Web3 goes Mainstream

Interview with Rick Junnier, Head of Growth, BlockTrust. BlockTrust works with some of the world’s biggest brands helping them embrace Web3 technologies like NFTs (let’s call them digital assets from now on – doesn’t have the baggage of “NFT”) and the Metaverse. Rick talks us through the 4 key aspects of Web3 for any big brand:

1. Community
2. Ownership of a digital asset
3. Engagement
4. Loyalty

Rick gives some great examples of projects they have worked on in a variety of sectors, including with entertainment brands like Village Roadshow, sports like Cricket Australia and the National Basketball League as well as with some big fashion brands. For Chief Marketing Officers Web3 has the potential to allow them to connect directly with their customer community rather than relying on access via Web2 intermediaries. We also hear how Web3 can solve the privacy/cyber-breach issue.

Links:

BlockTrust website

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Interview with the Honourable Victor Dominello – Minister for Customer Service. The NSW government is a world leader in “citizen-centric government”. Find out about some of remarkable technology-firsts from the NSW government including the digital drivers licence and data analytics projects that have put money back in the pockets of citizens literally. The interview really takes off when the Minister talks about the launch of the blockchain-based Building Trust Index – imagine a digital twin of all buildings on the blockchain so you can see all the products and vendors that were involved in building that building. We then cover what is likely to be the Minister’s greatest legacy, a government-backed digital identity project based on Web3 architecture – due to be delivered in February 2023. With this innovation, every citizen will truly own their personal data and be able to completely control who gets access to what elements of your data.

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We interview one of Australia’s blockchain pioneers, Michaela Juric about the rising importance of stablecoins in the financial system. Michaela's storied blockchain career started with her business Bitcoin Babe and she then went on to set up blockchain advisory service, Dexah. Michaela now works for Novatti, the ASX-listed payments fintech which has just announced its AUDD stablecoin. The AUDD is backed by actual Australian dollars and has a variety of uses for businesses, including making international payments faster, cheaper and available 24/7. We also talk about the future of stablecoins and where the market is heading, including one of the most remarkable possible use cases ever - which will help anyone who has ever been caught in traffic. Please join us for this fun and insightful episode.

Links:

Novatti website

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Interview with Dan Ryan – General Counsel, Everledger.

Everledger may be the first business inspired by a Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie. Founder, Leanne Kemp, saw Blood Diamond and knew blockchain technology held the answer to the difficult task of tracking diamonds - and so Everledger was born. Having now grown to over 100 employees, Everledger is a global leader in tracking provenance of high value assets, including diamonds, apparel and batteries. 

In 2021 Everledger won a contract with the Australian Government to track the supply chain of critical minerals. This world-first project which focussed on nickel has been a great success - with more to come. 

Hear the story of how this amazing company has changed the world of asset tracking. 

Links:
Everledger website

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Michelle Grey, Co-founder & CEO of Culture Vault & Ribal Hosn, Film Director and NFT “Degen”

This one is fun! Get ready for a ride into the epicentre of art and commerce as we talk to two people at the vanguard of the NFT revolution. In addition to owning Culture Vault (an NFT marketplace and Web3 agency), Michelle is listed in the top 100 people shaping the cultural landscape in Aust and the top 100 innovators in Aust. Ribal Hosn is a Mixed Tech-Media Artist Film Director & storyteller. He is one of Australia’s leading fashion filmmakers having worked with Harpers Bazaar, Vogue and brands like Country Road, Coach, Fila and Adidas.

Michelle is focussed on how big brands can harness the power of art and NFTs to find a new link with an audience but also how crypto wallets are the new data play – brands can deliver promotions direct to the wallet – it is the new email address. For the individuals, wallets will be a “social passport” where the NFTs that you have in your wallet will say things about the sort of person you are - similar to photos on your Instagram account. 

Ribal is a self-confessed recovering “Degen”. What is a “Degen” you ask? There are a few definitions but effectively Degens are people who obsessively trade the crypto and NFT markets – sometimes 24/7. We get to understand Degen culture and terms like WAGME (“we are all going to make it”). But also we get to understand more about how art, technology, commerce and community are coming together in Web3. 

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In this episode, we're talking to Leigh Travers, CEO, Binance Australia. Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world and has been successfully operating in Australia for a number of years. In this interview Leigh talks about the demographics of his customer base as well as the Australian regulatory landscape and the future of digital assets. However, Binance is more than a crypto exchange and we discuss: 

• Binance NFT - one of the world’s largest marketplaces for digital assets
• Binance Vault - the new staking service allowing Australians to earn money on their crypto deposits
• Binance Labs - a venture fund which just closed a US$500M round and has invested in a number of great Web3 businesses including Sandbox and even Australia’s “move-to-earn” player STEPN
• Binance Digital ID - a solution to the problems of identity verification in Web3. 

Links: 

Binance website

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Mike is one of the kings of 3D and visualising info. He is the author of “The Age of Smart Information” and “Envisioning Holograms” and has a new book coming up, “Visualising business”. This is a man who sees the world and its information very differently to most of us. He heads up Microsoft Garage where employees of Microsoft are able to go to make their craziest tech ideas come true and where he helps large organisations “surface the invisible”. 

 Equal parts artist and engineer, every week Mike talks to some of the largest organisations on the planet to help them with one key question - what is their role in Web3. We get an insight into some of that advice in the interview including the gem - you do not need to be the shiny bauble of Web3, there are plenty of amazing commercial opportunities to be involved in the infrastructure/back-end of Web3. Listen in and find out more. 

Links:
The Microsoft Garage website

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The Irwin family hold a special place in the hearts of most Australians. When Australia Zoo decided to do an NFT, they turned to Web3 Agency Meadow Labs. We talk to their Chief Marketing Officer, Mariella Meija, about the Australia Zoo NFT project – how it came about, how it was executed and importantly how the project brought 1500 people who had never bought an NFT into the NFT world. Importantly for the Irwins, the project was sustainable (using the world’s first carbon-negative blockchain) and the NFTs actually do good in the world.

We also discuss where Tiffany (the jewellers) made $12.5M by selling 250 NFTs in a few minutes and what lessons we can learn for large organisations embracing NFTs. Somewhat controversially Mariella made a comment on Twitter that we were nowhere near having a Metaverse yet. That caused some backlash online and we talk to Mariella about her views on the Metaverse. Also we discuss the importance of canned tuna to Mariella as an underappreciated lunch meat. Fun and Web3 abounds in this episode.

Links:
Australia Zoo website

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Hear how Lachlan Feeney started Labrys when he was 19 years old and over the last five years has built the largest on-shore blockchain development and consulting company in the country. Lachlan talks about his work creating enterprise blockchain solutions for the big end of town, including Downer Engineering and the Solomon Islands government. It is these sorts of clients that have driven his company to increase headcount by 500% and increased revenue by almost 200% in the last year as the companies and governments realise Web3 is something they need to be involved in. Lachlan gives insight into which companies are most likely to get benefit from Web3 projects.

Links:

Labrys website

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Find out how a large bank has managed to successfully execute on its innovation strategy by becoming the first bank in the world to issue a stablecoin on a permission-less public blockchain (Ethereum). ANZ  has completed three landmark stablecoin transactions for customers. Two transactions were for the Smorgon Family Group which needed a stablecoin to buy digital assets, including carbon credit tokens from Betacarbon. The other transaction, involving the Australian Distillers Association and the Australian Tax Office, streamlines how distillers can remit tax – creating remarkable efficiencies for participants large and small.

Nigel explains each of these transactions but also how he manages to achieve such remarkable innovations inside a large bank. He also paints a bright picture for organisations that are looking to become more involved in the token economy because of the ability to use enterprise-grade service providers such as Fireblocks and Chainalysis. We finish with a discussion around the great opportunities for organisation from engaging with the Hedera Network.

If you are in an organisation and want to further your Web3 strategies, listen to this interview.

Links:

ANZ Website

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