Category: News

There are several events in the football season that get fans riled up, one of which is the release of their favourite clubs’ kits. Fans save up well in advance and often buy up the kits as soon as they are released, after months of speculation about what they will look like.

Now, Crawley Town, an English football club, has put a unique spin on their upcoming kit. For the first time in English football history, a club will sell its kits only as NFTs. This comes just months after the club was acquired by WAGMI United, a cryptocurrency firm.

Get Your NFT Kits

There has always been some air of exclusivity when it comes to club kits. Sometimes, they sell out too fast for some fans to get their hands on them. Other times, those with season tickets get preferential buying rights. 

But Crawley Town is taking this a step further by only letting those who buy an NFT purchase the kits. A number of football clubs have launched NFT-related projects over the last few years but this is perhaps one of the most dedicated of the bunch.

While it remains to be seen how this will go down with the club’s fans, co-owner Preston Johnson says it is no different from a season ticket that gives its holders certain benefits. It is not, he says, meant to be sold to the local fans.

“We’re bringing something that our NFT crowd has wanted for a long time – a professional sports club. Who was going to be the first to do it? It was WAGMI United and we want to make it to the Premier League one day,” he says. 

While this might be a bit of an unusual move, Johnson has hinted that those who buy the NFTs will enjoy a number of benefits. One of these, he says, is that they will be able to have a say in the future decisions made about the club. 

This is commonly done in Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) in which those who hold certain digital assets can vote on decisions to be made in the organization. One of the pros of DAOs is the level of transparency that members enjoy and this is something that Johnson wants to give to fans of Crawley Town. 

“Being open and transparent helps the fans being OK and comfortable with some of the newness and weirdness of what is going on,” he says.

NFTs in Football

While Crawley Town’s NFT kits are an interesting development, there are the latest in a long line of football-related NFT developments. While obviously, not all football fans are into NFTs, they are clearly going to be seeing a lot of them. 
With football legends like David Beckham endorsing NFTs to clubs releasing them, this could be the start of the sport being used to drive NFT adoption. Through the influence of their sports stars and NFTs now being a gateway to club benefits, football and NFTs could be a match made in heaven.

Given that it is arguably the most famous NFT collection in the world, it is hard for the Bored Ape Yacht Club to not have to deal with some controversy. Whether this is Bill Gates taking a dig at them or their social media accounts being targeted by hackers, the Bored Ape Club has seen its fair share of controversy.  

But one recent controversy, which accuses the collection of having racist undertones and images, has become significant enough that one of the founders of the Bored Ape Club has responded directly. 

Clearing the Air

In a June 24, 2022, Medium post, Gordon Goner, one of the founders of the Bored Ape Club addressed some of these accusations. 

“As you may have heard, we’ve become the target of a crazy disinformation campaign accusing us — a group of Jewish, Turkish, Pakistani, and Cuban friends — of being super-secret Nazis,” the post began with.

The conspiracy theories of the Bored Ape Club founders and the images of the NFTs being racist were first started by a man named Ryder Ripp. According to Goner, whose real name is Wylie Aronow, the founders had first taken to ignoring the accusations until they heard a podcaster they respect speak on them. 

To combat these claims, Goner broke down and then debunked many of them. For example, the claim that the name ‘apes’ was racist. According to Goner, this is not racist but a reference to those within the crypto industry calling themselves apes.

“We liked the idea of creating a whole collection around apes who became so wealthy because of crypto’s rise, that they became extremely . . . bored. What is a bored ape to do? Perhaps retreat to a secretive club in the swamp,” he says.

As for the images of the NFTs, which always feature an ape looking very bored, he says that this was in an attempt to not take themselves too seriously. As he puts it, the ape club in the swamp is falling apart and all the apes are bored to death and thus, the trend was formed. 

To back this up, Goner attached the screenshot of an email form when the NFTs were first being designed. These show that the images took inspiration from many sub-cultures such as punk, streetwear, skate references, maritime flags and pennants.

Other claims were explained in detail in the Medium post, such as the inspiration behind Yuga Labs, the founders’ pseudonyms, and so on.

In Their Defense

The Bored Ape Club has successfully cut to the heart of online culture in the time that it has existed. As such, its founders know first-hand the power of communities sharing information, whether or not it is true. Goner acknowledged that the reason for this post was to clear up any misinformation before it is taken as fact.

“Overall, we think it’s crazy that these conspiracy theories have been able to proliferate. It really shows the power that a demented troll on the internet can have.,” he says.

Fashion’s burgeoning love affair with the NFT space has been very interesting, to say the least. Louis Vuitton has infused NFTs into its mobile game, supermodel Bella Hadid has released her own NFT collection, and so has Prada. With how quickly the fashion industry has embraced digital assets, we seem to get a new announcement every other week.

The latest has come from the luxury fashion brand Salvatore Ferragamo. Unlike some of its predecessors, Ferragamo’s entry into the NFT space was launched in the material world. This comes in the form of an NFT booth at its concept store in New York.

Ferragamo NFTs 

So what does this NFT booth do? Can you buy NFTs directly? Is it purely for aesthetic purposes? Well, as per reports, this NFT booth lets users mint their own NFTs from the Ethereum blockchain.

These NFTs can be based on different traits and are free for users to mint. The only catch is that there are only 256 NFTs that can be minted in total. This new project was created as a collaboration between Ferragamo and Shxpir, a digital artist who has worked with the brand in the past. 

How this booth works is that users can enter a dedicated space and then choose from a number of Shxpir’s designs which are then used to create a custom NFT. The user gets both the NFT they have designed and a video of them creating it.

This ability to customise the NFT was very important, according to Daniella Vitale, the North America CEO for Ferragamo. 

“One of the key aims we set out to achieve with the NFT project was to make it an inherently personal experience. We know that the world of Web3 can be somewhat intimidating. As such, this project has been conceptualized in a way that demystifies the system. Even if you’re not experienced in NFTs or if you don’t have a wallet, we’ll guide you through the steps required,” she said. 

This booth is perhaps one of the more unique applications of NFTs by a fashion brand. Many fashion stores already have booths and screens that allow users to customise and then buy clothing but letting people create NFTs on the spot and then get them is a whole other thing. 

Needless to say, this will go a long way towards normalizing NFTs for a lot of consumers. 

Build-A-NFT

While many of us know what NFTs are, most of us have never interacted with one or have ever thought of creating an NFT. As far as most of us are concerned, they are abstract concepts and not ‘real’.

But what is more real than a thing that you create yourself? If people are able to create NFTs as easily as they can customize jeans in a clothing store, NFTs are seen as more real than ever before and this can lead to more adoption. 

If this catches on, you can get a freshly-minted NFT right alongside your latest ​​Ferragamo clothes.

What comes to mind when you think of the French City of Cannes? For most of us, our first thought would be the glamorous Cannes Film Festival that attracts the biggest names in Hollywood every year. But besides the film festival, Cannes is also famous for its stunning architecture and landmarks such as the Croisette and the Palais des Festivals. 

For anyone who is fascinated by its architecture, the city has offered a way to buy them, at least in digital form. That’s right, the City of Cannes launched an NFT sale that featured 10 of its most iconic locations which were sold as digital assets. 

A Piece of Cannes

The sale, which went live on June 22, 2022, raised roughly €330,000 by selling landmarks like the Croisette, the Palais des Festivals, the Old Port, Malmaison, and Le Suquet. Those who bought the digital landmarks now reportedly own the rights to them within the metaverse and can make a profit hosting events and offering metaverse tourism. 

This is not the first time that a piece of a physical location is being ‘sold’ as NFTs. A similar concept was adopted by a private company that sold off parts of Russia. But this is perhaps the first time that the government of the place in question has been directly involved in the endeavour. 

But according to Mathilde Bernard, adviser to the cabinet of the mayor of Cannes, this is being done to protect the heritage of the city in the metaverse.

“We protect our heritage because the NFT is protected in the blockchain,” Bernard says. 

There is likely some truth in this. After all, the limits of who can or cannot simply sell off a virtual representation of another place as NFTs is still a bit of a legal grey area. But if cities of the world take the step to release official NFTs, the value of non-authorized ones is greatly devalued. At the same time, lovers of the city can get their hands on the digital version of famous landmarks, whether for sentimental value or to make a profit. 

It is already said by Charles-Henri Puaux, the CEO of Pertimm, that other cities around the world are considering similar initiatives for themselves. Soon, we might very well see NFTs of the Burj Khalifa, Big Ben, and maybe even the Empire State Building. 

NFT Architecture 

At this point, we’ve seen any and everything being turned into NFTs; songs, art, even someone’s soul (seriously). But NFTs of national landmarks are quite a new territory. 

Even Arnaud Oliveux, the auctioneer for Artcurial, which was in charge of the NFT sale, expressed similar sentiments. 

“Until now NFTs have been limited to graphic creations. For the first time, we have put on sale NFTs linked to real estate locations,” he says. 

And there is a lot of potential in this, whether for the NFT buyers owning a piece of history or these landmarks being immortalized in the digital world.

Earlier this year, eCommerce giant eBay made headlines when it released its first NFT collection. The collection was very significant because it marked the company’s first foray into the web3 and NFT space. This led to speculation about what future moves would be and how NFTs would play a part in the company’s operations given that their trading was already allowed on the site. 

Now, we have a bit more clarity as eBay has announced its acquisition of KnownOrigin, an NFT marketplace. The deal was confirmed by the company on June 22, 2022, and spells a more intense focus on NFTs by eBay. 

Details About the Deal

KnownOrigin was founded in 2018 in Manchester, England, and is more than just a place to buy NFTs. Its users are able to create NFTs on the site, as well as resell them to others and as the press release puts it, has revolutionized the way that NFTs are traded online. 

While the exact amount paid for the site was not disclosed, the management of eBay explained that this move was to ensure that digital collectables remained a part of the eBay ecosystem.

“eBay is the first stop for people across the globe who are searching for that perfect, hard-to-find, or unique addition to their collection and, with this acquisition, we will remain a leading site as our community is increasingly adding digital collectibles,” said Jamie Iannone, CEO of eBay. “KnownOrigin has built up an impressive, passionate and loyal group of artists and collectors making them a perfect addition to our community of sellers and buyers. We look forward to welcoming these innovators as they join the eBay community.”  

With KnownOrigin being one of the top 20 NFT marketplaces in the world by volume, this goal certainly seems feasible. It could also be a way for eBay to provide its users with certain NFT-related features that are not currently available. 

For example, there is a $10,000 limit on NFT sales, which shuts out many of the top collections that can run for hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece. Buyers and sellers of NFTs also have to be in the same country for the sale to be allowed, and bids are not allowed for NFTs. 

Many of these features could potentially be alienating to the NFT market and with this acquisition, perhaps the issues could be solved. 

NFTs Coming Soon

With announcements like this, the degree of separation that many consumers feel towards NFTs could soon be a thing of the past. While KnownOrigin has certainly been successful over the years, eBay has a lot more global recognition and acceptance with the everyday consumer. 

As such, this deal benefits the space in two ways. First, eBay users will be able to access a wider variety of features when buying and selling NFTs. They will also be able to access NFTs through a brand that they have known and trusted for years, which will inevitably bring more people into the NFT space.

When it comes to NFT collections, it is safe to say that the Bored Ape Yacht Club is rather iconic. The collection, which features images of cartoon apes, has become a favourite of celebrities and is one of the most valuable collections on the internet. 

It makes sense then, that the Ape Club would collaborate with another iconic brand, Rolling Stone, for a new NFT drop. This new drop, which was announced on June 22, 2022, is the second time that the brands are collaborating and will see two physical art prints and two NFTs being sold. 

BAYCXRolling Stone 

These new pieces will see fans getting the best of both worlds when it comes to the Bored Ape Club and Rolling Stone. The images, which were custom-made for this drop, will see the iconic bored ape on the cover of Rolling Stone.

The first is of the bored ape in a tropical paradise featured on the cover of Rolling Stone. The second, which is also a collaboration with the Mutant Ape Yacht Club, will see the ape escaping from a volcano. 

The images, both of which are designed to look like a Rolling Stone cover, will be released as NFTs on Opensea and as physical prints on the Bored Ape Yacht Club website. This is the second time that the magazine and the NFT collection are joining forces and combining their visual legacies.

“Both pieces were created exclusively for this release, offering both fans and collectors a chance to own something from one of the biggest digital art collectives in the world today and one of the most iconic magazines of all time,” the announcement says. 

For those who choose to buy art from this collaboration, two 1-of-1 NFT auctions will also be held. The winners of these auctions will also receive a prize- the associated collector’s item signed by the founders of Yuga Labs, the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club, the artist, and the CEO of Rolling Stone.

The NFT drop was made available for sale from 9 am ET on June 22, 2022, and both the physical item and NFTs were payable through ApeCoin. The fine art print, however, was only available for purchase for a five-hour window while the NFTs were not given such a short sales period. 

NFTs Collaborations in the Wild

One thing we are likely going to see a lot more of in the future is NFT collaborations. Whether this is NFT collections teaming up with established non-NFT brands as with the Rolling Stone collection or with other collections, this certainly seems like a possibility. 

This also has a lot of potential for creative output. Most NFT collections have a unique visual style and there is no telling what can come out of these collaborations (BAYCXBaby Shark, anyone?). The public certainly seems to be loving them, as the first Bored Ape Yacht Club and Rolling Stone collaboration was a huge success, selling out in under 30 minutes.

It’s hardly news at this point that NFT projects have gotten a lot of attention from celebrities. From Madonna paying for a Bored Ape asset to Snoop Dogg’s many NFT-focused endeavours, celebrities and NFTs are very much a close-knit pair. 

One of the latest developments in this regard comes from the Ethereum-based NFT project Doodles. The project, whose NFTs feature doodles of various subjects, has announced that musician and producer Pharell Williams has signed up as its new Chief Brand Officer. 

Doodles Makes a Splash 

This new announcement was made at the NFT NYC conference, along with the news that the project has closed its first funding round with support from VC firm Seven Seven Six. So what does Williams’ entry into the project entail?

So far, we know that his role will see him guiding the project’s trajectory when it comes to things such as music and artwork. It will also see Williams releasing a new album inspired and based on the Doodles project. 

The upcoming album, to be titled Doodles Records: Volume 1, will see contributions by top artists. Its artwork, naturally, will be designed by Doodles’ artist Scott “Burnt Toast” Martin. When the album is released, it will not have the typical rollout of a traditional album. While it will be streamable on different platforms, anyone looking to buy them has to do so as an NFT. 

Williams, on his part, has said that he is excited to work on the project. 

“I’m a big fan of the brand. We’re going to build from the core community outward and bring Doodles to new heights, new levels,” he said in a video message at the event. 

Outside of the album, the Doodles team had other announcements that were unveiled at the conference. First, its first funding round has been completed with support from the Alexis Ohanian-founded VC firm Seven Seven Six. 

In a video message shared at the conference, Ohanian claimed that the firm wants to take Doodles’ vision to a new level and is happy to support it. Finally, Doodles’ second NFT collection, Doodles 2, was officially confirmed. 

This second collection will be a bit of a departure from its first. Rather than being limited to 10,000 avatars, this incoming collection is poised to have millions, giving fans of the Doodle project more variety than ever before.

Get Your Doodle On

Doodle’s latest slew of announcements shows just how far it has come despite having only been launched back in October 2021. Creatively, it has secured one of the most respected creatives of this generation to helm its vision. 

Financially, it has secured funding from a top firm and seems to have many exciting days ahead of it. But ultimately, the biggest benefit of all of these goes to the fans. Not only will a project they clearly love continue to produce creatively but the scope of what it can offer has expanded. 

From more avatars to even an incoming album, Doodles fans are in for a treat.

Some of us might remember that back in April, WeChat made headlines for banning several accounts that were linked to NFT trading. The Chinese social media app, which is one of the biggest in the world, was reportedly acting on the guidelines of the government, which has taken a bit of a strict stance on NFTs. 

Now, we have some level of confirmation about this. Just recently, it was reported that WeChat has announced official policies that will crack down on accounts found to be dealing in NFTs.

A Ban on NFTs?

According to a recent report from the South China Morning Post, these new rules are part of an ongoing crackdown on the secondary selling of NFTs. In light of this, WeChat will “order accounts to rectify if they provide relevant services or content for secondary trading of digital collectibles, and limit some features or even ban the account”

As such, accounts on the platform are not allowed to facilitate the trade of NFTs or cryptocurrencies in any way. This includes actually selling the assets, acting as a transaction channel, or even giving guidance. 

This comes months after the China Internet Finance Association and the Securities Association of China issued a statement warning about the risk of dealing with NFTs. Overall, China has always had a complex relationship with blockchain-based assets, with cryptocurrency being completely illegal there.

This statement, and the general attitude from regulators, has obviously had an effect on the site. Now, any account found dealing in these assets will be classified as partaking in illegal business.

The consequences of this are, according to the new policy, restrictions and a possible ban. 

 “Once such violations are discovered, the WeChat public platform will, according to the severity of the violations, order the violating official accounts to rectify within a time limit and restrict some functions of the account until the permanent account is banned,” the policy states.  

This announcement sends a strong message to other apps in the Chinese internet space on how NFT and crypto-related activity should be handled. There has been a crackdown on crypto-related activities across China for years and this seems like the next step in that plan. 

While NFTs are not outright banned in the same way that cryptos are, this sort of move will definitely have an impact on the NFT space in China and beyond. 

What Happens to the NFT?

With this new policy, it is clear that NFTs cannot be traded on WeChat freely. However, it might not spell the demise of the NFT space. After all, cryptos are outright banned in China and yet citizens find ways to trade them, notably with Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

While this development is certainly not ideal for the industry, it is likely that Chinese nationals will find ways to buy and sell their NFTs. Whether this will be done through underground NFT markets or some future change in policy, the NFT space in China is yet to unravel.

If you’ve been following the NFT space for a while, you might have noticed that there has been a sharp increase in the number of luxury brands getting involved with them. From Paco Rabanne to Tag Heuer to Louis Vuitton, many brands are leveraging the exclusivity of NFTs to deliver new products and experiences to their customers.

One brand, Vertu Paris, is taking this to a whole new level with a new partnership with Binance. With this partnership, it has become the first luxury brand to release a product purely as an NFT.

Details About the Partnership

The partnership was confirmed by Binance on June 20, 2022, and the collection to be released is titled the VERTU Constellation VCXP. This collection will consist of 10,555 NFTs, all of which will represent the VERTU Constellation X Ulm™ Phone which can only be purchased by buying one of the NFTs. 

1,000 of these NFTs have been made available for sale on the Binance site while the others can be bought directly on the Vertu website or on Galler.io. Those who buy the NFTs can turn them into certificates of authenticity and use them to redeem physical phones. 

There is also the option to forefeit the phones and instead, hold the NFTs to become a part of the VERTUVerse. This is Vertu Constellation’s new web 3.0 community that will be centred around business networking. 

“Beyond this unique utility, VERTU is bridging its existing community of over 300,000 high net worth individuals with its new web3.0 community to create the VERTU 3.0 Club, the future of business clubs where members will attend physical and/or metaverse events, creating business opportunities,” the announcement on Binance explains. 

Vertu will also be holding a giveaway for those who buy their NFTs. This will include cash prizes of $20,000, $50,000 and $100,000, with one winner being declared with every 79 NFTs that are sold. Those who win will also be entered into a million-dollar prize draw for the chance to win one of four VERTU Paris Edition Bentley Bentaygas.

This new collection is perhaps the first of its kind within the luxury sector. Usually, an NFT collection is released as a product within itself or NFTs are given out alongside a physical product. But for the first time, a luxury product is being sold exclusively through NFTs as a point of sale. 

Can NFTs Redefine Luxury?

On the announcement page for this new collection, the brand’s philosophy on privacy was explained. 

“With the evolution of technology and the development of this hyperconnected world, the definition of ‘Luxury’ in today’s world can be summarized in VERTU’s slogan ‘Privacy is the new Luxury,” it says. 

Given how much blockchain-based products like NFTs allow their holders to retain their privacy, among other benefits, they could go on to redefine luxury entirely. Given how many other brands are making their way into the space, this shift could happen sooner than later.

It should come as no surprise that the entertainment industry has become one of the biggest adopters of NFTs. With all the intellectual property that entertainment companies have at their disposal, the sky is truly the limit. We’ve seen such iconic properties as the Looney Tunes and modern ones like the Baby Shark franchise enter the metaverse with NFT releases and this shows no signs of stopping. 

Now, it seems we’re going to see even more entertainment-focused NFT releases soon as MoonPay, a crypto startup, has announced a new NFT startup called HyperMint. This startup is being launched in conjunction with several entertainment industry heavyweights, including Universal Pictures, Fox Corporation, Death Row Records, and more.

Welcome to the Metaverse

The announcement of this new platform was made on June 21, 2022, by MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright at the NFT.NYC conference in New York City. During the announcement, some details were given about HyperMint and how it plans to revolutionalize the NFT and entertainment space.

One of the biggest barriers to entry got the NFT space is the technical know-how but HyperMint is solving this. Using the platform, entertainment brands can mint up to hundreds of millions of NFTs a day.

The sheer production capabilities of this new platform mean that we could be seeing a faster launch rate for NFTs and even more beloved projects enter the metaverse. Many of the companies that are partnering with MoonPay, such as the Fox Corporation, have the rights to hundreds of IPs over decades. 

Then there is the application of NFTs to all sorts of brands, even those outside of entertainment. This was a sentiment shared by Soto-Wright in a recent interview with CNBC.

“The potential of NFTs goes beyond collecting; it’s the utility. You can essentially program anything into these NFTs over time, which is why we decided to focus on this new product offering. That’s really making this shift possible; to go beyond collectability and program utility into these NFTs and there needs to be enterprise-grade tooling,” he says.

Soto-Wright has also remained bullish about NFTs despite whatever market issues might arise. Given that MoonPay’s background is in the cryptocurrency space, which has survived many ups and downs, the company seems capable of weathering the storm.

Following the platform’s launch, more announcements are expected regarding the projects that will be created through it.

A New Frontier For Entertainment?

The entertainment industry is constantly evolving and NFTs might very well be their next frontier. In the last year alone, we have seen many different ways that they can be applied to the industry, from acting as entry tickets to disbursing royalties, to simply being collectables. 

There is still a lot of potential to be uncovered and the number of top companies that have partnered with HyperMint shows that there is faith in NFTs as a concept. Now, we can only wait and see what new and exciting NFT projects come from this new platform.