Web3, grift or LARP? • CEO Letter #26

👋 This is Taylor, CEO of Hedgehog, your crypto HQ and launchpad. I'm slowly emerging from a sugar-cookie stupor, hbu? Happy New Year! Almost — this is the last newsletter of 2021, so I guess I should say Happy Old Year. Indeed, I'm proud of Hedgehog's 2021!

I come bearing news, and you'll have to decide for yourself whether it's good or bad 😜 Don't forget, I always ask a giveaway question at the end of the newsletter.

Web3, is it legit? The debate rages on:

• Jack Dorsey says nah, Web3 is all VCs and whales.
• The rejoinder: Yes of course it's all VCs and whales, and I want to party with them.
• [barging into the conversation] Are play-to-earn games just glorified pyramid schemes?
• Kinda, but they could be so much more! "People enter a community because they resonate with its culture, and they stay because they become owners of it."
• On the other hand, sometimes they become owners first, because the eyebrow-raising airdrop spawns a community around it.

Tldr: Web3 will be real, but currently it's still loading. Like the metaverse!

Shopify, the SaaS used by many ecommerce brands, plans to support NFTs. "Build on Shopify's trusted platform for your hottest NFT drops and flash sales," the promo page urges. This is a closed beta for US-based Shopify Plus merchants, who must apply and be accepted.

NFT sellers will have options: "Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, crypto payment gateways, credit/debit cards, and more." That could be a big deal, since paying with crypto still offers insurmountable friction to many potential buyers.

Shopify suggests that merchants use NFTs as digital merch with gamelike characteristics, a way to monetize the brand through community, or maybe monetize community through the brand, depending on how you look at it.

Tldr: Shopify, welcome to Web3!

"It blows my mind that a summer crushing cans, a brick of fireworks, and an old Apple II led me out of poverty." A feel-good story of serendipitous generosity. Never let cynicism steal your sunshine, there is copious curiosity, joy, and wonder in the world!

Every week I give a Ledger Nano S hardware wallet to one of the readers of this newsletter. To enter the giveaway, just respond to this email with your answer. Here's the question: What are you excited for in 2022?

Personally, I'm excited to run the App Store review gauntlet. Among other things.

Toodle-oo,
Taylor

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