Are you ready for some NFTs news?
We've prepared a new article that covers the latest news and updates in the world of Web3 and NFTs. Read them below!
Contents
📈 Macro - Deloitte Report;
🗞️ Last week's news - Blur v2, Polygon Labs, NFT Inspect, BRC-69;
📣 Projects news/Updates - Pudgy Penguins, Yuga, RTFKT, Memeland, Azuki;
⚖️ Legal - Metaverse Lawyer writes about how blockchain is revolutionizing investigations and justice;
⚒️Tools - Winter;
🐈 Veefriends - Compete and Collect Alpha Playtest;
⚙️NFTility, by Mtk - Lens Protocol;
📚 Dictionary - Smart Contract, DApp;
💸 Sale of the week - Crypto Punk #9476;
📈 Macro
A recent report from Deloitte called the 2023 Quality Engineering Trends Report, looks at 10 trends in Quality Engineering (QE), including the Metaverse. In short, after interviewing over 100 global executives across industries to assess the current state of QE, it seems that the experience that blends real life with virtual reality is here to stay.
High-quality interactive experiences become the basis of customer loyalty. While adoption remains a work in progress, tech giants have invested billions of dollars in Metaverse, ensuring its relevance at least for the foreseeable future.
Full integration of the Metaverse, with widespread user adoption and a mature economy, could take a decade or more.
The implications of changing the way we interact with digital can be staggering - not just for technology companies, but for every organization. Millions of people already use Metaverse databases, at least in part. Even in a "failure to launch" scenario, where the Metaverse doesn't live up to the wildest predictions, it will still play an important role in everyday life as technology, capabilities, and use cases mature.
Brand development has already started to move out of the physical world and into the digital realm. There, users will have access to a new medium, economy, and currency.
The report concludes with some critical questions about the future and the adoption of the Metaverse:
- How much standardization is needed?
- How can the user interface become intuitive and seamless?
- What commercial and consumer use cases can be reached?
- How will the Metaverse be governed?
Add to that the dozens of questions we have. Starting with our health. Will Touch Some Grass remain what we know today, or will it still become a digital experience?
🗞️ News from last week
- A luxury accessory for the Apple Watch, authenticated by an NFT, has been launched in Paris by La Maison Steel.
- Blur v2 introduces attribute-based bidding, along with optimized consumption of gas fees for transactions.
- Polygon Labs and Station3NYX launch The Builder House NYC, a collaborative environment for cultivating web3 talent.
- NFT Inspect adds support for MoonPay payment processor in the Chrome extension.
- Bitcoin Ordinals introduces the BRC-69 standard to reduce the cost of creating NFTs.
📣 Projects News / Updates
- Not a week without an update from Pudgy Penguins. Launched on 8 July, the limited edition Pudgy Penguins Banana Suit toys sold out in just 7 seconds.
- Yuga has announced the collections that will be integrated into Legend of the Mara: Meebits, BAYC, Renga, Cryptoadz, World of Women, Mutant Hounds, 10ktf, Forgotten Runes Wizard Cult.
- RTFKT recently released the Animus project video. See it here.
- Memeland unveiled Memeland Captainz (_smart _PFPs) and announced rewards (0.069 ETH) for identifying bugs. And most interestingly, they acquired the ENS domain _meme.eth _and subsequently posted a tweet saying something like this: "WHO CONTROLS THE $MEME, CONTROLS THE UNIVERSE". Could it be so? 🤔
- Azuki opened the vote to update the Elementals background metadata, but the community voted against it.
⚖️ Legal
I love blockchain. I don't know if I've ever said it. Why? Because the transparency of transactions allows for better justice to be done and because it fundamentally changes the way an investigation or a journalistic investigation is conducted.
For example, I was reading the other day that ZachXBT's research was cited in the Canadian class action lawsuit against Boneheads. According to court documents, the Boneheads team was accused of breach of contract, misappropriation of funds, and misleading investors. The investigative work of independent blockchain detective, ZachXBT (this veritable Web3 Vigilante), was cited in the class action lawsuit against Boneheads, being accused of an NFT rug pull of $3.1 million.
But he is not the only one. You may remember the Logan Paul and CryptoZoo NFTs case, specifically the rug pulls accusation publicized with the help of the investigation done by Coffezilla.
Blockchain is a remarkable innovation that brings transparency and fundamentally changes the way investigations and inquiries are conducted in various fields. Recent cases such as Boneheads and CryptoZoo NFTs demonstrate how investigative work by the persons such as ZachXBT and Coffezilla can shed light on illegal activity and protect the interests of investors. These examples illustrate the huge potential of blockchain technology in ensuring justice and making the world more transparent and fair. It is clear that blockchain has not only revolutionized the financial and technological world but also has a significant impact in the field of journalism and in the fight against fraud and scams. Surely, the use of blockchain in various industries will continue to grow and bring positive changes to our society.
I ❤️ Blockchain!
⚒️ Tools: Winter
Winter, the new embedded checkout solution for NFTs, opens new horizons for credit card sales, NFT custody and more.
This solution is for companies, brands and marketplaces that want to sell NFTs using card payments. Here's what Winter can offer you:
Simplifies the sales process: Winter gives you the possibility to sell NFTs using your credit card. Also, if the user does not have a wallet, Winter takes over the responsibility of safekeeping the NFT on behalf of the consumer after the order is completed.
Quick integration: integrating the Winter checkout widget takes just a few lines of code.
A complete experience: NFTs purchased through Winter are 100% owned by the customer. You can store, manage and sell NFTs on their platform.
Broad compatibility: Winter is compatible with multiple networks such as Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), Avalanche (AVAX), Tezos (XTZ) and Cardano (ADA).
Cross-chain payments: you can accept any crypto token as payment for NFTs, even from different networks. For example, you can buy an NFT that is on the ETH network with SOL tokens. No identity verification (KYC) is required and you save transaction fees.
Winter has launched checkout for Manifold contracts, the easiest way for Manifold creators to sell NFTs using their credit cards. I'm confident this will help thousands of Web3 creators reach new Web2 and cross-chain audiences. Here's a guide to accepting card payments in Manifold.
I like what I see and am excited to see how Winter will evolve and contribute to the development of the NFT ecosystem.
🐈⬛ Veefriends
This week we congratulate the 41 creative entrants who showcased their talent in the latest Burn Island eruption, we look forward to the selection of the winners by the Death Row Records judges to see who the lucky 10 are who will meet Gary and Snoop in Atlanta.
The month of July comes to a grand close at the National Sports Card Collectors Convention in Chicago, the world's largest gathering of trading card enthusiasts. VeeFriends couldn't miss it with their special cards. To mark this milestone event, the inaugural Compete and Collect Alpha Playtest Tournament is being held with a special prize - a one-of-a-kind trophy. Invitations have been sent out to the 52 lucky collectors who will join GaryVee for an evening of competition and collecting.
The VeeFriends social media team tested Threads in the first 80 minutes after the app launched, you can join the conversation here!
⚙️ NFTility
Hi! On Wednesday, July 5 we witnessed a historic moment (was it?). Meta's product plethora has grown with Thread, an app developed by the team behind Instagram, becoming Twitter's direct competitor.
Since its launch, Thread already boasts 100 million subscribers. One of the benefits is registration with your Instagram profile and the ability to import some of your followers to the new platform.
Did we need yet another medium that monetizes on user exposure? What if there was a system that embraced the values of blockchain technology, whereby users had control over their data?
This is what Lens Protocol is trying to create. By minting a .lens profile, users gain access to decentralized social media space. This gives them, among other things, the possibility to fully own their own activity on the platform. Also, a single profile is enough to access all the apps built in the ecosystem and...import the follower base when registering in a new app.
Which apps and what kind, you may ask? You have a whole and quite varied list here. I urge you to take some time to go through them all. Why? Because it might inspire you to build public goods and participate in the development of the ecosystem. And good ideas (especially those that follow the points in the "Criteria For Evaluation 🎯" section) have a chance to be supported with development funding.
The giants who control the social platforms are busy fighting to capitalize on the web2 market because the web3 stakes are still tiny. For a decentralized, transparent ecosystem where users have control over their own data to become robust enough, it doesn't just need adoption, it mostly needs people willing to build together in a way that creates a compound growth system.
Until next time, I wish you to cherish your time properly.
📚 Dictionary
- Smart Contract- This is the digital and automated version of a classic contract. We're talking about digital "smart contracts" running on the blockchain (on Ethereum in general, but there are other blockchains as well). Like a notary, but automated. The terms of the agreement between users are set in code. And if we think of an example we can use the sale of an apartment: one of the terms is: I, the owner of this asset sell the apartment the second I am offered the price of $100,000. Even on a Sunday night without a notary. Of course, that's a long way off. The downside, for example, is that if the market price in the area goes up and I haven't had a chance to close the smart contract or upgrade it before someone accepts the terms, then even if the minimum price in the area becomes $150,000, if someone accepts my offer, the apartment will automatically sell. That's exactly how it is with an NFT. It doesn't matter that the Floor Price went up overnight following an ad, where there's law there's no haggling.
- DApp / DApps- Decentralized applications that exist and run on a blockchain. They can operate autonomously, usually through the use of smart contracts. They generally provide some function or utility to users. Unlike traditional apps, DApps operate without human intervention and are not owned by any centralized entity, but ownership should be held in a distributed manner through tokens.
💸 Sale of the week
The second week in a row we've had a Crypto Punk. Number #9476 was sold for 217 ETH (~$400k). Sounds like NFTs are dead...😌
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