GM DOers! 😎
Last week, Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase shared 10 business ideas that are essential for the web3 industry. 💪
We’re building lots at Coinbase, but we don't have time to tackle everything. So I figured I'd share these. Bear markets are…
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We decided to sit down, listen, take notes, and share these ideas with you in a format that’s really easy for you to understand. 🚀
After all, we’re all about helping you capitalize on the opportunity of being early here at Web3 Academy. 💰
We believe that web3 is at a really nascent stage. So if you were to build a business in web3 today, it’d probably be similar to building an internet company in the early 2000’s. 🤯
So without further ado, let’s dive into the 10 ideas that Brian shared with the world last week. Here’s a glimpse.
Note: Most of these ideas are extremely complicated to build but that’s okay. You’re not alone.
If you’re building a business in web3, then reply to this email with "I'm a builder".
We'll pick one person to get a 1on1 Business Consulting Call with myself or Jay.
Oh, and we recommend you stick around until the end for some alpha. Coinbase is looking to help YOU build your idea in web3, and we’ll tell you all about it. 💡
Let’s do this. ⏬
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Idea 1: CPI-Linked Flatcoin 🪙
Inflation is a growing global concern, largely due to reckless money printing by governments.
Venezuela: 398%
Lebanon: 252%
Syria: 139%
Argentina: 113%
Türkiye: 47.83%
Egypt: 36.5% 
Pakistan: 27.4%
Nigeria: 24.08%
Hungary: 17.6%
Kazakhstan: 13.1%
Ukraine: 11.3%
Poland: 10.1%
Bangladesh: 9.69%
Sweden: 9.3%
…
With this in mind, Brian Armstrong proposed Flatcoin: a blockchain-based currency which isn’t controlled by governments but rather decentralized (censorship-resistant) and tied to consumer prices (e.g., CPI in the US) to preserve purchasing power.
Unlike traditional stablecoins (like $USDT or $USDC), which mirror the declining purchasing power of currencies like the US dollar, Flatcoin aims to maintain its value effectively by pegging it to CPI or something similar.
It would offer the stability of FIAT money and the decentralization of cryptocurrencies like Ethereum or Bitcoin. ⚖️
Idea 2: Blockchain-Based Trust Scores 🤝
Today, online trust is practically non-existent; it seems like scams lurk at every corner. 😨
The concept of blockchain-based trust scores aims to tackle this issue by establishing a "trustworthiness rating" for each individual's digital profile.
Similar to how Uber allows drivers and passengers to rate each other, this system would let users evaluate each other's trustworthiness based on past transactions or interactions.
This could function similarly to Google's website ranking system which prioritizes the most relevant & credible sites. 🤜🤛
While one might think that web2 tech could achieve this, it actually falls short.
People often have multiple, unconnected accounts across various platforms like Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter, which makes creating a unified trust score impossible.
However, with the interoperable nature of web3, a trust score attached to your blockchain address would be persistent and universally applicable, no matter the platform you're on. 🔗
Who’s building the Yelp of web3? 👀
Idea 3: Onchain Adwords 📺
Ads can be annoying, but they're here to stay.
What if blockchain could make them better for everyone? 🤔
Right now, users see targeted ads but get nothing in return. By building ads onchain, you could set it up so users share in the ad revenue.
In fact, Brave Browser is already doing this by sharing 70% of ad revenue with its users.
Want to learn more about how Brave works? We had them on the podcast a few months ago. Check out our conversation on your favorite podcast platform. 👇
Additionally, advertisers could be more efficient, paying only when an ad leads to a sale.
Right now, companies are paying for their ads to be shown, which doesn’t guarantee any outcomes. This way, only ad companies like Google and Facebook win, because they keep most of the earnings. 😕
Therefore, blockchain could make ads more targeted, beneficial for viewers, and cost-effective for businesses—a digital handshake that's fair for all. 🤝
Right now, there’s not a lot of players building in this area, so the market share is up for grabs. 👀
Idea 4: Onchain P2P Exchange 💱
Peer-to-peer exchanges have been crucial in emerging markets for converting local currencies to crypto, offering a crypto onramp and offramp.
However, most of today’s P2P exchanges are centralized and therefore susceptible to government shutdowns because the gov doesn’t want you to own crypto. 🤦
So people who want to convert cash into crypto and vice versa need to rely on random people to do it for them.
For example, one of our team members at Web3 Academy used a local in Turkey to convert her $USDC to cash. She used to send him $USDC to receive cash. Super shady…
And that’s the reality in many places on earth, where Mr. Bitcoin on the street corner might be your only option. 😥
The solution? A fully decentralized, onchain P2P exchange that uses smart contracts for trading, escrow, and dispute resolution.
This offers low fees and resistance to political interference.
P.S.- Don’t confuse this with Uniswap, which is also a P2P exchange. The difference is that this exchange would support FIAT-to-crypto conversions too.
We desperately need this!!!
Idea 5: Onchain Capital Formation 💰
The problem: Raising money for a new business is challenging and often restricted to specific geographic locations like Silicon Valley. 😑
The idea of an onchain capital formation platform would democratize the process of raising capital, making it easier, cheaper, and accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. 🌐
This platform would help anyone register a company, file paperwork and raise money according to local laws, all done transparently onchain.
It would be a combination of Stripe Atlas (helps anyone form a company) and AngelList (helps entrepreneurs raise funds), but in web3.
However, it would be superior by orders of magnitude compared to the web2 version, because it would remove friction, high fees, and the high barrier of entry. 💪
By democratizing fundraising, we could empower entrepreneurs from all around the world to start building at scale.
Wrapping Up 🧵
There you have it, frens… These were the 5 most exciting ideas that Brian Armstrong shared last week. The other 5 were:
Privacy for Layer 2s – this is already being built with ZKRollups. And we talked at length about Layer 2s over the past weeks in our PRO Reports, which you can find here.
Web3 Job/Task Marketplace where people get paid in crypto by performing tasks – this is somewhat possible in web2 with Upwork or Fiverr, but the freelancers lose up to 30% of the money due to fees. If this was onchain, the freelancers would keep significantly more.
Onchain Games – The benefits of web3 games are obvious and we’ve been talking about this for a long time. Read our articles on blockchain games here and here.
Tools for Network States – Network States (a concept invented by Balaji Srinivasan) are slowly being built and they will need tools to manage voting, governance, fundraising, citizenship, collecting taxes, providing services, and more. If you’re building in this area, you’re EXTREMELY early!
Tokenizing Real World Assets – Putting real-world assets like real estate, art, gold, or luxury handbags on a blockchain. This isn’t a new concept, but it has HUGE potential.
All of these ideas highlight the fact that onchain is sometimes better than online.
While this isn’t true in all cases, it’s clear that building a business onchain has its benefits and people are waking up to that fact.
Over the next decade, we’ll see an abundance of new startups in web3, trying to capture market share in all of the web3 niches I’ve mentioned above.
Web3 is still being shaped and the optimal building opportunity is now! So if you're going to implement any of these ideas or others, you can reach out to Coinbase for help.
They are hosting a hackathon this October, where they aim to help anyone get started on their ideas.
Or, if you’d like a 1on1 Business Consulting Call with myself or Jay, then reply to this email with "I'm a builder".
That’s all from us for today! We hope to see you at our Eyes On Chain event tomorrow, where we’ll break down the latest opportunities in the markets. 👀
Where: In Discord – the Events & Calls channel. 🤖
When: Tuesday, September 5th, 12PM EST. ⌚
Attendance is available for everyone, so you’re more than welcome to join. 💜
Not in Discord yet? Join by clicking here.
Thanks for reading. And remember, you're strong, you’re powerful, you’re alpha! ❤️
See you soon. ✌️
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not financial advice. Conduct your own research and consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions or taking any action based on the content.
