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Welcome to another edition of The Scoop. The Scoop is that feeling you get when a massive cold front finally passes through and you can go outside without wearing three layers of long johns again.🌬🥶

The Big Scoop

Is artificial intelligence going to improve her work in unison with Web3? Or is one about to swallow the other? As you’re going to read in one of today’s news posts, J.P. Morgan has an opinion on that.

We bring it up because a certain writer of The Scoop remembers going to an artificial intelligence conference where they talked about putting machine learning data on the blockchain.

But as much as the technologies may work together in the future (and are probably already working together), the reality is that some of the institutional capital previously flowing into Web3 might quickly be flipping a switch and heading towards technology of the artificial intelligence variety.

Still, the fast-moving world of technology is all about progress, and both industries are continuing to build regardless of macroeconomics.

That’s part of the reason why we’re always excited to bring you The Scoop. We know there will always be something new and cutting-edge to talk about.

So with that being said, welcome to this week’s edition of your favorite newsletter!

The News

DeFi Protocol NFTfi Shows the NFT Lending Market Is Growing Significantly

NFTfi, a DeFi protocol that enables NFT owners to use their NFTs as collateral for loans, achieved a new high in January with 4,399 loans distributed. This is almost double the previous highest number of 2,481 loans from March.

The NFT lending market saw new growth in January, despite the decrease in the value of Ether. The monthly volume in ETH terms surpassed the all-time high of $47.8 million reached in April 2022, according to Dune Analytics. BendDAO, a well-known NFT lending protocol, and X2Y2, a marketplace that recently launched a lending product, have also contributed to this growth.

While the overall NFT market is still recovering from the hype of 2021-2022, the decline in trading volumes appears to be less severe than it first seemed. Wash trading accounted for half of the volume, reducing the actual decline to around 75%. When considering the decrease in the value of ETH and other crypto assets, the drop in volume appears even less significant.

NFTfi's recent success shows that the NFT market is still active, despite the lack of media attention. Creators are exploring new use cases for NFTs, similar to how the ICO mania of 2017 led to the development of popular smart contract platforms. The NFT lending space is a clear indication that the NFT market is not as quiet as it appears.

Is Web3 Going to Lose Investment Capital to A.I.? J.P. Morgan Thinks So

JP Morgan's latest e-Trading Edit report, which surveyed 835 institutional traders from 60 global markets, found that over half of the respondents believe that AI and machine learning will be the most impactful technology in shaping the future of trading in the next three years. This result is four times higher than the number of respondents who cited blockchain technology.

Last year's report showed that AI and machine learning were tied with blockchain and distributed ledger technology as the second most important technology with 25% of the votes. The first place went to mobile trading applications, with 29%.

However, the latest report showed that AI has become the top technology, far ahead of API integration (14%) and blockchain (12%). Mobile apps, quantum computing, and natural language processing have decreased in popularity, each receiving 7% of the votes. The shift in trader sentiment may be due to the recent bear market in crypto and the increasing accessibility of AI technology like ChatGPT.

Only time will tell... but if Web3 and AI were in a boxing ring, you know which corner Scoopy is standing in! #Web3AllDay

Chart.

Did you know that throughout most of 2021, the number of NFT related transactions on the Ethereum blockchain was sitting at just 13%? The good news is, that number has spiked to 22% as highlighted by a recent article on Bitcoinist.com. See below👇

The Chart section of The Scoop is for everyone who prefers to listen to audiobooks or fill-in colouring books over text-based reading. Feast your eyes🍗👀

Sponsor

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Fundraising In Web3.

Here’s a breakdown of the estimated $219 million that got poured into Web3 over the past week or so:

• DeFi protocol Squid raises $3.5 million.

• Sui-based Ethos wallet raises $4.2 million.

• Web3 infrastructure Spatial Labs raises $10 million, thanks in part to a company backed by Jay-Z.

Education.

Welcome to the Study Space, where your soul can be tokenized.😈. Well, not exactly. But this week’s Study Space is all about Soulbound Tokens, a new type of NFT that stays with you FOREVER. Muhahaha!!

Get your learn on below🔽

• Decentralized Society: Finding Web3’s Soul

• What Are Soulbound Tokens and How Do They Work?

Scoop Meme

The Final Scoop.

Artificial intelligence is without a doubt the most exciting development in technology to start 2023. Perhaps many of the investors who got wealthy during this crypto revolution we’ve experienced over the past decade are now going to push forward A.I.

What’s more likely in the long run is that the two technologies will converge to give us a better world, and with that obviously comes some uncertainty, inevitable ups and downs, and hopefully world changing solutions.

While we don’t know what the future holds for both technologies, one thing is for sure. You’re probably going to want to own a piece of it.

That’s exactly what Web3 enables you to do.

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