Category: News

If you’re like millions of people around the world, then you probably tuned in to watch pop star Rihanna’s Superbowl 2023 performance live or online after the fact. The singer belted out some of her career-defining hits including the 2015 track ‘B*tch Better Have my Money’. 

Unfortunately for those who bought the NFTs that offered fractional royalties of the song and hoped to benefit from the performance, this was not to be so. This comes as OpenSea reportedly halted trading of the NFTs and delisted them without first informing the team behind them. 

Rihanna NFTs in Trouble?

When it was first announced last that NFTs would be released based on the song, many rejoiced. NFTs based on songs have become more commonplace and one based on such a memorable song that was about to be performed on the biggest stage in the world seemed like a sure bet. And while streams of the song increased following the performance, NFT holders found themselves out of luck. 

This came as AnotherBlock (which was partially behind the project) CEO Michel “bigmich” Traore said on its Discord page that users could not sell their NFTs on OpenSea as the sell features had been disabled. Later on, another member of staff said that OpenSea had delisted the collection without any prior communication. 

For days, there was speculation among buyers about what could have caused this until AnotherBlock’s Head of Community & Growth Andreas “bigleton” Bigert reposted a message that had been sent by OpenSea. The message said that the collection was delisted because OpenSea does not allow for any collections that promise fractional ownership of another asset and future profits based on this ownership. 

Bigert, however, has pushed back against this claim, noting that other NFTs with the same features have been traded on OpenSea without any issue. 

“We have also brought up why similar collections (Royal.io and Corite for instance) are still tradable on their platform in our communication without getting any comment on that either,” he said, with both collections also offering fractional ownership of a piece of music publishing. 

Despite this, all hope does not seem to be lost. While OpenSea insists on banning the NFTs Blur’s marketplace is noted as still being an option, though some speculate that the action taken by OpenSea might go on to affect its price floor. 

This is left to be seen, however. After all, ‘B*tch Better Have my Money’ is one of Rihanna’s most enduring hits and has returned to public consciousness through the Superbowl performance. Needless to say, these NFTs will be valuable for a long while to come given that they offer a portion of the royalties. While it might be more convenient to buy them on OpenSea, a keen investor or Rihanna fan will not likely be deterred by having to buy them elsewhere. 

OpenSea has not released a public statement about the NFTs but seeing as more artists will likely follow this trend, the marketplace will have to address this policy eventually. 

As time passes, it is interesting to see the ways that the NFT sector changes and develops to meet consumer demands. So far, we’ve seen fractional NFTs, staking NFTs, loaning NFTs, and so on being launched on various platforms to help buyers get the best experience possible. 

Now, the popular NFT marketplace Magic Eden has announced a new development to help its customers buy NFTs with more ease. In a February 14, 2023 press release, Magic Eden announced that it has entered a new partnership with MoonPay, a web3 payment processor. This partnership will allow users to pay for NFTs using credit cards, debit cards, ApplePay, GooglePay, and much more moving forward. 

NFT Purchases With Ease 

One important thing to note is that the NFT space will need to remove as many barriers to access as possible if it is going to grow. Currently, most NFTs are denominated in cryptocurrency and the pressure to create a digital asset wallet can act as a barrier to entry for some prospective NFT owners. 

But by doing this, Magic Eden is meeting the consumer where they are and allowing them to make payments using the same means as they would any other product. This is not only more convenient but also makes NFTs as a whole less intimidating. 

“At MoonPay, our mission is to onboard the world to Web3, and our partnership with Magic Eden is an important step forward toward that goal,” said Bree Blazak, Vice President of Global Sales at MoonPay. “Digital assets are revolutionizing the way we build human connections and maintain ownership of intellectual property, and at MoonPay we are committed to removing obstacles in this space so that greater numbers of people around the world can access this technology.”

Magic Eden Pressing On

Moving forward, we can expect to see more non-crypto natives find their way into the NFT space and even those already within it buy their assets easily. It is also refreshing to see Magic Eden announcing such an exciting development given that it recently had to fire 22 members of staff due to the crypto winter and restructuring efforts. 

This just goes to show that even in periods of a market downturn, there is still progress to be made. In its press release announcing the layoffs, Magic Eden noted that this was not the end and instead, it would keep pushing for NFT adoption and progress. 

And as Zhuoxun Yin, Chief Operating Officer at Magic Eden, notes, “At Magic Eden, we are proud to take part in the NFT revolution, showcasing the vast array of use cases ranging from gaming and collectibles, to ticketing and beyond. Our goal is to make NFTs accessible to everyone, enabling individuals to own and control their digital assets. And now, with our partnership with MoonPay, we’re even more excited to lower the barriers to entry into the exciting world of Web3, democratizing access to these transformative technologies.”

Hopefully, more NFT marketplaces will follow in Magic Eden’s lead.

No matter what part of the world you grew up in, chances are that you became familiar with the story of Cinderella as a child. And for a good reason as the iconic Brothers Grim tale has all the trappings of a classic fairytale; rags to riches, magic, love, and dreams coming true.

But Bad Cinderella, the Broadway musical developed by the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber, is far from the story you heard as a child. This adaptation is a twist on the initial story and features a Cinderella who is far from the classic damsel in distress. And besides the plot changes, this adaptation is embracing the use of NFTs. 

Cinderella Brings NFT Dreams to Life 

From its rollout so far, it is clear that Bad Cinderella, which opens on March 23, 2023, will be disruptive. First, the musical intends to take on some of the more sensitive tropes that have been constantly criticized over the years. 

“In the exceptionally beautiful kingdom of Belleville, the fields are idyllic, the prince is charming, and the townsfolk are ravishing. Only one stubborn peasant stands in the way of absolute perfection: Cinderella,” its synopsis says.

It was supposed to have come out years ago but was delayed due to COVID-19. Now that it is on its way, it is also using NFTs to deliver an exclusive experience to its fans through its “The Queen’s Collection” NFT drop. Those who are able to get all the NFTs in the collection, which is based on the Flow blockchain, will be able to unlock a bonus NFT. This bonus NFT offers access to exclusive perks such as a digital poster and the chance to win autographed physical merchandise. 

There is also the “The Queen’s VIP Pass” which entitles its holders to behind-the-scenes content from the musical,  digital merchandise, and even a first look at the musical’s set before it officially debuts. These NFTs are being given away for free on the Flow Blockchain’s marketplace and will act as both a fan engagement tool and a promotional effort for the show.

“This VIP Pass is your key to the beautiful, perfect Kingdom of Belleville. Only with this Pass in your collection will you be able to claim future releases in “The Queen’s Collection”. Between now and Opening Night, the Queen will grant VIP Pass holders inside access to exclusive content,” information from the marketplace listing says.

Musicals have been running on Broadway for decades now and have adapted both the modern and the classic. And while Broadway and the Cinderella story have not changed much over the years, they are getting an update thanks to NFTs. all sorts of current media franchises have used NFTs to engage with fans, from Game of Thrones to Stranger Things and Broadway can stand to benefit from this strategy.

It can lead to more publicity for the show and could attract a younger audience who can, in turn, spread the word about it online. 

The ongoing state of the crypto market is truly unfortunate. Because of the crypto winter which has lasted months at this point and wiped out billions in market value, plus the collapse of high-profile crypto projects last year, many companies in the space have had to make the difficult decision to fire staff.

The latest on the list is the popular NFT marketplace Magic Eden which confirmed on February 14, 2023, that it will be firing 22 members of staff. As with other companies that suffered the same fate such as Coinbase and Candy Digital, this round of layoffs was attributed to the market situation. 

Details About the Firing 

In a public statement, Jakc Lu, the CEO of Magic Eden, touched on the reason for the layoffs. As he explained, the condition of the market has forced Magic Eden to go through a restructuring and this necessitated the layoffs. 

“Today is a sad day at Magic Eden. As part of a company-wide restructuring, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with 22 teammates. Nothing about this decision takes away from the talent, hardwork and dedication of this incredible group of people,” he said on Tiwtter. 

In an open letter, Lu explained that in the last 15 months, Magic Eden has gone from searching for product-market fit on Solana to experiencing significant growth to facing new challenges. In order to move forward, the company decided to map out its goals for 2023 and these include growing traction across chains, developing services for NFT creators, and exploring new use cases like rewards and social experiences.

But in prioritising these goals, the company realised that it would need to cut down on its workforce. 

“As we established these priorities for the vear, we had to take a hard look at what structure and roles are needed. To be clear-eyed, addressing our strategic goals requires making changes to our team. In order to reach our qoals, our team must encompass certain types of new skills and expertise without losing momentum,” the letter says.

Some information was also given about how the layoffs have been handled. First, all those affected were informed via dedicated calls. Along with this, 2 months of severance will be given to the former employees, as well as a one-year subscription to Headspace and 6 months of healthcare. They will also be allowed to keep their work laptops and will have career coaching and job placement services provided by Magic Eden. 

Lu has said that the next week will be focused on helping the sacked workers make their transition while in the coming week, the company will be working towards the future. These efforts will include team-specific meetings throughout the week, and Founder AMAs next week. 

While it is unfortunate to see companies in the NFT space be so hard hit by the markets’ current conditions, many companies in the space are providing support even for those who are being let go as they move on.

When it comes to the fashion and apparel sector, NFTs have proven to be a profitable venture. One example that easily springs to mind is the millions that Nike has made through its NFT ventures, so much so that it launched a dedicated platform for them.

Now, fellow apparel company Puma is teasing a new NFT venture that is to tie in with its 75th anniversary. This venture is called ‘Super Puma’ and will drop later this month. Puma began counting down to this drop with a 15-second video posted to its official social media. 

What Will ‘Super Puma’ Bring?

In the animated video posted to Puma’s socials, a wooden crane with ‘Super Puma’ written on it is opened with a crowbar to reveal a pair of sneakers on top of a collection of Super Puma comic books. 

“The clock is ticking, and the fate of the past rests in the paws of our fearless hero. Super PUMA, we need you now more than ever. Comment a to lace up,” a tweet accompanying the video said. 

Since the announcement was made, some more details have come to light regarding the upcoming collection and the references to be found in the video. First, Super Puma was originally a comic book series published by the brand in the 1970s. The titular character is a green cat who goes on all sorts of adventures and it will be the star and inspiration behind the collection, which will be a pfp project. 

10,000 of these assets will be released in total and priority access will be given to those who already hold assets from the brand’s Nitro NFT Collection. Holders can claim NFTs from this new collection based on how many of these NFTs they already have. In terms of asset distribution, 4,000 NFTs will be airdropped later this month, 2,000 will be reserved for members of Puma’s 10KTF Community, and another 4,000 will be available for the general public. 

Puma as a brand has been quite dedicated to web3, launching both a metaverse experience and buying an ENS. And, of course, there are the previous NFT projects it has been released. This latest drop is just another addition to its growing NFT resume. 

This was further reiterated by Puma’s Chief Brand Officer Adam Petrick, who said of the development, “Puma’s growing Web3 community played an important role in the launch of this new project. We listened to what our community wanted, and the Super PUMA PFP NFT is the result of that. It’s a great project to kick off our 75th anniversary as an expression of our brand mantra – Forever Faster – leaning on our history and heritage to push sport and culture forward through design and innovation.” 

Apparel and NFTs

When apparel brands like Nike and Puma first got into NFTs, some were sceptical and declared them a fad that would not last. But given the continued release of projects by these brands, this has been proven false and needless to say, we can only expect more.

It’s the season of love and people all over the world are celebrating with those closest to them or seeking out new people to experience love with. And in the digital age we live in, there is no shortage of places to turn to in search of a partner. 

But would you trust reality star Paris Hilton to help secure a partner? You very well could thanks to the star’s new partnership with The Sandbox metaverse and 11:11 Media. The three will be teaming up to launch ‘Parisland’, a Valentine’s Day celebration featuring Paris Hilton.

What Parisland will Entail 

Parisland will be hosted on a virtual tropical island and on it, a reality dating show will be hosted by Hilton. Those who choose to take part will get to meet five prospective romantic partners. This will run from February 13 to March 13, 2023, and anyone who enters the experience has to chance to not only find love but to win prizes as well. 

Some of these prizes include virtual wedding outfits, a ring, NFTs, memorabilia from the experience, and even a metaverse wedding that will see the reality star act as the DJ. Not everyone can say that one of the world’s most famous artists performed at their wedding but this initiative is giving people the chance. 

“I can’t think of a better way to light up the winter months than a romantic Valentine’s Day getaway to Paris Hilton’s tropical island in the metaverse,” said Sebastien Borget, COO and Co-Founder of The Sandbox. “Parisland offers a dazzling escape to sunny beaches, lighthearted romance, and genuine emotion as you discover and woo your romantic partner and celebrate with a destination wedding.”

And this is not the first time that love and the metaverse are intersecting. Taco Bell famously offered fans a chance to be married in the metaverse and many romance-themed events have been held on all sorts of web3 platforms. This goes to show just have diverse metaverse use has become, attracting all sorts of big names. 

Paris Hilton, for example, has been an avid NFT collector and has joined the horde of celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Tony Hawk, Deadmau5, and Steve Aoki, who have worked with different metaverses. And clearly, this will not be stopping anytime soon. 

“We’re thrilled to celebrate another holiday in the metaverse, this time in The Sandbox with a mission to help people find love,” said Cynthia Miller, who leads Web3 and metaverse strategy at 11:11 Media. “This marks yet another defining moment for Paris and 11:11 Media, as we continue to develop innovative, interactive experiences for next-gen audiences to connect with brands, celebrities and each other.”

The Future of the Metaverse

Just like many web3 concepts, the metaverse has not been without controversy, with some dubbing it a fad. But year in and out, we see more innovative uses of many metaverse platforms. And through these platforms, users are being rewarded with digital assets, great experiences, and even love.

One of the blowbacks of the FTX collapse that have recently come to light is the fact that crypto companies will not be running any ads during this year’s Superbowl. This is a stark contrast to the myriad of ads for crypto companies that we saw last year.

But despite this, NFTs will apparently be well-represented at the championships as Limit Break, a web3 gaming company, has confirmed that it will be running a Superbowl ad. And beyond just the typical, the company will be giving away thousands of NFTs from its DigiDaigaku Dragon series.

Get Your Free NFTs

One thing to note about the NFTs being given out is that they are free-to-own. This means that players do not need to pay for them but can use them in Limit Break’s gaming ecosystem and even sell them.

So where will players get these free NFTs from? Well, Limit Break intends to include a QR code during its Superbowl commercial and when viewers scan this code, they will be able to mint the NFTs in question. And Limit Break is spending quite a bit on this endeavour as it is estimated that the commercial will cost the company $6.5 million.

This is not especially surprising considering that the Superbowl is one of the most-watched sports events in the world, with an estimated 100 million people watching. As such, even a 30-second slot can cost a company millions of dollars, which many are more than happy to pay. In fact, many of the commercial slots were reportedly sold out as far back as last summer. 

Limit Break, on its part, has been very deliberate in its handing out of free NFTs, despite the fact that this business model is quite novel. Usually, web3 games require players to buy the NFTs that will be used in the game. And while there is the potential of the assets being resold later, Limit Break is letting users get in on the action without an initial financial commitment. 

This has the potential to turn the usual NFT gaming model on its head and this is what the company is looking to do. 

“Limit Break’s free-to-own NFT model is literally game-changing, and these asset releases are key moments building to our upcoming Super Bowl commercial. Whether you are an existing fan or new to our community, we encourage everyone to take advantage of the release of these digital collectibles during the Super Bowl broadcast on February 12,” said Gabe Leydon, Limit Break’s CEO.

And besides the disruptive financial model, this initiative also stands to create much more inclusion and fan engagement. Usually, people watch and are entertained by Superbowl ads. But with what Limit Break is doing, fans have to take out their phones and engage with the ad, rushing to mint their own NFT before they are all gone.

Clearly, even though crypto companies will be missing from this year’s Superbowl, the blockchain sector is well-represented with NFTs.

Yuga Labs has many successful projects under its belt; there are the NFT collections like the Bored Ape and Mutant Ape Yacht Club, its wildly successful Otherside metaverse, and of course, its most recent Dookey Dash game which was announced last month. Soon after Yuga Labs confirmed the game, along with the perks for players, it was met with a wave of support from its fanbase. 

Sadly, barely a month since the game began operations, it is being threatened by instances of players cheating, with some people even offering a paid service to help players illegally score higher points. 

How The Game is Being Cheated 

These instances of cheating first came to light after some players went online to brag about their shady activities. After some online sleuths did some investigating, it was revealed that this ‘cheating’ is made possible by some technical glitches in the game.

Marco Marchesi, the chief technical officer at Fabricant, for example, did a video walk-through showing how game scores can be inflated. In this case, a player only needs to deliberately crash into some game obstacles, which inflates their score and could put them on the leaderboard. 

“Easy to hack the obstacles in #dookeydash Less easy to validate a score (and no intention to try @samwcyo ). I wonder if I should run a obstacle-less game as an artistic performance until the sewer closes in 7 days and see what score I can get live,” he explained, having scored over 3,000 points in his experiment. 

On top of this, others have speculated that there are ‘exploits’ ( digital hacks or cheat codes) that allow users to inflate their points without being detected by Yuga Labs’ anti-cheating mechanism. 

One hacker called ClearHat even published a Twitter thread in which they said that Yuga Labs neglected to encrypt some of its code which made it susceptible to being reverse-engineered. By doing this, players could exploit the game’s code and rack up points. And even though Yuga Labs eventually addressed this issue, the damage had been done.

The situation became so dire that some people were even advertising online that they could help others ‘beat’ the game for a fee. And given how popular the game is and the rewards that Yuga Labs intends to give to the top players, such a service was in high demand. 

Yuga Labs Pushes Back Against Cheaters 

Thankfully, Yuga Labs seems to have gotten a handle on the situation. In a February 8, 2023 statement, the company said that it had penalised anyone found using any of the cheating hacks. 

“We want Dookey Dash to be as fair as possible. As we’ve mentioned previously, we will not allow cheating. We’ve already noticed some #DookeyDash Sewer Passes associated with cheating. Those scores have now been removed from the leaderboard,” it said, adding that while anyone whose score was removed from the leaderboard can replay the game and legitimately earn points, anyone caught cheating moving forward will be banned from playing the game.

From the British Invasion of the 1960s spearheaded by bands like the Beatles to the modern K-pop domination, the world sure loves its music groups. And there are many reasons for this; one of them is the fact that music groups are comprised of different characters that fans can relate to.

But what happens when the members of a band are made of digital non-humans? This is what Def Jam, a major record label, is looking to find out with the launch of  The Whales, an NFT group that was created with input from Catalina Whale Mixer, a Solana-based music group. 

Bringing NFTs to your Ears

Now, you might be wondering where Def Jam got the NFTs that make up the Whales. The members are all part of Solana’s profile picture NFT collection and now that they have been assembled, they will begin making music. 

As per Def Jam, the group will be working with major producers and artists to create their sound. And considering the fact that Def Jam has such creatives as Rick Rubin and Jay Z in its roster, we could get some very interesting work from the Whales soon.

On top of this, the team behind the Whales is based within the creative world. WAGMI Beach, the studio behind Catalina Whale Mixer, has several musicians as founders and is looking to bridge the universal appeal of music with the access that NFTs offer. For starters, those who hold NFTs from the profile picture collection can audition their assets to become band members.

And beyond this, they will be able to make decisions about the future of the band and its projects. This sort of thing is quite unheard of in the music business as these decisions are almost exclusively made by record executives. But because NFTs democratize access and control, this new model can essentially be tested out with the Whales. 

“Instead of it just being like four guys in their garage that are deciding what it is, it’s like this community of all these people determining the direction that it goes,” Carlos Fox, WAGAMI Beach’s CEO. 

And this is not the first time that a music group has been created, whether as avatars or NFTs. There are singers like Miquela who are not ‘real’ but animated characters who release songs, perform virtually and have a dedicated fanbase. In terms of NFT artists, the most prominent is probably Kingship, a band made up of only Bored Ape NFTs. 

Clearly, there is some market demand for this sort of artist and Def Jam plans to be at the forefront of this development. 

“Def Jam is one of the most important labels of all time, culturally—and from early hip-hop onward, they’ve always taken a leap on supporting what’s new before it’s popular. We were very humbled and appreciative that they were able to see the vision and why this is something special,” Fox says. 

The Whale’s debut song will be released this summer.