MSV Podcast

Guests:

• Humayun Sheikh, Founder of Fetch.AI
• Pedro Rente Lourenco, Ceo of Dotmoovs
• Sabin Dima, Co-Founder of HumansAI

Top 3 Key Takeaways:

1. AI and Crypto need strong and timely regulation to promote trust, transparency, and fairness

During our conversation with industry experts, we delved into the challenges facing the nascent industries of crypto and AI. One point of discussion was the need for regulation in both fields, as it can promote wider adoption and protect users' privacy. However, there are also concerns that excessive regulation can stifle innovation and creativity- arguing that self-regulation could be a viable alternative, but with a potential worry that this approach could lead to exploitation by a few bad actors in the industry. 

Regardless, a growing consensus is that regulators must ensure fair economic dispensation and copyright governance in AI. This is particularly important given the potential for big corporations to exploit AI for their gain is already leading to job losses and economic inequality. In short, we need strong and timely regulation to promote trust, transparency, and fairness in these exciting and evolving industries.

2.  A decentralized AI model can empower individuals with unique skills and capabilities

The conversation continued with the hosts stating that most AI solutions today are developed by centralized entities and what the benefits are of a decentralized AI approach. The consensus was while the AI model itself cannot be decentralized, stakeholders involved in its development and utilization can be. A decentralized AI model can empower individuals with skills and capabilities that were previously impossible to attain. In today's world, knowledge is highly valued, and asking a question is considered a luxury. For instance, if we want to draw a difference between how web2 and web3 rewards a question, look at what ChatGPT is doing; it takes credit for the questions we ask and profit from answering questions posed to it.

In contrast, through Web3 and decentralized models, the first person to ask a question owns that unique question. Web3 rewards that person's curiosity and creativity, and every subsequent person who asks your question allows you to receive a reward. This is a significant improvement over Web2, where individuals who ask questions are not rewarded for their contribution. 

3. We must move beyond the generative aspect of AI and focus on how to use the outputs to create actionable items

Although many people view generative AI as a significant breakthrough, it is just the beginning. We must move beyond the generative aspect of AI and focus on how to use the outputs to create actionable items. To do this, we need to develop the necessary frameworks for deployment. For instance, generating an email is just the start; we must also incorporate an email server to send it. Similarly to this concept, to turn AI-generated content into meaningful actions, we need to focus on artificial general intelligence, which is making slow but steady progress. We need to encourage developers to use AI as a tool to generate new business models and make money. They should experiment with new ideas and applications using the frameworks mentioned above. Educating yourself about the field and questioning if things are being done ethically and properly is crucial. Always DYOR (Do Your Own Research) and don't blindly follow what others are saying. Building confidence that you are doing the right thing for the industry is essential.

How To Find Undervalued Assets

• Guest: Ivan On Tech, Co-Founder of Moralis Money
• Host: Szabolcs Gergely, Podcast & YouTube Host at Morningstar Ventures

Top 3 Key Takeaways:

1. Looking at the time rather than the price is more important to define the start and the end of a cycle

Ivan starts the conversation by going deeper into the “Where are we in the market.” He says that the price still does not convince experienced traders that the bull market has started or that the bear market has ended. Nevertheless, Ivan is bullish now but doesn’t believe we will reach All Time High (ATH) in 2023. Most likely, as we reach the better half of 2024 can expect to see a sideways action for Bitcoin and Altcoins in the cryptospace. He goes on to say until now; the market respects the timing of cycles – as we see the same price action as in 2019. Therefore, looking at the timing rather than the price is more important. He says we are right on time in the cycle, which is the only thing that matters.

2. The Best way to prepare for the Altseason is to familiarize yourself with different chains, dApps, and DEXs

The conversation moves on to Altcoins. Ivan stresses it is hard to predict when the Alt season will start. There are excellent returns on Altcoins at the moment, but these gains are nowhere near the whole Alt season we’ve seen in the past. He continues to say the best way to prepare for the Alt season is to familiarize yourself with different chains, dApps, and DEXs so that when the market pumps, one has their wallets set up and is ready to go without wasting time or feeling rushed to research the spot. If you wait, you might just be too late. This is not the time to go all in on Altcoins, but it is time to pay attention and learn as much as possible.

3. Moralis Money platform can show users on-chain analytics and highlight assets that are in demand before they hit social media

Ivan explained that his view on assets has shifted. The main focus should be supply and demand if you are looking for undervalued assets. You can’t find undervalued assets on Coingecko or Twitter. By the time they start trending on these platforms, it’s too late – they aren’t undervalued. That is why his team developed Moralis Money, a platform where users can find assets with increasing demand before they hit social media. He goes on to say that the platform is easy to use, where one can focus on finding new tokens, use only a few filters that appeal to your strategy, and pay attention to the risk-reward in terms of potential rug-pulls, which are not rare in a pool of newly listed coins. 

*Nothing in this recap or the audio file constitutes professional and financial advice from Ivan Liljeqvist (aka Ivan on Tech) and Morningstar Ventures.

Link:

• Websites: https://moralis.io
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/moralisweb3

Guests:

• Bartek Sibiga, Co-Founder of Fancy Bears
• Travis Wu, Founder of HighstreetWorld
• Shashi Menon, Founder of UNXD

Top 5 Key Takeaways:

1. Mainstream Brands recognize the potential of entering Web3 and crypto

To kick off the Twitter Spaces, we asked our guests why brands are entering Web3. All three guests agreed that for a mainstream brand to enter Web3, six different areas of success can be achieved when entered correctly: 

1. Commercial success 
2. Positioning success
3. Marketing success
4. Access to new audiences 
5. Exploration of new products
6. New ways to engage with existing audiences

On the other hand, one of the reasons why brands are not joining Web3 is because of the risk it might bring. Specifically, dropping an NFT collection might be risky, and the brand might need to learn more about it. In the end, there is still a way to go for brands to enter Web3 fully. 

2. The Metaverse will change the way we shop but won’t replace e-commerce and brick-mortar – it will be complementary

A new generation will head to the metaverse to experience a place where tech meets fashion. For example, they can own a sweater that will keep them warm in real life, but they will hold that same digital twin sweater in the metaverse that can act as armor for their avatar. It will change how people shop and open up another channel rather than replace e-commerce and other ways of shopping. 

3. Culture and storytelling are key to bringing brands' physical experience to digital

Storytelling is a crucial element in traditional brands. It’s what makes houses create a community and strong brand loyalty. When launching a successful digital collection with a brand with strong and longstanding values, provenance, digital and physical craftsmanship, multiplatform consumer experiences, storytelling, and community are all key drivers. With these drivers, brands can tell their physical brand story in the digital world. Intimate experiences that are mainly human-led can be replicated and bridged to the digital world in the future if the collaborations focus on making that a priority in the metaverse.

4. The community needs to be put at the forefront

It will be difficult for mainstream brands to figure out how to create a new type of community around their digital NFT collections. Especially with luxury brands with years of heritage and an enate customer base., trying to make a new community or a new type of digital savviness around the existing community will be key. 

5. There are not enough real-world use cases yet for digital brand success

One thing that has held back digital fashion is that there needs to be more successful use cases. The technology is very forward-looking, but the culture (the real-life use case) still needs to be there. The gaming side is the opportunity to create digital use cases for the brand element. Digital and physical experience need more use cases. 

What's Next For MultiversX

• Guest: Beniamin Mincu, Founder & CEO of MultiversX
• Host: Szabolcs Gergely, Podcast & YouTube Host at Morningstar Ventures

Top 3 Key Takeaways:

Beniamin describes MultiversX as a new type of Supercomputer based on a blockchain network. MultiversX enables applications that leverage transparency, cryptographic solid primitives, and deterministic programmable contracts. Builders from MultiversX and projects who build on top of Layer 1 can create products that reimagine financial systems, economic interactions, and money.


1. xPortal is the key to onboarding users on a bigger scale

The first key takeaway is the success of the recently launched xPortal application. Since its launch, Beniamin says he is happy with the progress and features the team has released. He appreciates the community feedback and looks forward to releasing new app versions. The xPortal version prepares the growth engine to show the actual supercomputer the MultiversX team is building. 

Beniamin says xPortal is the best chance for MultiversX to reach a massive scale of people. The entire point of the app is determining the best way to “ship” the product, allowing for a great user experience for the specific features, such as transferring money, playing with NFTs, the card, and more. Moreover, the app's onboarding and distribution must encourage social interaction that allows people to forget about the blockchain technology behind it. Ideally, if this is structured well, the team can start introducing more community challenges where growth is no longer an abstract goal. Still, everything is very closely correlated in the network layer – which would help the ecosystem grow and become more widely adopted. 

2. Blockchain is a necessary solution to some of the challenges we will see in AI

The conversation moved from the recent past to a timely topic in the present and future – AI. Apart from encouraging listeners to dive deeper and educate themselves on AI, Beniamin stresses that AI will become an all-powerful tool that brings challenges and opportunities. Blockchain technology can mitigate those challenges because of its strong sense of truth and rationale. 

Beniamin elaborates and says that in the next couple of months, not even years, we will be able to see some “borderline shocking” new developments in AI. People will find it challenging to understand the truth, and it will be difficult for many to authenticate what AI creates – given the strength it has to create and edit specific facts. Blockchain technology will significantly counter everything AI can do because it can provide transparency and show digital history, potentially distorted by AI. Nevertheless, AI can also be beneficial and will work complementary to the robust features of blockchain. If used correctly, the combination of AI and blockchain can be an essential tool to many that enhances their daily lives and how they work. 

3. Embrace the constant change and never stand still in the everchanging space

To onboard new people, MultiversX is always looking for how they can improve their products. It is crucial to avoid standing still in this rapidly moving crypto space. Constant experimentation, product iterations, community surveys/feedback, and monitoring of what is relevant are critical to adopting and onboarding new users. This is also what MultiversX is all about. 

The team is working on many projects in various verticals. They have new exciting projects coming up within MultiversX. And they are also planning the next XDay!

Link:

• Websites: https://multiversx.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Multiverx

Guests:

• David Johansson, Founder of Blocklords
• Frank Cheng, CEO of Apeiron
• Oren Langberg, Head of Marketing at MonkeyLeague
  
  

Top 3 Key Takeaways:

1. Web2 and Web3 have a lot to learn from each other

As the industry of Web3 gaming is still at the beginning of its time, all three guests agree that we have yet to see a high-quality and complete game in the space. However, when asked what Web2 game developers can learn from Web3, three key points were outlined as qualities that make Web3 unique and exciting. 

• Ownership 
• Access to liquidity
• Community-driven content
• Marketing Features 
• In-game economy, along with token supply & demand

Crypto gaming is surrounded by technology, communication, and perception barriers, hindering Web2 gamers from onboarding. The speakers agree that it makes sense for Web2 gamers to come into Web3, as already billions of gamers spend money and time on games. Still, with the transition from understanding a new business model, tokenization of assets, and creating a wallet, going through KYC, a lot is posed against Web2 gamers to make that transition. By creating fun games that separate the meta-features from the main gameplay, we can enter a future where one's entire digital experience will be ownable and liquid – making many exciting products. Ultimately, we all need to learn from eachother.  

2. Building upon the best Web2 games, Web3 gaming should add components to enhance experiences

The conversation moved on to the sustainability of the Play-to-Earn model. All speakers agree that, at the moment, many gamers are coming onto Web3 intending to maximize profits and speculate on the price. This has yet to help Web3 game developers build their core user group, leading to an unsustainable game that no one wants to play. 

Games must be fun-first, and any game that uses an earning mechanism to acquire users will be challenging. In Web2 gaming, it's the best players earning the most, not speculative users. We must shift to skill - and achievement-based earning models in Web3 gaming, a concept that nods to win-to-earn rather than play-to-earn. 

Web2 distributors and publishers must change their mindset to fit the Web3 distribution model.

We haven’t seen any Web3 publishers and distributors as big as Steam yet. All speakers agree that “traditional” game publishing companies focus on user acquisition, distribution, live handling of operations, and monetization. Web2 publishers must change their mindset when working with Web3 games, as builders mainly focus on driving value to the Token, in-game NFTs, and the users. As Web2 publishers are so hardwired to acquisition and monetization, in the future, we might be seeing more Web3 games self-publishing or the “early” adopter Web2 publishers start to work with blockchain games because they see the potential in the market.

When it comes to a publisher like Steam, it has yet to be able to take that spot. Perhaps in the upcoming years, Web3 will come up with its version of Steam, or on the flip side, Steam will start to support Web3 as the industry grows. 

3. Web2 distributors and publishers must change their mindset to fit the Web3 distribution model

We haven’t seen any Web3 publishers and distributors as big as Steam yet. All speakers agree that “traditional” game publishing companies focus on user acquisition, distribution, live handling of operations, and monetization. Web2 publishers must change their mindset when working with Web3 games, as builders mainly focus on driving value to the Token, in-game NFTs, and the users. As Web2 publ

What The Future Holds For Launchpad Projects

• Guest: Joao Leite, Head of Business Development at Polkastarter
• Host: Szabolcs Gergely, Podcast & YouTube Host at Morningstar Ventures

Tune in to learn how launchpad projects prepare for the bull market and how they upgrade their platform to deliver more value to the community.

Links:

• Website: https://polkastarter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/polkastarter

Guests:

• Scott Melker, The Wolf of All Streets
• Simon Harman, Co-Founder of Chainflip
• Flavian Manea, Co-Founder of Bware Labs

Top 5 Key Takeaways:

1. Despite external factors, Bitcoin is following its 4-year halving cycle
 
The conversation starts by asking our guests where we are in the market cycle and what we expect to see in the future. Scott starts the conversation by saying we aren't seeing anything too different, despite correlations or external factors. He refers to the 4-year halving cycle charts and says Bitcoin follows the path/trend it has always been on. According to the chart, it makes sense that there was a bottom in November, December, and January, and now leading up to May 2024, Bitcoin is setting itself up for a rampant move to the upside. He states that if we look back at this in a couple of years, many will see it as a regular Bitcoin retract cycle. 

2. Bitcoin following the equity and stock market is a false narrative

The conversation continues to understand if there is a correlation between the stock market and Bitcoin. All speakers agree that though there have been correlations between the way the stock market moves to Bitcoin, there is currently no correlation between the two - essentially arguing that it's a bit of a false narrative.


3. Products created in this next cycle need to help people in the ecosystem with real-life use cases
 
Moving away from the topic of market conditions, the conversation focused more on the project, founder, and product end of the market. As we had both Chainflip and Bware Labs founders on the call, and Scott, who understands the community, we were curious to hear how launching a product in the current market has been and what they want to see in the future from project founders. Both Flavian and Simon agreed that it would be an exciting time, especially as the last couple of months have been challenging to launch products due to the lack of capital and getting interest from the general public. 

4. Important to create crypto products and crypto content that is easy to understand

Flavian and Scott dive deeper into the accessibility of products. They both agree that the best way to mainstream adoption is abstracting the complexity that comes with crypto. For example, the vernacular and usability need to be simpler for average users. In the future, users shouldn't be aware that they are using Web3 products and should just be using a product that solves their everyday needs. Moreover, Scott and Simon touched upon the topic of stablecoins in the market. Despite market conditions, they mentioned that many people use stablecoins instead of bank accounts. These products have become more popular as they are instrumental and understandable developments in the ecosystem.


5. There is an opportunity for banks who want to do business with "us" (crypto)

To round off the conversation, we asked our guests what the future of banks will look like and what needs to happen for more crypto adoption from the traditional financial sector. Scott starts the conversation and says we already see the early signs of adoption from trad-fi. In the past years, there has been a crisis of confidence in the crypto space, but now we are seeing that shift in this crisis towards the banking system. This phenomenon is opening up people's eyes as there are realizing banks are not the place where everything is safe. However, this doesn't mean that banks are going anywhere. 

Navigating Through Blockch-AI-n With A Unified API

• Guest: Ganesh Swami, CEO of Covalent
• Host: Szabolcs Gergely, Podcast & YouTube Host at Morningstar Ventures

Tune in to learn about building in the bear market, navigating through blockchain with unified API, and listening to some brainstorming about today's AI hype.

Links:

• Website: https://www.covalenthq.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Covalent_HQ

Guest:

• Eric Chen, Co-founder of Injective
• Mounir Benchemled, Founder of Paraswap
• Thanh Le, Founder of Coin98 Wallet

Top 5 Key Takeaways:

1. The value proposition of DeFi is only being appreciated now

The first key takeaway was mentioned when the guests were asked about the various challenges seen in DeFi today. According to our guests, though numerous projects within the crypto space create robust solutions, DeFi was underappreciated until the fall of FTX. With the collapse, users started to understand that the convenience of centralization can have severe consequences. Injective, Paraswap, and Coin98 have all been dedicated and fully committed to decentralization to limit the risk for their users.


2. Traditional financial institutions are looking to DeFi to solve their challenges

Before everything that happened in November 2022, many institutions showed interest in crypto. FinTechs and banks were conversing with mainly CeFi projects to see how they could trade via their infrastructures. This mindset shifted with the fall of FTX, leading to a rise in DeFi. Institutions started to come towards DeFi builders to understand their protocols and build with them. 

Mounir, Thanh, and Albert all agreed that what institutions are looking for are twofold: 

• Counterparty risk that is suppressed while using DeFi
• Instant settlement components - which is an upgrade of what already exists in TradeFi

3. The DeFi ecosystem needs more builders focused on network obstruction

The conversation flows back to the seamless onboarding and UX of DeFi applications. Especially when it comes to a complex topic like DeFi and crypto, everything needs to be built to increase the attainability for real-world users to gain more market share. A dApp should be so simple to understand that even if one doesn’t know anything about DeFi, derivatives, or leverage, one should still be able to use the dApp.


4. User experience must be simplified before we consider onboarding the next millions of users

Although some projects are pushing the limits and have seen immense growth in the DeFi space over the past years, onboarding is still challenging. A topic such as wallet management is still very “heavy” for people to understand, and that is perhaps why DeFi doesn’t have millions of users yet. Similarly, it’s not just the users who need to gain a simplified understanding and suite of tools, but developers too.


5. Education, experimentation, and putting security at the forefront will mature DeFi to the next level

Last but not least, we asked our guests where they see the evolution of DeFi going, given that it currently faces two significant challenges – lack of security and regulation. 

Our guests agree the industry is on the road to maturity, with more best practices showcased across the ecosystem. Nevertheless, in the short-coming future, DeFi will continue to be in the experimental phase. Albert says there is an inherent tension between innovation and security that protocol builders must face when building. Thus, security will be top of mind. 

Our guests go on to discuss the misconception that DeFi is safe because it’s non-custodial, but there are still a lot of tech risks that come with it. In the future, it would be good to see more standards on protocol and how it needs to be built. Builders can learn a lot and borrow many regulatory practices from traditional finance based on years of research. 

A Wallet To Access Most Of The Chains In Crypto

• Guest: Emile Dubié, Co-founder of Xdefi
• Host: Szabolcs Gergely, Podcast & YouTube Host at Morningstar Ventures

Tune in to learn about the DEFI Wallet, which gives you access to most of the existing chains in crypto and provides you with self-custody and education to ensure that your assets are as safe as possible.

Links:

• Website: https://xdefi.io/
• Download the App: https://go.xdefi.io/morningstar