Category: News

NFT games have become quite popular thanks to their unique appeal; you get all the benefits of traditional gameplay but also get to collect in-game assets that can be traded and, in some cases, monetized. Sadly, the popularity of NFT games has created a market for fakes that try to dupe customers into playing and sometimes, steal from them. 

Take the recent discovery of a malware scheme that is being distributed through a fake Pokemon NFT game. This scheme, along with its method of distribution, was reported by AHN Lab, a security company, in a January 6, 2023 blog post.

Spreading Malware Through Pokemon

For as long as computers have been widely used, malicious parties have worked to spread malware to unsuspecting users. Many methods have been used such as scam emails but the rise of digital assets like crypto and NFTs have sadly created a new avenue for such behaviour to thrive. 

In the case of this identified malware, users are tricked into downloading what they think is an NFT game based on the Pokemon franchise. Unbeknownst to them, the game comes with a NetSupport Remote Administration Tool (RAT) which allows the hackers to control the program from anywhere. And the hackers having control within a users’ system does not bode well for the victims. 

“When NetSupport RAT is installed, the threat actor can gain control over the infected system. Features supported by NetSupport by default include not only remote screen control but also system control features such as screen capture, clipboard sharing, collecting web history information, file management, and command execution. This means that the threat actor can perform various malicious behaviors such as extorting user credentials and installing additional malware,” the report says. 

Therein lies the true danger of malware in that sensitive information can be extracted from the victim’s computer and they could potentially be blackmailed. In response to this discovery,  AHN Lab has advised that users only accept downloads from reputable websites and not download attachments from suspicious emails. They are also advised to beef up their computer security to stop malware from corrupting their systems. 

Big Franchises and NFTs

It is worth noting that just last month, the Pokemon franchise had to take legal action against an unauthorized NFT game that was floating about. While that game is not associated with the one spreading malware, it is interesting that the same franchise is being targeted for unofficial releases again. 

At the same time, Pokemon is one of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world and sooner or later, someone would create some unauthorized NFT-related product, especially considering that the actual Pokemon franchise has now yet released any such project. 

This just reinforces what AHN Lab has advised in that if fans of Pokemon or any other franchise want to enjoy NFT game versions of them, they should wait and only engage with official versions. Downloading and playing any unauthorised ones puts them and their computer systems at risk.

Yuga Labs is one of the most successful companies in the NFT world. It is home to such iconic projects as the Bored Ape and Mutant Ape Yacht Club as well as Otherside, one of the most successful metaverse projects of the last year. And naturally, you don’t become that big without making some enemies along the way. 

One of the most prominent of Yuga Labs’ nemeses is Ryder Ripps, a creator who has been at odds with the company and its creators for a long time. Currently, Ripps and Yuga Labs are embroiled in a lawsuit that will now see the founders of the company being deposed. 

Yuga Labs Vs Ryder Ripps

To understand the current situation between the two parties, it is worth noting their long-running feud. For a while, Ripps has made some very serious accusations against Yuga Labs and the Bored Ape collection specifically. He has accused the founders of the NFT collection of being racist and said that it features nazi imagery. 

Obviously, these are very serious accusations and Gordon Goner, one of the founders of the Bored Apes, published a lengthy blog post refuting all the accusations back in 2022.

“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 blog post said, going on to reveal the origin of the ‘apes’ label and the meaning of the pseudonyms given to the founders. 

But the feud went beyond just accusations as Ripps was also sued by Yuga Labs for launching RR/BAYC, an NFT collection that looked very similar to the Bored Ape Yacht Club. This project, Yuga said, was a violation of the trademark which Ripps has refuted, going as far as countersuing. 

The argument that Ripps’ legal team has made is that the Bored Apes fall within fair use and as such, he has not broken the law. Last week, Yuga Labs filed a motion to stop Ripps’ team from deposing Yuga Labs founders Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano. They argued that the two are top executives who need not be deposed if their subordinates can provide whatever information is needed.

Unfortunately, this motion has been denied by a judge, who noted that it did not hold enough merit. As such, the two executives will be deposed in court and will speak on the origins of the Bored Ape assets in order to further the case. 

But Yuga Labs is starting to find itself in trouble with the courts as Aronow did not appear for his deposition on January 9, 2022. Furthermore, the judge noted that Yuga Labs has repeatedly refused to respond to requests from Ripps’ team to schedule depositions. Solano, on the other hand, is due to appear in court via video for a January 11, 2023 deposition. 

From the beginning, this case was primed to become one of the most significant in the NFT space and as time goes on, it only gets more interesting.

It is no secret that OpenSea is one of the biggest marketplaces in the NFT space, hosting some of the rarest collections in the industry and outpacing many of its rivals in terms of its trading volume. As such, it is no surprise that the marketplace is constantly expanding on the NFTs its users have access to. 

Just recently, OpenSea announced that it now supports Arbitrum Nova, a social and gaming chain. This comes months after OpenSea announced support for Arbitrum, its parent chain, in a bid to offer a wider variety of assets to users. 

OpenSeaXArbitrum Nova

This announcement, which was confirmed in a January 6, 2023 announcement, also noted that OpenSea would be contributing to Arbitrum Nova’s ecosystem as well as supporting the chain.

“We’re excited to now support Arbitrum Nova! @Arbitrum’s chain dedicated to social and gaming! We’re also strengthening Nova’s ecosystem by joining the Data Availability Committee (DAC) to provide access to on-chain data and help ensure data accuracy,” the announcement said. 

This announcement is beneficial to OpenSea users in several ways. First, it means that they can access Nova at a better price and with more ease. And then there are the collections associated with the chain. Famously, Arbitrum Nova hosts the community tokens associated with Reddit and given the social media site’s recent success in the NFT market, this is a welcome development. 

In terms of assets under the Arbitrum Nova umbrella, OpenSea clarified that they will be grouped with Arbitrum, posting a link to all Arbitrum and Arbitrum Nova assets.

“Nova collections will still be grouped with other Arbitrum collections on the rankings and search pages under the “Arbitrum” chain filter. You’ll see an “Arbitrum Nova” designation on those collection and item pages,” the post says. 

Arbitrum itself responded to the tweet, saying that it is happy to partner with OpenSea and that the future of social and gaming is here. Arbitrum Nova as a chain is known for its low cost and high security and as the NFT market increases, these are things that will be prioritised by users. On top of this, there is the gaming and social aspect.

The last year especially showed just how big of a demand there is for NFTs in gaming. From in-community projects taking off to giants of the gaming sector embracing NFTs, this sub-niche is due to grow even more and OpenSea is clearly looking to be at the forefront of it. 

OpenSea’s Incoming Developments

One of the notable things that happened in the OpenSea ecosystem last year was its onboarding of different blockchains outside of Ethereum.

From Avalanche to BNB Chain, 2022 saw the marketplace expand on the types of NFTs that it could list and 2023 seems to be off to a similar start. With any luck, we will see even more chains being supported on OpenSea and the biggest benefit will go to its users. 

Needless to say, this year is shaping up to be an exciting one.

The rise of NFTs has meant that all sorts of celebrities have gotten involved in the space, becoming collectors and launching their own collections. This, of course, also means that there has been some level of drama, whether the stars are being criticised for pushing specific collections or in-fighting within the community. 

One of the latest of these comes from the popular YouTuber Logan Paul who recently settled a feud he had with a fellow YouTuber over his CryptoZoo NFT project. The other YouTuber, who goes by the name Coffeezilla, has alleged that CryptoZoo was a scam which set off the feud. 

Details About the Scandal

For a while now, Logan Paul has established himself as a very pro-NFT celebrity. He famously bought some pricey NFTs that later saw a price decline and then launched his own NFT project called CryptoZoo.

The concept behind CryptoZoo is that it was an NFT game in which players could pay for ‘zoo coins’ and buy virtual eggs that would hatch into virtual animals. On paper, this sounds like a blind mint of sorts and upon its initial release, was actually successful in the market. But then, it was plagued with controversies such as users not being able to mint assets, the yield for its zoo coins not being accessible to users, bots overrunning the app, and various technical issues.  

As a  result of all of this, many customers lost money and the game was accused of being a rug pull and scam. Paul, on his part, did little to deny the claims, only posting on the official Discord page to send a New Year’s message and later claiming that the game developer was holding the game ‘hostage’ and demanding $1 million.

Then, YouTuber Coffeezilla investigated the claims, contacting the developer who then said that they had not been paid properly by Paul which caused the game hostage situation. Paul then responded, accusing Coffezilla of maliciously creating his videos to frame him in a bad light. Paul also said that he had unknowingly hired criminals to work on the game and then fired them after learning of their backgrounds. 

Finally, Paul threatened Coffeezilla with a lawsuit, saying, “You still published a defamatory hit piece, fully knowing that I was innocent, just so you could enrich yourself in your 10 million dollar studio. Sharp! But deeply unethical. Dangerously misleading and illegal. I suggest you use the money you got from pumping your Patreon to hire a good lawyer. You’re going to need it.” 

But now, Paul seems to have changed his tune as Coffeezilla tweeted on January 7, 2023, that he had a phone call with his fellow YouTuber who agreed to delete his initial video responses and drop the threat of a lawsuit. 

This was confirmed by Paul who said that his previous statements were “rash and misaligned with the true issue at hand”. However, no statement has been made about the CryptoZoo users who lost money and whether or not they would be reimbursed. 

The NFT market is in an interesting space at the moment. On one hand, we are seeing new and exciting projects being announced every other day, as well as growing interest from corporate brands. On the other hand, the industry is still feeling the effects of the crypto winter and this has meant that NFT collections and marketplaces have suffered a decline in trading volume. 

Case in point, SuperRare Labs, the parent company of the popular NFT marketplace, has announced that it will be reducing its workforce by 30%. This was confirmed by its CEO John Crain in a message on Slack from January 6, 2023. 

Why SuperRare is Cutting Jobs 

In his announcement, Crain explained that the company had made hiring decisions according to market conditions at the time, which meant that hiring decisions were made. However, the company has since realised that its quick expansion is unsustainable and this has caused the decision to downsize. 

“During the recent bull run, we grew in tandem with the market. In recent months it’s become clear that this aggressive growth was unsustainable: we over-hired, and I take full ownership of this mistake. To correct course, we’ve made the difficult decision to rightsize our team, ensuring that SuperRare Labs will be able to continue serving our community of artists, collectors and curators while remaining the destination for the best cryptoart in the world,” the statement said. 

Crain noted that SuperRare Labs is proud of the team that it has built and will be supporting those who have been let go in finding new opportunities. 

Obviously, while this is an unfortunate situation for SuperRare Labs, Crain has said this isn’t the end- for the company or for web3 as a whole. The industry has suffered some setbacks in recent times but he notes that there is more to come for web3 in the form of NFTs, cryptoart, decentralized finance, and much more. SuperrareLabs, on its part, will be focusing on the burgeoning global digital renaissance and creating more access to it for consumers. 

“This journey is a marathon, not a sprint: we’ve achieved a tremendous amount in the past five years, from the very first artwork sold on SuperRare to Web3 spearheading the future of digital culture across nearly every industry. Each and every team member at SuperRare Labs helped make this revolution happen and they will forever be a part of our story,” the message said. 

Powering Through the Crypto Winter 

We have, unfortunately, found ourselves in the middle of a crypto winter and this has meant that companies within the blockchain sector have had to lay off staff, with NFT projects not being spared. 

But as Crain has said, this does not spell the end of web3 or even NFTs. While companies brace for the winter, it is a chance for those in the industry to come out even stronger than before. And given our past collective experience with crypto winters, that is what will likely happen.

These days, corporate brands seem more and more interested in blockchain-based assets. We’ve seen some of the biggest consumer brands in the world launch NFT-based projects that allow consumers to receive rewards, enjoy exclusive perks, and so on. At the same time, brands seem more interested in investing in the NFT space as a whole.

Take payment processor Mastercard which recently announced an artists’ accelerator program with the Polygon blockchain. This program will unite the creatives themselves, their fans, and industry stakeholders and encourage more participation in web3, including the creation of NFTs. 

Details About the Program

From the official announcement, this program will be launched in the spring of 2023 and will feature a live-streamed event with all the participants. In total, five creatives will be chosen and equipped with the skills to participate in web3. 

“The artists will gain exclusive access to special events, music releases and more. A first-of-its-kind curriculum will teach the artists how to build (and own) their brand through Web3 experiences like minting NFTs, representing themselves in virtual worlds and establishing an engaged community,” the announcement says. 

And while all this is going on, fans will also be given the chance to participate. This will be done through the Mastercard Music Pass, a digital asset that offers its holders a world of benefits. These include unique experiences, access to Mastercard’s Web3 x Music educational materials, and many more. Essentially, Mastercard is giving fans the chance to learn alongside the creatives themselves.

It is no secret that the NFT space has greatly benefited from the work of creatives who have driven sales and secured public visibility for it. At the same time, technical know-how and material resources can act as a hindreance to creatives getting involved in the NFT space.

As such, these types of programs help to remove barriers to entry and benefit the creatives in that they can be financially empowered through NFTs. This was a sentiment shared by Ryan Wyatt, CEO of Polygon Studios, which was involved in the new development. 

“Web3 has the potential to empower a new type of artist that can grow a fanbase, make a living, and introduce novel mediums for self-expression and connection on their own terms. The Mastercard Artist Accelerator not only shows the power of brands embracing this new space, it provides tools that can educate consumers on how to participate. This is an important step forward in opening up the benefits of Web3 to more people,” he said. 

The Importance of Corporate Investment in the NFT Space

Over the years, more and more companies have become invested in the NFT space, whether by launching projects of their own or empowering NFT creators, as with Mastercard. 

These sorts of initiatives serve multiple purposes. First, they allow for more resources to flow into the NFT industry and to creators especially. At the same time, having NFTs be associated with such big names among consumers grants a sense of legitimacy to them.

On Christmas Day 2022, it was announced that Y00ts and DeGods, two popular Solana-based NFT collections, would be moving blockchains. More specifically, it was announced that Y00ts would be moving to the Polygon blockchain and DeGods would be moving to the Ethereum chain. This move, at the time, was framed as a way for both collections to explore more opportunities and also came following a difficult year for Solana as a whole. 

Now, some more details have been brought to light about the decision to move the projects. In a statement posted to Discord, Frank, the founder of DeLabs (Y00ts and DeGods’ parent company) revealed that it received a $3 million grant from Polygon to migrate these projects and to expand its operations. 

Details About the Grant

One thing that Frank was quick to clarify about this grant is that it is a non-equity payment. This means that Polygon is not buying a stake in DeLabs and the only requirement was for Y00ts to be moved to its blockchain.

“DeLabs received a $3M non-equity grant from Polygon to help fund the expansion of the DeLabs team & to kickstart & initially help scale the incubator we are building that will allow you to spend y00tpoints & DePoints to mint our incubator’s FT collections,” the statement said. 

And now that these funds are in DeLabs’ possession, some information has been given about how they will be used. More pressingly, Frank revealed that the project has been understaffed for a while now and that a horde of employees was laid off following the t00bs mint. 

The departments that will be expanded with this new capital influx are business development, graphic design, content creation and events coordination. Moving forward, DeLabs will be launching higher-quality projects, announcing new partnerships, creating new experiences, and so on. 

Any NFT project, especially a newer one like DeLabs, can do with some capital infusion and clearly, there are already ideas in mind for how they can be utilised. However, Frank was quick to shut down any rumours about nefarious reasons for accepting the offer.

“I’m sure there will be tons of slander on Twitter about the reasoning behind this decision. There were much larger offers on the table from other blockchains. We didn’t take this deal for the money. That’s just a nice bonus and we will use it effectively. We did this because it’s the most exciting direction for y0Ots as a project,” he said. 

DeLabs Moving Forward 

Now that this funding has been secured, we can expect to see even more exciting announcements from DeGods throughout 2023. The funding, along with its new association with Polygon, will certainly help Y00ts move on to the next level. 

Around the time that DeGod’s exit from Solana was announced, the blockchain had been battling a very hard year. Besides multiple system failures, it was also affected by the collapse of FTX as Sam Bankman-Fried was one of its biggest investors. Despite all this, it is good to see DeLabs moving forward.

The NFT industry has a lot of promising and legitimate projects within it that offer a lot of value to buyers. At the same time, the industry also has many projects that are not worthwhile or are downright fraudulent and this is where we see the menace of exit scams and rug pulls.

One of the latest examples of this is Aurelien Michel, the founder of the Mutant Ape Planet, who has been arrested for running a fraudulent NFT operation. The 24-year-old Frenchman had duped customers to the tune of $2.9 million by running an NFT scheme that operated primarily in the Eastern District of New York.

Details About the Scheme 

As per a January 5, 2023 lawsuit, Michel and his partners had convinced investors to buy into his NFT scheme for the Mutant Ape Planet. He, along with the NFTs’ creator Ivan J. Arvelo, had told investors that the assets would reap high returns and also offer them rewards. These rewards were to include merchandising deals, giveaways, and even premium access to other digital assets. 

All these, of course, were false, and after they had conned investors of nearly $3 million through the sale of 9,999 NFTs, the funds were moved to various wallets associated with Michel. This triggered alarm bells within the industry and many were quick to call out the shady wallet activity. 

But amazingly, Michel seems to have implicated himself online as he used a fake account to confess to his rug-pulling activities using Discord. 

“We never intended to make rugs, but the community became too toxic,” he reportedly said on Discord. 

This would prove to be his downfall as both the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service began investigating him and he was arrested at  John F. Kennedy airport on January 4, 2023. 

According to prosecutors, Michel made use of traditional fraud tactics (such as promising an unrealistically high return on investment) to trick his victims and took advantage of their desire to invest in digital assets. 

In the last few years, assets like cryptos and NFTs have become hot commodities and this means that many more people want to get involved in them. This has, unfortunately, also meant that scammers have taken advantage of this. 

And while Michel is being held in prison as he is deemed a flight risk, there are possibly hundreds of him out in the world preying on NFT users. 

How to Stay Safe

Seeing as NFT scams are not going anywhere anytime soon, it is important that NFT buyers protect themselves. One of the ways to do this is to avoid any NFT schemes that promise exorbitant profits with no use cases or community behind them. 

Michel also sold almost 10,000 NFTs in the course of a few days and likely used the ‘rarity’ of the assets to convince users. As such, NFT users will need to be wary of schemes that try to get them to buy fast (though given the demand for ‘rarer’ NFTs, this might be easier said than done. 

It is that time of year again; when everyone is on a ‘new year, new me’ kick. Around the beginning of each year, people often make resolutions of what they plan to do differently. These usually include exercising more, giving up alcohol, being more productive, and so on. But research shows that many of these resolutions are not followed through. In fact, it is a running joke at this point that New Years’ resolutions do not last.

But a digital marketing agency Lion and Lion has launched a new project to help people stay on track with their goals using NFTs. 

New Years’ Resolutions 

Helping people stick to their New Years’ resolutions is a task that many have tried and failed at for decades at this point. But Lion and Lion is giving it another shot and putting an NFT twist on things. 

First, the agency compiled a list of the top 10 most failed New Years’ resolutions from 2019 to 2022. These were then turned into artistic NFTs with their titles featured on prints. For example, one NFT shows the phrase ‘Hit the Gym’ on the image of stairs. These assets are not only to be minted on several blockchains but will also be listed on Objkt.com. 

Anyone who buys the NFT will not only have a piece of digital art at their disposal but will also have some motivation at hand to keep them on track with their goals. One of the unique things about NFTs is the way that they are able to tap into pop culture and this project shows just how entertaining and useful they can be. 

For Lion and Lion as an agency, it also acts as a way to show the capabilities of web3 to businesses that want to connect with consumers. In the past, such a concept would be applied primarily in the material world but this shows more possibilities.

“The project demonstrates our ability to clients and brands who are planning on transitioning from web2 to web3; brands who require smart solutions (beyond NFTs) that can help them construct fresh narratives to connect with their communities in the web3 / metaverse space,” said Cheelip Ong, the regional chief creative officer of Lion & Lion.

As the project progresses, we should get more information about its market performance and its effects on buyers’ New Year resolutions. 

The Many Concepts of NFTs

One sure sign of NFTs’ financial viability is their increased use in the commercial sector. We’ve seen everyone from Nike to Starbucks make use of NFTs and now, we can see them being embraced by a digital marketing firm. Should this trend continue, NFTs can be marketed to the general public even more. 

And besides the commercial, there is the creative aspect of NFTs being used in all sorts of artistic ways. This project, for example, features different art styles that all allude to a concept that most of us are familiar with and show how dynamic NFT art can be.