Tag: NFTs

Coachella NFTs Now Stuck On FTX

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

FTX customers around the world have assets frozen on the cryptocurrency exchange. This happened after its sudden collapse last week. Apparently, this freeze is to the tune of billions of dollars’ worth in total. And it’s not just cryptocurrency or DeFi tokens either—some users have NFTs stuck in FTX, too.

NFTs Stuck In The FTX Saga

Discord servers tied to projects that launched via the FTX NFTs platform over the last year are now filling up with complaints from users who cannot withdraw their Solana-based assets from the FTX account wallet.

In some cases, even those who transferred their NFTs to external, self-custody wallets now can’t see the NFT artwork. This, however, is due to apparent FTX server issues. Links to many of the projects launched through the FTX NFTs marketplace are likewise now broken. FTX announced on Friday that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Furthermore, the affected projects include major music and sports brands. This includes concert festivals Coachella and Tomorrowland, NBA star Steph Curry’s 2974 NFT collection, and Formula One-themed NFTs.

What Exactly Happened

Coachella announced its partnership with FTX US in February, and its plan to release 10 lifetime festival passe. This happened as NFTs was hailed by some as a step forward for mainstream Web3 adoption. And not to mention real-world utility for such digital assets.

The festival released various other NFT collectibles alongside the passes. Billboard, which first reported issues around the NFTs on Tuesday, made a statement. It said that the sale generated $1.5 million in total.

Now, however, users in Coachella’s Discord server are reporting that they cannot transfer their NFTs out from their FTX wallets. Others say that the Coachella NFTs held in their self-custody wallets aren’t displaying artwork. Discord moderators have said that it’s apparently due to FTX’s server being down.

“We do not currently have any lines of communication with the FTX team,” a Coachella server administrator wrote on Friday. “We have assembled an internal team to come up with solutions based on the tools we have access to. Our priority is getting Coachella NFTs off of FTX, which appears to be disabled at the moment.”

In a statement today, Coachella Innovation Lead Sam Schoonover affirmed that the festival is trying to respond for NFT holders. “We’re actively working on solutions and are confident we’ll be able to protect the interests of Coachella’s NFT holders,” he wrote.

Custodial Concerns Over FTX NFTs

Unlike many NFT marketplaces, FTX NFTs was a custodial platform which means that it held purchased NFTs for buyers. The only exception is if they opted to transfer it to an external wallet. 

Also, given that FTX’s partners were major mainstream brands, it may have served more casual buyers. Buyers that didn’t bother to transfer the assets to self-custody wallets.

On top of assets initially sold through the FTX NFTs platform, there is a change. Now, anyone trying to sell another supported NFT through the marketplace would have to give FTX custody first. 

Currently, those NFTs are stuck on the platform as the firm begins bankruptcy proceedings.

Metaplex, the creator of Solana’s NFT protocol, worked with concert festival Tomorrowland. Their job was to develop its first NFT drop on FTX NFTs earlier this year. 

Furthermore, CEO Stephen Hess said that the situation illustrates the risks involved with centralized, custodial marketplaces. Especially as users currently have no way of accessing their purchased assets on the platform.

Hess said… “We hope this serves as a wake-up call to NFT collectors and creators that escrow-based marketplaces present significant risks.”

OpenSea To Enforce NFT Royalties After Creators Backlash

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace by trading volume, announced today that it will continue to enforce creator royalties on NFTs following significant pushback from the community.

“We will continue to enforce creator fees on all existing collections,” the firm wrote in a tweet thread. “We’re awed by the passion we’ve seen from creators and collectors alike this week. We were looking for your feedback, and we heard it, loud and clear.”

OpenSea On NFT Policy

On Saturday, OpenSea said that it was reconsidering its policy towards enforcing creator royalty fees on NFTs. This was following a wave of rival marketplaces that had either rejected such fees or made them optional. Optional for traders to pay. A royalty fee is set by the NFT artist or creator. The fee typically falls between 5% and 10% of the secondary sale price.

OpenSea set a self-imposed December 8 deadline to take in community feedback and consider possible courses of action. One which it said included making creator fees optional for traders. This means that enforcing these fees will only be as regards to some types of NFT collections.

However, the potential for the market’s largest NFT platform to stop enforcing royalties did not sit well with many prominent creators. One of these creators include Bored-Ape-Yacht-Club creator, Yuga Labs who vocally pushed back against OpenSea and began organizing amongst themselves.

Furthermore, on Tuesday, noted streetwear brand The Hundreds stepped up its response by making an announcement. They announced that they had canceled a planned OpenSea NFT drop this week. “May it be a reminder to them, to you, and the world that the artists are always in control.” The above statement was given by the firm’s founders.

OpenSea Reacts

As its tweet suggests, OpenSea got the message “loud and clear” from the community. The $13.3 billion Web3 startup explained that it was “​​seeking guidance from our community,” however, that was not the case. The startups pointed to data showing that the share of market-wide creator royalty fees is tumbling. Especially in recent weeks as royalties-rejecting marketplaces gain steam.

“Unless something changes soon, this space is trending toward significantly fewer fees paid to creators,” OpenSea wrote. “No policy that we implement will reverse this trend if this behavior continues.”

OpenSea encouraged creators to create additional incentives for traders to honor royalties and point them towards marketplaces that honor them. It also pointed towards implementing additional enforcement methods.

Royalty Enforcement System

On Saturday, OpenSea announced a royalties enforcement system for newly-created NFT projects. One that is built around a blacklist that blocks listed marketplaces from handling those transactions. The method targets marketplaces that do not fully enforce royalty fees, which are among OpenSea’s biggest rivals.

Some of the NFT world’s most prominent creators are speaking out in defense of royalties this week. This started after OpenSea said it is considering changes to its enforcement including potentially making them optional for traders. Now one brand has taken things a step further by canceling an Ethereum NFT drop planned this week.

Finally, Bobby “Bobby Hundreds” Kim tweeted on Tuesday night. He said that his streetwear brand The Hundreds will not launch its Badam Bomb Squad on OpenSea this week. This is due to the company’s unclear communication around its creator royalties stance.

“We were waiting to see if OpenSea would take a stand to preserve creator royalties for existing collections. This is especially after they’d heard from the artists, founders, and NFT community.” The above statement was tweeted by the brand. “Unfortunately, that announcement has not arrived in time.”

TinyTap’s First NFTs Is Sold Out

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

Animoca Brands is the company advancing digital property rights for gaming and the open metaverse. The company’s subsidiary, TinyTap is the leading platform for user-generated educational games. Today TinyTap announced that the first batch of six TinyTap Publisher NFTs sold at auction for a total of 138.926 ETH. This generated a total 67.7 ETH for the six teachers who authored the content linked to the Publisher NFTs.

How The Proceeds Are To Be Split Amongst The 6 TinyTap Teachers

Each participating teacher receives 50% of the net proceeds from the auction of the NFTs of their Courses. In addition, they also receive a 10% ongoing share of any revenue generated by such 

Courses. Furthermore, as a result of the co-publishing efforts, they also receive royalties generated by the secondary sales of the NFTs.

The successful auction marks another step toward the vision of Animoca Brands and TinyTap. One that intends  to build an alternative Web3 education system. A system that better values teachers by improving the earning opportunities available to them.

The NFT that sold for the highest amount was Learn English with Gabi , which generated 22.9 ETH for its creator. Its creator is Gabi Klaf. This amount earned is approximately 13.4x the average monthly elementary teacher’s salary in the public education system of Israel. A system where she is based.

Commenting on the sale, Gabi Klaf said: “I’ve been teaching ESL passionately for over 30 years. I thought that discovering TinyTap’s interactive game platform was my biggest teaching breakthrough. But now, I see that the Publisher NFT is my real breakthrough. I am overjoyed that my English courses will now reach thousands of children worldwide and I’m excited. Especially because I can teach a new generation of young kids! Financially, I foresee this endeavor to be highly beneficial to me.”

What Is The Goal Behind The App’s Creation

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “We designed TinyTap’s Publisher NFTs to significantly increase teachers’ earning opportunities. Especially over the current TinyTap subscription model. We also intended to free teachers from the costs and time required to promote their work. Thanks to this innovative use of NFTs, TinyTap’s teachers can choose whether to continue business as usual, or make use of Web3. That way they get to focus on what they do best – produce great content – while gaining the backing of a co-publisher.“

Yogev Shelly , CEO of TinyTap, went on to make a statement. “We’re deeply thankful for the tremendous support we have received for our new and pioneering education model. This initiative has shown that it is possible to better reward educators for the critically important work that they do. Instead of waiting for salaries to rise and for education to become more relevant, we’re using Web3 to build an incentive system. One that “will to allow communities and educators to come together to create.”

The Obvious Impact Of TinyTap

Cici Lampe, the US-based creator of the Course Learn Colors with Super Heroes, made a comment. “Five years ago, I started creating interactive games on TinyTap for my grandson in order to teach him myself using a hands-on approach. I can hardly believe one of my courses is now the face of decentralized education with TinyTap and Animoca Brands. This now brings supporters worldwide so all kids can learn with me.”

Ellen Weber , the US-based creator of the Course Nursery Rhymes & Fairy Tales , made a comment. “TinyTap has been my second income for more than five years. I always believed in TinyTap’s mission and have been inviting the teacher community to join me and create revenue generating educational games on TinyTap.”

Meta Announces New Creator And NFT Options

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

It’s Creator Week at Meta, and along with various showcase events and panels, Meta has also announced some new features. Some of these features include expanded monetization opportunities. It also involves new tools to facilitate creation and selling of NFTs.

Creators Will Have A Swell Time – Meta

First off, Instagram’s making fan subscriptions available to all eligible creators in the US. This will enable a lot more people to monetize their Instagram audience. They will do this via direct, ongoing support from their communities.

Instagram first launched fan subscriptions with selected creators back in January. This was done  as part of its expanding suite of creator monetization tools, which are designed to keep top talent aligned to its app.

With subscriptions, creators (with over 10k followers) are able to charge a monthly fee – between $0.99 and $99.99. This fee will then gives paying members access to subscribers-only live-streams. Not only that but also subscribers-only posts and Stories and badges in comment streams. All of this is in a bid to help creators identify their supporters.

Furthermore, Instagram takes no cut from subscriber revenue at this stage. However, any fees paid are subject to Google and Apple’s 30% in fees for in-app purchases. But outside of that, any money raised is yours. This provides another avenue for creators to make money from their IG content.

In addition, Meta’s also launching new gifts in Instagram Reels. This will enable viewers to send virtual Gifts to Reels creators, which then allocate the cost of that gift as donation.

So, it’s like Facebook Stars, but in a different form, considering these illustrative, animated gift types. One that will potentially drawing more attention and engagement.

Meta is testing gifts on Reels in the US to begin with, before considering broader expansion.

Speaking of Stars, over on Facebook, more creators will now also be able to access its fan donation feature. This will enable your supporters to allocate funds to you during videos and live-streams.

More On the Stars Project?

Meta is also testing automatic Stars onboarding for creators. This means that the ability to receive Stars will automatically appear on their content. However, it’s also making Stars available on photo and text posts, in addition to videos, live-streams and Reels.

“Stars Party is a celebratory moment that happens when a spike of Stars are sent from your fans on live or reels. When the spike occurs, an overlay with a countdown will appear on the screen with a progress toward a goal. This will encourage fans to send Stars and meet the Stars goal.”

Lastly, Meta’s looking to lean further into NFTs and digital art. They intend to do this via a new process which will enable users to create and sell NFTs within Instagram.

Meta says that creators will have ’an end-to-end toolkit’ to facilitate NFT trading, with fans. Furthermore, collectors will be able to purchase digital collectibles directly within Instagram.

Testing Of NFTs On Instagram By Meta

In addition, Meta’s also testing video digital collectibles on Instagram, and adding support for the Solana blockchain and Phantom wallet. NFTs will also now be enhanced with additional metadata from OpenSea to provide further context.

I’m still not sure that NFTs are going to be the transformative vehicle for artists that some had initially projected at the start of the boom period last year. However, there is a clear niche interest in these artworks as collectible pieces. Consequently, it makes sense for Instagram to lean into this, and facilitate engagement for the NFT community.

Tamadoge To Launch 1000 New NFTs Today

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

Trending NFT project Tamadoge (TAMA) has been turning heads recently following the launch of its NFT collections. 

While the October 6th release of the ultra-rare NFT collection sold out quickly, investors have another chance to acquire some Tamadoge NFTs. This is possible thanks to the October 17th release of the rare Tamadoge pet collection.

What Is Tamadoge?

Tamadoge is a new meme coin with a distinct focus on utility. In contrast to the majority of meme coins, Tamadoge is unique. Other tokens generate hype but provide little in the way of intrinsic value. However, Tamadoge blends some of the hottest sectors within cryptocurrency. They do this in order to create a diverse and value-rich ecosystem that crypto enthusiasts love.

The project allows users to explore a Metaverse world known as the Tamaverse. They do this while raising 3D-animated NFT-based pets and interacting with other players. 

Leveling up a Tamadoge pet using items from the in-game store will reward the owner with Dogepoints. Furthermore, it will also boost their leaderboard ranking and increase the share of the rewards pool. Especially to the degree to which the holder is entitled. 

The Tamadoge NFT Collections

Recently, Tamadoge launched its first NFT collection – a series of 100 ultra-rare pets with boosted stats. This collection sold out quickly, even briefly hitting the number 1 trending spot on OpenSea. 

Tamadoge has now launched its second collection, a series of 1,000 rare NFTs. 

Each Tamadoge NFT features unique artwork and is attributed various stats that will affect the pet’s performance. The most obvious way it can be affected is in the upcoming Tamdoge arcade-style and flagship games. 

Meanwhile, the current Tamadoge pet NFTs will be usable in the mini-games. Consequently, holders will also be airdropped a Tamadoge puppy once the full game is released.

Furthermore, the ultra-rare Tamadoge collection has gone from selling for roughly 1.5 to 3-ETH each to a price of 5.99-ETH. 

This happened within the space of a week and we could see huge moves for the rare and common NFTs. It’ll be interesting to see how things progress. But as it stands today, Tamadoge could be the best NFT drop in 2022. 

Big Eyes Is On The Rise

Big Eyes Coin has attracted a lot of attention since its inception. The new platform provides its users with an array of services from which they can earn and save tokens. Big Eyes Coin has adopted a unique zero-tax policy on shopping so you can save more of your BIG tokens!

The Big Eyes Coin platform is built on the Ethereum blockchain, utilising its newly updated Proof-of-Stake consensus. This is to increase its transaction speed while reducing its environmental impact. Big Eyes Coin will donate 5% of its tokens to ocean conservation efforts to protect a crucial part of our ecosystem. Not only that, but to also showcase its commitment to sustainability.

NFTs will become a big part of the Big Eyes Coin ecosystem when they launch at stage three of the roadmap. Big Eyes Coin is moving away from having NFTs as something to look at. Instead, Big Eyes Coin is bringing utility to NFTs and using them as keys to access exclusive events and clubs.

Ethereum Merge Helps NFT Transactions

Now Ethereum is a Proof-of-Stake platform, users can take advantage of its fast transaction speeds that can reach up to 100,000 per second at its peak performance. Those worried about the environmental impact of Ethereum can put their mind at ease. With the new update, Ethereum has reduced its carbon footprint by 99%.

Ethereum hosts the most popular NFT marketplace in the blockchain industry, OpenSea. Since the Merge has increased transaction speeds, OpenSea users will enjoy increased speeds with potentially lower fees.

Bored Apes Creator, Yuga, Investigated By The SEC

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Yuga Labs. The investigation is over whether its Bored Ape Yacht Club Ethereum NFTs and the ApeCoin token are unregistered securities. This info was according to Bloomberg.

The Report On Bored Apes

The report, which cites an unnamed source, claims that the agency is exploring a few things. One of them is whether the crypto startup broke federal law by issuing NFTs that act like stocks. The other is based on exploring the distribution of the Ethereum-based ApeCoin token that launched earlier this year. 

Yuga Labs has not yet been accused of any wrongdoing and the investigation may not necessarily lead to charges.

“It’s well-known that policymakers and regulators have sought to learn more about the novel world of Web3. We hope to partner with the rest of the industry and regulators to define and shape the burgeoning ecosystem.” The above statement was by Yuga Labs. “As a leader in the space, Yuga is committed to fully cooperating with any inquiries along the way.”

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is one of the most successful NFT projects to date. It has a main collection of 10,000 NFTs initially selling to the public at $190 worth of Ethereum apiece. That sale yielded Yuga roughly $1.9 million. Follow-up and spin-off projects, the Mutant Ape-Yacht-Club and the Otherside metaverse game, then raked in $96 million and $319 million, respectively.

How Much Does Bored Ape Really generate?

BAYC has also generated nearly $2.5 billion worth of secondary trading volume, per data from CryptoSlam. Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Otherside have added another $3.35 billion worth of secondary trading volume to that tally. Yuga Labs earns a 2.5% royalty fee on each of those sales.

Bored Ape NFT owners are entitled to various benefits, including access to a private community and live events. In addition, also the ability to use their owned illustration to create and sell derivative artwork and projects. Many of the NFTs have sold for seven-figure sums. 

Furthermore, the project has attracted a number of celebrity owners as it has gained popularity.

Holders Benefits

Furthermore, Bored Ape NFT holders have been granted various past benefits. These includes free Bored Ape Kennel Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and Otherside NFTs. In addition to these, an allotment of ApeCoin when that token launched in March.

Officially, ApeCoin was not created or launched by Yuga Labs. The token was issued by the Ape Foundation, which is fronted by a board that includes prominent Web3 builders. Builders like Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and FTX Ventures head Amy Wu.

That approach was due to regulatory concerns, although Bloomberg reports that the SEC is still investigating the launch and distribution of the token. 

Yuga Labs and its founders have benefited greatly from the launch of ApeCoin. The token has a current price of about $4.75 per token and a market cap of just over $1.5 billion.

ApeCoin’s price tumbled shortly after the report was published. Consequently, it’s down about 9% over the last 24 hours per data from CoinGecko.

The SEC has increased its scrutiny of the crypto and NFT markets under the leadership of chair Gary Gensler. Gensier was named to the post in April 2021. 

Gensler has shared a view that nearly any other crypto token besides Bitcoin could be a security. To this end, he has pursued a number of recent actions – including naming nine tokens listed on Coinbase as securities.

NFTs: “Jpegs Are Not The Future Of NFTs” Says Polygon Studios

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

In the early years of the NFT space thus far, it’s been profile pictures and artwork that have yielded top-dollar sales. And rightly, they have also consistently dominated headlines. However,  as the market evolves and the immersive future internet of the metaverse takes shape, a question beckons. Will tokenized images continue to be the most prominent use case for NFTs?

Brian Trunzo, metaverse lead at Polygon Studios, doesn’t think so. In an interview at the Chainlink SmartCon 2022 conference, he made a statement. Brian stated that the crypto industry will have achieved mainstream adoption of Web3 technology, NFTs, and the metaverse when “we stop saying it.” Emphasizing that things will change only when those terms are no longer necessary.

Trunzo believes that skeptics of the technology are informed by a limited understanding of Web3. Consequently, suggesting that a wider set of NFT use cases will take hold in the future.

NFTs, What Are Those?

An NFT is a blockchain token that can serve as a proof of ownership for an item. It can represent digital things like profile pictures, artwork, and collectibles. Furthermore, it also involves interactive video game items, customer engagement rewards, real estate deeds, and more.

Polygon Studios works with creators and companies that are building on Polygon, a sidechain scaling network for Ethereum. In his role as metaverse lead, Trunzo and his team help pave the way for technology to support immersive applications and NFT-powered experiences from various creators.

He pointed to Starbucks’ recent NFT announcement as an example of how the assets are being used as an asset class itself. Starbucks will use Polygon to give away NFT stamps to customers. These includes premium NFTs, all of which can earn customers real-world perks and experiences.

“If Web2 was measured in engagement, [then] Web3 will be measured in gamification—brand immersion,” he explained.

In the case of Starbucks, it won’t be a game-like 3D metaverse akin to Decentraland or The Sandbox. However, the NFT-powered program is designed to engage users across digital and physical spaces alike.

Furthermore, that sort of Web3 gamification is one of the biggest opportunities he sees in the space, along with digital fashion. Trunzo, who previously co-founded real-world menswear brands, said that metaverse fashion will tap into users’ need for 2 reasons. One of them is for self-expression. The other is good-old vanity and a desire to showcase virtual “flexes.”

NFTs Gaming, A Firm Future?

Furthermore, when it comes to true video game experiences, Trunzo is unsurprisingly on the side of the debate that sees NFTs as a prospective benefit. Many gamers aren’t thrilled about NFTs. In part because of scams and speculation. But also a widespread belief that creators and publishers will use them to extract even more value from players.

Moreover, with that stigma out there, Trunzo expects a “genie out of the bottle moment.” One in which more and more players embrace the benefits of using NFTs in games. 

In his view, the ability for players to truly own their progress and unlocked benefits as NFT assets will be a real plus.

Nevertheless, he doesn’t expect that all future video games will use NFTs when that happens. Some games may live entirely on-chain, some may not see a need for NFTs, and others could land somewhere in between. In Between modest and limited Web3 functionality.

“We’re not trying to cram it down people’s throats that you have to incorporate NFTs into your game,” Trunzo said.

Poor Graphics

In the meantime, some early metaverse games have been criticized for underwhelming graphics compared to the traditional game industry’s top titles. 

Trunzo acknowledged that Web3 gaming is early, but also said that games don’t necessarily need hyper-realistic graphics to look beautiful.

Japan’s Crypto Regulator (JVCEA), Warns Exchanges

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

The Financial Services Agency (FSA), Japan’s crypto market regulator, has issued a renewed warning to the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA). The warning is about the October full-scale implementation of FATF travel rules for crypto. 

Local news outlet CoinPost reports that the FSA also criticized the management of the JVCEA. Furthermore, the financial market watchdog stated that it is dissatisfied with the JVCEA’s speed in rolling out anti-money laundering rules. The body is also dissatisfied with how the organization handles decision-making and communication, and how it handles delegating executive responsibilities. 

In addition, the JVCEA has stated that it is working to meet up with the FSA’s standards. However, it still faces challenges.

For one, its efforts to introduce anti-money laundering rules for crypto exchange in Japan have been undermined by the cross-border nature of the crypto market. This has made reporting transactions difficult. 

Masako Yamaga, a director of the JVCEA and a professor at Meiji University, made a remark. He stated that implementing the travel rules will require international collaboration. Similarly, he noted management and communication challenges come from not having enough manpower with experience in crypto-regulations. 

Notably, this isn’t the first time the FSA is expressing its dissatisfaction with the JVCEA’s pace of rolling out regulations. Back in July, Financial Times reported that the JVCEA was in the middle of internal crisis. One that had the FSA bearing down on it. 

At the time, the FSA emphasized the same concerns even as employees of the association sought to unionize. This was in a bid to oppose the JVCEA’s plans to downsize its employee headcount. The association had been struggling to keep running costs down as the crypto market entered bear territory globally. 

Furthermore, amidst the tussle, the JVCEA has also successfully introduced some more lenient rule changes for exchanges. The association has put together a “Green–List” of cryptocurrencies that registered exchanges can list without rigorous processes of screening. 

JVCEA Still Attracting Crypto Exchanges With Its Web 3.0 Policy

While JVCEA registered exchanges struggle to meet up with the FCA’s implementation of the FATF travel rules. Consequently, exchanges are looking to enter the Japanese market. Bloomberg reports that the global biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance is making moves. The exchange platform is ,making moves to reopen in Japan after leaving four years ago. 

Binance’s renewed attention is thanks to the new economic policy introduced by Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Furthermore, under this policy, the Japanese government has already set up a Web 3.0 Policy Office that will focus on promoting the adoption of Web 3.0-related innovations.

Elsewhere In Cryptocurrency

With cryptocurrency investors increasingly worried about Hong Kong’s regulatory ambiguity on crypto, a number of major crypto-focused businesses. And events have decided to move their activities to Singapore and other countries considered as more friendly to their industry.

Hong Kong’s lawmakers are advancing plans. Plans to require licensing for crypto trading platforms through an amendment to the city’s anti-money laundering legislation. This legislative change would require firms to offer such services exclusively to professional investors. Investors with a portfolio of at least HK$8 million (US$1 million). However, should the amendment go through, the move could discourage numerous crypto investors from conducting their business in Hong Kong.

“There was a point in time where Hong Kong had a leading position in cryptocurrency and business related to crypto,” Padraig Walsh, a partner at the Hong Kong law firm Tanner De Witt, told local daily.

The South China Morning Post. “That isn’t the case any more, and I think regulation has been a key part of the reasons why.”

NFTs In The Cars Industry?

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

Last year, a physical Elon Musk-signed Tesla Model X toy car was minted as a non-fungible token (NFT). It was then put up for auction on OpenSea. The auction didn’t turn out to be very successful, but this caused some car fans to become curious. They now wonder if NFTs will get into the automotive market someday. 

Well, it’s safe to say, NFTs have entered this market and garnered extensive media attention. But how exactly do automakers take advantage of the accelerating trend? Read on to find out.

Chevrolet And NFTs

Chevrolet is the one of the latest big names in the automobile industry to enter the NFT marketplace. Chevy (as the carmaker is informally known) announced that the company is auctioning off a Corvette NFT “Own The Color” on NFT auction site SuperRare. This they intend to do in collaboration with artist Nick Sullo. The NFT features a Minted Green 2023 Corvette Z06 car accelerating in a cyberpunk backdrop. 

The auction was initially planned to be held from June 20, 2022, to June 24, 2022, but Chevrolet later extended the auction period because some users expressed disappointment about missing the Corvette Z06 NFT artwork auction window. The real-life 2023 Corvette Z06 is expected to be mass-produced in mid-summer 2022 and will be formally put on sale in early 2023.

Although it’s unclear who’s getting the NFT, the winning bidder will not only receive the crypto artwork but more. The winning bidder will also win the physical, first and only Minted Green 2023 Corvette Z06. Chevrolet confirms that the Minted Green color won’t be applied to other Z06s in future production. This move makes the auctioned car one-of-a-kind. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the educational charity DonorsChoose.

More Luxury Automobile Companies 

Italian luxury automaker Lamborghini revealed its first NFT project in January this year. The automobile giant will not be left out in the NFTs world. 

Entitled “Space Time Memory”, the NFT collection contains five pairs of linked digital and physical art. These arts were created in collaboration with Switzerland-based artist Fabian Ofner, NFT Pro and RM Sotheby’s. The space-themed digital artwork portrays a Lamborghini breaking down into its core components after traveling through the atmosphere and enter space like a rocket.

Unlike Chevrolet’s NFT, Lamborghini didn’t offer a physical luxury car for buyers to claim. Instead, winning bidders received a physical “Space Key” made of carbon fibers that Lamborghini sent to the International Space Station as a part of a research project back in 2019. 

Each Space Key is a gray rectangular block onto which a QR code linking to the digital artwork is engraved. To match the astronomical theme, Lamborghini planned to hold every auction for 75 hours and 50 minutes. This move matches the exact time it took Apollo 11 to leave Earth and enter the moon’s orbit.

Ferrari In The NFTs Scene

Premium sports car manufacturer Ferrari partnered with Swiss technology company Velas Network AG last year. Their mission was to put its first-ever NFT on the market. The company announced plans to make the NFTs available for purchase in March 2022. This was when a new F1 game season began. However, as March came and went, we didn’t hear anything further from the company about the project details. Neither did we hear about the exact date when the project will officially take flight.

While the project is still in progress, Ferrari’s official website was hacked several months after announcing its NFT plan. Ferrari’s subdomain “forms.ferrari.com” was reported to be compromised on May 5 to support an NFT scam. The scammers devised a malicious program named “Mint Your Ferrari” and used “a collection of 4,458 horsepower NFTs on the Ethereum network.”

This they did as tactics to prompt people to purchase. 

NFTs Consultant  Says Poor People Can Be Used As NPCs

Posted on by Augustine Ojeh

Players in developing countries could work as NPCs in wealthier players’ worlds on NFTs gaming, according to one game consultant.

“With the cheap labor of a developing country, you could use people in the Philippines as NPCs (non-playable characters), real-life NPCs in your game,” said Mikhai Kossar, who is a chartered accountant and member of WolvesDAO. 

Kossar told Rest of World that players in developing countries could “just populate the world.” 

“maybe do a random job or just walk back and forth, fishing, telling stories, a shopkeeper, anything is really possible.” 

According to WolvesDAO’s membership application form, its mission is to “equip the blockchain gaming sector. They intend to do this with key insights, education, and tools to build the games of tomorrow.”

That future community, apparently, could be a dystopian one

Some find the idea of making real-life people across the globe roleplay as automaton-like NPCs dehumanizing.

“People are coming up with fresh ideas for how citizens of the Third World can be put to productive use. Especially by wealthy users.” According to long-time video game journalist Andy Chalk. 

“It’s an odious idea, perfectly in-character for the NFT field, and literally the dictionary definition of exploitation.”

It also raises questions surrounding the ethics of Web3 gaming more generally. Furthermore, where “scholars” in developing countries already play with NFTs they can’t afford to own in play-to-earn blockchain-games. Especially while NFT owners reap a percentage of the profits.

Importance Of NFTs NPCs

The potential for sentience, and the ethics of exploiting NPCs as disposable beings, has been a staple of science fiction. Furthermore, it was recently explored in HBO’s “Westworld.”  

We also cannot neglect its depiction in last year’s Ryan Reynolds-led Hollywood action comedy “Free Guy.”

However, roleplaying as an NPC isn’t necessarily dystopian in every context. Gamers in roleplay (RP) servers for “Grand Theft Auto V” like NoPixel. The company already volunteer to act as characters who work in various positions in the virtual world. 

Whether it’s as a mechanic, a stripper, or a bartender, they’re effectively roleplaying as NPCs for free. Some RP servers are highly curated, with waitlists of hopefuls wanting to get in.

When it comes to paid metaverse employment, there’s also a whole world of virtual jobs in games like ‘Roblox,’ which doesn’t use any cryptocurrency. But some argue that ‘Roblox’’s underage creators are being exploited and don’t take home the wages they deserve.

As metaverse worlds come to market, so too may a whole new realm of employment. But some jobs are sure to raise more eyebrows than others. 

NFTs And Music

In our latest episode of Behind The Drop, we spoke with rapper, singer, and songwriter Iann Dior about his debut NFT project: the iann dior: 1212 collection. Launched in partnership with green NFT platform OneOf in June 2022. The collection consisted of 1,212 animated NFT avatars depicting the Sick and Tired singer in various interpretations. These were adapted to resemble Tim Burton’s take on claymation.

Speaking on the drop in an interview with nft now, dior stated that the collection was a way for him to “make art and express [his] different emotions.” 

But why claymation? Styling himself as a “big fan” of the medium, the collection’s genesis can be traced back to one fateful day. A day when the young artist was idly scrolling through Instagram. Popping up on his feed was a piece of fan art by digital artist depicting him as a claymation character.

Following this discovery, Dior, took a bold step. The artiste who had recently been exploring the creation of an NFT collection to better engage with his fans, flew out to Ondrej. The rest is predictable, work started immediately on what would later become the 1212 collection.