Category: News

NFT naming services have become a hot commodity these days, with all sorts of businesses springing up to help people set up domain names ending in all sorts of .com-adjacent variants. The reason that these services are so popular is because of the convenience that they offer. Rather than sending the usual string of numbers and letters when a person wants to receive a digital asset, they can send their Name.ETH address, for example. 

But one of the popular NFT domain name providers, Unstoppable Domains, has decided to suspend its services after discovering that another business was offering the same service with the same name. 

Details About the Situation

Prior to this situation, Unstoppable Domains had been selling NFT domain names that all ended in .coin for over a year. Depending on the users’ preferences, these domain names could automatically link back to a crypto wallet, a website, and so on. All was find until Unstoppable Domains found out that another company, Emercoin, had been doing the same thing for eight years. 

Not only was Emercoin also selling blockchain naming services but theirs ended in .coin as well. The issue with this is that two different people could potentially register the same name with the different businesses without knowing. As such, someone meaning to send an asset to one person might send it to another without knowing. 

To avoid this sort of issue, Unstoppable Domains announced the closure of its NFT domain naming services in an official statement. 

“Emercoin, the platform issuing .coin domains, hadn’t marketed their [top-level domain] extensively, making it difficult to find. As soon as this collision came to our attention, we stopped selling .coin domains while we investigated the issue. The Emercoin team are pioneers in our industry and we regret that we weren’t aware of this naming collision earlier,” a statement from the company read.

The Trouble with Names

The company was also quick to emphasize that this decision was taken to protect customers as there are so many ways that any potential confusion can cause loss or harm to them. Those who already purchased .coin domains from Unstoppable Domains will retain their ownership of the NFTs. However, the services attached to the domains have now been suspended by the company. 

To compensate buyers, the company will be offering refunds of three times the original amount paid to the customers. This will be in the form of credits that they can use to pay for new domain names.

The company has also said that it will be looking into very advanced methods of tracking down any future similar conflicts with other businesses offering blockchain domains. 

“Many early attempts at blockchain naming systems were small and built for very specific communities. Seeking out those early projects has been a challenge, but we’ve looked into them in extreme detail,” the company wrote. 

As the industry matures, these sorts of incidents are inevitable to a degree. But as they are sorted out, potential problems can be avoided.

Globally, Shopify is a leader in the eCommerce space, serving millions of merchants in all sorts of sectors. This, in turn, means that Shopify users can get their hands on consumer goods of all kinds. This year, however, has seen the eCommerce giant make moves into onboarding web3 features to its platforms. 

In this vein, Shopify has announced a new partnership with Novel, a web3 company. The goal of this partnership is to make sure that Shopify users can access web3 services. More specifically, this partnership is making sure that Shopify users are not limited back by a lack of web3 technical knowledge when it comes to operating in the space.

How this Partnership Works

As part of this new partnership, Novel has unveiled a new app in the Shopify app store. By existing in this store, Novel is allowing Shopify users to access web3 features without having to code from scratch. This includes minting and distribution, and utility. In terms of minting and distribution, Novel lets users upload assets for NFT collections or import existing collections easily. In terms of utility, merchants can specify the utility to be attached to their NFTs. This includes attaching discounts, special benefits for NFT holders, and so on.

By using Novel, Shopify merchants can also list these NFTs for sale in their stores while the app takes care of all of the backends. When an NFT is purchased, a crypto wallet is created for the merchant to accept payment. All this means that merchants who might have been discouraged from web3 due to a lack of technical know-how can begin giving their customers NFT-based experiences with ease. 

“By integrating with Shopify, we’re able to leverage the industry-leading ecommerce platform they have built to equip all Shopify merchants with the tools they need to enter the Web3 commerce space,” said Roger Beaman, CEO and co-founder of Novel.

And this isn’t the only thing that Shopify is doing with regard to NFTs. Shortly after the partnership with Novel was announced, the Tezos blockchain announced that it had teamed up with Taco, a web3 automation company. 

Through this partnership, users can get Tezos-based NFTs through Taco’s own loyalty program. What’s more, brands using Shopify can integrate more NFT-based loyalty rewards for their customers. 

Needless to say, we will be seeing a lot more NFT-based offerings from merchants using Shopify. 

Creating More Access

For NFTs to become more adopted and mainstream within society, merchants will have to offer them to customers. And for merchants to do this, they will need access to structures that will let them launch web3 projects. While we’ve seen major corporations like Starbucks and Gamestop get into NFTs, smaller businesses without million-dollar  budgets need these opportunities as well.

This is why what Shopify is doing is so important. Thanks to this new deal with Novel, anyone using Shopify can access web3 features. Moving forward, we will see the positive results of this on the industry.

Yuga Labs, the company behind such projects as the Bored Ape Yacht Club and the Mutant Ape Yacht Club, has had quite the year. The company raised millions in funding and acquired several blue-chip NFT collections, making it one of the most valuable companies in the NFT space. It is also under investigation from both the SEC and the hacktivist group Anonymous while also dealing with a lawsuit against an artist whom it accuses of trademark infringement. 

With regards to the latter, there has been a new development, with Yuga Labs responding to the artist’s motion to dismiss the suit. 

All About the Lawsuit 

The person at the centre of this lawsuit is an artist named Ryder Ripps. Ripps and Yuga Labs have a long and contentious history, with the artist having accused both the Bored Ape Club and its founders of being racist and of the collection having nazi imagery, something that the founders have come out to refute in the past. 

The reason the two are in court is that Yuga Labs sued Ryder for creating an NFT collection called RR/BAYC. According to the suit, the NFTs have been designed to mimic the Bored Ape Club’s imagery and trick people into buying them. Ryder has hit back claiming that this lawsuit is Yuga Lab’s attempt to silence him and that the website for the collection openly states that it is “satire and appropriation to protest and educate people regarding The Bored Ape Yacht Club and the framework of NFTs.”

As such, Ryder’s legal team filed a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) to have the lawsuit against him dismissed. But Yuga Labs isn’t backing down. On October 17, 2022, its lawyers filed an opposition against the SLAPP with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. According to court documents, Yuga Labs is stating that Ryder has never denied that he was leveraging the Bored Ape trademark and likeness to sell his own NFTs and that these assets are being sold on the same platform that Yuga Labs sells its own assets which is a classic case of trademark infringement. 

Responding to the defence that his work is protected as art and satire, Yuga Labs’ team hit back that Ryder and his team, “cower behind their argument that their willful infringement is protected ‘art,’ [b]ut the First Amendment does not protect scams designed to mislead consumers,” and their actions are “pure commerce, not protected speech.” 

Finally, the most recent documents state that if the lawsuit against Ryder is dismissed, it opens the floodgates for anyone to infringe on copyright under the guise of art and satire. 

The Lawsuit Heats Up

This lawsuit is significant because it takes on the very complex issue of trademarks and how they relate to NFTs. As the Yuga Labs legal team pointed out, this lawsuit could set the precedent on how trademark law is treated with regard to NFTs and what does or does not constitute an infringement.

When it comes to assets, especially newer ones like NFTs, there is always debate about what they are worth and what is ‘fair’ to pay for them. When a Bored Ape, for example, is sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, there are always those who decry them as being overpriced or overhyped. Just like with famous artwork, the value of an NFT depends on many factors, including utility, design, rarity, and so on.

However, it seems we are a bit closer to getting objective market values for NFTs thanks to CoinShares. The digital assets manager announced on October 13, 2022, the launch of its CoinShares NFT AI. This AI is a Twitter bot that lets users find out how much any NFT is reasonably worth. 

Fair Market Pricing 

In the Twitter thread announcing the bot, CoinShares acknowledged that the NFT landscape is very complex, with new offerings popping up all the time. This means that consumers can be confused as to what is a reasonable price to bid or pay for an asset. This is the issue that CoinShare’s NFT AI addresses. 

“Building on our crypto and quantitative expertise, we came up with an experimental project to price NFTs, whether you own them already or not. This model relies on tested mathematical concepts to predict a fair price for any NFT currently listed on @opensea,” one of the tweets says, outlining how the AI works. 

To get a price quote on an OpenSea-listed asset, users only need to send a tweet to the bot with the link of the asset included. A sample tweet was also made to show how the process works, with CryptoPunk #3322 being used as an example. 

Previously, a research paper was published that showed how the bot determines the price of assets. Four factors are taken into account which include the rarity level of the NFTs’ traits, the attention it has received within the market, the overall state of the market, and the responses of professional traders to the NFT.

Through this, prospective buyers can be given information on the value of the NFT and can make an informed decision. And because this tool has been made available for free on Twitter, it is very easily accessible. 

The Power of Pricing information 

When buying anything, having enough information to make a well-informed decision is extremely important. However, this is not as easily achieved in the NFT market due to a lack of data and the fact that many assets are speculative in nature. This is why we see many hyped but ultimately underwhelming projects emerge and raise large amounts of money from excited buyers who don’t know any better.

With the tool that CoinShares has created, and hopefully with more to come, we can begin to see more informed buying on the part of NFT lovers. Currently, this feature only supports OpenSea-listed assets but hopefully, more resources will emerge in the same vein and the market will be all the better for it.

For car enthusiasts, there are certain experiences that are considered at the top of the list. One of these is getting to experience the Lexus Performance Driving School and racing on the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, in one of the manufacturer’s legendary cars. 

For those who get the opportunity to do so, there are now NFTs to be enjoyed as well. This comes as Lexus has announced a new NFT initiative that will give out NFTs to those who participate in its driving school. This was confirmed via an official press release on October 17, 2022.

NFTs and Hot Wheels

As the press release explained, the goal of this is to make the Performance Driving School experience even more memorable and shareable. As such, the NFTs come with not only information about their class performance but also video footage of them driving behind the wheel. This means that their experience on the track can be documented and shared with loved ones or even online. 

The press release also revealed that since August, over 130 people have already gotten their performance driving school NFTs, which are based on the POlygon blockchain. Given that the school sees roughly 40 participants each day, these NFTs will see a lot of use over time. This development is also a history-making one; Lexus is the first car manufacturer to create NFTs that incorporate car data and live footage and this could very well spark a trend over time. 

“Lexus strives to provide its guests with one-of-a-kind experiences, and I can think of no better way to commemorate an amazing day spent at the Lexus Performance Driving School than with a personalized NFT,” said Vinay Shahani, vice president of Lexus Marketing. “Instead of a curated timeline of retouched photos, the NFT offers an authentic and truly unique way to share one’s on-track accomplishments and opens the door to attend and participate in exclusive Lexus events in the future.”

While the current function of the NFTs is mostly sentimental, Lexus is working on introducing more utility to them over time. No details have been confirmed yet but the company is considering offering access to exclusive events and even more experiences within the driving school.

The release ended with a tease of more things to come in 2023 and more applications of various technologies. 

Driving With NFTs

When it comes to memorable experiences, there is usually the desire to immortalize them, whether through pictures, videos, and anything else. But Lexus is offering visitors to its driving school something even more permanent given that their experience is documented on the blockchain. 

And from all indications, they are just getting started in how they will enhance the experience. 

“We’re elated to be able to use our software and data expertise to provide Lexus guests with a living memory that captures a thrilling moment they can share with friends and fellow driving enthusiasts – now and for years to come,” said Steve Basra, CEO and president of Toyota Connected North America.

And thus, the use of NFTs in gaming continues. What initially began as niche blockchain-based games offering NFTs within their ecosystems has evolved to even mainstream multinational gaming corporations delving into the NFT space. While the responses from fans have not been uniform across the board, NFTs continue to persist within gaming. 

One of the latest of these developments comes from the Japanese video game company Konami. As was recently reported, Konami has been seeking out hires within the NFT and web3 space to support its upcoming project. And as per a recent statement from the company, these projects are being treated with high priority and we could see some more announcements from them soon.

Konami’s Passionate Web3 Expansion 

In its press release, Konami explained that as it pursues its web3 and NFT projects, it will need talent for “system construction” and “service development”. The release also revealed that the company is looking into ways of incorporating new technologies like NFTs into its existing games as well as a potential marketplace. 

“We have been conducting research and development to incorporate the latest technology into games and contents, and plan to launch a service where players can trade their in-game NFTs (digital items) through a unique distribution platform using blockchain,” the announcement said. 

As such, Konami is seeking out talent for a variety of roles including system engineers, programmers, and project managers in the Infrastructure Development Division, directors, programmers, and designers in the Production & Operation Division, and legal and intellectual property roles for its Production Support Division.

There had been rumours swirling online about Konami looking into more NFTs projects following the launch of its Konami Memorial NFT Collection but this hiring spree seems to confirm it. Naturally, NFT fans were thrilled at the news of Konami seeking out talent to develop what sounds like in-game collectables and a digital asset marketplace.

This is similar to the same response that the community had when the Disney Corporation began advertising the role of an attorney who would deal with NFT-related matters. This shows that despite the naysayers, there is still a place for NFTs in the entertainment and gaming sector. 

It also highlights how lucrative a career working with NFTs could potentially be. When a lot of developments are made in the NFT sector, a lot of the focus is on the companies themselves or the final consumers. However, it is worth noting that the development of the NFT sector also means that more jobs can be created.

NFTs in Gaming 

Anyone who has followed NFTs in the gaming sector will tell you that some subset of gaming fans are vocally against them for a host of reasons. While some companies caved into the pressure and ceased NFT-related projects, others seem to be doubling down, including Konami, which is moving full speed ahead. 

And if its proposed projects end up being successful, it could be come a standout story of NFT application within the often controversial world of gaming.

It is safe to say that the artist Mike Winkelmann, popularly known as  “Beeple” has made his mark in the NFT space. He famously sold the NFT of his Everydays: the First 5000 Days piece for $69 million through Christie’s and holds the record for one of the most expensive NFTs ever sold.

But even after conquering the digital art world, Winkelmann has announced plans to bring his creations into the physical world as well. As he confirmed in an October 13, 2022 tweet, he is planning to build a physical art space in Charleston, South Carolina. The purpose of this space is to further familiarise the public with NFTs and allow them to interact with digital assets. 

Beeple in the Real World?

In the Twitter thread announcing his upcoming studio, which is to be made out of a repurposed warehouse, Beeple explained that it will not focus on just his own work but that of others as well.

He also touched on the ongoing bear market and said that a physical space is exactly what the industry needs to move forward. As he puts it, having digital works be accessible in a physical way is how the NFT space can bring in new collectors. 

“the boom happened because suddenly a lot more people learned of what we were doing and believed in it.  for that to happen again, we need to find NEW ways of bringing in collectors who probably now have heard of NFTs but still don’t really “get it”, he said.

He went on to say that allowing people to understand that NFTs can be seen and interacted with outside of tiny phone screens could drive adoption. There is some merit to this claim as a big roadblock to adoption is the fact that many people simply do not know what NFTs are or how they work.

Because so much of the NFT space’s interactions are done through mobile devices, it is easy for outsiders to feel even more removed from it. But if there is a physical studio where people can access NFTs as easily as they do ‘traditional’ artwork, more acceptance can be ensured. 

“I believe by showing people that this artwork can absolutely be shared and appreciated in real life not just on our tiny screens, they will see that this medium is just like any other with the ability to bring beauty, provoke thoughtful discussion, and truly move us,” Beeple concluded.

Making NFTs Physical 

NFTs as a concept exist and thrive in the virtual realm. But as Beeple has laid out, the NFT space can benefit greatly from being brought to the physical world. It can reach a wider audience and, more importantly, it can bridge the gap felt by those who don’t entirely understand them.

And Beeple isn’t done yet, as he explained in his Twitter thread that this studio is only one-half of a larger project he is working on. And as for the other half, which he says is almost done, fans will just have to wait.

In the world of decentralized finance (DeFI), Uniswap is a top name, having handled trillions of dollars in transactions and leading the charge of the DeFi movement. Now, this industry giant is reported to be seeking out new ventures to invest in, including NFTs. 

In that vein, it has been announced that Uniswap has raised $165 million in a new funding round to support its expansion efforts. This funding round was led by Polychain Capital and also saw participation from firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm. With this latest round of funding, Uniswap’s total valuation is now put at $1.66 billion.

“We’re proud to announce that we’ve raised $165 million in Series B funding to bring the powerful simplicity of Uniswap to even more people across the world,” the official Uniswap Twitter handle said, adding that the Uniswap team is excited to expand its ecosystem. 

Uniswap’s Big Ambitions 

It comes as no surprise that Uniswap is looking to get into the NFT space. Billions of dollars have been spent on NFTs over the last few years and it is currently the hottest blockchain-based product out there, just as DeFi was when it first emerged. And now that Uniswap has raised all this money, it can pursue its NFT endeavours. 

Curiously, Uniswap titled its official announcement post of the fundraising as ‘Bringing Web3 to Everyone’ which obviously alludes to its incoming NFT plans but could also include an array of other web3-focused projects such as a Metaverse. 

This was further confirmed in its official blog post where it said that it is looking into “bringing the powerful simplicity and security that has defined the Uniswap Protocol to even more people across the world by investing in our web app and developer tools, launching NFTs, moving into mobile — and more!”

While there is currently no word on when Uniswap will be launching these NFT projects, they will have both a lot of backing and a lot of competition. In terms of the former, it already has name recognition within blockchain spaces, a large number of users, and now, millions of dollars in funds, 

At the same time, it is no secret that the NFT space is heavily saturated these days and depending on what types of NFT project Uniswap opts for, breaking in could prove challenging. If Uniswap, for example, tries to start a marketplace, it would have to take on the OpenSeas and Raribles of the industry. 

If it launches NFTs of its own, there is a discussion to be had about what utility Uniswap can offer to make its NFTs more attractive. 

Uniswap on a Roll

Regardless of what specific route Uniswap takes, this can be seen as the start of its journey into NFTs and web3 as a whole. Whether it will end up as a marketplace for NFTs or creating its own, the industry clearly has faith in its potential and whatever comes from this, it will be watching.

There are many pitfalls that those within the NFT space look out for. These include market dips, rug pulls, and so on. But perhaps none is quite as feared as the phishing scam; schemes that trick asset holders into giving up their wallet credentials under the guise of being a legitimate opportunity. These scams are a major problem in the community, costing hundreds of millions per year in lost assets and with the criminals hardly being discerning when it comes to victims. 

We’ve seen these phishing schemes happen to everyday people and top celebrities, with thefts of a few obscure assets to million-dollar NFTs. The unfortunate thing about many of these phishing schemes is that the perpetrators are hardly ever caught and victims hardly ever receive compensation. 

But there might be some hope on the horizon as five individuals between the ages of 24 and 30 have had charges brought against them in France for stealing NFTs.

Details About the Case

The people at the centre of this case appear to have mostly targeted blue-chip NFT collections such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club. The NFTs they stole, which come to about $2.5 million in total, were gotten through various means, including a website that claimed to help people animate their NFTs.

These scams took place between late 2021 and early 2022 in the French cities of Caen, Paris, and Tours. While the authorities in France are pursuing the case, they were first alerted to the phishing ring thanks to a Twitter user called ZachXBT. 

ZachXBT has amassed a following of over 300,000 people by investigating frauds and scams in the blockchain space. Describing himself as a “rug pull survivor”, he published a detailed blog post investigating how a Bored Ape asset holder lost his ape after clicking on a link shared by another member of the Discord page for the collection. 

The link had promised to make an animated version of his ape, which is in line with the MO of this phishing group. The piece, titled Scammers In Paris, also detailed several victims who were scammed by individuals identified as ‘Mathys’ and ‘Camille’. He also named Tornado Cash protocol, the controversial asset mixing service, as having aided the criminals.

The blog post ended with the hope that their victims would get some justice and this seems to be happening now. The five people involved are facing multiple charges including fraud committed as part of a criminal gang, concealing fraud and criminal association. 

Justice for Victims of Phishing 

This ongoing case will likely come as a relief to those who have been directly affected by the activities of this gang. One of the most frustrating aspects of having digital assets stolen is that they are very hard to recover and the criminals are very unlikely to be caught. 

Luckily, it seems that law enforcement is catching up with the operations of digital asset thieves and becoming more adept at catching and prosecuting them.

In the last few months, OpenSea has seemingly been on a mission to make itself much more accessible to users of all sorts of blockchains and easier to use overall. This has included adding support for Arbitum and creating new in-house features such as bulk listing and buying. 

Now, only a few weeks after this development, OpenSea has done it again by announcing support for the Avalanche network, a layer-1 Proof-of-Stake blockchain. This means that NFT assets minted on this blockchain will soon be available on OpenSea. All this was made public through an interview with Shiva Rajaraman, the VP of product at OpenSea. 

OpenSea and Avalanche 

In the interview, Rajaraman explained that the company is moving towards a future where people all over the internet can use OpenSea regardless of their preferred chain. 

“The future of web3 is multichain; and it’s always been our goal to offer the best selection and connect people with projects and creators across the chains they prefer,” he said. 

There are also several benefits to the Avalanche network such as its very low fees and high transaction speeds. And as John Wu, president of Ava Labs, said in the interview with TechCrunch, there was a demand for OpenSea access within the Avalanch community as well. There are also some unnamed companies that are working on projects with Avalanche that wanted OpenSea access to be enabled as well. 

“They want to know there is a chain that’s scalable, because [Web 2.0] is so much bigger than web3. They want a chain that can handle massive amounts of activity from its users. These brands are far more comfortable working with OpenSea,” Wu said. 

With this development, OpenSea now supports 7 different blockchains and from all indications, plans to add even more into the mix moving forward. Ultimately. the marketplace seems to be working towards its future of supporting many different blockchains and if increased support of these networks continues, OpenSea could support dozens of them eventually. 

This is also a timely development given that the crypto industry is currently experiencing a winter that has inevitably affected NFTs as well. To get through this winter, it would benefit a platform like OpenSea to support as many networks and attract even more users and collections. 

It also comes at a time when OpenSea is experiencing some shakeups in its leadership.  Just this week, its now-former Chief Financial Officer Brian Roberts, resigned shortly after Ryan Foutty, the former vice president of business development of OpenSea, also resigned. It seems that this is a period of changes at OpenSea as a whole. 

An Open Web3 Space

It is quite interesting that OpenSea’s management repeatedly mentions the desire to strive for a web3 future that is specifically multi-chain. As many of us know, one of the biggest philosophies of web3 is open access for users. For a platform like OpenSea to achieve this, users cannot be shut out because of the blockchain network they prefer and this seems to be the motivation behind these developments.