NFTs don’t need crypto, but crypto needs NFTs

Spending millions for a digital work of art

that could be screenshotted feels similar to traipsing around a strip of concrete as a tourist activity. The optics don’t make immediate sense — there’s hardly any appeal in something as accessible as a Google image or street.

That’s my best bet at explaining at least some of the confusion around

the explosive rise of NFTs, or nonfungible tokens

. The token, minted on the blockchain, can give digital assets a unique signifier. In other words, anyone could screenshot a piece of art, but only one of us will own the true, original piece of art. This context is part of the reason why Beeple, a digital artist, had his artwork sold for $69 million just a few days ago.

The reason this topic is coming up in a

Startups Weekly

newsletter is because of the impact it could have on the cryptocurrency movement, of which there is a growing tide of early-stage and late-stage startups. The popularization of NFTs, as I argued in Equity

this week, could be what makes cryptocurrency finally palpable to the average human — beside the average bitcoin hoarder. Platforms that sell NFTs usually need you to use cryptocurrency (usually Ethereum) to purchase anything. Mix that with the fact that humans have an innate desire to own, protect and immortalize their assets, and you might have the perfect storm. Beeple, a digital artist, made $69 million for his work, and this isn’t just a big financing event, it’s a signal that crypto enthusiasts and crypto assets are getting to an inescapable spot in public dialogue.

• Why are memes for sale?

• Why is the digital collectibles frenzy taking off now?

• The explosive (and inclusive) potential of NFTs in the creative world

• Why Terry Crews is launching a social currency

• How the Biden administration is approaching crypto regulations

Ownership as a way for a decentralized network to become mainstream is its own meta conversation, and I’ll be clear that the blockchain and NFTs have a long way to go before they are truly equitable, accessible and hit their stride. But, it’s hard to not to let your mind wander about the opportunities here.

It’s more than a screenshot, it’s about the potential of pixels having more meaning than they ever did before. And it’s more than a strip of concrete, it’s the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Finding exclusive aspects of accessible things in our lives is compelling to a consumer and could be great for creators.

In the rest of this newsletter, we’ll discuss Coupang’s competitive industrial edge, a startup hoping to be the Nasdaq for revenue and Google’s brains fighting Google itself. As always, you can follow me on Twitter

@nmasc_

for my thoughts throughout the week and tech news.

**The Amazon of South Korea goes public **

Coupang, which some describe as the Amazon of South Korea, priced and started trading this week on the public markets. At one point on Thursday,

the company was valued at $92 billion.

• How Coupang is ‘out-Amazoning even Amazon,’ according to Goodwater Capital

• Coupang follows Roblox to a strong first day of trading

• Former Uber CTO Thuan Pham joins South Korean e-commerce leader Coupang

Here’s what to know: When Coupang first launched, it found that South Korea had an absence of third-party logistics companies similar to UPS or FedEx in the United States. Now, it wasn’t without competition, but it did have an opportunity to build an end-to-end logistics company that is now worth a boatload of money.

Other IPO news:

• Five takeaways from Coursera’s IPO filing

• Olo’s IPO could value the company north of $3 billion as toast waits in the wings

• Welcome to Bloxburg, public investors

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

The Nasdaq for Revenue

Pipe has a compelling narrative: It’s anti-VC, doesn’t like naming its rounds and says its goal is

to be the Nasdaq for revenue.

The goal since it started was to give SaaS companies a way to get their revenue upfront by connecting them to investors that would pay a rate for the annual value of those contracts. It turns monthly recurring revenue into annual recurring revenue.

Here’s what to know: The startup raised $50 million

in a financing event this week

. In the first quarter of 2021, tens of millions of dollars were traded through its platform, reports TechCrunch’s Mary Ann Azevedo.

• Investors discuss alt-financing the role of venture capital

• Arlan Hamilton on the future of Backstage Capital and the ever-changing asset class of VC

• Bessemer’s 2021 cloud report provides context for soaring software startup valuations

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

Can you beat Google with Google’s brains?

In our main Equity show this week, the trio

discussed a slew of news

that naturally lended itself over to a piece we wrote months ago, Meet the anti-antitrust startup club.

*(By the way, if you want a huge discount for Extra Crunch, just use our code, EQUITY, when you sign up to access great articles like this one and most of our analytical work). *

Here’s what to know: Neeva, built by a team of ex-Googlers including the guy who built Google’s advertising engine, is one startup to watch. There’s a lot to chew and we do it best during the episode, so

take a listen

and figure out if you’re team Natasha and Danny, or team Alex.

Other news bits:

• Zapier buys Makerpad

• PayPal bought Curv

• Dropbox is buying DocSend

Image Credits: TechCrunch

‘Blaming the intern’ won’t save your startup from cybersecurity liability

As SolarWinds is showcasing, a company can be liable for the mistakes of its employees via a legal term called “vicarious liability.”

Cybersecurity writer Chandu Gopalakrishnan explains

what it means for you

and what you can do to stay on the right side of the law.

Around TechCrunch

A few house-keeping things this week:

• Here is everything you missed from TC Sessions: Justice

  . It has recaps, videos and excerpts with embedded notes. Best enjoyed with a dose of reality, truth and coffee.

• We are hiring for a head of product

  , so apply for a chance to join this wacky and fun team.

• Check out the incredible speakers we have joining us for Extra Crunch Live this month

  .

• And finally, follow Drew Olanoff

  , who leads Community for TC, because he’s constantly churning out cool stuff like discount codes, chances to hang and surveys so we serve y’all better.

Across the week

Seen on TechCrunch

Zapier buys no-code-focused Makerpad in its first acquisition

Eye, Robot

Sequoia Capital puts millions of dollars into Gather, a virtual HQ platform

Seen on ExtraCrunch

There have never been more $100 million fintech rounds than right now

What I wish I’d known about venture capital when I was a founder

White-label voice assistants will win the battle for podcast discovery

4 ways startups will drive GPT-3 adoption in 2021