What I Learned This Past Week - 7.26.22
The SEC strikes back and metaverses delivering on their potential.
I’m sharing with whoever’s interested in what I learn as I try to remain clear-eyed about the opportunities for real estate and web3.
Did I miss important news or a great article this week? In the likely event I did, please shoot me an email (mark@hurstx.com) and let me know!
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This Week’s Musings
Are metaverses just 3D versions of web2 marketplaces like Amazon and eBay? It’s certainly what I initially thought. My opinions have recently evolved and I now see metaverses being a rich and immersive combination of VR, gaming, and social venues. While participation levels for events on average remain nascent and the best models for engagement have yet to be fully developed, it’s easy to see early momentum beginning to pick up speed.
Informative Articles I Read
Behind the Scenes with Polygonal Mind: Creating Successful Experiences in Decentraland (Decentraland.org) - While you may have missed the event on July 14, Mtn Dew crushed this virtual watch party! Read about the collaboration that made this metaverse event such a hit.
SEC Charges Former Coinbase Manager, Two Others in Crypto Asset Insider Trading Action (SEC.gov) - What does this have to do with real estate you are probably asking yourself? What drew my attention in this article was that there was an additional civil suit brought against these insiders for trading unregistered securities. There have long been questions regarding how the SEC sees crypto products related to real estate, particularly on the resi side. While this does not clear it up, I believe it provides further evidence that there will be little to no wiggle room for startups who hope to evade the SECs designation of web3 real estate fintech/proptech products as anything but securities.
Podcasts/Webinars/etc. That I Listened To
Ep 28: Real Estate and Blockchain Technology #NFTsforGood (Twitter Spaces) - I connected with Zach Gorman a while ago, need to have him and his co-founder on the Proptech Espresso podcast ASAP!
Draper VC, SolidBlock, & Propy Startup Pitch Competition - It’s awesome to see the early stage proptech web3 companies in this pitch competition. Hope to be featuring all of these in the near future in the section below as they gain traction.
Innovative Companies I Discovered
WeMeta - A virtual real estate valuation company.
Nifty Sky DAO - Science-backed cosmic metaverse for space real estate & habitation.
Tok Invest - Tok Invest is a global real estate marketplace with hundreds of properties available for sale with Bitcoin & crypto worldwide. Their mission is to connect real estate buyers, sellers, agencies and developers who prefer and can handle crypto as a payment option.
Brets - Enables fractional investment in commercial and residential real estate for as little as $1000.
Doxxed Co - Luxury real estate network utilizing NFT based membership.
People You Need To Follow On LinkedIn
Bobby Singh - Founder of Nifty Sky
Lisa Wang - Founder of Bad Bitch Empire
Claus Skaaning - CEO of DigiShares
Web3 Announcements From Proptech Companies
Metaverse Homes For Heroes (Decentraland) - This section appears as good as any to note this event (which happened on Tuesday, July 26th). Amazing to see HomeEquity Bank team up with Homes for Heroes to raise money for vets in need via a metaverse event.
Solana Summer Camp Hackathons (Solana) - Online or IRL learn how to turn ideas into web3 projects (ok not proptech, but worth checking out for every type of builder).
Random But Important Things I Stumbled On
Little House on the Blockchain (NPR) - I wouldn’t go so far as to call this important, but curious to see this intersection of web3 and real estate. Will this be a new home feature or listing filter on the MLS in the future?
The Crypto Revolution Wants To Reimagine Books (Esquire) - The reinvention of the publishing world is providing some early examples of innovative thinking for new business models that benefit authors and investors. Proptech should look for inspiration here.
Lastly, check out Sirens Gallery, it’s a charity NFT project of 1991 AI-generated artworks whose proceeds go to humanitarian aid.