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- Animoca Brands' Yat Siu views token ownership as "one of the most important utilities in web3"
Animoca Brands' Yat Siu views token ownership as "one of the most important utilities in web3"
"Every token is a network effect, which is really just another way to say its a social community.”
Jacquelyn Melinek
August 13, 2024
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Web3 could open the door to true ownership
The term “token” in the web3 world is mainly known as a form of cryptocurrency, but there may be more opportunities for them on the horizon.
Tokens could be the “perfect way” to show one’s involvement in a community or network, Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands said on Talking Tokens podcast.
(Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.)
In the digital world, ownership is finite. People seldom own their data, information or content on popular social media sites.
“Before web3, we didn’t really have a way to own network effects,” Siu said. People could own “constructs” of value. For example, by owning shares through Meta, “I am basically owning a piece of company that is harvesting its network effects of Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp or whatever they have.”
Individuals don’t have a way of owning their networks in web2, Siu added. “That is now possible in web3…[as] every token is a network effect, which is really just another way to say its a social community.”
When one goes on a social platform like Reddit, Siu views it as “a network of networks with smaller communities within it.” Adding that each of them are “potential token communities.”
With that said, he stated he’s not implying that these hypothetical tokens have to be valuable, but could verify that someone is within that community. “It’s a form of online reputation.”
The proliferation of tokens as network effects and having a way of owning them by choice, is “one of the most important utilities in web3,” Siu said.
But as it stands today, people tend to not express it like that. “People are too focused on utility in an industrial way, but sometimes forgetting that culture is the application in and of itself.”
Check out the next section for more details and the full episode.
The latest Talking Tokens podcast 🎙️
For this week’s Tuesday episode, I interviewed Yat Siu, chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands.
We talk about intellectual property rights, owning your content online and how social media inhibits that, the future of web3 and how Animoca’s Mocaverse will play a role in that.
Talking Tokens episodes are released on Spotify and Apple Podcasts at 6AM EST or YouTube at 10AM EST every Tuesday and Thursday. Listen in!
Make sure to subscribe to keep up with the latest episodes. Feel free to leave a review and tell us your thoughts.
Monitoring blockchains
Looking at some of the biggest developments onchain.
In the past week, Ethereum, Sui and Base have seen “double-digit gains,” surpassing Solana, which saw DEX trading volume down over 10% in the same time frame
In the second quarter of 2024, USDT transactions on TRON hit $1.25 trillion, accounting for one-third of Visa’s annual settlement volume
Optimism has outlined a path for interoperability on the OP Stack and across the Superchain (details below)
Taking on the tokens
The total crypto market cap decreased about 2% in the past 24-hours to $2.07 trillion. It is up 5.6% over a 7-day period.
As for the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap…
Token | Price | 24h % | 7-day % |
|---|---|---|---|
Bitcoin (BTC) | $ 58,793 | - 1.09 | + 6.73 |
Ethereum (ETH) | $ 2,639 | - 1.13 | + 7.56 |
BNB (BNB) | $ 521.08 | + 1.03 | + 9.07 |
Solana (SOL) | $ 144.71 | - 3.24 | + 4.18 |
These metrics were taken prior to publication Tuesday morning EST.
Money and people moves
Latest updates on crypto startups that secured funding and industry players who are starting something new.
Citigroup’s Global Head of Markets Digital Assets Maini Leaves (Bloomberg)
Eric Kuhn joined Gemini as its head of onchain product after a roughly three-year stint at Kraken
Tether to Fight Celsius' $3.3 Billion 'Shakedown' Litigation (CoinDesk)
Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. Announces Proposed Private Offering of $250 Million of Convertible Senior Notes (Blog)
Lending-focused Ion Protocol raised $7M in a round let by gumi Cryptos Capital
Talking points for the road
Here’s some headlines and topics that you can talk about at your next dinner party, crypto event or on a first date to look smart (results may vary.)
DeFi ‘dominance’ hits a three-year low (The Block)
Mark Cuban, Anthony Scaramucci, and lawmakers confirmed for Crypto4Harris town hall (DL News)
Bitcoin is still tracking ahead of the 2021 bull market — but only just (Blockworks)
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