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 - Binance Half Year Report 2023. NFTs, part 1;
🗞️ Last week's news - Google, Binance NFT, El Salvador, MetaMask, Aspen, Tiger Research x Animoca Brands, Mirae Asset Securities, Grab;
💰Investments/Financing - Animoca Brands, Cronos Labs, Aelf Ventures, Story Protocol, TRLab;
📣 Projects news/Updates - Creator League, OnChainMonkey, Mercedes-Benz, Deadfellaz, The Sandbox Game, Yuga Labs, DeGods;
⚖️ Legal - Metaverse Lawyer writes about the new tax haven - metaversus;
⚙️NFTility, by Mtk - Shredding Sassy;
📚 Dictionary - gas fee, airdrop;
💸 Sale of the week - CryptoPunk #3983;
📈 Macro
Last month, Binance released its Half-Year Report for 2023. A thick report of ~120 pages, 20 of which are dedicated to NFTs & Metaverse. It analyzes several important categories in detail:
- Market Review
NFTs had sales of $5.3 billion in the first half of 2023. A decrease of 75.9% year-over-year, but an increase of 32.9% compared to the second half of 2022.
Looking at performance by sector, while each sector is declining, the arts NFTs performed best, while gaming and Metaverse NFTs performed worst.
- NFT Marketplace Competition
At marketplaces level, the most important war is being waged by Opensea and Blur, the latter being the leader. Currently, Blur continues to hold the top spot, with 77.2% as of the end of June 2023.
The race shows no signs of ending. While Blur continues to hold a considerable lead, the competition is dynamic. Blur's peak was reached during their first airdrop, before subsequently dropping in April and May. In contrast, OpenSea Pro (formerly Gem) and LooksRare gained some ground over the same period, leveling off at Blur's expense. At the same time as Blur's market share declined, April marked the official launch of OpenSea Pro, which is OpenSea's answer to Blur.
There are initial signs of growing adoption of OpenSea Pro. While Blur continues to hold more trading volume in $ than OpenSea Pro, OpenSea Pro has surpassed Blur in terms of the number of trades on the platform. In addition, there are also a higher number of active wallets on OpenSea Pro.
Current activity on OpenSea Pro may be driven by anticipation of any potential rewards, although OpenSea has not yet confirmed anything in this regard. So far we can call them speculation.
We continue with the macro status of the report in the coming weeks. Next up is NFT Lending and Bitcoin NFTs.
🗞️ News from last week
- Google will allow ads for NFT games from 15 September. Any games involving gambling or token staking will be restricted from advertising.
- Binance NFT announced the closure of The Sandbox NFT Staking program at the end of September. The program allowed users to stake Land NFTs in The Sandbox for rewards in $SAND.
- El Salvador will introduce Bitcoin into the school curriculum by 2024. 150 teachers in 75 schools will be trained to have a "basic knowledge" about Bitcoin.
- MetaMask adds cash out option, allowing users to convert cryptocurrencies into fiat and send them to bank accounts or PayPal. The Sell feature is currently only available on the main ETH network.
- Aspen launches a toolkit to help NFT creators reclaim unpaid royalties.
- A property in South Carolina was sold as an NFT for $204k USDC in early September. It is the third real estate transaction conducted on the blockchain by Roofstock onChain and Origin Story.
- Tiger Research and Animoca Brands enter into a strategic partnership to develop Web3 initiatives in South Korea.
- Mirae Asset Securities, which manages $500B worth of assets in Korea, is working with Polygon to develop an infrastructure for issuing tokenized securities.
- Grab, an app from SE Asia adds support for web3 services and NFTs. In addition, Grab has partnered with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to bring NFT vouchers for popular food and experiences in the city.
💰 Investments / Financing
- Animoca Brands has secured $20M for Mocaverse. The new capital will be used for product development, facilitating Web3 adoption, and partnering to expand Animoca Brands' gaming, culture and entertainment ecosystem portfolio, which includes approximately 450 investments in Web3 companies and projects.
- Cronos Labs is making $100M available through its Web3 Accelerator program to 8 startups building at the intersection of AI and crypto.
- Aelf Ventures debuts $50M fund to support Web3 founders.
- Story Protocol has secured $54M in funding led by a16z crypto to democratize IP creation.
- TRLab, an arts and technology innovation center, has been awarded a $5M grant. The capital will be used to expand its market presence and launch educational and gamified digital art projects that go beyond current Web3 trends.
📣 Projects news / Updates
- Last issue we talked about the Creator League game promoted by MrBeast. Apparently its launch has been momentarily put on hold due to recent backlash from partners and the community over NFTs and blockchain technology.
- OnChainMonkey migrates the entire ETH collection to the Bitcoin blockchain. Founder Danny Huuep claims that the Bitcoin Ordinal protocol is better structured for decentralization and security compared to Ethereum.
- Mercedes-Benz has postponed the minting of NXT Icons for security reasons, without yet announcing a new launch date for the event.
- Deadfellaz has announced that it is joining web3 gaming and plans to develop RIP TCG, a digital trading card game; the Alpha version is scheduled for release in 2024 and the Beta will go live in 2025.
- The Sandbox Game and Deadfellaz have launched the Game Jam Boss Battles competition.
- Yuga Labs is offering Bitcoin rewards through the TwelveFold-inspired crypto puzzle series available over a 13-week period; the weekly release of "Moon Puzzles" is open to everyone, and users must submit answers inscribed on satoshi via Ordinal Theory.
- After offering a Tesla via Points Parlor v1.2, DeGods is adding new NFT prizes, suggesting a BTC DeGod NFT valued at $13k.
⚖️ Legal
Metaverse non-taxation will create a tax haven, says Harvard legal expert
What the Cayman Islands, what the Bahamas... the new tax haven is the metaverse itself! At least that's according to Harvard researcher Christine Kim, who has argued that income and wealth from the metaverse should be subject to immediate taxation.
Harvard legal expert and Yeshiva University law professor Christine Kim recently published a research paper detailing the case for not only taxing the metaverse, but also treating it as "a laboratory for cutting-edge policy experimentation."
In his paper, called "Taxing the Metaverse," Kim argues that the metaverse allows participants to create and build wealth entirely within its ecosystem.
According to Kim, this boom wealth sector should be regulated by the tax code: "Since economic activity within the metaverse satisfies the Haig-Simons and Glenshaw Glass definitions of income, its exclusion will create a tax haven."
The paper goes on to explain that the metaverse's ability to _"record all digital activity and track individual wealth" _means governments can track and tax income immediately upon receipt - something Kim says could shake up the status quo in terms of tax law in the United States.
You can read the full paper here.
⚙️ NFTility
One of the main highlights of NFT Fest Lugano was the Shredding Sassy team and friends of the community coming together for an extended IRLM.
Shredding Sassy's mission is to create an environment that intersects extreme sports and blockchain technology. Thus, owning an NFT from this collection provides access to the Shredding Sassy Social Club, one of the most energetic gatherings dedicated to adventure enthusiasts. Plus, in addition to the amenities we're used to (discounts on merchandise, exclusive access to parties and gatherings, intellectual property rights), NFTs are built to create value for the community. SSSC members can benefit from training sessions with performance athletes and experienced coaches. A full (but not final) list of ambassadors who have joined the founders' mission can be found here.
Another product developed by the team with the community is shredit.tv, a platform where creators can upload videos of their personal performances. The most rated of these are converted into NFTs, giving athletes the opportunity to monetise and connect with their fans directly.
Shredding Sassy is for the hard core, fickle, always looking for adventure. Enter at your own risk.
Until next time, take yourself less seriously...you may find you like it.
📚 Dictionary
- gas fee - just like cars run on gas, blockchain has some costs. They call it a gas fee. It's paid to network validators for the services they provide to the blockchain. The amount varies depending on how busy or free the network is.
- airdrop - an airdrop is a marketing strategy used by projects that involves transferring free tokens or NFTs to the wallet of someone who already has a token or has made various transactions. Basically, you can target a community very easily: because the blockchain is transparent, you can transfer everyone who owns a Veefriends a ticket to Veecon!
💸 Sale of the week
CryptoPunk #3983 was sold for 155 ETH (~$252,806). It is one of two Punks that were stolen from @BokkyPooBah, due to a phishing link posted on Vitalik's compromised Twitter account. Be safe out there and remember..don't click on any suspicious links!
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