#95 | Google's New Web3 Business

Latest NFT news from the Vatican Library Web3 Support Program, Google Cloud's Web3 extension, and Neobank's KYC NFTs

Estimated Read Time: 7 minutes

Hey friends,

Welcome back to another Morning NFTea! On today’s specially curated edition we have a pretty great bag of stories from the Vatican’s new use of NFTs, Google Cloud’s Web3 extension, and using NFTs as a solution to Web3 identity verification. Let’s just jump into it!

NFTs opened Pandora’s box with the concept of immutable “things” living forever on decentralized “tamper-proof” blockchains, whether used for verifiable clothing or a new age of profile pictures, one use that continued to gain steam has been the idea of artifact and historic preservation. Previously this concept saw some thought-provoking initiatives like Indonesia’s preservation of its cultural heritage, Titanic tokenizing its wreckage artifacts, or Museums preserving records of the Ukraine war, but the latest uptaker has been the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church; the Vatican and its plan to digitize its library’s vast collection of historical assets.

To set the scene for the Vatican’s extensive time capsule on the human species, it’s worth prefacing that the library’s priceless collection includes 1.6 million printed books, 80,000 manuscripts, 300,000 coins and medals, and over 150,000 prints and drawings. In a partnership with global technology services provider NTT DATA, the Vatican Library is embracing NFT technology to help preserve these valuable pieces of human history while making them accessible worldwide. Utilizing NTT DATA’s “AMLAD” digital archiving solution which includes 3D scanning, digital restoration, and metadata management, the Vatican Library Web3 Support Project is using Web3 to help reach a broader community of people to support the continued and expensive digitalization of the libraries archives.

For now, the digitalized artifacts belong to the AMLADs library which has been optimized for cataloging and accessible user-friendly systems. However, Web3 enters the equation by linking this library with its international patrons. Supporters who donate to the Vatican Library Web3 Support Project can take home NFTs providing access to 15 high-resolution cultural heritage assets from the library accompanied by specially created explanatory texts and photographs.

Although this isn’t a full NFT metamorphosis of the libraries collection, the Vatican’s use of NFTs to help share its digital assets with the world while supporting its historic preservation is a nice win-win scenario that marks a new era in digital archiving.

You know it’s a bullish day for Web3 when Web2 monopoly Google takes another step into embracing this next iteration of the internet, and this week’s story comes from Google Cloud’s expansion of its Startups Program to include support and resources for Web3-specific projects.

The Google Cloud Startups Program is a one-stop shop to help upcoming startups accelerate their business with access to product and technical support, dedicated mentors, and industry experts to name a few, oh and of course there’s also access to Google’s Cloud service for any of your digital enterprises need. With the addition of Web3 services to this roster, the official press release says “Our goal is to enable Web3 builders to focus on what really matters – speed-to-market and innovation. This means allowing startups to build on our fully managed, serverless platform at no cost, as well as the resources and community to be successful”.

In a heavily digital industry like Web3, the support of Google is a huge helping hand for upcoming entrepreneurs who don't have to stress about the technical infrastructure as they build and scale their Web3 dreams.

Specifically, this Web3 side of the program will see gated Discord channels with Google Cloud Web3 product and engineering teams, VIP access to Google Cloud Web3 community events, exclusive grants from foundation partners like Polygon Ventures $3 million Ecosystem Fund, discounts on partner products including Nansen and ThirdWeb, and up to $200,000 in Cloud credits to help build decentralized applications, protocols, and services.

Google’s support of Web3 shows the commitment they have to help upcoming founders and developers move fast and smart in this emerging world without the hassle of the technical debt that can historically be overwhelming, allowing builders to focus on what matters to them and their projects.

Customer verification is a tricky task for the permissionless and decentralized world of Web3 but arguably one of the most important for the eventual mainstream adoption by countries and their citizens. In fact, just last edition we saw global powerhouse Mastercard launch their crypto credentials program in an effort to address this problem, but today’s initiative comes from New York-based financial institution Neobank Cogni and their stab at a solution through soul-bound NFT tokens.

Four months ago Neobank launched its noncustodial multichain crypto wallet for all of your Web3 needs, and in keeping up with regulatory requirements they needed a way to bring its “bank-level” Know Your Customer (KYC) information to Web3. Soul-bound NFTs are permanent non-transferable NFTs making them ideal for managing permanent records, Neobank saw these types of NFTs as a great opportunity to hold their customer’s KYC information that can then be used as verification when sharing and accessing other Web3 apps subject to the holder’s consent.

According to Archie Raviskankar, founder and CEO of Neobank, the goal is to offer clients an improved user experience saying, “The reason why the crypto-curious have not really been able to jump on the decentralization bandwagon is, one, obviously, the user experience. The second is trust in the ecosystem”.

In the future, Neobank aims to help facilitate an ecosystem of decentralized apps that can tap into these soul-bound NFTs so users can verify their Web3 identity with just a few clicks, creating a pretty seamless solution for the connection of the real world to the digital.

 

BLEND — Blur’s new lending protocol — has caused ripples in the NFT market.

The tagline “just 2 ETH up front to buy an Azuki” is extremely appealing… but the math behind is borderline predatory.

Some perspective on how legislators around the world handle lending APY…

While the Azuki floor price saw a quick spike due to an uptick of loan-backed purchases, buyers quickly got a taste of the dump from Blur farmers.

Quoting from Twitter threadoor and Azuki researcher-in-residence Wale:

Imagine I want to buy a second Azuki, but I currently only have 3 ETH available.

So I take out a 13 ETH loan to finance the NFT. Azuki floor price is at 16 ETH and currently on the rise, there are many loan offers and I find a loan with just 0.1% daily interest. Sounds good, I think Azuki will perform well in the next few months, so why not.

I take the loan and use it to buy an Azuki.

But what’s that? A Blur airdrop farmer just dumped 20 Azukis into bids? Floor is only at 15.5? Okay no problem, I am here for the long-term.

But wait, the lender wants his money back? In 30 hours? Okay, I will just look for a re-financing.

Hmm the loan offers have gotten significantly worse. Now I have to pay 2.5% daily interest for 12 ETH? That's too much interest for me. Meanwhile the floor dropped further, 14.5 now. The rates are getting worse and worse.

And before I know it, the 30 hours are up and "my" Azuki is foreclosed to 14.3 WETH, minus my loan I get back only 1.3 ETH of my 3 ETH and the NFT is also gone.

waleswoosh, Wale Drops Newsletter #3

Be careful with loans out there and don’t put in more than you can afford to lose.

Thanks for joining us today, we hope you have a great couple of days while we curate the next edition, take care!

Be honest! Your feedback helps us improve!

Connect with us on socials for a more personal experience!

DISCLAIMER:

None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.95