Morningstar Ventures Team
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Interview: Fusionist - Ike T.

Roundtable: "Web3 Adoption in Developing Countries"

Interview: Chainflip - Simon Harman

Roundable: "DeFi - Navigating The Future Of Finance"

Interview: Apeiron - Frank Cheng

Roundtable: "6-Month Outlook: What’s On The Horizon"

James Zhang

CEO & Co-Founder at Jambo Technology

Interview: Jambo Technology - James Zhang

Roundtable: "Deep Dive Into NFT Utilities"

Interview: Gunzilla Games - Vlad Korolev

- Joshua Tobkin, Co-founder of Supra Oracles

1. We need simple web3 applications focused on learning experience design to educate new users

We kicked off the conversation by asking our guests what the easiest way to educate new users is and what is currently missing from the application. SupraOracles Co-founder Joshua kicked off the topic by giving an example of what they are doing with their gamified learn-to-earn program. The program experienced significant success during its beta run in January, attracting around 8-10k participants and gaining widespread popularity. This program provides economic incentives for learning, emphasizing the importance of being thoughtful in the learning process. 

Moving forward, he says we must prioritize learning experience design, particularly in light of advancements such as Chatgpt and AI. Learning experience design involves meeting individuals at their current level of understanding and providing them with the necessary information in a manner that enables rapid comprehension and knowledge acquisition. Mia continued the conversation by stating a notable strategy for onboarding users is through Gamefi, which serves as an intriguing approach to educating more individuals. To engage new users in the web3 industry, addressing why blockchain matters to them in their real lives is vital. Therefore, integrating user applications and bringing blockchain infrastructure into daily routines is essential for effective education. 

Finally, Aniket says applications themselves must prioritize ease of use for all users, regardless of their familiarity with cryptocurrency. User-facing applications should be designed to be accessible to individuals who have no prior knowledge of crypto, even if they operate within the web3 environment.

2. The future will not solely be characterized by openness without privacy; rather, a harmonious coexistence of both

Our discussion moved to the topic of privacy, where Mia and Joshua provided insights into the future and the transition toward an open DeFi world. Mia elaborated on what Mystiko is doing, emphasizing how their protocol ensures privacy for general users while enabling the identification and exclusion of malicious users. Through the utilization of ZK technology, Mystiko encrypts every transaction at the smart contract level, ensuring that only users can view and own their respective transactions. Although Mystiko can collaborate with regulators by providing necessary proofs and transaction details, the decentralized nature of the protocol ensures the transactions remain private. The aim is to strike a balance between regulatory requirements and safeguarding the privacy of legitimate users, only providing privacy for positive purposes and not facilitating illegal activities.

Joshua elaborates on the topic and states – as we venture into an open DeFi world, other communities will likely adopt Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and implement anti-money laundering measures, a development anticipated shortly. However, the fundamental principle of eliminating intermediaries in transactions will persist. It is important to recognize that our future will not solely be characterized by openness without privacy; rather, a harmonious coexistence of both will be necessary to meet the needs of individuals and society as a whole.

We asked our guests what space is still underdeveloped in web3. Aniket starts the conversation by stating that Biconomy has initiated a program to facilitate collaboration with more projects and assist them in their development endeavors. He says that one key aspect that requires significant attention is key management, particularly in implementing seed phrases and enhancing the safety of onboarding processes. Addressing this area is crucial since a considerable number of users, around 90%, disengage from products due to a lack of comprehension. Therefore, Biconomy's program eagerly welcomes innovative ideas to address these challenges.

Furthermore, the founder expresses a desire to witness the emergence of more social applications within the Biconomy ecosystem. Mia agrees and says ensuring a strong user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) is paramount, while simultaneously providing developers with simplified tools and methods is equally crucial. The web3 space still has substantial room for growth and numerous areas for improvement, including privacy, data storage, and bridging the gap between online and offline data.

Thank you to our guests for an insightful conversation. We host monthly Twitter Spaces Roundtables and Live Interviews featuring inspiring individuals across the crypto space. Follow us on Twitter to set a reminder for our next event so you don't miss out!

Aniket Jindal

Biconomy

Roundtable: "Crypto Infrastructure - Building The Future Of The Internet"

- Bartek Sibiga, Co-Founder of Fancy Bears

- Travis Wu, Founder of Highstreet Market

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: 

- New ways to engage with existing audiences

- On the other hand, brands are not joining Web3 because of the risk it might bring. Specifically, dropping an NFT collection might be risky, and the brand might not know enough 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 crucial 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 extreme 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, creating a new community or a new type of digital savviness around the existing community will be critical. 

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. 

Travis Wu

Highstreet Market

UNXD

Rountable: "Brand Collaborations In The NFT And Metaverse Space"

Interview: zkLink - Vincent Yang

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, there is a growing consensus 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 new unique skills and capabilities.

The conversation continued with the hosts stating that the majority of 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 that 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. It is crucial to educate yourself about the field and to question if things are being done ethically and properly. Always DYOR (Do Your Own Research) and don't blindly follow what others are saying. It is essential to build confidence that you are doing the right thing for the industry.

Dotmoovs

Humans

Roundtable: "The Role of AI in the Crypto Space" 

Interview: Moralis - Ivan On Tech

- David Johansson, Founder & CEO of Blocklords

- Oren Langberg, Head of Marketing and Partnerships at Monkey League

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. 

- 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.

3. 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.

Apeiron

Monkey League

Roundtable: "Onboarding the Next Generation of Web3 Gamers"

- Wolf Of All Street, Influencer & Crypto Trader

- Simon Harman, Co-founder & CEO of Chainflip

- Flavian Manea, Co-founder & CEO of Bware Labs

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. Simon agrees and says that he is excited about the next cycle and that it's interesting to see Bitcoin following this cycle despite all the external factors. He continues to state that Bitcoin has always led the change, which is not different now, and it will be interesting to see the next wave of projects coming up in the next bull run.

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.

Simon goes on to say that it's also an issue of timing. Many people in the crypto space joined after the last black swan event around 2020 and 2021. They might see that there is a strong correlation between the tech stock market and crypto, especially since some events in the past years. However, if you zoom out and look at everything happening now and how Bitcoin is explicitly prevailing, there is not that strong of a correlation after all.

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. Nevertheless, the space is picking up again, naturally with the rally of Bitcoin, but also because more discussions are happening in mainstream settings around crypto. For this, it's a great time to launch.

All guests also said they hope to see projects that solve real-life use cases in the next bull run. They hope founders can be more conscious of what they are creating and that it's not just another "Ponzi" scheme that will generate another unnecessary black swan event.

4. Important to create crypto products and 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 their bank accounts. These products have become more popular as they are instrumental and understandable products 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. Banks will always be around, but they need to start thinking about how they will adopt digital assets like Bitcoin and how they could potentially help in their reserve; this will shift how banks operate.

The conversation continues with the argument that we don't need too many on and off-ramps. For example, crypto makes up a significant amount of money globally, and there is a demand for these services. And there shouldn't be too many problems getting banks and crypto companies to work together. There is ample opportunity for banks to work with Bitcoin, and if you have a distressed bank, why not work with cryptocurrency companies?

The Spaces closes with a statement from Falvian, as he says it also depends on the regulators and the trust of the traditional institutions. Now is the time for the crypto industry to build trust and learn from our past mistakes. Banks will then see the value of working with crypto companies, and naturally, demand will increase.

Chainflip

Flavian Manea

Bware Labs

Roundtable: "Where are we in the Market Cycle?"

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

The first key takeaway was mentioned when asked about the challenges seen in DeFi today. Though numerous projects within the crypto space create robust solutions, DeFi was underappreciated until the fall of FTX. Users understood that the convenience of centralization could have severe consequences. Injective, Paraswap, and Coin98 have committed to decentralization.

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

Before November 2022, many institutions showed interest in crypto. FinTechs and banks were conversing with CeFi projects to see how they could trade. The fall of FTX led 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 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. Banks will always be around, but they need to start thinking about how they will adopt digital assets like Bitcoin and how they could help in their reserve; this will shift how banks operate.

The conversation continues with the argument that we don't need too many on and off-ramps. For example, crypto makes up a significant amount of money globally, and there is a demand for these services. And there should be few problems getting banks and crypto companies to work together. There is ample opportunity for banks to work with Bitcoin, and if you have a distressed bank, why not work with cryptocurrency companies?

Eric Chen

Injective

Mounir Benchemled

Paraswap

Roundtable:  “Transitioning The World To DeFi”

- Ruben Merre, Co-Founder & CEO of NGRAVE

- Emile Dubié, Co-Founder & CEO of Xdefi Wallet

- Owen "Hasheur" Simonin, Co-Founder & CEO & Olive (ex Just Mining)

Ruben Merre

NGRAVE

Emile Dubié

Xdefi Wallet

Olive

Roundtable: “Maximizing Crypto Safety in 2023”

Roundtable: "Building In The Bear Market"

Beniamin Mincu

Founder & CEO at MultiversX and Maiar.

Interview: MultiversX - Beniamin Mincu

João Leite

Head of Business Development at Polkastarter

Interview: Polkastarter - Joao Leite

Gabby Dizon

Co-founder of Yield Guild Games

Interview: YGG - Gabby Dizon

Guest: Shahaf Bar Geffen - Chairman of Monkey League

In Gaming, the game is the anchor, but nothing more. What matters and creates additional value is a sustainable economy and structure built around the game.

Tune in to learn how a Chairman of a big game production company tackles the Web3 challenges to create a long-lasting Web3 game that is entertaining and, at the same time, is wrapped around a sustainable economy.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMonkeyLeague

Shahaf Bar Geffen

Chairman at Monkey League

Interview: Monkey League - Shahaf Bar 

In this episode, we discuss the progress of the Web3 economy and how Artificial Intelligence learns how to recognize the human body's natural movement, to enable true proof of work in the token generation process and discarding cheating mechanisms.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stepnofficial

Yawn Rong

Stepn

Co-founder of Stepn

Interview: StepN - Yawn Rong

Crypto Regulation And Lending Protocols In The Future

Tune in for a deep dive into how Lending Protocols work, the risks and opportunities, and how regulations keep up with this high-paced environment, the crypto industry.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenqiFinance

JD Gagnon

BENQI

Co-Founder of Benqi

Interview: BENQI - JD Gagnon

Tune in to discover how Artificial Intelligence will enhance our everyday life on and off the Blockchain. Here you can find the limitations or the extreme when discussing AI in almost any industry.

Sabin Dima

Founder of Humans.ai

Interview:  Humans AI - Sabin Dima

Free of Charge Transactions And Cross-chain Solutions On The Blockchain

Guest: Aniket Jindal - Co-founder of Biconomy

Tune in to learn more about the future of transactions, cross-chain solutions, and fee-less cryptocurrency transactions on the blockchain.

Co-Founder of Biconomy

Interview: Biconomy - Aniket Jinda

From Novels To Web3 By Building Relentlessly

Guest: Sami Chlagou - CEO of Cross The Ages

Tune in to discover how a passionate Web2 Gamer and Entrepreneur pours his heart and soul into development and community building to create the foundation of the next Sci-Fi era.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrossTheAges

Sami Chlagou

Cross The Ages

CEO at Cross The Ages

Interview: Cross The Ages - Sami Chlagou

Creating A New Era For ComicBooks Through Digitalization

Guest: Carl Choi - Publisher at 24/7 Comics

Discover how comic books will continue thriving in the digital era.

Carl Choi

Publisher at 247 Comics

Interview: 24/7 - Carl Choi

Digital Identity And Crypto Domains In the Digital Era

Guest: Bradley Kam Kam - Co-founder of Unstoppable Domains

Tune in to learn about Digital Identity and Crypto Domains in the Digital World.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/unstoppableweb

Bradley Kam

Unstoppable Domains

Co-founder of Unstoppable Domains

Interview: Unstoppable -Bradley Kam

Guest: Eric Chen - Co-founder & CEO of Injective 

Tune in to discover the future of DeFi and how it will gain more and more shares on the market.

CEO and Co-Founder of Injective

Interview: Injective Eric Chen

A Wallet To Access Most Of The Chains In Crypto

Guest: Emile Dubié - Co-founder of Xdefi Wallet 

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.

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

Co-Founder of XDEFI Wallet

Interview: XDEFI Wallet - Emile 

Navigating Through Blockch-AI-n With A Unified API

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.

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