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Nifty News: PayPal removes NFT protections, Adidas NFT sneakers and more

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: PayPal removes NFT protections, Adidas NFT sneakers and more
Coin Telegraph

Amended PayPal policies excluding NFTs from buyer and seller protection coverages will take effect on May 20.

Multinational payment services firm PayPal is silently taking down protections for purchases related to nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

On May 20, amended policies will take effect, removing buyer and seller protection coverages for NFT purchases. In its upcoming policies page, PayPal said that it has revised its Purchase Protection Program to exclude NFTs from eligibility.

Apart from this, the company also highlighted that it’s also changing its Seller Protection Program to exclude NFT transactions worth $10,000.01 or above.

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Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Nifty News: Funko’s Disney NFTs, Sotheby’s auction Bitcoin Ordinals project, and more

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: Funko’s Disney NFTs, Sotheby’s auction Bitcoin Ordinals project, and more
Coin Telegraph

WAX co-founder William Quigley told Cointelegraph that despite the bear market, NFT technology remains promising.

Pop culture collectible manufacturer Funko has collaborated with Disney to launch nonfungible token (NFT) trading card packs, transforming its Pop! figurines into digital trading cards on the WAX blockchain.

Funko Pop! collectibles are physical figures known for their compact size and bobbleheads. Many of these are sought after by collectors, with some figurines selling for up to $100,000 on the secondary market. 

The collectibles portray popular characters from franchises such as Marvel, Star Wars, DC Comics and others. The toy manufacturer also releases iconic figures from pop culture, often wearing different attires and striking unique poses. 

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Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Nifty News: The Simpsons roast NFTs, Yuga Labs exec departs after anti-semitic tweets and more

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: The Simpsons roast NFTs, Yuga Labs exec departs after anti-semitic tweets and more
Apefest

The Simpsons poked fun at NFTs in their annual halloween special but degens still managed to take advantage of the publicity to hoist an NFT collection to near top of the charts.

The Simpsons roasts NFTs in new Halloween special

Animated television series The Simpsons spent an entire segment mocking nonfungible tokens (NFTs) during the latest 34th annual Treehouse of Horror Halloween special, in a segment called “Wild Barts Can’t Be Token.”

In the special, Homer accidentally mints Bart on the blockchain, and in the ensuing scenes, the creators poke fun at NFTs, all while referencing collections such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Doodles, as well as the viral digital artist Beeple.

The special revolved around poking fun at the speculative nature of NFTs and how the market is largely fueled by the fear of missing out (FOMO).

Once Marge discovers that Bart has become trapped on-chain, she too digitizes herself as NFT. She battles her way through carriages on a virtual train — which is literally powered by FOMO — to rescue Bart, fighting NFT-themed characters all the while.

The final joke lands when Homer finally gives into FOMO and mints himself as NFT. The second he does so, the train runs out of steam and the price of all the NFTs plunge to near-zero, ending the episode with his iconic catchphrase “Doh!”

Despite being the essentially the punchline of an episode-long joke, the NFT community on Crypto Twitter reacted with delight, with Beeple saying that his work appearing on the show was a “bucket list moment” for him as an artist.

Notably, the Simpsons creators even parodied their own NFT collection — Golden Moments — which was first offered in conjunction with Disney+ by the NFT platform VeVe in Nov. 2021.

“We saw that,” wrote the official account for Veve.

Degens cash in on Simpsons NFT episode

NFT enthusiasts certainly didn’t let the Simpsons roast go to waste, with creators rushing to capitalize on the newfound publicity for NFTs.

Just hours after the episode first aired, Italian parody artist Rino Russo launched a Simpsons-derived NFT project, which combined the likeness of Simpsons characters with CryptoPunks.

The collection, dubbed Springfield Punks, was launched as a free mint and quickly sold out as NFT fans raced to jump in on the action. 

At the time of publication, the Simpsons Punks collection has witnessed a whopping 1,377 Ether (ETH) — worth $2.6 million at current prices — in trading volume, making it the third most traded collection on OpenSea in the last 24 hours.

Yuga Labs social lead steps down after anti-semitic tweets resurface

Shpend Sahilu, the social lead for NFT company Yuga Labs announced that he would be stepping down after anti-semitic tweets he posted years ago resurfaced on social media.

Sahilu, better known by the pseudonym NGBxShpend on X, explained that he would be leaving his role at the company, due to his past anti-semitic tweets becoming “a distraction” from the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

“I want to apologize to anyone who I may have let down with tweets I made in poor taste,” he wrote in a Nov. 5 post on X.

One user attached a screenshot of one of the offending tweets from 2016 in the comments section of the original post, showing him making a joke about Hitler.

Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Crypto Punks, have been accused of perpetuating anti-semitic stereotypes in their artwork by controversial artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen. These accusations, which took the form of a knock-off NFT collection led to a more than year-long legal battle.

However, Yuga Labs recently notched a legal victory against the provocative duo, with the court ordering Ripps and Cahen to pay $1.6 million in damages to Yuga Labs for copyright infringement.

NFT sales show signs of strength after year-long downturn

After a prolonged and continuous decline in NFT sales, the market seems to be finally showing signs of a recovery, with monthly trading volumes growing for the first time in a year, according to a report from crypto data firm DappRadar.

“The year-long downward trend in NFT trading has been broken. Trading volume is up by 32% from $306 to $405 million, returning almost to levels seen in August,” wrote the report.

DappRadar found that NFT trading volume grew by $99 million in October compared to sales in September, bringing overall trading activity back to levels slightly below that of August.

NFT sales volumes increased by nearly $100 million in October. Source: DappRadar

Despite the seemingly significant increase month-over-month, it's worth noting that October’s $340 million sum pales in comparison to the $1.98 billion of volume witnessed seven months prior in March.

When it came to trading volume, Ethereum-based NFTs still dominated the market, growing more than 50% in October. Meanwhile other networks such as Polygon, Starkware, and Flow saw their sales volume drop 48%, 42% and 32% respectively.

The report made special note of NFT activity on the Solana (SOL) ecosystem, which — after being plagued by the FTX downfall — showed signs of strength, notching a 15% uptick in overall trading volume.

Other Nifty News:

Attendees of the Yuga Labs’ ApeFest event on Nov. 4 in Hong Kong have reported burns, damaged vision and “extreme pain” in their eyes, which they attribute to the use of improper lighting.

NFT marketplace OpenSea announced on Nov. 3 that it would be laying off 50% of its total staff. Co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer broke the news on X saying the company was launching OpenSea 2.0 with a smaller team.

Magazine: Slumdog billionaire — Incredible rags-to-riches tale of Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal

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Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Nifty News: Yuga cuts staff, NFT trading volume on Mythos Chain surges and more…

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: Yuga cuts staff, NFT trading volume on Mythos Chain surges and more...
Coin Telegraph

Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre said the firm was stretching itself thin by taking on too many projects, and will now focus on its core aims with a smaller team.

Cutbacks at Yuga Labs

Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs has announced a restructuring that has seen several roles “eliminated across the company.”

The exact number of layoffs hasn't been specified, however, in an Oct. 6 blog post shared via X ( formerly Twitter), Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre suggested the firm had taken on too many projects that were ultimately distracting it from its “core priorities.”

“I realized very quickly that there were a number of projects that, while well-intentioned, either spread the team too thin or required execution expertise beyond our core competencies,” he said, adding that:

“To create truly amazing experiences that matter to our communities and our business, we need to place our bets on fewer key initiatives and team up with complementary external partners to make these experiences happen.”

Moving forward, Alegre outlined that the firm will ramp up its focus on community building, “going all-in” on its Otherside metaverse project and securing brand partnerships.

Nike’s new Web3 sneaker

Nike’s Web3 unit .SWOOSH has unveiled its first physical sneaker line called the Air Force 1 Low TINAJ.

The sneakers contain a mixture of white and black panels and features blue .SWOOSH logos.

As per an Oct. 5 announcement on X, the sneakers will only be available to .SWOOSH members who purchase and open at least one OF1 Box NFT before the Oct. 16 deadline.

TheOF1 Boxes cost $120 a pop and are available on the .SWOOSH website.

The catch, however, is that not everyone who opens the boxes can get their hands on these shoes. The .SWOOSH team noted on X that there is only a limited supply and did not specify the exact numbers available.

Those who open OF1 Boxes that don’t offer access to the TINAJ shoes are likely to receive other benefits and access to other drops down the line.

Mythos Chain surges past Polygon and Solana

Surging NFT trading volume on the gaming-focused Mythos Chain has seen the network surpass Polygon and Solana to become the second largest blockchain in terms of NFT sales volume over the past 30 days.

According to data from CryptoSlam, Mythos Chain has seen $33.5 million worth of NFT sales volume over the past 30 days, marking a 20.31% increase over that time frame.

In comparison, Polygon and Solana saw $30.9 million and $27.9 million each, marking declines of 45.50% and 16.77% respectively.

Top 10 blockchains by NFT sales volume. Source: CryptoSlam

Nearly all of the trading volume from Mythos Chain is coming from DMarket, an NFT marketplace that hosts NFTs from a list of games affiliated with Mythical Games, the firm behind the Mythos Chain.

One game that may be behind the surge in NFT sales is Nitro Nation World Tour, a Web3 mobile street racing game that officially launched in October. The game is backed by popular DJ Deadmau5.

Starbucks tokenizes Pumpkin Spiced Lattes. But why?

Starbucks has released an open-edition set of Pumpkin Spiced Latte NFTs on the Nifty Gateway marketplace.

The NFTs cost $20 apiece and went up for sale on Oct. 5, and will be available until Oct. 9.

At the time of writing, 1213 NFTs have been minted, suggesting Starbucks has pulled in just under $25,000 from the collection so far.

Pumpkin Spiced Latte drop. Source: Nifty Gateway

The NFTs are part of the coffee chain’s Web3 loyalty rewards program called Starbucks Odyssey. The program features NFT stamps, such as the Pumpkin Spice Latte, which can be collected to earn points and specific rewards.

Other Nifty News

Hong Kong-based crypto-focused venture capital firm CMCC Global raised $100 million to support Asian blockchain startups. Dubbed the Titan Fund, it will concentrate on investments in key areas: blockchain infrastructure, consumer applications like gaming and NFTs, and financial services, including exchanges, wallets and platforms for lending and borrowing.

Related: Blockchain finance to grow into $79.3B market by 2032

PayPal made major progress toward creating its own blockchain ecosystem by filing a patent application for a NFT purchase and transfer system. The application, filed in March and published Sept. 21, describes a means of carrying out transactions with NFTs, both on- and off-chain.

Magazine: Web3 Gamer: Minecraft bans Bitcoin P2E, iPhone 15 & crypto gaming, Formula E

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Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Nifty News: Kraken NFT exits beta, Coinbase’s ‘Stand with Crypto’ gains support and more

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: Kraken NFT exits beta, Coinbase’s ‘Stand with Crypto’ gains support and more
Coin Telegraph

A Bitcoin inscription service aims to compete with Ordinals by offering smart contracts and larger file sizes.

Kraken NFT marketplace exits its beta phase

Crypto exchange Kraken has announced that its nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace has exited its beta phase. Along with the launch, the NFT platform highlighted it had expanded its number of NFT collections from 70 to over 250. According to Kraken, it will continue adding more collections to its marketplace. 

Aside from the collection expansion, the firm also announced it had added support for the Polygon Network, highlighting that the popular Reddit Collectible Avatars will now also be supported by the marketplace. 

In the announcement, it said it would not be charging gas fees to its users when buying or selling NFTs on the platform. However, in a disclaimer at the bottom of the post, the marketplace noted that gas fees will still be incurred when transferring assets on and off its platform.

Coinbase’s ‘Stand with Crypto’ NFT campaign gains community support

As the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) targeted crypto exchange Coinbase in a lawsuit, community members have started to show support for the trading platform by minting its Stand with Crypto NFTs and putting the shield badge on their Twitter profiles. 

In April, when the collection was launched, the NFTs only had 15,000 mints and 7,000 owners, according to NFT marketplace OpenSea. Now, the collection has over 142,000 mints and more than 52,000 owners, with more users minting the NFTs as the exchange’s legal battle with the SEC intensifies. 

Many also expressed support for the move by tweeting the shield badges on Twitter, with some even sharing artworks with Coinbase shields.

Related: SEC lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase unify the crypto industry

Bitcoin NFT inscription project allows larger file sizes

Bitcoin ecosystem project New Bitcoin City aims to compete with Bitcoin Ordinals by offering smart contracts and larger file sizes. According to the project, files inscribed through its “Inscription Village” can exceed 4 megabytes (MB), the limit for Ordinals inscriptions.

The platform highlighted that an Azuki Spirit DAO wallpaper with a file size of 6.9 MB had already been inscribed on the Bitcoin blockchain in May.

Ex-Oasis musician turns to NFTs amid chart battle with Foo Fighters

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, the former Oasis member’s new band, is competing with rock band Foo Fighters for the top spot on the Official UK Album Charts. However, Gallagher has pulled an ace out of his sleeve — NFTs. 

Gallagher’s band released a new album called Council Skies on June 2, the same day as the Foo Fighters released an album called But Here We Are, which is the band’s first release since the tragic death of band member Taylor Hawkins. The two are locked in a battle for the number one spot, with Gallagher turning to NFTs in an attempt to boost album sales.

On June 7, NFT platform Serenade announced it is offering unique “Digital Pressings” of the High Flying Birds’ new album. The release includes a full audio playback of the album and what it described as a “public stamp of ownership” on the blockchain.

Magazine: NFT Creator, 0xDEAFBEEF: Mad scientist’s NFTs degrade when they’re traded

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Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Nifty News: Solana NFT trading volume, Nike RTFKT COO hacked, and more

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: Solana NFT trading volume, Nike RTFKT COO hacked, and more
Coin Telegraph

Twitch streamer and NFT project founder DNP3 admitted in a Twitter post that he gambled and lost investor funds.

DNP3, a streamer and founder of several crypto projects like The charity-focused crypto CluCoin, The Goobers NFT and the metaverse platform Gridcraft Network has admitted to losing investor funds through gambling. 

In a tweet, the nonfungible token (NFT) project founder talked about his gambling addiction and issued a public apology.

The Twitch streamer said that he got "incredibly addicted" to gambling in the last year. Eventually, the Twitch streamer claimed that he lost everything. He wrote: 

“In addition to my own life savings, I also irresponsibly used investor funds to try and get my money back from the casino which was wrong for so many reasons.”

The streamer added that he is now financially and spiritually broke. He also highlighted that his sense of trust in himself is compromised. "I’m working with a help group to start the path to recovery," he added.

Nike's RTFKT COO loses NFTs to hack

Nikhil Gopalani, the chief operating officer of the NFT project RTFKT, went on Twitter to say that his NFT collection was stolen in a phishing attack. Gopalani described the attacker as a “clever phisher” and said that the scammer sold his Clone X NFTs.

OpenSea data shows that the attacker used two wallets to steal Gopalani's NFTs, which are worth around $173,000. This includes 19 CloneX NFTs, 18 RTFKT Space Pods, 17 Loot Pods and 11 CryptoKicks. Data from Etherscan also shows that only $0.11 in Ether (ETH) remains in the wallet linked to Gopalani. 

While the method of phishing is not yet revealed, a tweet from RTFKT CTO Samuel Cardillo suggests that Gopalani may have provided access codes to some scammers.

Gamers bully NFTs out of mainstream games

The internet's anti-NFT narrative seems to have successfully separated mainstream game development companies from NFTs. Throughout 2022, game developers like Stalker studio GSC Game World, Ubisoft and Worms developer Team17 backpedaled on their intent to integrate NFTs within games due to negative feedback from the gaming community.

After executing NFT integration through its Quartz project, game developer Ubisoft took a step back on NFTs. The u-turn came after the gaming company received negative feedback online on Quartz in 2021.

Amid the pushback, many still believe that NFTs and games can intertwine. On Nov. 4, Electronic Arts (EA) CEO Andrew Wilson spoke at an earnings call and highlighted that NFTs and play-to-earn are the future of gaming. However, the EA CEO also noted that it's still early to see how it would work. 

Apart from EA, Final Fantasy creator Square Enix has also been a supporter of integrating NFTs and blockchain into gaming. The company recently invested in an NFT gaming company.

Solana NFT trade volume show signs of strength

After being dealt a massive loss with the Solana (SOL) token losing above 90% of its value in 2021, NFT trading volumes within the Solana blockchain are showing signs of strength, with Christmas day having the most activities.

According to NFT data tracker CryptoSlam, Solana had above $80 million in NFT sales in the last 30 days. The blockchain had over 800,000 transactions in that timespan, surpassing Polygon and ImmutableX.

Source: CryptoSlam

Despite its great month, it's uncertain if the strength shown will continue as most of the volume came from DeGods and y00ts, which are both bridging into Polygon and Ethereum to pursue further adoption. 

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Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Nifty News: Nafty launches naughty NFT site, Dutch DJ pushes limits of physical NFTs

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: Nafty launches naughty NFT site, Dutch DJ pushes limits of physical NFTs
Coin Telegraph

Nafty has launched an erotic-themed NFT marketplace, while DeviantArt is tracking down art theft on NFT marketplaces, and the Rugby League World cup is dropping NFT collectib

NFT NSFW

Nafty, a blockchain firm that produces decentralized NSFW platforms —such as OnlyFans competitor Nafty.TV — launched an erotic-themed NFT marketplace dubbed “NaftyArt” today.

NaftyArt aims to provide a platform for erotic artists and adult-content creators to promote and sell their tokenized works without fears of it being removed, or their accounts shadowbanned. It may also give some NFT proponents an excuse for out-laying large sums of money on NSFW content. The announcement read:

“Erotic Artists and Adult Content creators have been struggling for some time to get their work prominently featured on mainstream NFT marketplaces. A lot have found their work is removed as it contains nudity or at best they are shadowbanned, with potential buyers unable to see their work.”

Nafty is also promoting the platform as a way to generate an additional revenue stream outside of the subscription model, and noted the move was brought on by OnlyFans' recent policy controversy in which it announced plans to ban adult content before it revoked the decision:

“This way of content monetization was boosted by the recent announcement from fansite OnlyFans regarding their policies on explicit content. Although the decision was subsequently suspended, many adult creators are looking for a more secure way to earn from content.”

DJ Don Diablo is not dabbling in NFTs

Dutch DJ Don Diablo is working on an ambitious NFT project called Hexhibit that will include a “real word chamber” or room related to the artwork depicted in the token.

The NFT contains an audiovisual file that depicts a UFO-like machine landing in an imaginary world. Diablo told Rolling Stone on Sept. 13 that he is building the physical chamber of the UFO machine so that the holder can actually stand in the artwork depicted in the NFT.

“I thought, ‘Why not actually build the thing?’ Of course, that’s pretty ludicrous, because it would weigh a couple of tons…. [but] I said, ‘What if you could stand inside an NFT, literally? That hasn’t been done before,” he said.

While he didn’t reveal specific details of the chamber, he hinted it could be anything from a “mini club” to a “mini cinema,” and claimed that he is spending an equivalent amount of money to purchase a house in building the NFT chamber.

The NFT is slated to go up for auction on Sotheby’s sometime this fall. To date Diablo has generated $3.5 million from a total of four NFT sales, including a one-of-one tokenized audio-visual file that sold for $2.2 million in April.

DeviantArt using AI to track token art theft

With copy-cat NFT projects in the news and outright art theft also appearing to be an issue, DeviantArt has quietly expanded its AI software to spot theft on NFT marketplaces.

Deviant launched its AI-based image recognition tool to spot copyright infringement on its own platform in July, however earlier this month it expanded the scope to ERC-721 and ERC-1155 tokens.

The program is called “DeviantArt Protect” and it appears to be helping some users already, with digital artist “akreon” revealing on Twitter that it had notified him of a NFT using his art on OpenSea.

Ruby League World Cup dropping collectibles

The Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) 2021 (postponed until November 2022) has partnered with NuArca to launch an NFT marketplace for tokenized rugby collectibles.

The NFT collectibles will depict historic moments, players, nations, stars and milestones from the second oldest World Cup tournament across all codes. The marketplace will also provide fan engagement features such as quests and “earn experiences” for users to obtain select NFT drops.

Some NFTs will also be bundled into collectible card packs, however the price points and launch dates are yet to be revealed. Rugby fans can now register for the drop on the RLWC website however.

“We believe the launch of our NFT partnership is a first for the sport of Rugby League. NFTs will provide fans with an opportunity to show their passion and loyalty for the sport, and alongside collectors, give them the chance to own a piece of Rugby League history,” said Jonathan Neill, Commercial Director at RLWC 2021.

Roundup

OpenSea executive Nate Chastain has been outed for hyping NFTs he purchased and then featuring them on the homepage of the popular NFT marketplace. OpenSea confirmed the allegations in a blog post Wednesday and noted that “this is incredibly disappointing. We want to be clear that this behavior does not represent our values as a team."

Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 14 that Google had partnered with Dapper Labs to help support the development of new Web 3 products and services, including NFTs and gaming.

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Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Nifty News: Dolce & Gabbana’s historic NFTs, ’26 minute’ CryptoPunk flip, FTX spammed

Coin Telegraph
<div>Nifty News: Dolce & Gabbana's historic NFTs, '26 minute' CryptoPunk flip, FTX spammed</div>
Auction

People on Twitter were accusing Pranksy of wash trading a CryptoPunk NFT, Dolce & Gabbana is auctioning luxury NFTs to “approved bidders” and FTX was spammed with tokenized fish.

Dolce & Gabbana knocking on the Dior of NFTs

Luxury Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana is entering the NFT sector with a nine-piece collection of tokenized fashion pieces in collaboration with the Polygon-based UNXD marketplace.

The firm was founded by designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in 1985 and has since evolved into a multinational giant that offers high-end fashion items for eye-watering prices.

Dubbed “Collezione Genesi” the collection consists of nine one-of-one NFTs that are up for auction starting Sept. 20. The NFTs depict illustrations and digital art of garments designed by Dolce and Gabbana, which can be utilized as wearables in an unspecified metaverse.

Ordinary NFT fans won’t be able to ape into this one as the firm is only allowing “approved bidders” to participate in the exclusive auction. The firm tweeted on Sept. 7:

“This is a celebration of human artistry and craftsmanship. Of what humans can do that machines simply cannot on their own. These creations, both digital and physical, are magical. They took thousands upon thousands of hours to craft. They will 100% end up in a museum one day.”

While details are sparse at the time of publication, the firm has hinted at long-term ambitions in the NFT space after stating that it will unveil an “exciting roadmap” next week.

“As with all successful NFT projects, this debut collection is not where the story ends, but where it truly begins. Winning collectors/hodlers can also be assured there will be more exclusive surprises for them in the future,” the firm said.

Temporary CryptoPunk mystery

There were reports this week that well known NFT whale Pranksy held a CryptoPunk NFT for just 26 minutes before selling for a $1.23 million profit.

Web Smith, a writer for online publication 2PMinc highlighted the half hour NFT trade via Twitter on Sept. 6 and noted that:

“If you went to school to specialize in wealth management or finance, you are likely paralyzed by this moment in time.”

The NFT in question is CryptoPunk 6275 which depicts a green zombie with a mohawk. Its transaction history shows that Pranksy bought the NFT for 1,000 Ethereum (ETH) worth $3.89 million on Sept.4.

Smith’s claim that the CryptoPunk was held for 26 minutes appears to be mistaken, as the transaction data shows that Pranksy held the NFT for six hours before selling it for $5.12 million later that day.

In response to Smith’s post, various users accused it of being a wash trade to pump the price of the asset. CoinGeek founder Calvin Ayre — who thinks everything is a scam and is rich enough to make defamatory accusations without any evidence — questioned whether it was “to manipulate the market or launder money, or both… that is the only real question.”

Pranksy himself posted about the trade via Twitter on Sept. 5, and emphasized that liquidity is key when dealing with NFTs:

Rakuten to launch NFT marketplace

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten is set to launch an NFT marketplace in the spring of 2022.

The Rakuten NFT marketplace will follow a similar route to Jack Ma’s Alibaba-based NFT platform, as it is aimed at enabling IP holders to sell their tokenized content from categories such as sports, entertainment, music and anime.

Along with ecommerce, Rakuten also provides services in sectors such as fintech, telecommunications and entertainment. The firm has stated that the new NFT marketplace will be linked to its other services, with users being able to acquire NFTs as prizes or rewards related to other products and services. There are also plans to enable users to redeem Rakuten points when trading on its NFT marketplace.

Rakuten is no stranger to crypto and blockchain tech, and Cointelegraph reported in March that the firm integrated its digital wallet with its e-commerce platform to enable customers to use Bitcoin for online shopping payments.

Related: 1inch Network sponsors crypto-themed animated NFT series

FTX spammed with fish

Following the launch of FTX’s new NFT marketplace, the platform was spammed with so many pictures of fish that it temporarily changed its NFT submission fee to $500.

Founder and multi-billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted on Sept. 6 that ”due to the massive number of submissions, too many of which were just a picture of a fish, we are now charging a one-time $500 fee to submit NFTs.”

In response to the move, a significant number of users pointed out that the expensive fee structure will deter people from using the platform while highlighting that there are cheaper alternatives on the market.

It appears that Bankman-Fried was responsive to the concerns of the community, and revealed on Twitter that the platform removed the $500 fee, and instead will charge a flat $10 per minted NFT.

Roundup

In rare NFT FUD, the NFL has reportedly barred all teams and members from crypto-related sponsorships and advertisements, as well as nonfungible token (NFT) sales until the league establishes a strategy “for sports digital trading cards and art.”

Cointelegraph reported on Sept.6 that Lobby Lobster NFTs depicting cartoon lobsters in suits raised more than $4 million to support lobbying efforts supporting the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

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Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Nifty News: Vogue tokenizes magazine covers, autographed Tesla and more…

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: Vogue tokenizes magazine covers, autographed Tesla and more…
Animoca Brands

Vogue Singapore has tokenized its front covers, Animoca Brands expanded its investment portfolio, and acclaimed producer Rob Weiss has signed up to direct a crypto series.

NFTs are in Vogue

Readers of high-end fashion magazine Vogue Singapore will be able to fight for a chance to purchase two tokenized front cover images.

The front cover of Vogue’s September issue will feature QR codes allowing readers to sign up for an auction of two one-of-a-kind “virtual-only covers.” While Vogue has revealed that the auction will take place in September, the publication is yet to reveal the exact date of the auction.

Triumphant Awakening, the first of the animated covers up for auction, depicts a gold statuette in front of a blue planet encircled by a rising and setting sun. Vogue said the cover was inspired by its global theme of “New Beginnings” — which links all 27 global editions in September, according to a company statement.

The second cover, The RenaiXance Rising, features an avatar wearing a gown inspired by Singaporean and Malay culture. The token comprises a programmable NFT, with its background changing throughout the day based on what time it is in Singapore.

Virtual cover NFTs: Vogue Singapore

Alongside the two digital covers, Vogue Singapore is also dropping an additional 15 fashioned-focused one-of-one NFTs. A feature of the collection is the “Flame Dress” NFT, as it can be ported and used in the Altava fashion gaming app. The winning bidder will also receive a digital certificate of authenticity, along with sketches of the NFT dress designed by creative director Olivier Rousteing.

Tokenized Tesla autographed by Elon Musk

Autographia, a marketplace for signed memorabilia, will auction off a tokenized photo of a diminutive Tesla Model X replica. The toy car depicted was physically signed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, featuring his signature scrawled across its hood.

Signed Telsa X replica NFT: Autographia

The auction will last for 10 days from Aug. 29 on the HODL Diamond Marketplace. Opening bids will start at 7.5 Ethereum (ETH) — worth roughly $23,700 at the time of writing.

The sale is Autographia’s first move to expand its offerings into NFTs. The image of the toy Tesla will be the first tokenized memorabilia sold by the firm. 

Another Animoca investment

Global NFT licensing agency Epik Prime announced on Aug. 25 that Animoca Brands co-led investment into the firm’s $EPIK membership token, which will launch on the Huobi Prime crypto exchange on Aug. 27.

Epik provides licensed cross-chain compatible NFTs that players can use in games and virtual metaverses. The token will be utilized to drive growth in further brand licensing and cross-chain gaming projects centered on NFTs.

In an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Animoca Brands co-founder and chairman, Yat Siu, stated, “We look forward to expanding our presence in brand licensing, gaming, and metaverse ecosystems.”

Epik claims to be “the first and only NFT company” to secure deals with AAA gaming firms. Epik’s clients include ViacomCBS, Warner Music, Garena, Tencent and Universal.

Animoca Brands is a leading NFT game developer, having launched several successful titles including F1 Delta Time and The Sandbox. The firm was valued at $1 billion in May, with the firm making significant investments in Axie Infinity, Dapper Labs, OpenSea and MLB Champions.

Related: Fox Corporation backs Eluvio's $100M raise as part of its content plan for NFTs

Weiss takes his entourage to NFTs

Rob Weiss, the American producer best known for his work on the popular TV shows Entourage and Ballers, will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the upcoming crypto-themed series “Hold On for Dear Life” (HODL) series.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph in March, HODL is a scripted TV comedy centered on the lives of crypto entrepreneurs, developed by Beacon Pictures. The producers are minting NFTs celebrating the show, and plan to tokenize a full episode.

While details were sparse at the time of the initial announcement, an Aug. 25 article from Variety has revealed that Weiss is set to take the reins for a portion of the 10-episode series.

“When I read the ‘Hold On for Dear Life’ pilot, I felt as if I had been transported into a fresh and unique universe where characters spoke about money in a whole new language,” Weiss told Variety, adding:

“The world of currency is rapidly changing, and ‘Hold On for Dear Life’ will both illuminate and entertain at the same time.”

HODL will also be one of the first shows to feature on blockchain-based streaming service Sator. Earlier this month, Sator announced that it had minted the first series of official HODL NFTs on Binance Smart Chain.

The NFTs offer owners the opportunity to provide input on the direction of the show’s story, such as selecting when a charter goes bankrupt or suffers heartbreak.

The NFTs were dropped in partnership with NFT marketplace, Refinable. The tokens have seen little trading since launch, with the “Heartbreak a Character” token receiving a single bid of 0.37 Binance Coin (BNB) worth $182, while “Bankrupt a Character” has had zero bids.

Roundup

Cointelegraph reported earlier today that popular beer company Budweiser appeared to unofficially sanction a piece of NFT art after purchasing it for use on its Twitter profile.

According to OpenSea records, the beer producer purchased a Budweiser-branded rocketship NFT on Aug. 24 for 8 ETH worth roughly $25,704, which is now its official Twitter profile picture.

The head of Facebook Financial and co-creator of Facebook-initiated cryptocurrency Diem, David Marcus, said on Wednesday that the firm is “definitely looking” at possible ways to get involved in the NFT industry, such as providing NFT support in Diem wallets.

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Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Nifty News: Mike Tyson’s ear-biting tokens, the NFT that makes you a TV star, and more…

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: Mike Tyson’s ear-biting tokens, the NFT that makes you a TV star, and more…
Coin Telegraph

An Australian TV show is auctioning off an NFT that will see the winning bidder become part of the show next season, while sporting icons Mike Tyson and Lionel Messi have entered the NFT arena.

Mike Tyson bites the ear off NFTs

Boxing legend Mike Tyson has dropped a series of tokenized collectibles on the heavyweight champion platform of the NFT world, OpenSea.

The 55-year-old collaborated with digital artist Cory Van Lew to launch the “Mike Tyson NFT Collection,” which consists of 11 one-of-one NFTs up for auction, and six open edition NFTs that range from 50 to 250 copies.

The collection was released earlier today. The NFTs depict neon-colored illustrations of iconic moments from Tyson’s career such as knockouts, championship wins and the notorious “ear-biting” escapade.

Tyson's NFT collection: OpenSea

At the time of writing, there are three one-of-one editions with a top bid of 5 ETH each worth around $16,000, however, the prices are likely to climb fast as the auction doesn’t close until Aug. 24. Tyson also stated on Twitter that the buy now editions all sold out within an hour of launch.

Tyson’s NFT collection was produced by 1ofOne, an NFT creative agency that tailors to A-list celebrities and global brands.

NFTV star

In what could either be a great or bad idea, Australian TV show “The Rebound” which screens on the Nine Network, is auctioning off a tokenized episode that will see the winning bidder become part of the show next season.

Episode 8 of The Rebound explores crypto-economics, and has been minted in NFT format on Rarible. The NFT was minted yeterday is up for auction now, with bidding set to close in six days, however, there are no current bids at the time of writing.

Along with becoming a regular guest on season three of the show, the winning bidder will also be mentored “in their business or career” as part of the shows’ accelerator program. “This NFT may be your ticket to a new financial trajectory, and maybe even TV stardom!” the description reads.

Lionel Messi looking to score

Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest soccer player in history has joined fellow Barcelona FC great Ronaldinho by entering the NFT space.

The drop is dubbed “The Messiverse” and is set to go live on the Ethernity marketplace tomorrow, which is a platform that produces and sells licensed NFTs.

The art depicted in the NFTs was designed by Australian artist Bosslogic, and the drop includes a special edition of 50 copies priced at $10,000 each, a limited edition of 2500 copies at $499 each, and an open edition worth $50 per copy.

Related: Alibaba launches NFT marketplace for copyright trading

The artwork of the $10,000 “Man of Tomorrow” NFT displays a futuristic and bionic-looking portrait of Messi, with a cyberpunk style background. Owners of this special edition NFT will receive an extra unspecified “one-of-a-kind” NFT following the drop.

Vine co-founder working on NFT games

Dom Hofmann, co-founder of the now-defunct social media app Vine is working on a new NFT gaming project called “Supdrive.” In the Supdrive discord channel, Hofmann described the project as “an on-chain fantasy console game where the games themselves are NFTs.”

“You can think of it sort of like Artblocks for games. These games all run on the Supdrive Virtual Firmware, a toolkit that allows games to be written in the concise instructions that are gas-friendly and ideal for on-chain storage,” he wrote.

The Vine co-founder revealed that the first game is called “Origin” and that games developed by the project will have an “old-school arcade-style” similar to Pacman and Asteroid. He hasn’t specified what blockchain he is building on at this stage.

“As the firmware is upgraded, games will gradually become more sophisticated. Perhaps one day we’ll have Super Supdrive or Supdrive 64,” he said.

Roundup

Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 20 that Crypto.com partnered with Italy’s top soccer league, Lega Serie A. The partnership will see Crypto.com’s branding featured during game broadcasts, and the exchange will also launch some new Lega Serie A NFTs.

Earlier this week NFT marketplace SuperRare announced an upgrade named “SuperRare 2.0” that introduces independent storefronts, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), “sovereign smart contracts” and the RARE curation token.

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Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

Sui, Franklin Templeton launch ecosystem partnership

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