Category: News

Of all the major social media companies, Meta has been the most aggressive in embracing NFTs and supporting them. This year saw Facebook and Instagram, social media platforms under Meta, allow users to post their NFTs to both stories and feeds, opening the gate for more adoption and visibility. 

But as the year draws to a close, Meta is showing that it isn’t done yet. As announced on November 2, 2022, Instagram will soon allow users to not only display their NFTs on the site but also create them in-house as well. Instagram will also be expanding on display functionality and support a wider range of blockchains. 

Instagram and NFTs

In the statement, the Meta Press Room explained that it will be providing users with an end-to-end toolkit for NFTs. Initially, the option to create will only be available for NFTs on the polygon blockchain but the ability to showcase and sell them will have a wider reach across blockchains.

“Creators will soon be able to make their own digital collectibles on Instagram and sell them to fans, both on and off Instagram[..] People can easily support their favorite creators by buying their digital collectibles directly within Instagram. We’re testing these new features with a small group of creators in the US first, and hope to expand to more countries soon.” the statement said. 

This is similar to the way NFT displays were first rolled out in that a few users in select countries got to test the feature before more were given access. Users who favour the Solana blockchain and Phantom wallet are also in luck because Instagram has added support for the two. Instagram will also be working towards offering more information on the assets that will be listed and will be sourcing some of this from OpenSea. 

“[..] information for select collections where the metadata has been enriched by OpenSea, such as collection name and descriptions, will now be available on Instagram,” the statement says. 

This shows the level of dedication that Meta has towards NFT integration. For many NFT lovers, simply being able to display their assets on one of the biggest social media sites in the world was good enough. But being able to create them within the site as they would an Instagram story is another thing entirely. As this pilot program advances, we should get a deeper insight into what the creation suite will look like. 

Instagram: the Land of NFTs

Perhaps the exciting part of this new announcement is that we don’t yet know how exactly the NFT creation process will manifest. One interesting possibility is perhaps the chance to turn Instagram content or posts into NFTs themselves. 

As we all know, images are often minted and sold as NFTs and Instagram has been an image-focused social media site for years. The idea that a picture can be posted to Instagram and then sold as an NFT on the same platform could open up new revenue streams for creatives and more access for fans.

Forget sneakers and jerseys, NFT projects are the hottest new venture for sports teams and stars. From the NBA to the English Premier League, many top names within sports are getting involved in NFTs and launching projects for fans. 

Now, Steph Curry, one of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) biggest stars, seems to be getting in on the action. This comes via a trademark filing from October 26, 2022. This filing is for something referred to as the “Curryverse” and from all indications, appears to be Curry trying to create an entire metaverse experience, along with NFT projects. 

Curry in the Curryverse

From the details of the filing, Curry intends to pursue the launch of clothing and apparel for use in the metaverse, as well as downloadable goods which will be authenticated by NFTs. Then there is the metaverse aspect as the filing covers “personal and virtual and ‘metaversial’ appearances by a professional basketball player”, and metaverse experiences. 

It is not unusual to see NFT-related trademark filings mention virtual goods and collectables but the filing that Curry has made seems to emphasize the metaverse heavily. From all indications, the NBA star plans to offer not just a one-off drop but a full-on digital experience and thus, the name Curryworld. 

If this does end up launching and being successful, we could see more celebrities following in his footsteps. Then, fans won’t just look forward to limited-edition NFT drops but the chance to interact in a digital universe themed around their favourite star. 

Then there is the ‘metaversial’ appearance part. Celebrities such as Paris Hilton have, in the past, made virtual appearances in the metaverse.

This is all in its early stages, however, and these projects might take a while to come to light. Still, it is interesting to see Curry’s trajectory from celebrity NFT fan to potentially launching his own metaverse. A few years ago, he joined the likes of Snoop Dogg and Madonna by becoming the owner of a pricey Bored Ape NFT. Following this, he went on to become a crypto ambassador for FTX and even invested in ​​LinksDAO, a golf-focused Decentralized Autonomous Organisation. 

This just goes to show how popular NFTs have become and what the next step in their evolution is.

The Role of Celebrities in NFT Development 

It is clear to see that celebrities’ involvement in the NFT space has drawn a lot of eyes to it, as well as lent some credibility. While some people might be inherently distrustful of NFTs, they are likely more receptive if an NFT project is backed by their favourite movie star or sports star.
And this has been reflected in sales numbers. Just take Anthony Hopkins’ NFT drop that sold out within minutes. It has been shown time and time again that people will pay money for NFTs, especially if it is backed by star power. As for whether fans will enthusiastically sign up for metaverses if their favourite NBA star is attached to it is left to be seen.

There is no denying that NFTs are the hottest blockchain-based asset in the market right now. Just as cryptocurrencies were the talk of the town a few years ago, NFTs are having their chance to shine. This, of course, has manifested in many new and existing projects offering support for NFTs.

One of the developments on that front comes from Ripple, a top crypto business solution and the creator of the XRP token. In one of the most exciting announcements from this year, Ripple has confirmed that its XRP Ledger (XRPL) now supports NFTs moving forward. 

Ripple Hops on the NFT Train

The decision to include NFTs on the XRPL was made through voting within the Ripple community a while back. Around that time, Ripple began a multi-million dollar effort to have NFT support integrated into its system, which culminated in the implementation of XLS-20, an NFT-compaible interface, on the XRPL Mainnet. 

“Tokenization is not new to the XRPL, but this presents a key milestone for developers and creators to tokenize any asset and build innovative Web3 projects with utility. The new standard introduces native NFTs on the XRP Ledger to represent unique assets along with efficient, secure operations to enumerate, transfer and hold such tokens,” said Chief Technology Officer of Ripple Labs, David Schwartz in a tweet discussing the new development. 

This is a big deal given the fact that Ripple is so popular within the industry and its native token is the sixth-largest by market capitalization. Needless to say, millions of more people now have access to NFT tokenization through this move, which the management of Ripple says is its priority. 

As David Schwartz explains, the company intends to prioritize the tokenization of physical items as NFTs. To do this, as well as set itself apart from other NFT-compatbile blockchains, Ripple will work to offer lower fees and faster transaction times. 

“You’re going to see projects based on things like carbon credits and real estate ownership and all these different use cases. Anything that you can own all or some of that is unique, that can be represented by an NFT,” he said. 

Real-World NFTs

There is a lot more emphasis on the real-world value behind NFTs these days, with everything from citizenship to event access being tied to NFTs. Needless to say, this development from Ripple is coming at a good time when the industry is maturing and securing institutional support. The emphasis on low fees and transaction speed is also very relevant given that many NFTs creators cite high minting fees as one of their biggest pain points (who can forget the mammoth amounts that NFT buyers paid during the Otherside mint?). 

Given the fact that Ripple is already a giant in the crypto industry, one can only believe that XRPL will be widely-utilized for NFT tokenization. And hopefully, even more blockchains of all sizes will follow in its footsteps and give users even more options to choose from.

Back in October 2022, NFT lovers were sent into a frenzy when payment processor Visa filed several trademarks for NFT-related ventures. Theories immediately began floating about what products might be released by the multinational company and when.

Well, it seems we didn’t have to wait very long as Visa has announced a partnership with crypto.com, a popular crypto exchange. This partnership has seen the launch of Visa Masters of Movement, a  hybrid experience and NFT auction ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The NFTs being released as part of this collection are, of course, football-themed and are available for purchase on crypto.com until November 9, 2022. 

NFTs Ahead of the 2022 World Cup 

This new collection offers 5 assets in total which are inspired by iconic goals scored within the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup over the decades. These include goals from Jared Borgetti, Tim Cahill, Carli Lloyd, Michael Owen, and Maxi Rodriguez which have been converted into dynamic works of art. 

These NFTs will be sold via auction and whoever has the highest bid on them will get not only the NFT itself but also a high-quality printable art file and signed memorabilia from the player featured in their asset. And all this is for a good cause as FIFA will be donating the proceeds to Street Child United, a UK-based charity which supports street children. 

For any football lover, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get their hands on an iconic goal. These sports moments have been talked about for years and now, some lucky fans can own them virtually. Speaking on the development, Steven Kalifowitz, the Chief Marketing Officer at Crypto.com. said, “The FIFA World Cup™ is one of the most anticipated sporting events in the world, and we are incredibly excited to give fans a new way to engage with this epic event. We are thrilled to partner with Visa in bringing Visa Masters of Movement to life and offering fans the opportunity to create and collect the most unique collectibles at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ that will live forever on the blockchain.”

The Fan NFT Experience 

Besides the NFT auction, FIFA will also be holding its FIFA Fan Festival later this month. During this festival, fans can create their own digital art using their signature moves, with some being able to mint these into NFTs. This will hold from November 19 to December 18, 2022, and will involve fans playing on an LED pitch with tracking technology that will scan them as they play. After this is done, they can customize their NFTs and then receive them in their email addresses. 

This puts fans in the front seat of the NFT creation process and, as the press release states, also acts as an educational experience. 

“[..] fans can learn about new ways Visa is enabling the movement of money across the world, including emerging technologies like crypto, and other digital solutions that provide more people with access to the global economy,” it says.

One of the more interesting parts of being involved in the NFT industry is seeing which new projects take off very quickly and cause discourse among fans. This could be a wave of praise or endless back and forth among those who love and hate it. 

Art Gobblers, the new NFT collection from ‘Rick and Morty’ creator  Justin Roiland has done just that. Released on October 31, 2022, the Ethereum-based project which was done in partnership with blockchain firm Paradigm has already secured the top spot on the OpenSea table and has brought in tens of millions of dollars in resale figures. 

But despite all the instant success, it has also been quite controversial, with some accusing it of being overhyped or even a scam. 

All About Art Gobblers 

One very unique thing about this new drop is that buyers can mint their assets as Page NFTs and also trade in Goot tokens to get more assets. But this novel minting mechanism is not what has gotten NFT fans on Twitter talking. Instead, there have been accusations of Roiland leveraging influencer support to drum up publicity for the collection without proper disclosure. 

You see, 1,700 of the Art Gobbler NFTs were made available for a free mint. These free NFTs were given only to those on the allowlist and they quickly began selling for tens of thousands of dollars apiece online. That, in itself, is not unusual but what caused controversy was when people began reviewing the names of who was on the allowlist in the first place. 

As several reports indicate, the allowlist was full of NFT influencers and content creators. This included personalities like content creator Zeneca and Devotion co-founder Andrew Wang. This led many to believe that it was all a marketing ploy that the general public was not let in on. Everyone knows that NFT buyers follow the activities of influencers and other famous people very closely. If a horde of them are found to be buying from a specific collection, others will flock to buy from it as well. 

This, perhaps, contributed to the high floor price of the Art Gobblers collection and naturally, made many angry. And given how much the secondary sales are commanding, these influencers have likely made a tidy sum in profit as well. 

This has cast a dark shadow over what was one of the most impressive NFT debuts from a well-known creative this year and has also reignited the conversation about NFT best practices, disclosure and ethics.

The Role of Disclosure 

The NFT sector is still fairly unregulated and as such, there are several ethical and legal grey areas which can be seen in this current incident. As many have pointed out, influencers hold a certain level of sway with their audiences. If they are being paid to buy into an NFT collection in order to trigger fans into buying from it, at what point should this be disclosed? 

This incident begs the question that hopefully, will be clearer and better enforced over time.

Earlier this year, game retailer GameStop made one of the biggest announcements in the industry as it launched its own NFT marketplace. This marked one of the biggest intersections between gaming and web3 and sent NFT fans into a frenzy. 

Now, months after it was launched to much fanfare, GameStop has finalised a new onboarding with Immutable X, a top layer-2 scaling network built on the Ethereum network. As a result of this new partnership, NFTs and games that are built on Immutable X can now be listed and sold on the GameStop NFT marketplace. This comes just weeks after GameStop’s latest NFT wallet also supported Immutable X-based assets. 

“Immutable X Layer 2 is now natively supported in the Wallet! Access your Immutable X assets, send/receive, and connect to @Immutable-enabled  dapps. We will continue bringing Layer 2 to you!” a tweet from the official GameStop Twitter page said at the time. 

Immutable X Comes to GameStop

One of the reasons why this announcement is so significant is that Immutable X is home to many popular web3 gaming titles. These include Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians which are known for having interactive NFTs that GameStop marketplace users can now buy.

Along with access to more game titles, the marketplace’s users can enjoy gas-free and carbon-neutral minting and trading thanks to this new development. The partnership between GameStop and Immutable X had actually been announced earlier this year and fans had been eagerly awaiting what it would bring. Now, this has been revealed and as the management of Immutable X explains, this is a step towards the development of web3 gaming as a whole. 

“Our partnership with GameStop is an important step forward as Immutable brings the next billion players to web3 gaming. Today’s launch of the GameStop NFT Marketplace means that we can now provide access to millions of additional NFTs, more of the top web3 games being developed today, while maintaining a best-in-class experience for players,” says Robbie Ferguson, president and co-founder of ImmutableX.

This is just one of the many partnerships that Immutable X has secured this year, including onboarding with OpenSea. But why is Immutable X being tapped for partnerships with so many big names in the industry? 

First of all, transactions across Immutable X are known to be faster than the current industry standard. They are also known for attracting much lower gas fees than usual. Given how much of an issue gas fees are for many NFT users, this makes it even more attractive. 

A Wide World of Gaming 

As NFTs become an even bigger part of the gaming industry, there is a need to make different games more accessible. This includes making sure that major marketplaces like GameStop list the titles that players like, regardless of what chain they are minted on. 

As the management of Immutable X explained, this all leads towards a sweb3 future where consumers have free access to the content and assets they need.

It is always interesting to see which new industry decides to embrace NFTs. We’ve seen web3-based launches from fashion brands, mobile phone brands, food companies, and so on. As NFTs become more popular around the globe, we see a wider variety of companies and industries embrace them. 

On the consumer goods front, electronics brand Bang and Olufsen has announced its first Metaverse project. This comes in the form of an NFT drop called the DNA Collection. This project was done in collaboration with a number of web3 artists including Hackatao and Thomas Lin, and also incorporates some of the company’s most beloved projects from over the years. 

Bang and Olufsen Make NFT Entry

The DNA Collection, as per an official statement, is meant to act as a fusion of music and art. Given that the brand is known for its audio products, they were incorporated into the drop. More specifically, Bang and Olufsen’s Beogram 4000 turntable, Beoplay A9, and Beolab 90 speakers were featured as part of its NFT drop. The collection features 1925 NFTs and each comes with features that pay homage to both art and music. 

When a person chooses to buy one of the NFTs, they receive an Art Vial and a Music vial. They will also get a 3D rendering of whichever Bang and Olufsen product they choose to buy which can be used within the Metaverse as well. 

The launch also saw the release of a brand-new item, The Beoverse Alpha. This is essentially a boombox that, unlike some of the company’s previous products, is not meant to be used in the material world. Instead, it is meant for use strictly in the Metaverse along with its NFT counterparts. Those who participate in this first NFT drop will be given priority when it comes to future ones and will get the chance to buy a limited edition Beoplay A9 physical speaker. 

Speakers in the Metaverse 

This is the latest example of a growing trend of products being made specifically for the Metaverse the same way they are for the physical world. After all, as people engage in the Metaverse, they will need products the same way they do in the ‘real’ world and it seems that brands are rising to meet this need. 

This was touched on by Christoffer Poulsen, Bang & Olufsen’s SVP and Head of Business Development & Brand Collaboration, who noted that after all its achievements in the material world, it has set its sights set on the digital one. 

“We’re excited about meeting design and music lovers in the Metaverse and supporting the amazing creator culture that has emerged in Web. We’re new to Web3, but time and time again, we’ve built products in the physical world that no one else dared imagine, many of which have gone on to become design classics and collector’s items. Now we’re building our first NFT collection on that very same foundation that made us one of a kind in the first place,” he said.

As NFTs become more popular among artists, communities are forming around the art medium, both for the commercial and creative benefits. From collaborations between artists to all sorts of projects that bring together NFT-loving creatives, we see more developments in this sector every day. 

One of the latest of these comes from DMA United, a top advertising agency. The company has announced a new partnership with New York University and Artano for the launch of a new NFT platform called ArtLabb. As per an official press release from October 28, 2022, this platform features digital artwork from NYU’s staff and students.

NYU NFTs

As per the press release, ArtLabb will feature both virtual events and physical experiences that will bring together a community of artists and promote digital art as a whole.  One of the ways that this will be done is through ArtLabb acting as a digital art platform that will showcase all sorts of art. The platform is based on the Cardano blockchain and accepts ADA as its currency of choice. 

“DMA United conceptualized and created a digital art platform, ArtLabb, with artwork from New York University students, alumni and faculty. ArtLabb is curated by Snow Yunxue Fu, a new media artist, curator and Assistant Arts Professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts,” the statement says. 

Not only will this art be on the digital platform but it will also be installed on  the VR WSPark Metaverse space in Washington Square Park on  November 12, 2022, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm EST. This comes weeks after the works were physically exhibited to the public on October 20, 2022, at the Web3 NYC Gallery (510 Fifth Avenue).

All these are a part of the NYU School of Professional Studies Metaverse Collaborative and as per the press release is “a cross-industry initiative formed to understand the metaverse and its impact.” DMA United, on its part, has handled much of the backend for this project, including the naming, branding, and tokenization. 

Given how much more attention blockchain and its by-products have gotten from the wider world, including academia, this sort of project comes as no surprise. As many more artists experiment with NFTs as a medium, this sort of platform offers a chance for them to show off their creations. 

NYU is known for its creator community and with this platform off the ground, other universities might follow suit. 

Giving Access to Artists 

As popular as NFTs are these days, access to the tools for artists to leverage them is not universal. By having a university have its own go-to NFT platform that showcases works from within the community, artists who might be interested in NFTs will receive the guidance and platform that they need.

What this will mean is that more NFT-based art can be created within the next generation of artists and the digital asset’s place can be secured within the art world for many years to come.

When predictions were made regarding the NFT sector in 2022, few could have foretold the amount of success that Reddit has seen with its digital collectables drop. Reddit has been one of the biggest social media sites in the world for years now and its NFT endeavours were a risk on its part and one that has paid off. 

As per recent reports, the total trade volume of Reddit’s NFTs has surpassed $8.6 million, making them some of the hottest assets in the market. This also only comes a few months after the NFTs were made available to Reddit users. 

Reddit’s Market Success

Back in July 2022, Reddit announced that it would be making a new crop of digital collectables available for sale. These would be on its new Polygon-based marketplace and all NFTs were different iterations of Snoo, Reddit’s mascot, in a range of outfits and themes. 

The NFTs came at different rarity points and had prices of $9.99, $24.99, $49.99, $74.99 or $99.99. When the NFTs were bought, they could be used both on and off Reddit and following the marketplace launch, free NFTs were also airdropped to top Reddit users. Now, in the months following the NFT launches, the assets have commanded hundreds and thousands of dollars on the resale market which is especially remarkable given the current bear market. 

This has only increased as the NFTs have gotten more media attention both within and outside of NFT-focused circles. Just last week, it was announced that 2.5 million digital asset wallets had been created to buy and store the Reddit NFTs. 

In wake of all this success, Reddit also released a Halloween-themed NFT collection called Spooky Season. These NFTs were designed by 23 artists from its Collectible Avatar Creator Program and featured, once again, Snoo in all sorts of terrifying themes. This drop was an even faster success than the previous one, selling out in under two days. 

This proved that Reddit’s NFT success was not a one-off and that even months after the initial launch, there was a demand within the market for its assets. In the weeks following the Spooky Season drop, millions of dollars have been spent on secondary markets by those who could not get their hands on them initially. 

With all of this, it is not farfetched that Reddit could introduce more NFT drops in the future, both seasonal and otherwise. 

Social Media NFTs

One of the reasons often given for why Reddit’s NFT ventures have been so successful is the fact that it has an engaged community behind it and also the fact that the community is being put at the forefront of this project. 

It is possible that other social media platforms might follow in Reddit’s footsteps and launch their own NFT drops. If their audiences are engaged enough, we could see this success replicated across even more platforms and with an even wider variety of assets for users to choose from.

A lot of the time, we are used to seeing NFTs being used more in a commercial or entertainment sense. Whether this is the billion-dollar collections that are empires unto themselves or NFTs that unlock perks and benefits, NFTs are mostly popular in those two ways. But one application that is fast on the rise is NFTs being used within the educational sector. 

Just months after Pearson teased textbooks being released as NFTs, TinyTap, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, has launched a new line of educational NFTs. These NFTs are called Publisher NFTs and they are designed to benefit educators and those who learn from them. 

This comes months after Animoca acquired TinyTap for $39 million back in June 2022, which marked its entry into the education space. Animoca has already made a name for itself within the NFT space for its more commercial ventures like its recent one with Nissan. But now, it is taking on the world of education.

Learning Through NFTs

As per the official statement, TinyTap intends to release six NFTs on OpenSea on November 2, 2022. And what will these NFTs actually entail? TinyTap has explained that they will be tied to ‘Courses’ which will be bundles of educational content such as games. 

“The auction of the Publisher NFTs is the first step in leveraging Web3 technologies to establish an alternative decentralized education system that fairly supports and incentivizes teachers,” said Animoca Brands in the official statement.

The goal of this initiative, the company explained, is to make sure that educators are compensated, which mirrors what was said by Pearson earlier this year. Within the education system, teachers not being fairly compensated is a hot-button issue, especially when it comes to the creation and publishing of content. But NFTs seem to be offering a solution to this age-old problem.

The educators who are signed up on TinyTap’s platform can publish their works as NFT-linked courses and sell the publishing rights to them as such. That way, royalties can be easily tracked and disbursed. Alternatively, they can publish the courses directly on TinyTap and be paid a portion of the proceeds from subscriptions. 

Either way, a model has been created that offers more trackable rewards for educators than the traditional model. And with other companies like Pearson looking to get into NFTs, we could see a lot more initiatives like this. 

What NFTs Can Do for Education 

Why are companies like Animoca and Pearson looking to get into NFTs for educational purposes? The simple answer is that both have a lot to offer each other. NFTs can offer a modern approach to the traditional educational model and one that benefits both teachers and students. Teachers can be better compensated for their work and students, especially younger and tech-savvy ones, can access educational materials digitally and with more ease. 

The education sector also offers NFTs a new application and a new way to reach new and engaged audiences and simultaneously drive digital asset adoption.