Category: News

Over the last few months, royalties have become a very hot-button issue within the NFT world. Because of their potential as a source of passive income for creators, royalties have always been important to the NFT world. But recently, there has been a shift within the industry of moving away from NFTs. Several collections and platforms have adjusted their policies and either scrapped NFTs entirely or made them optional for users. 

The latest development in this trend comes from LooksRare, an Ethereum NFT marketplace. In an October 27, 2022 blog post, LooksRare announced that it would be adopting a zero royalty policy. 

A World of Zero Royalty

Prior to this announcement, assets listed in LooksRare came with royalties for creators. Now, the marketplace is removing this default royalty policy and making them opt-in, meaning buyers get to indicate if they want to pay royalties or not. 

If the buyer opts to pay royalties and the seller has set up a receiving address on the LooksRare royalty registry, they will receive a 0.5% royalty on all NFT sales. The reason LooksRare gave for this change was that the growth of zero royalty in the NFT sector has led to buyers being even less willing to pay royalties. 

“The growth of zero-royalty marketplaces has eroded the general willingness to pay royalties throughout the NFT space. Good news for traders, but with a big downside: the move away from royalties has removed an important source of passive income for most creators,” the blog post said.

The post also revealed that LooksRare will be creating an alternative for the creators who use the platform. In lieu of royalties, LooksRare will be diverting protocol fees directly to creators. More specifically, 25% of the fees generated from the protocol will be reserved for creators, which will help make up for the loss of royalties. 

The platform was also quick to specify that while it is not the first marketplace to scrap royalties, it is the first to do so while creating an alternative for creators. This has perhaps been one of the biggest controversies in the NFT space; if creators lose access to royalties, how else can they earn a living? Luckily, LooksRare seems to have answered that question. 

The Royalty Dilemma

The question of how, if at all, NFT creators should be paid royalties is one that is not going away anytime soon. The current industry trajectory indicates that royalty as a standard is on its way out and even more platforms will make announcements similar to LooksRare. But there is continuous debate about whether or not this is a good thing,

After all, the royalty system was touted as one of the biggest benefits of NFTs for a long time and with that gone, so is some of its apparent appeal to creatives of all types. But as LooksRare and other platforms move forward, hopefully, this issue will be resolved in a way that benefits both creators and buyers.

NFTs have had a very interesting year in Britain. Back in April, the then-finance minister Rishi Sunak asked the Royal Mint to create NFTs that would be released during the summertime. While the assets have not yet seen the light of day, they did show how far they had come in terms of public acceptance within the U.K.

NFT fans were even more excited when Sunak was in the running to become the Prime Minister of Britain, though hopes were dashed when he initially lost the race. Now, that hope has been restored as, following the resignation of former officeholder Liz Truss, Sunak has been declared as Prime Minister of the U.K

Sunak as Prime Minister 

In many ways, Sunak’s emergence as Prime Minister is historic in the U.K; he is the first Prime Minister of Asian descent, as well the youngest ever at 42. For blockchain and digital asset lovers, his win is also historic given that he is perhaps one of the most vocal supporters of NFTs to hold a position as a world leader. Even before NFTs were the top blockchain-based asset, Suank had been supportive of a potential Central Bank Digital Currency that he called the ‘Britcoin’ in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the spike in digital payments as a result. 

When he first contested for the role of Prime Minister, discussions had begun about what his win would mean for the industry. There has been a push for the U.K to become a hub for digital assets and this was further reiterated by a statement put out by the Royal Mint earlier this year. 

“We are firmly committed to putting the UK at the forefront of crypto-asset technology and innovation by capitalising on the freedoms gained by leaving the European Union,” the statement said. 

Sunak, following his pursuit of NTFs by the Royal Mint, seems committed to this vision as well as just a few days into his tenure, there is some encouraging news. The new Financial Services and Markets Bill which has been backed by Sunak would seek to create more regulations and oversight for the digital assets sector. 

Seeing that regulations is one of the most pressing issues in the industry, such a bill makes sense. NFT lovers online are also currently hoping that as his tenure progresses, Suank will prioritise digital asset development within the U.K. 

Sunak in NFTs’ Corner? 

For many digital asset proponents, Rishi Sunak’s position offers a lot of hope because he seems to be one of the most vocal supporters of NFTs on the world stage. During his time as finance minister, he openly backed many blockchain-based initiatives and now that he has the powers of prime minister, there might be even more to come. 

Given that we are only a few days into his tenure, it is all speculation for now but as time goes on, what Rishi Sunak means for NFTs will finally unravel.

Over the last few months, we’ve seen many iconic IPs make their way into the metaverse by way of NFT releases. From Batman to Baby Shark, many recognizable characters and franchises have been turned into NFTs and clearly, the public is responding well to these developments as the list keeps growing. 

The latest addition is non-other than Superman himself. This comes as DC Comics, the company with the rights to the character, has announced the launch of the Superman #1 comic as an NFT on October 27, 2022. This comes after DC Comics released Batman: The Legacy Cowl #1 as a collectable as well. 

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane..

This new comic NFT has a total of 3,000 units for sale at a price of $9.99 each on the dedicated DC Comics digital asset marketplace. While it is no small number, it is significantly lower than the 200,000 collectables that were released with the Batman collection. It is also significantly cheaper, costing hundreds of dollars less than the Batman NFTs did.

These NFTs were developed in partnership with the Palm network, an Ethereum sidechain. When these NFTs are minted, they will be assigned one of four rarity levels;  Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Depending on the rarity that a user gets, they will get either a rare vintage cover or a more modern one. Either way, these are a prized opportunity for comic book fans to get their hands on metaverse iterations of an iconic character. 

They are also part of  DC Collectible Comics (DC3), a new initiative by DC Comics to bring its comic book IPs into the metaverse. Naturally, with Superman being one of its biggest and most enduring characters, this collection is leading the charge. Over time, more comic book heroes should be making their debut on DC3. 

Comic books have been a major part of pop culture for decades and as NFTs become hot commodities, they too are being given the web3 treatment. For both the creators of superhero content and fans, this represents a unique opportunity. 

As Anne DePies, DC Senior Vice President and General Manager explains, “We want to take the physical, real world experience of collecting comics that so many of our readers have loved over the years and expand that into a new digital community. We want to build that community aspect that everyone has been so proud to be a part of, in our digital ecosystem to make comic collecting more available and accessible than ever before.” 

Superheroes in the Metaverse

This launch from DC Comics marks Superman’s NFT debut with comic books. But more than this, it signals that DC Comics will be releasing even more IPs as NFTs over time. And that is good news for both NFT lovers and comic book fans alike. 

Currently, there is no overstating just how big comic book franchises are globally and having such recognizable characters and their comics become NFTs only shines a bigger spotlight on the industry.

At this point, practically every NFT lover knows to beware of scammers and hackers who want to steal their assets. Whether this is through phishing schemes, wallet hacks, or anything else, there are always people looking to exploit digital asset owners. 

According to ZachXBT, a Twitter user who describes himself as an on-chain sleuth, a single prolific scammer by the name of Monkey Drainer has stolen about $1 million in digital assets in a 24-hour period. This was reported by ZachXBT in an October 25, 2022, Twitter thread.

Criminals on the Loose

As ZachXBT explained, this scammer’s wallet has only been operating for a few months but has already seen thousands of transactions, all of which are likely connected to their illegal activities. 

‘Over the past 24 hrs ~700 ETH ($1m) has been stolen by the phishing scammer known as Monkey Drainer. They recently surpassed 7300 transactions from their drainer wallet after being around for only a few months,” the thread said.

The thread also identified some of the victims, citing users known as 0x02a and 0x626 as having taken the biggest loss after signing malicious transactions on phishing websites set up by Monkey Drainer. 0x02a was noted to have lost 1 Bored Ape NFT, 1 CloneX NFT, $36,000 in USDC, and 12 other NFTs worth in total around $150k.

0x626, on the other hand, lost $220,000 in cryptocurrency, which was remarkable considering they held over $6 million worth of crypto as of the time they were targeted.

But these two were only a small example of the damage that Monkey Drainer has caused so far, with ZachXBT noting that they would have made about $3.5 million so far. 

“These victims are just two of many who’ve had their funds stolen by Monkey. The total number stolen easily surpasses $3.5m with that number rapidly increasing by each day,” the thread said, also reminding users to remain vigilant about their online activity to avoid being targeted. 

Shortly after the thread was published and began gaining attention, ZachXBT revealed that Monkey Drainer has been spamming it with bots. 

This thread is yet another in-depth exploration of scams and thefts within the NFT world, which ZachXBT is now known for. NFT lovers might remember him for the deep dive he did on an NFT theft ring earlier this year, with the suspects being arrested and charged by French police afterwards. 

The Rise of NFT Thefts 

It is well known at this point that scammers rake in millions of dollars from NFT-related thefts. But this Monkey Drainer appears to be one of the most prolific of the bunch and as ZachXBT points out, their illegal earnings are rising by the day. 

While digital asset holders are, of course, encouraged to be more vigilant and careful, more action on the part of law enforcement could also reduce these incidents or could lead to more prosecutions, as with the French incident.

While they have secured global visibility and use, NFTs have not had the smoothest journey to the Apple App store. As it was reported earlier this year, NFTs being sold through iOS apps are subject to a 30% commission payable to Apple which eats into the profits of entrepreneurs. 

Now, updated guidelines from the Apple App store show even more stringent requirements that could potentially interfere with the activities of NFT-focused apps and the benefits that buyers could enjoy from them. Published on October 24, 2022, these new requirements reinforce the 30% commission payable on NFTs and also ban the use of NFTs for unlocking features and content within apps. 

New Restrictions on NFT Use 

While NFTs can be used on iOS apps, as per the new guidelines, they are not to be used as an incentive to unlock any features. 

“Apps may use in-app purchase to sell and sell services related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as minting, listing, and transferring. Apps may allow users to view their own NFTs, provided that NFT ownership does not unlock features or functionality within the app,” the guidelines state. 

As soon as these new guidelines were announced, they made waves within the industry as NFTs are often sold with the promise of unlocking special rewards or perks, whether online or in the real world. Now that this has been taken away, a lot of NFT-centered apps will have to overhaul their business model or could potentially shut down.

Apple’s new guidelines are also working to deter users from being redirected to make NFT purchases outside of iOS apps. When the 30% commission rule was made public, some NFT app developers would put buttons that redirected users to their websites or marketplace listings to circumvent the rule. But Apple isn’t having it, officially banning the use of such tactics and demanding that all NFT purchases be done in-app. 

When these purchases are made, they are also to be done using fiat currency and not crypto. This is yet another inconvenience seeing as many NFTs are listed based on the native token of their underlying blockchain or just using popular tokens like ETH.

As for the 30% commission rule, that appears to not be going anywhere. Despite the outcry from the NFT sector at the rule, Apple intends to keep it in place. 

What this Means for Apple and NFTs

From all indications, Apple’s app store and the NFT industry won’t be smoothing through their issues anytime soon. And this goes far beyond just the rules being inconvenient; many of these actively interfere with the process of NFT-based e-commerce. NFT buyers are used to purchasing assets using crypto and now, can’t do so within iOS apps. Those who sell the NFTs will also see their profits reduced because of the high commission fee. 

And because Apple is being so stringent about these rules, even banning attempts to circumvent them, we could see an exodus of NFT-related apps from the iOS store over time.

Azuki is already one of the biggest NFT projects in the industry, having brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales so far. But even with all this virtual world, Azuki’s most recent outing saw the project sell physical skateboards. This outing was also a massive success, bringing in over $2.5 million in sales and was held by Chiru Labs, the company behind Azuki. 

This sale was held on October 21, 2022, and saw 8 skateboards sold in total following 145 bids on them. It also represents one of Chiru Labs’ most successful offerings to date. 

Skateboards and NFTs

Besides the popular company backing them, the skateboards were also notable for not being your run-of-the-mill skating equipment. As per Chiru Labs, each skateboard is made of 24-karat gold and weighs 45 pounds and as such, users are recommended to not actually try to ride them. But despite their impracticality, buyers flocked to these boards and paid a pretty penny for them. 

Chiru Labs confirmed that the highest amount paid for one of the skateboards was $400,000 while the lowest amount paid was  $260,000, all of which was done in ETH. The highest bid was paid by a user known as ‘dingaling’ who already has 70 Azuki NFTs in their portfolio and now gets to add another Chiru Labs asset to their collection. 

Besides the 24-karat gold and decked-out appearance of the skateboards, they are also made unique by the scannable chips inside of them which confirm their authenticity and rarity. As Chiru Labs explains, this can be very beneficial because it means that asset transfer can be done more seamlessly. If one of the boards is sold, for example, the new owner can transfer the asset digitally to their own wallet and create a new proof-of-ownership.

And therein lies even more potential for this sort of NFT application. While the authentication of digital goods is mostly a straightforward process, physical goods have suffered from counterfeiting for years. But with scannable chips and transfer via blockchain, that could easily be a thing of the past. This is all part of what Chiru Labs calls a ‘physically backed token’ i.e a physical asset that is recorded and backed up on a blockchain. 

Authenticating Products Via Blockchain 

This new development signalled a triumph for Chiru Labs, showing that its physical goods have just as much, if not more, demand as its digital assets. It also shows a potential new application of NFTs in that they can be tied to physical goods and used for authentication. 

If physically backed tokens truly catch on from here, we could see them being used in all sorts of industries, from luxury goods to even consumables like wine. Essentially, any physical item that could have a scannable chip and is in danger of counterfeiting could benefit from this. And with the success that this first project has seen, Azuki could roll out more in the future.

Within the NFT industry, royalties are a big deal, and for a good reason. For creators, they can serve as a permanent source of passive income, with payments being made to them every time that their work is sold and resold. This is why when any development is made with regard to NFT royalties, it is a hot topic in the industry.

Now, we have a clearer idea of just how much is circulated as royalties. This comes as Galaxy Digital, an investment management company, has released a new report which revealed that NFT creators who mint on the Ethereum blockchain have received an impressive $1.8 billion in royalties from secondary asset sales so far.

The Lucrative World of Royalties

While the $1.8 billion figure is impressive in itself, the report delved deep into the complexities of NFT royalties and how they are disbursed. The report, which was compiled by Sal Qadir and Gabe Parker, made use of Flipside’s data tables. The final results showed that almost half a billion of the royalties earned by Ethereum creators were concentrated among 10 platforms. These included Yuga Labs, Art Blocks, OpenSea, Doodles, and others, with a combined $489,712,712 in royalties. 

OpenSea, which snagged the spot, was noted as having doubled its average royalty percentage paid out to creators in the past year from 3% to 6%. But this concentration of royalties is not limited only to platforms but collections as well, with 80% of all the royalties earned by creators being concentrated across only 482 collections. 

The report also touched on the role of royalties and how they empower artists. Traditionally, many creatives, even the greats like Van Gough, have struggled to make a living from their works and NFT royalties offer a modern solution to this. Rather than make a single sale from an artwork, an artist can earn royalties in perpetuity which is invaluable. 

But recent developments have seen the royalty system threatened to a degree. DeGods, for example, has eliminated royalties among all of its collections and Magic Eden has switched to making royalties optional. These moves have been met with criticism from some fans and creators and the report touches on this. 

“[…] recent pushback against the royalty model in the broader crypto community is poised to threaten what was once posited as a core value proposition of NFTs. The reality is that royalties aren’t a primitive that inherits the same on-chain permanence that has been taken for granted in the crypto space,” it says. 

The Trouble With Royalties

As this report points out, the industry is fairly divided when it comes to NFT royalties; there are those who see them as essential for properly compensating creators and those who struggle with the logistics of enforcing royalty requirements. The rise in popularity of zero-royalty platforms has also led other marketplaces to revise their policies in order to keep up.

While the amount paid out as royalty has been impressive so far, it could very well stall over the next few years.

There is no overstating the importance of social media to the NFT space; it is the way through which many creators publicize their works, NFT fans discover new collections, and how breaking news is often disseminated. But with a new feature being rolled out by Twitter, we could see NFTs take on an even bigger role on the social media platform. 

Earlier this year, Twitter debuted a feature called Tweet Tiles which was made available to prominent media outlets like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. This feature allows tweets to appear with a variety of text fonts, larger images, and calls to action. Following a successful initial trial, this feature is being rolled out to more users, with NFT capabilities. 

NFTs Coming to Twitter 

Currently, some NFT functionality is already enabled on Twitter as collectors can display their NFTs as profile pictures should they connect their asset wallets. Now, they will be able to share NFTs in tweets, including information about the NFTs such as the creator and the name of the asset. 

“OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden, Dapper Labs and GuardianLink’s Jump.trade marketplaces have been selected for the pilot. As a result, the featured partners will be able to display colorful NFTs directly within tweets for the first time. The format allows for a larger picture of the NFT to be displayed alongside metadata such as the title and creator,” a statement from GuardianLink said. 

Moving forward with this, Twitter has teamed up with several NFT marketplaces including OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden, Dapper Labs and Jump.trade. Those who want to share their NFTs in tweets can do so from the Twitter web app or through Twitter for iOS. 

Since the news broke, some of the firms partnered with Twitter for this new development have spoken out. GuardianLink, which is behind Jump.trade noted that “the ability to embed NFTs, complete with pertinent information and a direct marketplace link, will drive sales and support discovery of new and trending collections. The Tweet Tiles pilot is currently in operation across iOS and Web for the five NFT marketplaces featured.” 

It was also noted that if this further rollout is successful, all Twitter users could be given the feature. Additionally, while this initial testing is restricted to five NFT marketplaces, more could be added with time. This is similar to the way that Meta slowly rolled out NFT features to select Facebook and Instagram users in certain regions before making them available to all. And this growing availability of NFT functionality on social media sites means that NFTs can be made more visible across the world and promoted with more ease. 

Post Your NFTs

This announcement means that soon, NFTs can be shared on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. There is no telling the benefits that this will bring to the industry. Not only will NFTs holders and their creators be able to show off their assets but being associated with such social media giants will grant even more legitimacy to the NFT space.

Have you heard of the Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas? You might recognize it as the site of the infamous and ill-fated Fyre Festival from a few years back. While it might be associated with one of the biggest festival flops of all time, the island itself is billed as an idyllic paradise. 

Now,  AGIA International Ltd, a real estate company, has announced that it will be selling villas on the island- through NFTs. This is an unprecedented move as it will be the first time that an entire real estate project is being sold exclusively as NFTs.

Buy a Villa on the Blockchain 

In total, 60 luxury pavilions and villas will be sold through NFTs, which will be minted on the Ethereum blockchain. Commenting on its association with the Fyre Festival, Erik Sanderson, the Co-founder of AGIA International, said that the team is choosing to focus on the island’s potential and not its past. 

“We saw 60 acres of secluded, undeveloped land in the cul-de-sac of a beautiful island whose current government has allocated tens of millions to invest in its transportation, telecommunications and infrastructure throughout the island. Constructing this project will create more than 150 jobs and operating it will mean 125 long-term hospitality jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities,” he said. 

And the company has explained that it is not just interested in making a profit from the island but making a difference as well. Not only will the money spent on the island go towards creating jobs and enriching the local economy but AGIA’s Foundation will invest in developing education and health resources throughout the island. 

When customers choose to buy one of the NFTs, they will have access to a physical villa ranging from 1,000 to 6,500 square feet equipped with a private pool and a  private floating boat slip. More developments are to come in the future, including a marina village that will have restaurants, shops, and so on.

This is also a very timely development given that the Bahamas is actively trying to become a hub for cryptocurrency, as stated by its Prime Minister Honourable Philip E. Davis.

“The Bahamas is not only open and ready for business but moving to the forefront of the most exciting era in digital assets innovation. If the world of cryptocurrency is where you see your possibilities, then the Bahamas has a place for you,” he said in a speech earlier this year.

NFTs and the Future of Luxury Vacations

People have owned and bought vacation homes for years, whether outright or through things like timeshares. While this has always involved real estate companies to a degree, it is only just starting to involve NFTs. 

And for those who do, there are a ton of benefits. As  Hunter Williams, the CEO of Unchained Partners, AGIA’s blockchain partner, points out, the sales are fully traceable and cross-border transactions are faster than they would normally be. As such, if NFTs truly become a part of buying vacation homes, it will be for the good of consumers.

It is no secret that few media franchises have been as financially successful or culturally relevant as the Lord of the Rings. From the bestselling books to the Oscar-winning films and the current prequel that has become one of Amazon Prime’s most hyped series of all time. 

But even with all this success thus far, Warner Brothers, who hold the rights to the franchise, believe that there is more that can be done with it. More specifically, the company believes that the LoTR franchise has web3 potential. In light of that, the studio announced on October 20, 2022 the release of NFTs tied to the 2001 film, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. These NFT essentially exist as an all-in-one package for fans. 

How the Franchise is Leveraging NFTs

Oftentimes, when NFTs are released for film projects, they include exlcsive footage for buyers and the LoTR NFTs are no different. But not only does it come with behind-the-scenes footage and stills, it also has AR collectible assets and a copy of the original film in 4K. 

For and LoTR enthusiast, there is a wealth of benefit to be had from them. For example, certain assets such as wands can be scanned using phones and then interacted with the same way a social media filter is. 

These NFTs were developed by Eluvio, a web3 company, and are available for sale exclusively at web3.wb.com from October 21, 2022. As Eluvio CEO and Co-founder Michelle Munson explained in a recent interview, the core assets are listed on the Content Fabric blockchain in the same way the NFT is. 

“They’re both owned and attested to and all of the streaming that you’ll see with the film, with the AR objects, the interactive experience, the audio commentaries, all of that is both authorized and distributed directly from the Content Fabric blockchain,” she said.

But even more exciting than digital items minted on a blockchain is the prospect of NFTs becoming the new DVD. Typically, when you buy a DVD, you are able to watch whatever content is included in it and own a copy for yourself. This is similar to what this LoTR NFT is offering; buyers don’t ‘own’ the movie or claim any commercial rights to it. 

DVDs vs. NFTs?

Over the last few years, DVD sales have declined globally while more consumers are accessing content digitally. With this in mind, Jessica Schell, the EVP of Warner and General Manager of Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment says that the company is exploring market response to IPs being released in NFT form. 

“It will be easy to miss that it’s actually using Web3 or NFTs under the hood, and that is by design. We think the initiative has implications as a potential new way to handle movie distribution directly to our fans,” she says. 

If this project proves to be a success, Warner Brothers could very well release more of its IPs as NFTs and they could become more of a part of the media consumption process.