OpenSea smart contract upgrade to delist inactive NFTs on Ethereum

February 19, 2022 Coin Telegraph

As a part of the planned upgrade, all OpenSea users will need to migrate their existing NFT listings to a new smart contract.

OpenSea, one of the most popular nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, has rolled out an upgrade to its smart contract, a proactive measure to weed out inactive listings on the platform.

As a part of the planned upgrade, all OpenSea users will need to migrate their NFT listings — currently hosted over the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain — to the new smart contract.

The new contract is live! Start migrating your listings now: https://t.co/W1w9ciCK2D
— OpenSea (@opensea) February 18, 2022

According to the OpenSea announcement, the NFT listings created before Feb. 18 will automatically expire within a week by Feb. 25 by 2 PM ET:

“This new upgrade will ensure old, inactive listings on Ethereum securely expire and allow us to offer new safety features in the future.”

Upon successful migration, the NFT listing will show the original date of posting. However, once the deadline is crossed, users will be allowed to relist the delisted NFTs over the new smart contract.

During this phase, OpenSea will not charge gas fees for NFT migration but will invalidate the old Ethereum-based smart contract, effectively expiring the old offers:

“During this migration period, old offers on items will expire, and offers made on the old smart contract will become invalid.”

Migrating the NFT listing is a two-step process. First, the user needs to navigate to OpenSea and click on the ‘Migrate listings’ option.

OpenSea main profile page. Source: OpenSea

For the next step, the user will need to click on the ‘Confirm’ button made available next to each listing, as shown below.

Navigating to OpenSea's NFT migration. Source: OpenSea

A notification will confirm the migration and users will be able to view the listing with a new expiration date.

OpenSea updated listing. Source: OpenSea

OpenSea made most of the early-bird advantage in the NFT space to become the largest marketplace for NFT trades.

Reaffirming the technology’s disruptive financial potential, an Indonesian college student named Sultan Gustaf Al Ghozali became a millionaire by selling NFT versions of his selfies on OpenSea.

Uploading my photo into nft lolhttps://t.co/E3Q4sBmN26 #NFT #opensea pic.twitter.com/rD51rdcpzp
— Ghozali (@Ghozali_Ghozalu) January 10, 2022

As Cointelegraph previously reported, Ghozali took selfies, either sitting or standing in front of his computer, which was later converted into NFTs and uploaded to OpenSea in December 2021. Ghozali’s collection subsequently reached a total trade volume of 317 ETH, equivalent to more than $1 million.

‘The industry will need to have dynamic NFTs,’ says Vivid Labs CEO Halsey Minor

February 17, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Is 2022 the year of NFTs that can evolve and change over time or should NFT data be immutable?

Cointelegraph spoke about the nonfungible token, or NFT, market with Halsey Minor, CEO of NFT publishing platform provider Vivid Labs (VID), which is the parent company of the Live Planet production company founded by actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

Vivid Labs offers the VIVID NFT platform that allows creators to build NFT marketplaces on its native blockchain. According to the company, they specialize in marketplaces that create NFTs with multimedia capabilities to bundle videos, images, audio and files into a single asset, called NFT+.

Halsey argues that NFTs, however multimedia rich they may be, “can be more valuable if connected to real world products.” He is making a distinction between NFT creators that “sell media” like a song or artwork that “tends to be static” with immutable data, and creators who make dynamic assets with data that can be continuously updated tied to real world experiences or physical items.

He gives the example of purchasing a luxury handbag from the French fashion house Hermes if it were tied to an updatable NFT to continuously communicate with the customer: “You buy a limited edition bag, but you also get an NFT that proved that it was real, videos about how the bag was made and pictures of how the bag can be styled.”

This concept could be applied to any special edition item or even to event tickets sold as NFTs, like how the NFL offered NFT tickets to Super Bowl attendees earlier this month. Any changes relating to pertinent game-goer information could be reflected via a dynamic NFT.

“The industry will need to have dynamic NFTs” and commercial marketing is “the least recognized application,” added Minor.

Recently, Vivid Labs partnered with Shopify to allow Shopify App Store users to download the VIVID NFT App. Shopify Plus merchants can now create and manage their own NFT+ marketplaces on their storefronts as a result. So far, the app powered the sport company Natural Selection Tour’s inaugural NFT drop during their latest snowboard competition.

1/ @VividLabsHQ has been chosen to be part of the @Shopify NFT Beta program!

We built the #VIVIDNFT App to unlock the world of multimedia #NFTs for Shopify merchants.

Here’s a on what this means and why this is big pic.twitter.com/UlCG8ePDC7
— Vivid Labs - formerly VideoCoin (@VividLabsHQ) February 17, 2022

According to John S. Lee, lead of blockchain ecosystem at Shopify, this integration “will help to further grow participation in Web3 and expand what’s possible in commerce.”

Dynamic NFTs are not new but their application is still being explored. Another use case of dynamic NFTs is blockchain collectibles. Recently, the Koii Network launched a project that enabled collectibles to change state based on the owner’s love and attention or lack of it.

New ConsenSys Mesh NFT marketplace pays royalties to creators and collectors

February 17, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Artists

ETHDenver conference attendees will get an exclusive presentation about the TreeTrunk marketplace introducing a new token standard.

As the ETHDenver developer conference gets underway, the incubator ConsenSys Mesh told Cointelegraph that it's planning a Friday announcement regarding a new addition to its portfolio.

Joseph Lubin, Ethereum co-founder, will debut details about TreeTrunk, a nonfungible token, or NFT, platform that aims to eliminate the risk of centralized platforms failing to pay royalty payments from secondary sales correctly or on time. TreeTrunk is launching a beta release on the Polygon Mumbai testnet.

According to the company, TreeTrunk has introduced a pioneering smart contract that collects and distributes royalty payments from the secondary sales of NFTs immediately and securely on the blockchain. Current NFT standards may not enforce instant collection or distribution of royalties on a chain to the creator, and less so to both creators and distributors.

Cointelegraph spoke to John Wolpert, co-founder of TreeTrunk and head of R&D at ConsenSys Mesh, to learn more about this new contribution to the Ethereum ecosystem.

"Supplying an important new ERC to the community as a standard and open-source reference implementation is serving the long term vision of expanding what NFTs can do on the blockchain."

Part of that vision to onboarding newcomers into the blockchain space also includes building long-term financial empowerment for artists and creators where "perpetual distribution and royalty networks move their work and expand their paying audience," added Wolpert.

He points out that NFT artists, just like traditional artists, may need to reach a certain level of popularity to see a sustainable profit. For this reason, TreeTrunk smart contracts distribute royalty payments to collectors who make and sell authorized digital prints. This approach, according to Wolpert, offers influencers the opportunity to construct an "NFT family tree" of first- or second-generation NFT and syndicate prints holders who can buy into a "community of inclusion" that generates passive income.

Here's what we're building: TreeTrunk #NFT https://t.co/lTtJxHPiJ8.

Create and own private, exclusive original art.

Make unique signed and numbered prints.

Build a royalties empire.

Join our Discord and help us make great decisions about the product: https://t.co/npgoLbdUld pic.twitter.com/f8E8x8wrAz
— John Wolpert (@jwolpert) November 6, 2021

The technique that TreeTrunk uses to create and exchange authorized copies that can prove their relationship to an original NFT is called crypto-lithography. Similar to the lithographic printing process, zero-knowledge cryptography technology "shields the original NFT while letting people see, enjoy and sell unique, verifiable prints," said Wolpert.

On the ETHDenver stage, conference goers can expect a group of NFT artists to herald the launch of the TreeTrunk marketplace. Each of them submitted one special artwork to the platform for early collectors to begin testing before opening up to more artists.

Ira P. Rothken, attorney and TreeTrunk co-founder, also emphasized that it was important to the company to improve on the way NFTs handle legal rights and artists control their intellectual property.

"It’s no longer a game of guessing what the license agreement terms are, especially on secondary market transactions. Unlike the previous NFT standard, with TreeTrunk the license agreement is embedded in the NFT metadata itself."

ConsenSys Mesh acts as both an accelerator and incubator under the ConsenSys ecosystem that invests in Web3 projects. Its portfolio of companies includes MetaMask, Infura, Gitcoin and Decrypt.

‘The vision is to create the largest library of world-class IP,’ says Ethernity CEO

February 10, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Ethernity Chain is unveiling a suite of new NFT marketplaces and products in an effort to push the Metaverse forward via the Ethernal Labs ecosystem.

Ethernity Chain (ERN) is an authenticated and licensed NFT marketplace in the business of acquiring intellectual property, or IP, from big-name brands in sports, history, music and entertainment. Among these notable figures is Shaquille O'Neal, Lionel Messi and brands like DeLorean and Toys R Us. Cointelegraph spoke to Nick Rose, Ethernity Founder and CEO, about the launch of the company's newest arm, Ethernal Labs, and its goals to become a comprehensive NFT ecosystem studio.

Think Disney, NBCUniversal or Sony but for Web3 content creation. That's the kind of disruption Rose spoke about when he described Ethernal Labs as a multidisciplinary studio and incubator with multiple marketplaces, Metaverse and avatar development and play-to-earn, or P2E, gaming. Rose said:

"The long term vision for Ethernal Labs is to create the largest library of world-class IP in the blockchain space and redefine ownership, monetization and engagement for these notable figures and brands,"

Ethernal Labs raised $20 million in its seed round with investors including Fanatics' Michael Rubin, Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Morning Star Ventures, Algorand, Polygon Studios, and others.

One vertical or product within the Ethernal Labs ecosystem that Rose was particularly excited about is dubbed Fanable. Considered a social platform, Fanable will enable famous individuals to monetize their fandom and brand through fan token utility. The Messi Token is an example of a possibility. Token owners could be able to interact with their favorite creators, celebrities and athletes through real-time polls and interactive opportunities. Fan tokens would be traded against the native ERN token.

The entire Ethernal Labs ecosystem will be organized around the ERN token. According to the company, users will be able to use it to buy and trade digital collectibles, unlockables and augmented reality, or AR, experiences. Two other marketplaces that users can expect is a white-label NFT marketplace and an artist-run marketplace called EyeCandy that will only feature digital art as opposed to collectibles.

Rose also noted that because Ethernity NFTs are created in partnership with "top" artists, they are fully verified by individuals and brands, as opposed to fake or counterfeit NFTs. "We coined the term authenticated NFT, or aNFT, to explain the link between the NFT and the notable figure's brand, which provides long-term value to the holder," he said.

Additionally, Cointelegraph chatted with Adrian Baschuk, Ethernity COO, who said that "we're still in the early days" when it comes to what NFTs and metaverses will be. He suggested that mainstream adoption of NFTs will happen in a linear fashion: "We started with art and collectibles, and next comes gaming, then content." Baschuk also predicts that AR will overtake some of the current hype around the metaverse, and that the year 2024 will see mass integration of metaverses using NFTs as conduits for investment.

Ethernity recently acquired LAND in The Sandbox metaverse and plans to host an NFT gallery, run a fully licensed NFT wearables store, and create games and experiences in collaboration with partner IP.

Nifty News: Olympic Games Beijing 2022 edition

February 4, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Art

The International Olympics Committee sells NFT pins, Team Great Britain offers NFT-based fan engagement and the "Chinese Banksy" protests.

Today's Nifty News rounds up nonfungible token (NFT) projects centered around the Winter Olympics, which began Friday in Beijing, China. The following are initiatives taken by the International Olympic Committee, or IOC, The British Olympic Association, and an independent artist leading up the 2022 games.

IOC celebrates Olympic history

Since June 2021, the IOC has collaborated with nWayPlay, an NFT marketplace and blockchain game studio that is a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, to launch the Olympic Heritage Collection of Olympic NFT Pins. Essentially digital versions of the physical collectible and tradeable Olympic pins, these NFTs celebrate the past Olympic Games by depicting posters, emblems, pictograms and mascots from the last 125 years. Monthly drops of assorted boxes were available for fans to purchase, leading up to February 2022.

Timo Lumme, managing director of IOC television and marketing ervices, said in a statement that the committee's hope is for fans to "connect with the excitement of the Games in a whole new way and own a piece of Olympic history.”

The week of the Opening Ceremony, the IOC officially released a play-to-earn multiplayer mobile video game developed by nWay, that they had been teasing since last year. Available on Android and iOS, the app called Olympic Games Jam: Beijing 2022, will let players compete in a series of winter sports to earn Olympic NFT digital pins that can be traded on the nWayPlay marketplace. The in-game utility of the Olympic NFT digital pins will extend to character power-ups, special avatar skins and sporting equipment exclusive to specific NFTs.

It is important to note that the app is not available in China where the government is strictly regulating the games and has moved to ban all crypto-related activities, despite being the host city.

Team GB enters the Metaverse

Team GB, the brand name used by the British Olympic Association that represents Great Britain and Northern Ireland, created the Gold Lion Club NFT community. The collaboration with commerce provider Tokns to developed a fan engagement program first started in the run-up to the Tokyo Games last summer. Now, Team GB fans can purchase Gold Lion Tokns to gain access to signed merchandise, athlete experiences and eventually an immersive clubhouse in the Metaverse.

Own a piece of history, support #TeamGB, show your pride.

Purchase a unique digital NFT Collectable from our shop or bid on an Original Olympic-Inspired artwork.

A portion of all proceeds go directly to the British Olympic Association.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 4, 2021

There is one collection of animated NFTs celebrating the athletes' successes and another featuring a limited number of digital collectible pins. The third collection is an NFT drop by Team GB uniform supplier, Ben Sherman, showcasing the Opening Ceremony uniforms as wearables for the Metaverse. Ben Sherman partnered with the Humanz NFT project to create exclusive Humanz character NFTs for Team GB fans.

Protest NFT collection criticizes Chinese government

Badiucao is an exiled Chinese dissident artist, now based in Australia, who developed an NFT poster campaign that brings attention to China's human rights violations. According to the NFT site, the five artworks "depict the Chinese government’s oppression of the Tibetan people, the Uyghur genocide, the dismantling of democracy in Hong Kong, the regime’s omnipresent surveillance systems and lack of transparency surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic."

The Beijing 2022 Collection was first on physical display at the December 2021 Oslo Freedom Forum in Miami and is currently on exhibition at the Museo di Santa Giulia in Italy. Now released as a digital collection this week, Badiucao states on the NFT site:

"NFTs and blockchain technologies not only provide a safe way to offer critical financial support to dissident artists, but serve as an important immutable public record outside of authoritarian tampering and control.”

1/ I am launching my first #NFT collection 《Beijing2022》 on Feb 1 to call for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in opposition to the Chinese government’s human rights abuses！

2月1日春节，奥运开幕前，我将发布首组NFT人权抗争作品《北京2022》！https://t.co/hIu2sBHAGQ
— 巴丢草 Badiucao (@badiucao) December 26, 2021

Collectors can write their own messages onto the blockchain as part of the minting process. Ten percent of the proceeds will go towards the Art in Residency Program, in which Badiucao takes part in collaboration with the San Francisco-based Gray Area Foundation for the Arts and the Human Rights Foundation in New York.

Immutable X (IMX) price soars after GameStop partnership and new project launches

February 3, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin Watch

A handful of newly launched projects and today’s GameStop partnership announcement catalyzed a strong rebound in IMX price.

Nonfungible tokens (NFT) continue to be one of the hottest sectors of the cryptocurrency market in 2022 despite the overall multi-month weakness seen in Bitcoin (BTC) and other large-cap crypto assets.

One project that has benefited from the persistent bullishness in the NFT space is ImmutableX (IMX), a layer-two scaling solution for NFTs on the Ethereum network designed to offer near-instant transactions and zero gas fees for minting and trading

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a low of $1.99 on Jan. 24, the price of IMX gained 116% to hit a daily high of $4.29 as the 24-hour trading volume surged 505% to $333.5 million.

*IMX/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

Three reasons for the price turnaround in IMX include the announcement of a new partnership with GameStop, the listing of the IMX token on Binance and the continued strength of the NFT space as a whole.

Immutable partners with GameStop

The biggest boost in momentum for IMX came with the Feb. 3 announcement that the protocol has partnered with GameStop to launch an NFT marketplace later in the year.

We’re thrilled to announce that @Immutable is taking another leap forward in the gaming & blockchain industry by partnering w/ @GameStop to power their NFT Marketplace: https://t.co/Tase31CBt3

Continue for more… pic.twitter.com/8v6Titg3kq
— Immutable | $IMX (@Immutable) February 3, 2022

As part of the collaboration, a $100 million fund was created that is designed to provide grants to game developers and studios interested in building on ImmutableX and the NFT marketplace.

GameStop indicated that it selected ImmutableX as for this collaboration due to the faster and more affordable nature of the network that is also carbon-neutral and offers nearly limitless transactions.

ImmutalbeX utilizes StarkWare’s StarkEx zero-knowledge proof technology to achieve scalability on Ethereum, and any carbon footprint that is created by the network is offset through agreements with the certified climate-conscious provider's Trace and Cool Effect.

Did the Binance listing provide a delayed boost?

A second factor that has helped boost the project was the Jan. 10 listing of the IMX token on Binance, the top cryptocurrency exchange by volume.

#Binance will list @AlchemyPay $ACH and @Immutable $IMX https://t.co/smkEblDzRP
— Binance (@binance) January 10, 2022

IMX saw a slight bump up in its price following the listing, before being dragged down with the wider market as the price of Bitcoin dropped to a low near $33,500 on Jan. 24.

IMX is now available on six of the top seven cryptocurrency exchanges by volume, including Coinbase and FTX, giving the token widespread access and ample trading liquidity.

Project launches and the growing popularity of NFTs

A third factor propelling IMX higher has been the steady addition of new projects and partnerships launching on the ImmutableX NFT marketplace and the overall popularity of the NFT sector.

Notable developments include the listing of Gods Unchained NFTs on ImmutableX, the launch of support for the KolectiveGG NFT marketplace and the launches of Cyber Galz, VeeFriends, Fantasy Labs, Battle Star NFT and Highrise, and new partnerships with Stardust and SHOYU_NFT.

*Weekly NFT transaction count. Source: Dune Analytics*

These all come as the NFT space has continued to see large amounts of activity despite the wider market weakness as evidenced by data from Dune Analytics.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Nifty News: The Lennon Collection, Gucci and Lamborghini NFTs, Atari’s 50th anniversary

February 1, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Julian Lennon auctions off The Beatles memorabilia as NFTs, Italian brands Gucci and Lamborghini develop NFT collections with both digital and physical elements, and Atari develops giftable NFTs for its 50th anniversary.

Let's start off the week with the latest nonfungible token (NFT)-related news in today's Nifty News. The following collections are either ongoing or launching the first week of February.

The Beatles memorabilia up for auction

Julian Lennon, the son of The Beatles' musician John Lennon’s, put up NFTs for auction of items from his personal collection of memorabilia on the YellowHeart marketplace, including the coat John Lennon wore in the Magical Mystery Tour film and three Gibson guitars.

Lennon, however, has no intention of selling the physical items because he "would like to be able to pass these items on for generations to come," he said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. Each NFT contains an audio component, narrated by the son, recounting his connection with the item.

The item of the “Lennon Connection” auction with the highest offer at the moment is Paul McCartney's hand-written notes for the song “Hey Jude.” McCartney originally wrote the song to comfort a 5-year-old Julian when his parents divorced, according to the auction site.

“Hey Jude” Notes 1:1 for Lennon Connection : The NFT Collectionhttps://t.co/6l5nzO1CHJ pic.twitter.com/9RSXpyKwId
— Julian Lennon (@JulianLennon) January 25, 2022

Gucci becomes super

Fashion house Gucci and SUPERPLASTIC, the creator of animated celebrities and digital vinyl toys, have partnered up for a three-part NFT collaboration dubbed SUPERGUCCI. All SUPERGUCCI purchases will be in ETH.

The first SUPERGUCCI drop will include ten exclusive NFTs and accompanying ceramic sculptures. The main character of the collection is called CryptoJanky, inspired by SUPERPLASTIC's artists Janky & Guggimon. Both the CryptoJanky NFT and the handmade sculpture were co-designed and built in Italy.

Additionally, Gucci’s Creative Director Alessandro Michele created an online concept store, the Gucci Vault. Prospective customers can browse the microsite for pre-owned vintage Gucci pieces hand-picked by Michele, and restored and reconditioned for sale.

Lamborghini goes to space

The Italian car maker announced its first NFT project called "Space Time Memory:" a series of five photographs of a Lamborghini Ultimae going into space.

Swiss artist Fabian Oefner created the images from real physical car parts and photographs taken from a weather balloon. According to the company, the NFTs are accessible via a QR code engraved in five units of a physical "Space Key," whose carbon fiber elements were sent to the International Space Station as a part of a joint research project with Lamborghini.

An Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae rises above the Earth as a symbol of human space exploration: it’s called Space Time Memory, and it’s our first NFT set ever. The digital artworks, created by Fabian Oefner in collaboration with NFT PRO, will be soon auctioned.#Lamborghini pic.twitter.com/NPomZsKdE8
— Lamborghini (@Lamborghini) January 27, 2022

Atari celebrates 50 years with NFT GFTs

Atari decided to commemorate its 50th anniversary of video game making by creating NFTs and gifting them to fans. Giftable NFTs, or GFTs, are surprise limited edition NFTs that will automatically unwrap on a specific date. According to the company, this collection honors the Atari 2600 console and games such as Combat, Swordquest, Asteroids, Centipede, and more.

Atari partnered with Republic Realm, a metaverse real estate investment fun, to develop the GFTs, which can be compared to loot boxes, a video game feature that represents virtual treasure chests containing in-game items.

Sign-up for the limited-edition Atari 50th Anniversary NFT Collection drop at https://t.co/0JS1xiL5Dn

Secure your spot and get a 10% discount #GFTshoppe #nft #atari pic.twitter.com/iZQ8NkRK5Z
— Atari (@atari) January 27, 2022

Other Nifty News

LooksRare, OpenSea's up-and-coming rival, has sparked some concerns over the increased wash trading activity on the NFT marketplace. Despite the speculation, LooksRare was the chosen platform for the highest recorded sale of a Bored Ape Yacht Club, or BAYC, NFT in terms of ETH paid, and not dollar value due to the current price of ETH. On Sunday night, Bored Ape #283 sold for 1080.69 ETH, or $2.85 million on LooksRare. BAYC recently welcomed Justin Bieber to the club with his 500 ETH, or $1.29 million purchase of Bored Ape #3001.

OpenSea, however, also faced heavy user critique last week after setting a minting limit of five NFT collections with 50 items per collection, when previously it was unlimited. Additionally, when the platform called on its users to cancel any inactive listings, many ended up losing their NFTs and their money due to confusing email instructions.

Whitelist Watch: Invisible Friends, GooniesNFT, KaraFuru and Troverse

January 31, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

So many drops, and too many missed mints? Whitelist Watch has you covered when it comes to keeping a pulse on upcoming NFT projects.

Nonfungible token (NFT) projects seem to have been diverted from what was once traditional minting to nowrequiring potential buyers to join whitelists to access the pre-sale before the collection goes public.

This means investors keen on obtaining a sharper edge aim to get on as many whitelists as possible to increase their potential return-on-investment when the NFT is eventually sold on the secondary market.

CryptoBatz are being minted today on their website for their whitelist holders today for 0.088 ETH ($283.55 USD).

Their current floor price on Opensea, 1.99 ETH ($6,412.04 USD).

ROI = 2,261.34%

What a time to be a whitelister. Who's got one? #cryptobatz #ozzy pic.twitter.com/YrwUAXSZ4e
— Hankus NFT's (@hankuspankus_) January 20, 2022

Navigating through an increasing amount of whitelist prospects can be daunting. Sorting through projects whose aim is simply to “engagement farm” and cash-out versus long-term visionaries and players is time-consuming.

It’s turning into lowkey squid games to get onto whitelists and I’m not totally here for it tbh
— Tommy Wilson (@tommy_wilson_) January 25, 2022

However, some projects effortlessly create a buzz that resonates deep within the team and community. Here are four whitelists with projects waiting to launch to look out fo.

Invisible Friends

It’s hard to miss this project, despite its name, which implies they are invisible. Created by Markus Magnusson, Invisible Friends entered the NFT ecosystem on November 17, 2021, and has since amassed over 300,000 followers on Twitter.

so far so good pic.twitter.com/WYUJcNKKEc
— Invisible Friends (@InvsbleFriends) December 2, 2021

Invisible Friends is a part of the “Random Character Collective” known as @RNDMCHARACTERS on Twitter that includes other NFT projects, such as James Curran’s Slim Hoods and Lucas Zanotto’s Mood Rollers. The Random Character Collective Discord server has grown to over 250,000 members as many collectors and potential investors have flocked to its channels for a chance to win a coveted whitelist spot, otherwise known in the community as “bing bongs.”

Hoping to get a Bing Bong for @InvsbleFriends

https://t.co/81pt5vMsIP
— Nicks_NFT's 10yr Old Artist (@NicholasNFT) January 25, 2022

The collection will consist of 5,000 animated invisible friends, which were originally set to be minted in January, but will now be realized sometime in February. The delay leaves some time for investors to snag their limited whitelist spots.

According to Discord, Invisible Friends aims for the project not to have a public sale, suggesting a presale sellout although collectors are limited to one mint per wallet. Since it's a part of a collective, 2,500 holders of Slim Hoods and Mood Rollers have reserved spots on the whitelists, while other rising NFT collections such as DeadFellaz were given 10 whitelists spots for their respective holders.

To date, Invisible Friends has not disclosed its minting price, which can create some speculation that it may not be cheap, yet this has not stopped the hype and fandom the project has received.

As the community says: #TuestTheProcess (a spelling error that has stayed in play.)

Goonies

The Goonies is reminiscent of The Looney Tunes turned into modern-day gangsters. Allegedly created by “the minds behind X-Men and Transformers,” thGoonies is a promising project. Goonies intends to be a metaverse racing game where Goonie owners can earn its in-game token, GANG.

The collection is a supply of 8,888 Daffy Duck-inspired Goonies, whose whitelist access rewards early investors at a cost of 0.15 Ether (ETH) each, whereby public minting would cost 0.25 ETH each. Similar to Invisible Friends, Goonies' minting date is still to be determined but will occur sometime in February.

Another Sneak Peek: Big Blu - Bomber Goon

Giving away 10 whitelist spots on this tweet

- Follow @GooniezNFT
- Like & RT
- Tag 3 Friends

Winners will be announced in 3 Days pic.twitter.com/Rx8R7C1f7r
— Gooniez Gang NFT (@GooniezNFT) January 22, 2022

It still remains unclear when the presale, in which collectors are limited to two Goonies per wallet address, will occur other than sometime in February. Quickly growing to over 80,000 followers on Twitter and over 100,000 Discord members, Goonies' use of its whitelist is working.

Goonies guides whitelist prospects on its Discord server on “how to whitelist,” and reminds users that meeting the criteria to get on the whitelist doesn’t guarantee a spot since they are “handpicked.”

By prioritizing its community, the project reserved whitelist spots for members and provides live updates of the number of spots filled. Currently, the fresh-to-the-scene NFT collection has 931 whitelist spots filled out of the 3,000 reserved for the community.

KaraFuru

KaraFuru entered the NFT scene on January 17, 2022 and the project is well known for its vibrant colors and has grown hot among art and toy collectors. Since its arrival, it has expanded its social reach to over 68,000 followers on Twitter and its Discord server has over 70,000 members.

GM FURUS

LIFE IS GOOD!
人生は素晴らしい!
Jinsei wa subarashī!

Have a beautiful day Furus!#KarafuruNFT pic.twitter.com/VdsrObDtkx
— Karafuru NFT (@KarafuruNft) January 25, 2022

Created by the Museum of Toys and an Indonesian artist known on Twitter as @Willy_WD, KaraFuru is inspired by the first and largest toy museum in Indonesia. KaraFuru pulls in a unique niche of toy collectors who are making their way to the NFT market, especially through KaraFuru. The collection will consist of 5,555 toys whose aesthetics are inspired by Japanese culture expressed through 12 character bases.

Hey Furus!
Get up and put your hands up as we welcome the

12 Official Characters from the Karafuru Universe!

Karafuru NFTs will have over 1000+ possible combinations of traits.
Which Karafuru is your favourite? #KarafuruNFT pic.twitter.com/XFrMdrUNvC
— Karafuru NFT (@KarafuruNft) January 25, 2022

Getting on the KaraFuru whitelist isn’t much different from gaining a spot on other projects, emphasizing much of it around community engagement, and active participation. Centering criteria around presence suggests users must devote a considerable amount of time to stand out from others with the same goal.

NFT projects such as CyberKongz and KumoxWorld have received a total of 65 whitelist spots noting that it pays to hold certain collections for whitelist access perks.

Troverse

Decentralized blockchain P2E game, Troverse is a space exploration, survival game where players own “procedurally generated planets.” The planets are the premium NFT in the game, which players explore in the hope of finding other rewards or collectibles, including rare skins and cosmetic NFTs. Each planet follows the ERC-721 standard and is the rarest in-game item with a supply of 10,000.

To celebrate hitting 30k Troversians on Twitter and 20k on Discord, we are dropping a HOT MegaZoom sneak peek!

AND we have 2 #giveaways in our Discord for you

We are giving away:
5x WL spots
1x LFG Emote #NFT

Enter here: https://t.co/aciT8jhqnS

Ends in 48h pic.twitter.com/vMZAoARvAv
— Troverse (@TroverseNFT) January 19, 2022

Troverse seems to have captured the attention of NFT gamers and has been building the project steadily for over a year and half. Troverse has grown organically to over 40,000 followers on Twitter and over 24,000 members on Discord.

It remains unclear when the collection’s minting will take place and how much it will cost, but whitelist spots are actively being “given away” for its undisclosed launch sometime next month. Outside of giveaways and contests, those looking to whitelist can work their way up the ranks to obtain an “Elite” role on Troverse’s server or if they are a holder of an “LFG Emote” NFT from the Troverse Specials collection, which currently costs 4.5 ETH and grants the holder three mints.

GIVEAWAY REMINDER

Participate in the 2 running #giveaways in our Discord: https://t.co/aciT8jhqnS

Both end in less than 24 hours

Don't miss the chance to win a highly valuable LFG Emote #NFT or a WL spot!#Troverse LFGs have gone crazy:https://t.co/bqysP6xz75 pic.twitter.com/WdAdO9U7Pe
— Troverse (@TroverseNFT) January 20, 2022

In the same vein as other NFT collections preparing to launch, Troverse has strategically partnered and collaborated with other NFT collections and influencers to expand its reach and awareness.

While these new whitelisting and pre-sale methods are beneficial to the project, it's possible that in the end, only a certain class of investor can profit when it comes to sales in the secondary markets.

OpenSea email over inactive NFT listings sparks Twitter debate

January 28, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Some OpenSea users who heeded OpenSea’s call to call their inactive listings ended up losing their NFTs and their money.

Twitter users reacted negatively to an OpenSea email sent to users who still had inactive listings on their accounts. In the email, OpenSea explained that old NFTs listings are still fulfillable, and should be canceled by the user because OpenSea is unable to cancel them on their behalf. They claimed this would “prevent any of your items from being sold at the inactive listing price,” due to Ethereum’s (ETH) dropping price.

According to the NFT collector @dingalingts and other users, this warning had the opposite effect and canceling the listing ended up recreating the order. @Dingalingts tweeted a thread urging users to “FIRST transfer your NFT to a different address and cancel the listing/s on the original address BEFORE” canceling them.

1/ WARNING: DO NOT CANCEL YOUR OS LISTINGS AS STATED IN THE EMAIL THAT OPENSEA JUST SENT OUT

Please FIRST transfer your NFT to a different address and cancel the listing/s on the original address BEFORE sending it back

OS just put everyone at even more risk than before
— dingaling (@dingalingts) January 27, 2022

He cites another user @swolfchan.eth who claimed that he lost at least 15 ETH. After canceling a Mutant Ape Yacht Club listing, it was relisted for 6 ETH but someone waiting in the ETH mempool ended up selling the NFT in the same block by front-running the cancellation.

So i got two emails today from @opensea about listings, and lost 15 ETH+ from exactly what their trying to prevent...

I was told to please act urgently to cancel any inactive listings... cancelled a 15 ETH MAYC @BoredApeYC and it triggered a 6 ETH listing... and sold?? pic.twitter.com/1wt21mt9mz
— swolfchan.eth (@swolfchan) January 27, 2022

While some users like @roundcatcrypto commented to @swolfchan.eth “This one's on you man. Don't play with company because you were trying to save a couple bucks,” others rallied in support of him and @dingalingts.

Alex Attalah, co-founder of OpenSea, responded to @swolfchan.eth’s thread, tweeting that they “have a team working on it and putting up a countermeasure now.” @swolfchan.eth followed up and asked if he could expect a reimbursement, but received no response.

This proof of concept NFT can swipe unsuspecting users’ IP addresses

January 27, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Turns out that some NFTs might be building collections of their own. Their target? Your private data.

Both OpenSea and Metamask have logged cases of IP address leaks associated with transferring nonfungible tokens (NFTs), according to researchers at Convex Labs and OMNIA protocol.

Nick Bax, head of research at NFT organization Convex Labs tested out how NFT marketplaces like OpenSea allow vendors or attackers to harvest IP addresses. He created a listing for a Simpsons and South Park crossover image, entitling it “I just right click + saved your IP address” to prove that when the NFT listing is viewed, it loads custom code that logs the viewer's IP address and shares it with the vendor.

This NFT logs your IP address:https://t.co/hB34JuJLH9

— Nick (Bax.eth) (@bax1337) January 24, 2022

In a Twitter thread, Bax admitted that he "does not consider my OpenSea IP logging NFT to be a vulnerability" because that is simply "the way it works." It's important to remember that NFTs are, at their core, a piece of software code or digital data that can be pushed or pulled. It is quite common for the actual image or asset to be stored on a remote server, while only the asset's URL is on-chain. When an NFT is transferred to a blockchain address, the receiving crypto wallet fetches the remote image from the URL associated with the NFT.

Bax further explained the technical details in a Convex Labs Medium post that OpenSea allows NFT creators to add additional metadata that enables file extensions for HTML pages. If the metadata is stored as a json file on a decentralized storage network, such as IPFS or on remote centralized cloud servers, then OpenSea can download the image as well as an “invisible image” pixel logger and host it on its own server. Thus, when a potential buyer views the NFT on OpenSea, it loads the HTML page and fetches the invisible pixel that reveals a user’s IP address and other data like geolocation, browser version and operating system.

Analyst Alex Lupascu, co-founder of the privacy node service OMNIA Protocol, conducted his own research with the Metamask mobile app with similar effects. He discovered a liability that allows a vendor to send an NFT to a Metamask wallet and obtain a user's IP address. He minted his own NFT on OpenSea and transferred the ownership of the NFT via airdrop to his Metamask wallet, and concluded finding a "critical privacy vulnerability."

My team and I discovered a critical privacy #vulnerability in the most popular #crypto #wallet.

Are you using MetaMask ?
Well, I have bad news for you - your #privacy is at risk!@samczsun @gakonst @VitalikButerin @cz_binance @phildaian https://t.co/ar30UMzR1G
— Alex Lupascu (@alxlpsc) January 20, 2022

In a Medium post, Lupascu described the potential consequences of how a "malicious actor can mint an NFT with the remote image hosted on his server, then airdrop this collectible to a blockchain address (victim) and obtain his IP address." His concern is that if an attacker gathers a collection of NFTs, points all of them to a single URL and airdrops them to millions of wallets, then it could result in a large scale distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS attack. Having personal data leaked can also lead to kidpnapping, according to Lupascu.

He also suggested a potential solution could be requiring explicit user consent when it comes to fetching the remote image of the NFT: Metamask or any other wallet would prompt the user that someone on OpenSea or another exchange is fetching the remote image of the NFT, and informing the user that his or her IP address may be exposed.

Dan Finlay, CEO of Metamask, responded to Lupascu on Twitter stating that even though "the issue has been known for a long time," they are now starting work to fix it and improve user safety and privacy.

That same day, even Vitalik Buterin recognized the challenges of off-chain privacy within Web3. On a recent UpOnly podcast episode, Buterin said that "the fight for more privacy is an important one. People are underestimating the risks of no privacy," adding that the "more crypto-y everything becomes," the more exposed we are.

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