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2022 FIFA World Cup

Nifty News: Winamp adds NFT support, Atari gets physical and more

Atari has teamed up with Pixels.com for physical NFT artworks and Investopedia has given a rundown on NFT tax law.

NFT music on Winamp

Old school classic PC-friendly media player Winamp has rolled out support for Ethereum and Polygon-based music nonfungible tokens (NFTs) in the latest update of its desktop player.

Winamp has been around since 1997 and was one of the most popular media players for PC users but has since been overtaken by Windows Media Player and Apple’s dominant iTunes.

It has a reputation for supporting a wide range of media files, and in the latest update announcement on Dec. 7 the Winamp team noted that NFT support is officially live and ready to go.

Users can now connect their Metamask wallets from a host of browsers, and load up the music embedded in ERC-721 and ERC-1155 tokens minted on Ethereum and Polygon.

“The genesis of Winamp has always been about accessibility and innovation, and today we are proud to launch the very first standalone player reading audio NFTs, as well as any other existing formats,” said Winamp CEO Alexandre Saboundjian in a statement.

There could soon be a lot of Polygon-based music NFTs to choose from as well. The team behind the Ethereum scaling solution also announced on Dec. 7 that it had partnered with Warner Music and LGND Music to build a “collaborative, digital collectible” music platform.

The platform, dubbed LGND Music, is set to roll out in January 2023 and will provide users with a user-friendly on-ramp to buy and hodl music NFTs.

Investopedia: NFT taxes explained, hire an accountant

Financial media website Investopedia has published a detailed run-down of NFT tax law in the United States emphasizing that people should probably hire a tax professional if they don’t want the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on their tail.

The website offers an extensive Wikipedia-style explanation for the various complicated terms in finance and finally added an NFT Tax Guide on Dec. 5.

A key takeaway is the IRS is yet to issue “specific guidance” about how to report gains and losses from NFT sales on tax returns, indicating there’s a big gray area to navigate for taxpayers.

Some NFTs will likely be classified as collectibles if they are purely art-focused, while others used for utility purposes, especially in relation to business use “may qualify for capital gains treatment.”

“The taxation of NFTs will fall somewhere between cryptocurrencies, which are taxed as property and have a long-term capital gains rate of 0-20% depending on income, and collectibles, which have a higher maximum capital gains rate of 28%,” the guide reads.

Crypto.com and Coca Cola’s World Cup NFTs

Crypto exchange Crypto.com and beverage giant Coca-Cola have partnered up to launch a unique set of NFTs depicting player heat maps from matches at the 2022 F World Cup.

According to a Dec. 5 announcement the artwork for the collection of 10,000 NFTs is being designed by digital artist GMUNK, who worked on popular sci-fi films Tron: Legacy and Oblivion. However, a specific launch date was not detailed.

Heat maps in soccer are generally used to show how a player performed during a game, as they indicate how much of the field they cover and which specific areas they spent the most time in.

The use of in-game data to create artwork may provide a novel way to create collectors items from major sporting events.

Crypto.com x Coca Cola NFT drop. Image: Crypto.com

Atari’s new concept: Physical art

Japanese video game giant Atari has teamed up with print-on-demand firm Pixels.com to roll out a revolutionary concept revolving around printed NFT artwork.

Related: Malta prepares to revise regulatory treatment of NFTs

While some may be happy looking at their Atari NFT art digitally, others enjoy physical artwork.

To that end, according to a Dec. 6 announcement Atari NFT holders can now connect Ethereum-based wallets to Pixels and transform them into framed prints or posters.

Those who don’t own Atari NFTs can also just right-click and save the images of those specific NFTs, and then print them via Pixels anyway.

Other Nifty News:

Digital entertainment, blockchain and gamification company Animoca Brands has secured a majority stake in the Los Angeles-based music metaverse gaming platform Pixelynx.

A Chinese court in the city of Hangzhou has said NFT collections are online virtual property that should be protected under Chinese law.

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Fan tokens struggle to hold on as World Cup quarter-finals draw nearer

Soccer fan tokens have seen their prices and trading volumes plummet since the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20.

Cryptocurrencies tied to national soccer teams have failed to keep the attention of 2022 FIFA World Cup fans, with many soccer-linked fan token prices plummeting since the tournament began.

Between Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Argentina, the associated digital fan tokens have fallen between 60% to 88% percent in price since the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20, according to CoinGecko.

This is despite Brazil, Argentina and Portugal reaching the quarter-finals, while Spain was a strong contender up until they were knocked out on Dec. 6. 

The tokens do generally react to immediate results, with Spain's SNFT token down 39.1% over the past 24 hours following the team's loss against Morocco, however, Portugal's POR token is also down 6.1% over that same time frame, despite them beating Switzerland 6-1 on Dec.6. Such suggests that the tokens are becoming less reactive to the associated teams’ success.

Notably, these cryptocurrencies saw their peaks well before any of the teams even walked on the soccer field in Qatar, suggesting a classic “buy the rumor, sell the news” event took place.

Both the Portugal and Argentina fan tokens hit their all-time highs (ATHs) on Nov. 18, while the ATHs for Spain and Brazil fan tokens came two months prior on Sept. 28.

A similar occurrence can also be seen on the chart for Chiliz (CHZ), the native token behind the major fan token platform Socios, which pumped to its own ATH on Nov. 20 but has since dropped 36%.

The 24-hour trading volumes of tokens have also dropped off drastically since kick-off — falling between 79% to 88% since Nov. 20.

Related: Socios boss’ goal? To knock crypto out of the park

This class of tokens was originally designed to offer fans unique interaction opportunities with teams they support, such as allowing tokenholders to vote on minor decisions like what is to be written on the captain’s armband.

Critics of fan tokens see it differently, however, and view the market as a predatory way for experienced traders to milk enthusiastic fans out of capital.

Speaking to The Athletic in Aug. 2021, Martin Calladine, author of The Ugly Game — a book exploring the dark side of FIFA’s dealings with Qatar and its bid for the 2022 World Cup — offered a grim take on the fan tokens.

“We see the price of tokens being driven up in anticipation of football events like signings or titles,” he said, adding that “traders cash them out, prices crash, and fans are left sitting on losses — victims of their enthusiasm for their clubs.”

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Nifty News: Nike unveils NFT platform, Steve Jobs’ sandals sell for $200K and more

A one-of-a-kind NFT of the Birkenstocks sandals worn by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs at various times during his life has sold for over $200,000.

Nike’s Dot Swoosh platform lands

Footwear and apparel giant Nike has unveiled its latest foray into the nonfungible token (NFT) and metaverse space with the launch of an NFT marketplace named .Swoosh.

While .Swoosh is still in the beta phase, Nike announced that its “first digital collection” is set to launch on the Web3 platform in 2023, with the rest of 2022 devoted to growing the platform and user base.

Among the “virtual creations” to become available next year are digital sneakers, apparel, accessories and other collectibles. In addition, some will unlock benefits such as access to real-life products and events.

Following the first collection drop, members can enter a community challenge to win the opportunity to co-create a virtual product with Nike.

According to Nike, the winners of the challenge can earn an undisclosed amount of royalties on the virtual product they help co-create.

Ron Faris, general manager of Nike Virtual Studios, said .Swoosh offers a “gateway into a new digital arena,” while the Twitter post from Nike said the platform would help “onboard the next millions” into the “wonderful world of web3 and digital assets.”

“We are shaping a marketplace of the future with an accessible platform for the web3-curious,” he added.

In 2021, Nike entered the metaverse game through the acquisition of virtual sneakers and collectibles brand RTFKT. It also launched the virtual world Nikeland.

.SWOOSH uses similar tools and technologies but all three are different projects for the company.

Steve Jobs NFT sandals go under the hammer

A one-of-a-kind NFT of the Birkenstocks sandals worn by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs at various times during his life has sold for $218,750 at an auction.

Steve Jobs sandals, complete with imprints of his feet. Source: Julien's Auctions

Julien’s Auctions ran the auction from Nov. 11 to Nov. 13, with 19 people overall trying to claim the footwear with offers ranging from $15,000 to $175,000.

Included in the deal was an NFT featuring a 360° digital representation of Steve Jobs sandals, which was minted on the Polygon blockchain.

The NFT is a 1-of-1 edition and included the physical sandals, with the “imprint of Steve Jobs’ feet.” It also came with a hard case for storage and transport and a Jean Pigozzi book titled The 213 Most Important Men in My Life.

Initially, the sandals and NFT were projected to fetch between $60,000 and $80,000, but after 19 bids, the sandals ended up going for $218,750. The new owner of the sandal NFT has not been publically disclosed.

Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple in 1976. Jobs died of pancreatic cancer in 2011.

First airport metaverse takes flight in India 

Bangalore International Airport has launched Metaport, a metaverse airport built on the Polygon blockchain. 

Inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Nov. 11, the metaverse features a virtual reproduction of Terminal 2 at Bangalore International Airport and allows users to network with other travelers, access entertainment and go shopping in the digital space.

Arpit Sharma, vice president of enterprises at Polygon, posted a Nov. 12 video of Metaport in action.

In the video, a user logs into the Metaverse airport, customizes their avatar’s appearance and clothing and then wanders around the virtual space.

The avatar interacts with several other users through a text-based chat, goes on an art tour and gets the chance to purchase digital items before a boarding call prompts the user to leave the metaverse. 

The project is the result of a joint venture between Bangalore International Airport, Polygon, Intel and Amazon Web Services and is being called the first metaverse airport in the world by its creators.

2022 FIFA World Cup NFTs kicking off 

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is rapidly approaching its Nov. 20 kickoff in Qatar and in the leadup, several companies have been releasing NFT collections and announcing Web3 games for the event. 

Sportswear manufacturer Adidas posted a Nov. 14 promotional trailer for the World Cup featuring its Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) character Indigo Herz alongside Lionel Messi and other players. 

Herz was on a cereal box of “Indigoooooals.”

The footwear giant purchased Indigo Herz, or BAYC #8774, on Sept. 17, 2021, for 46 Ether (ETH) — worth approximately $58,500 at the time.

Yuga Labs grants holders full intellectual property rights to use the characters for commercial endeavors.

Related: Wuhan omits NFTs from metaverse plan amid regulatory uncertainty in China

Earlier this month, major credit card company Visa released five soccer-themed NFTs for auction on Nov. 1 featuring World Cup goals of famous players. The auction lasted until Nov. 8, with all proceeds donated to a United Kingdom-based charity.

The payments company is also giving fans a chance to create their own NFTs on a digital pitch at the FIFA Fan Festival, which will launch during the World Cup.

On Oct. 14, Budweiser partnered with FIFA to release a live scoreboard NFT collection called Budverse X World Cup.

According to the OpenSea description, once users mint their world cup team, the NFT will follow and track the progress throughout the FIFA World Cup.

Meanwhile, FIFA announced on Nov. 9 they will have at least four Web3 games that fans can play while at the World Cup.

More Nifty News:

NFT marketplace OpenSea announced it will continue to enforce royalties across all collections going forward, following an outcry from creators for considering otherwise.

Web3 technology has opened a whole new frontier for musicians, but the head of IP at Animal Concerts metaverse platform says onboarding someone like Snoop who is active in the space is very different from “artists who don’t typically keep up with the Web3 ecosystem.”

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