Web3

   On the backs of NFTs, blue-chip brands and businesses will look to follow the path of Nike and Starbucks in creating a web3 presence, building a loyal community, and stepping into some instance of a virtual world.

   Specifics:

   • Look for marketplaces like Rarible to become the Shopify-like solution for these brands to break through.

   • Additionally, brands will begin to build storefronts and digital experiences, causing land-based utility NFTs to mount a comeback.

   • Look for Decentraland, Sandbox, and Futureverse assets to take off in various ways for different use cases.

2. Gaming Delivers

   After a challenging year in the markets, the games we have been waiting for finally come out! Gaming will be key to onboarding new users to crypto.

   Titles to look out for:

   • On the heels of AI use case popularity, watch out for Altered State Machine’s Artificial Intelligence Football Association and Muhammed Ali’s The Next Legends. They will be playable and hopefully hit hard!

   • Lifeforce Games - LFG empowers users to create their own games! I just tested the pre-Alpha for Spark Defense. It’s amazing and is just a taste of what is to come. The platform launches in the spring!

   • Illuvium - Keep an eye out on this one. They have the good shot at seeing a ton of users on release.

3. The Top New NFT Project

   This one is tricky… I’m going with Ryan Carson’s NFT project which is expected to come out in Q3 2023.

   1. What is it? I have no idea yet!

      I do know that he consistently gets thousands of Twitter guests to join his NFT Daily Dose which occurs almost every day at 10:30AM ET. The total collection for the project will be less than 1,000 and there are no shortcuts to getting on the allow list. Participants must listen in and collect POAPs as the pre-requisite for an allow list spot.

   2. Why do I like it?

      Community is everything in web3. Ryan’s previous experience included working as COO of Proof & Moonbirds. He continues to build his brand around community, crypto education and awareness as well as general good vibes. Bottom-line, he is a winner and I expect his project will be too.

4. The Most Disruptive NFT innovation

   There will be innovations around fractionalized ownership of NFTs and other assets. Fractionalization of NFTs has the power to unlock serious amounts of liquidity from a market that is about as liquid as a desert right now.

   You will want to stay tuned to future Blubber Notes around this. Consider this Alpha!

5. Web3 Communication Gets a Make-over

   Users are desperately seeking alternatives to Discord, Telegram, and Twitter.

   The issues: Users want a decentralized chat that is private but also centralized, meaning everyone is using it. We’re getting tired of asking people if they prefer 1 of 5 options.

   Possible solutions may come from projects that support wallet-to-wallet chat:

   WalletChat.Fun - This one is new but effective. You can chat with any holder of a particular NFT collection or community. It has yet to be discovered by the masses, but the Wallet Chat widget could be an ideal addition to most of the current NFT marketplaces.

Sylo - I’ve written about this project in the past. The Sylo app supports wallet-to-wallet chat, video, phone calls, and payments. Adoption may grow because of the project’s integration with Futureverse. I expect big things here in the new year.

If neither of these end up being a viable option, we are already seeing an increase on the centralized front in conversions from LinkedIn to Twitter as crypto-natives seek to be seen as legitimate entrepreneurs and connect with a more professional network.

Authored by Matt Bartlett, CAIA. Follow Matt on Twitter @MattBartlettVE.

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Please note the author has invested in all NFT projects mentioned within the article including Futureverse Assets, Decentraland Assets, The Sandbox, Altered State Machine, The next Legends.

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