Web3 goes Mainstream

Want to help the planet? Then have a listen to this episode. Two of the biggest macrotrends - decarbonisation and digital assets come together in one of the hottest Web3 plays around – Betacarbon. Recently the Smorgon family made a large investment in Betacarbon using ANZ’s new stablecoin to facilitate the token purchase.

Buying carbon credits is a massively complex proposition and there are only 50 or so companies in Australia actively trading carbon. For the rest of us, the closest we get is whether we want to pay some extra money to the airline to offset the carbon emissions when we buy a plane ticket. Betacarbon changes all that. This company allows everyone to buy/trade carbon credits – using tokens.

In this episode, you will learn:

• How the carbon credit and offset regimes work in Australia
• How you can access those markets using Betacarbon
• How the Smorgon/ANZ stablecoin transaction worked – seeing tokens as the future of investing.

Guy started the business with his son Jules so we also get a bit of parenting advice thrown in – at no extra charge.

Links

BetaCarbon website

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every global organisation should consider using stablecoins – there are tangible benefits available right now.  Hear how JP Morgan is helping global companies like Siemens manage their working capital and liquidity using the JP Morgan Coin. Some of the advantages of using this coin include 24/7 banking (no longer having to work to the “bank’s afternoon cut-off time" to get a cross-border transfer initiated), efficiency and pre-programmed actions via the smart contract.  JP Morgan has always been a trail blazer in the web3 space. In 2019 they released the JPM Coin which was one of the first stablecoins.

In this session you will learn:

• What is a stablecoin
• Not every stablecoin is the same – ranging from fully-backed like Tether to algorithmic coins like Terra/Luna
• An actual case study showing how the JP Morgan Coin works and how it helps organisations
• Why the collapse of the Terra/Luna stablecoin is not the end of stablecoins
• Update on stablecoin regulation

 

Links

JP Morgan website

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is more to Cricket NFTs than “classic catches”! Inside Cricket’s Global NFT Project

Globally cricket is the second most popular sport behind soccer, so cricket is a massive deal. Finn Bradshaw, former journalist and now with the biggest digital job in cricket, talks about their recent successful NFT launch. The ICC puts on all the Cricket World Cups and has a treasure trove of NFT content. But  Finn explains that there is much more to NFTs than “classic moments”. The focus is on building utility for the fans.

Hear about how the ICC built a major community on Discord but also managed to have a successful NFT program targeted at the non-crypto-native community. You can buy these NFTs with fiat. We also hear about how a collaborative relationship with their tech partner FanCraze has led to the remarkable results for this project. We finish with a sneak peak into the ICC’s Web3 strategy – A World Cup in the Metaverse anyone?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In April 2022 Be Media and the Australian Football League (AFL) announced the AFL Mint partnership and brand. If you love footy you will want to listen to this. If you love NFTs you will want to listen to this. If you have an interest in cutting-edge B2C marketing trends you will be in heaven listening to this interview.

Jordan Fogarty is an award-winning entrepreneur, and Founder and CEO of Australian specialist Web3 strategy and delivery company, Be Media by Animoca Brands. Founded in 2013, Be Media is leading the Web3, metaverse, and NFT charge following its acquisition by the global gaming software and VC behemoth, Animoca Brands. Jordan is a market-leading business growth strategist named an Anthill 30under30 winner and Business News 40under40 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Be Media is the go-to-market arm of Animoca Brands. The team covers all aspects from strategy to creative to community engagement and is backed by technical delivery capability to run large scale blockchain, digital collectables and NFT projects.

 

Links:

Be Media website

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the great potential use cases for NFT tech is digital twinning.  A digital twin NFT is a digital representation of a real life asset. For example Alfa Romeo’s new car comes with an NFT log book. The Prada Group & LVMH-backed Aura Blockchain Consortium is rolling out a shared solution for brands to issue digital twins of luxury items like handbags and watches purchased IRL. But the best use I think is a digital twin of ourselves where we will control (via smart contract) who gets to see/exploit our health, financial and other data. No more just trusting that companies will not exploit your data. One of the leading companies in the data NFT space is Itheum and in this podcast I discuss how Itheum is, right now, using NFT tech to give gamers control of their gaming information as well as patients of a health care company control of their health information. Remarkable technology and business model. NFT tech could solve all our privacy problems as we have the potential to move away from just trusting companies, but we can actually control and monetise our own data.

 

Links:

Itheum website

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many people in the crypto/NFT world have the mistaken belief that transactions involving crypto, NFT and blockchain are somehow anonymous. In fact nothing could be further from the truth, it is comparatively easy to track transactions on the blockchain - because it is public. We talk to Mark Bailey and Joshua Ho from the Crypto Forensics Team at Hall Chadwick as they tell us tales that make an episode of CSI seem boring. Their team spend their days chasing down fraud in the crypto and NFT space. The tasks include verifying assets, finding hidden wallets and tracking crypto transactions in the case of corporate fraud. Their services are also used by self-managed super fund auditors tracing crypto funds and in family law disputes. Hear fascinating stories of how these cyber-sleuths are able to track transactions. We also get an insight into how the Tax Office is being proactive in discovering crypto transactions and chasing under-reporting.

 

Links:

Hall Chadwick website

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Insider’s Guide to Successful NFT Projects

We talk to one of the leading engineers in the Web3 space, Roy Hui about how to ensure a successful NFT project - whether you are an individual artist or in the Marketing Department of a large organisation. Roy is the Founder of Pellar and has been involved in some of the most successful NFT drops of recent times including for the Australian Tennis Open, DRP.io, Red Village and Slumdoge. He worked on the Wall Street Bets NFT Project. You may recall Wall Streets Bets is the Reddit forum that pushed the Gamestop stock up 600% in 2021, burning a bunch of short sellers in the process. Roy spends his life helping Web2 companies access the opportunities created by Web3. Hear about the NFT world from an insider. 

 

Links:

Pellar website

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cryptocurrency has often been seen as an unregulated environment but, as its use cases move more mainstream, it is clear that there are significant regulatory issues when dealing with crypto. Together with our tax and accounting experts, we will examine the relevant issues when:

• An organisation buys crypto as part of corporate treasury, ie. to keep it on the balance sheet. Companies like Tesla, Block (Square) and Microstrategy have famously done this to diversify risk. They are now being joined by other organisations, including recently KPMG Canada.
• An organisation accepts crypto in payment for goods or services. Companies like AT&T in the US have been doing this for a while and there is a trend for companies to be more open to this in Australia.
• An organisation pays its staff partly/wholly in crypto, such as is being done by Australian tech success story, Finder.
• An organisation issues crypto tokens to staff as incentives like a traditional ESOP but with tokens. We have recently supported an organisation to do this and, interestingly the token options were valued more highly by the staff than the equity options.

Please join this fascinating session with Damien Jones, Partner & Head of Accounting Advisory Team, EY and Greg Reinhardt, Partner and Head of Tax, Norton Rose Fulbright, Australia

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, “Beyond Bitcoin: DeFi & NFTs - The Australian Perspective”, Nick discussed DeFi and NFTs with Jonathan Miller, Managing Director (Aus) for global crypto exchange, Kraken. Decentralised finance (or DeFi) refers to decentralised applications working via smart contracts on a blockchain. The apps provide crypto-based financial services such as lending, insurance and digital asset trading. Currently there are more than $80 Billion of DeFi smart contracts in the market and the number is growing every day – almost invisible to the traditional finance world. DeFi is exciting as it democratises financial products as well as creating fundamental value (and liquidity) for crypto assets. NFTs or Non-fungible tokens have dramatically changed the art world in recent times with more than $60 Million being paid for a piece of digital art. But NFTs do not stop at art, they can change the way we think about ownership of everything in the digital world. Nick and Jonathan discussed successful use cases of DeFi and NFTs in Australia, as well as regulation and the “crypto brain-drain”. The scale of DeFi, its uses and its speed of growth will be a massive surprise to anyone not already aware. Similarly with NFTs. This is relevant for everyone, no matter what industry, to understand how DeFi & NFTs can potentially change their business and their world.

Links:

Kraken website

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, “Beyond Bitcoin: Why DeFi & NFTs are potential game changers for financial markets and maybe every other industry”, Nick discussed DeFi and NFTs with Egor Sidelska, Director of crypto hedge fund, Magnet Capital. Decentralised finance (or DeFi) refers to decentralised applications working via smart contracts on a blockchain. The apps provide crypto-based financial services such as lending, insurance and digital asset trading. Currently there are more than $50 Billion of DeFi smart contracts in the market and the number is growing every day – almost invisible to the traditional finance world. DeFi is exciting as it democratises financial products as well as creating fundamental value (and liquidity) for crypto assets. NFTs or Non-fungible tokens have dramatically changed the art world in recent times with more than $60 Million being paid for a piece of digital art. But NFTs do not stop at art, they can change the way we think about ownership of everything in the digital world. Nick and Egor explain DeFi and NFTs in an easy to understand way and then discuss their most successful use cases. The scale of DeFi, its uses and its speed of growth will be a massive surprise to anyone not already aware. Similarly with NFTs. This session is relevant for everyone, no matter what industry, to understand how DeFi & NFTs can potentially change their business and their world.

Links
Magnet Capital website

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.