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Nifty News: The Flash goes Web3, Yuga Labs still working hard on ‘audacious’ Otherside project and more

The Sandbox added a new major IP to its virtual world, a portfolio management startup raised $3.6 million and The Flash is getting NFTs.

Warner’s The Flash goes Web3, to a lack of applause…

Warner Bros.’ nonfungible token (NFT) unit has unveiled a new Web3 experience for the recently released DC Comics superhero movie, The Flash, which reportedly flopped at the box office.

According to an announcement from Warner Bros. Digital Collectibles, The Flash Web3 Movie Experience will launch on July 18 and include NFT collections, augmented reality experiences, access to behind-the-scenes content and the entire film in 4K ultra HD, to name a few.

The Flash Web3 experience. Source: Warner Bros. Digital Collectibles.

The project will be hosted on the Eluvio blockchain, which Warner Bros. has used in the past for similar Superman and The Lord of the Rings Web3 experiences.

The experience is being packaged as part of two different mystery bag editions, Mystery and Premium.

The Mystery edition will cost $35 and the Premium edition will cost $100, with the latter containing greater benefits and a shot at getting seemingly better NFTs.

Over on Twitter, the community reaction wasn’t overly enthusiastic.

The top comment from user Satvik Sethi has 1,649 likes at the time of writing and simply states: “Pay your writers, and stop cash-grabbing Web3.”

Another user sarcastically wrote: “Wow, the Flash traveled back to 2021,” in reference to the manic NFT bull market of that year, while Twitter user Simon suggested that Warner Bros. needs to “fire” whoever is running their Web3 department.

Snarky comments in response to The Flash Web3 experience. Source: Twitter

Yuga Labs focusing on Otherside metaverse amid BAYC downturn

With the floor price of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs tanking in 2023, Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre has emphasized that the firm is working hard to build out its Otherside metaverse project.

Speaking at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference on July 13, Alegre kept his cards close to his chest but outlined that Yuga’s plans for Otherside are “audacious” and, as such, will “take time” to come to fruition.

BAYC NFT floor price. Source: NFT Price Floor.

So far, Otherside has only been available for a couple of early access trips for the BAYC community, and it remains to be seen when the project will officially launch.

Providing a little more information, Alegre said that Otherside will “bring communities together” and “bring new and innovative Web3-based experiences starting with gaming.”

“As an NFT holder, you will be able to participate in drawing what we’re building, which is this Otherside metaverse,” he said.

Related: DeFi borrower uses luxury watch-backed NFT as collateral for a loan

Roi raises $3.6 million to build out app that compiles crypto alongside NFT holdings

On July 13, investment application startup Roi announced a $3.6 million funding round to develop its portfolio manager app.

The funding round was led by Spark Capital and included participation from NBA and Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant’s venture capital firm, 35 Ventures, and Google’s Gradient Ventures, to name a few.

The Roi app enables users to track their stock, crypto and NFT holdings all in one place, as it can compile balances from a host of crypto/Web3 wallets to give the user a clear picture of their net worth.

It also allows users to trade across its list of supported brokerages and crypto wallets.

Roi app mobile interface. Source: Apple Store

The startup plans to use the capital to help increase its headcount from the current five team members, expand product offerings, and hire legal and security experts.

Magnificent Century coming to The Sandbox

A widely popular Turkish TV series called Magnificent Century has partnered with The Sandbox to bring its intellectual property (IP) to the metaverse.

According to a July 14 article from Variety, the partnership was announced via a global launch event in Paris earlier in the week.

As part of the partnership, The Sandbox users will be able to get their hands on 3D avatars depicting Magnificent Century characters by late 2023.

The TV series has reportedly had over 500 million viewers globally, and it marked the second major TV show IP to enter The Sandbox after The Walking Dead in 2021.

“We’re excited to welcome such a globally acclaimed Turkish series as ‘Magnificent Century’ at The Sandbox and further strengthen our growing presence in this important region,” said The Sandbox chief operating officer and co-founder Sebastien Borget at the event.

Other Nifty News

The Google Play store now allows video game publishers to sell NFT games in its store, according to a July 12 blog post from the store’s group product manager, Joseph Mills.

Blockchain gaming startup Spielworks recently partnered with the Web3 platform Mycelium Network to launch a program that allows full refunds for NFT purchases.

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Nifty News: OpenSea dominance fades, Azuki skateboards fetch $2.5M and more

The largest NFT marketplace is facing headwinds from its competition as OpenSea sees its market share slip whilst its rivals gain significant ground.

Opensea’s dominance begins to waiver

Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Opensea has seen its competitors chomping at its ankles this year as they gain market share — turning the market from a “monopoly” into an “oligopoly," a new report states. 

Binance Market Pulse released on Oct. 20 says there has been a slow and steady change in market leadership, noting that while OpenSea is still the dominant marketplace in terms of users and volume, Ethereum (ETH)-based exchanges X2Y2 and Looksrare have been gaining their share of the market over 2022. 

The report also pointed out that OpenSea is facing stiff competition when it comes to Solana (SOL)-based NFTs, its most used native marketplace Magic Eden is a “close second” to the multi-chain OpenSea exchange.

OpenSea’s market dominance in terms of volume peaked in May 2022 but has seen a decline since. Image: Binance

It comes amid a possible sea-change across NFT marketplaces.

On Oct.14, the Solana-native NFT market Magic Eden opted to introduce optional royalties on its platform, following a similar move by the Ethereum-based marketplace X2Y2 in August.

It noted that the “market has been shifting towards optional creator royalties for awhile.”

Binance's Q3 report added that Ethereum overall still dominates holding 65% of the NFT volume market share at the end of the third quarter, but NFT buyers may be moving blockchains in search of profits or following the latest trends.

The data also shows Solana’s NFT sales volume increased by 13% in Q3 and Ethereum’s dropped by 16% since the end of the second quarter.

Record-breaking bids on first wave of ‘Physical Backed Tokens’

The Azuki NFT project has broken the record for the most expensive skateboard ever sold, with the highest bid for a limited-edition 24-karat gold-plated skateboard fetching 309 ETH, or $400,000. 

A total of eight skateboards were sold through its new Physical Backed Token (PBT) technology, netting the project a total of $2.5 million worth of ETH.

The highest bid far surpassed the previous record holder, the over $38,000 “Blowin’ in the Wind Skateboard” created by skateboarder Jamie Thomas which included handwritten lyrics from singer Bob Dylan.

It was the first time the project implemented its Physical Backed Token (PBT) technology standard.

PBT is a token standard created by the project that uses a cryptographic chip to authenticate ownership of a physical item, generating an NFT in a user's crypto wallet after its scanned with a mobile phone.

MLB players union seeks NFT licensing manager

The union representing all Major League Baseball (MLB) players appears to be looking at expanding its members' presence in Web3, as it looks to hire a licensing manager to help expand its portfolio across NFT, Metaverse, digital games and augmented and virtual reality technology.

The job posting by the MLB Players Association states that “NFTs, the Metaverse, wearable technology, and AR/VR are part of our expanding business model” with the role requiring the person to create “strong relationships” with “crypto projects”.

A major role of the MLB Players Association is assisting sponsors seeking to associate their brand or product with players, the association holds the rights to license and use the names, nicknames, likenesses, and other indicating information of MLB players for use to that end.

Warner Bros launches NFT-gated exclusive films

Entertainment company Warner Bros is looking to use NFTs to distribute exclusive content and films after announcing on Oct. 20 that it partnered with Web3 firm Eluvio to launch its NFT-backed “WB Movieverse.”

The “movieverse” is essentially Warner Bros-owned films available online using NFTs as authentication for users to access the film along with related exclusive content such as behind-the-scenes videos and images.

The first offering in its movieverse sees a 4K resolution extended edition of one if its Lord of The Rings titles along with bonus material made available through two tiers of NFTs. 

Related: Magic Eden defends launch of NFT royalty enforcement tool

The sold-out upper tier of 999 NFTs was priced at $100 but now sees an average listing price of $2,500 according to the official secondary listings page, while the lower tier of 10,000 NFTs is priced at $30.

Warner Bros has delved into the NFT space before, recently licensing characters from its DC Comics-owned properties to pop culture brand Funko to sell Walmart-exclusive NFTs.

More Nifty News:

Metaverse casino Slotie has been hit with multiple cease and desist orders from state-level authorities in the United States who allege Slotie hasn’t registered as a broker-dealer, failed to provide the proper disclosures as a gambling platform and consider its NFTs to be unregistered securities.

Ethereum-based NFT marketplace Rarible upgraded its platform on Oct. 20 adding an aggregation tool that allows users to browse and purchase Ethereum NFTs from other marketplaces such as Rarible, OpenSea, LooksRare, X2Y2, and Sudoswap.

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Nifty News: Zilliqa teases Web3 gaming console, Funko teams up with Warner Bros. and more…

Specifications on Zilliqa’s "user-friendly" console are yet to be revealed, but a prototype design resembling an Xbox console has been released.

Blockchain company Zilliqa is launching a Web3 focused console with a cryptocurrency wallet and mining capabilities, along with featuring gaming titles from the company.

On Sept. 23, prototype images were released showing an array of ports including HDMI, Ethernet and USB connections, although full hardware specifications and the price of the unit remain guarded. The console itself looks similar to something from Xbox, but has two green panels on the top.

Zilliqa has said the console is geared toward user-friendliness and similar to conventional gaming titles will incentivize users to complete gaming missions, quests and tasks to mine its native token ZIL as a reward.

Beta testing on the console starts in October, with units expected to be available for pre-order in the first quarter of 2023. Zilliqa is a layer-1 blockchain designed for creating smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps), it has 15 gaming projects according to its website.

In July Web3 gaming startup Polium announced its similar console, “Polium One”, supporting gaming non-fungible tokens (NFT) across eight blockchains, although the Polium One isn’t set for release until Q3 2024.

Funko and Warner Bros. collab on Walmart exclusive NFTs

Pop culture brand Funko has partnered with entertainment company Warner Bros. to offer bundled physical and NFT collectables exclusively through American retail giant Walmart.

The bundle includes a physical comic book cover and Funko figurine for DC Comics “The Brave and the Bold,” known amongst fans for introducing the concept of the popular “Justice League” superhero team, along with a matching Funko “Digital Pop!” NFT.

Funko's "Brave and the Bold" physical bundle. Source.

The collection is limited to 30,000 units and will debut during Walmart’s Collector Con in October, the NFTs will mint on the WAX blockchain.

Funko has continued to expand the NFT counterpart of its flagship “Pop!” figurine line which started in Aug. 2021 with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collection. Funko CEO Andrew Perlmutter has stated the company is creating NFTs to meet demand from younger collectors who value digital goods and assets.

New England Patriots get Web3 partner in Chain

Web3 software company Chain has become the official blockchain and Web3 sponsor of the National Football League (NFL) team New England Patriots, professional soccer team New England Revolution and both team's home ground, Gillette Stadium.

Related: NFTs ‘biggest on-ramp’ to crypto in Central, Southern Asia and Oceania: Report

Chain has partnered in a multi-year deal with Kraft Sports + Entertainment, the owner of both professional teams and the stadium, to develop what it calls “state-of-the-art Web3 experiences” using Chain’s product suite, but didn’t provide exact details on its plans.

Chain CEO Deepak Thapliyal did state however that the company is aiming to “build cutting edge experiences for stadium visitors” as part of Chain’s product lineup includes support for NFTs.

Christina Aguilera files for NFT and Metaverse trademarks

Filings shared by trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis show singer Christina Aguilera has filed trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for multiple NFT, Metaverse and crypto related products.

The filings reveal plans for the star to create audio, video and music files “authenticated by NFTs” along with “blockchain based non-fungible assets” such as virtual avatars, clothing, beauty products, other virtual merchandise and “crypto collectibles.”

Part of the application also mentions Aguilera providing musical performances, concerts and games “in the Metaverse and other virtual environments.”

More Nifty News:

NFT marketplace OpenSea announced the implementation of OpenRarity on Sept. 22, a protocol that provides verifiable rarity calculations for NFTs within its platform. The protocol uses a transparent mathematical approach to calculating rarity.

Web3 tech firm nameless is set to launch an NFT software product that enables developers to test their NFT smart contracts on fully private test nets.

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Funko Partners With Walmart to Drop DC Digital Collectibles and Physical Twin Counterparts

Funko Partners With Walmart to Drop DC Digital Collectibles and Physical Twin CounterpartsFunko has teamed up with the multinational retail corporation Walmart and the American film and entertainment studio Warner Bros. to bring digital collectibles to the retail space, the pop culture collectibles firm announced on Wednesday. According to Funko, the digital collectible offering is consumer friendly as fans can purchase the non-fungible token (NFT) and physical […]

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Veve Partners With Marvel to Drop Limited Edition NFT Covers Featuring Spider-Man, Black Panther

Veve Partners With Marvel to Drop Limited Edition NFT Covers Featuring Spider-Man, Black PantherOn August 29, the digital collectibles company Veve announced that the platform has launched digital variant non-fungible token (NFT) covers from three Marvel comic book artists. Veve and Marvel detailed that the NFT drops called the Marvel Artworks collection will be limited edition, 1-of-1 releases of three Marvel comic covers featuring Spider-Man, and the Black […]

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Funko Plans to Launch Jay and Silent Bob NFT Collection via the Digital Collectibles Platform Droppp

Funko Plans to Launch Jay and Silent Bob NFT Collection via the Digital Collectibles Platform DropppThree months ago, Funko Inc., disclosed that it was entering the non-fungible token (NFT) industry when it announced it acquired a majority ownership stake in the NFT startup Tokenwave. At the time, Funko’s CEO Brian Mariotti explained that “Funko Pop digital NFTs” have the potential to be a “game-changer.” On Friday, Funko announced the company […]

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Warner Bros. to Launch Hybrid Physical and Digital DC Comics-Themed NFT Trading Cards

Warner Bros. to Launch Hybrid Physical and Digital DC Comics-Themed NFT Trading CardsThe multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate Warner Bros. has announced the firm is working with Cartamundi Group in order to launch DC Comics-themed hybrid trading cards. DC multiverse fans can leverage the Hro application in order to gain access to their favorite DC superheroes, supervillains, and other DC characters. Warner Bros. Reveals DC Comics-Themed […]

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NFT drop causes glitch in The Matrix, FTX.US adds Ethereum NFTs, token Baby Sharks…

The creators of the widely popular Baby Shark song are launching NFTs this week, FTX.US has expanded NFT support to Ethereum and more than 300,000 people are waiting for Matrix NFTs.

The Matrix’s NFT revelations

Soaring demand for the Warner Bros.’ Matrix NFT avatar drop on Nifty’s this week caused the website's purchasing page to crash.

Earlier this month, the film studio announced it would be dropping 100,000 unique Matrix-inspired avatar NFTs for $50 each as part of a promotional campaign for the new Matrix Resurrections film set to hit cinemas in the U.S. on Dec. 22.

After more than 300,000 Matrix fans queued up for the drop on Nov. 30, Nifty’s was forced to start and stop the queue multiple times due to max capacity-induced “infrastructure issues.”

After the queue was paused multiple times, other issues started to occur such as users being bumped up or down the queue, the buy button not working and failed transactions upon checkout.

At the time of writing, there are still 347,133 people waiting in the queue and the issues are yet to be resolved. Nifty’s said that it is still actively working to address the issues, and has offered every Nifty’s user who queued up on Nov. 30 a free “glitch in the Matrix” NFT” for the inconvenience.

Warner Bros.' The Matrix Avatar queue: Nifty's

Tokenized Baby Sharks

Pinkfong, the creators of the widely popular and alarmingly hypnotic children’s song Baby Shark, is releasing a collection of NFTs depicting content from the music video.

The collection consists of a 1/1 and five limited editions, and the NFTs feature the Baby Shark character along with its five family members in a series of animated and holographic GIFs backed by new original music.

The auction and sales will be hosted on Makersplace on Dec. 3, and the carbon emissions from the sale will be calculated and offset by sustainability platform Aerial. A starting price for the 1/1 NFT auction has not been specified, however the highest bidder will also receive a custom one-of-one vinyl record of the music depicted in the NFT.

Pinkfong's Baby Shark NFT: Makersplace

The Baby Shark music video has more than 9.7 billion plays on YouTube, making it the most played video on the platform.

MBA students raise $3K for scholarship fund

A group of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) students from the Paris branch of the INSEAD graduate business school raised $3,000 for the school’s Robin Hood Scholarship fund via an NFT sale.

Ferdinand Issels, Michelle Yu and two other students created a Nyan Cat-inspired NFT titled “RobinGood #1” depicting Robin Hood riding a salamander from the school’s emblem. The project was a part of a week-long student-led fundraising campaign for the school’s fund that supports need-based scholarships.

 INSEAD's Robin Good NFT: OpenSea

The NFT was auctioned off in fiat currency to allow any student to participate and was snapped up by graduate and Goldman Sachs banker Alberto Marega for 2,600 Euros, or roughly $3,000, and has since been minted on OpenSea.

“It is an amazing feeling that we were able to use this technology to contribute to a good cause,” said Issels, adding that, “I hope this encourages other people to further explore the positive impacts that blockchain-based technology can deliver.”

Related: 'Crypto Critic' — Hollywood insider has a message for celebrities who shill token projects

FTX expands support to Ethereum NFTs

FTX.US revealed today that its NFT marketplace has expanded support to Ethereum-based NFTs.

Both FTX and the company’s U.S. subsidiary first jumped into the sector in September, rolling out NFT marketplaces with limited functionality. The following month, FTX.US expanded upon its platform by offering support to Solana-based NFTs.

FTX.US’s website now hosts a list of collectibles from popular Ethereum-based projects such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, Meebits and Pudgy Penguins.

Ethereum NFT collections: FTX.US

Other Nifty News

Upcoming mobile-based NFT game Guild of Guardians generated $5.3 million from the sale of two tranches of its native token GEMS on Tuesday. The sellout token sale was oversubscribed by 82 times with around 808,000 users registering and more than 10,700 new GEMS hodlers purchasing a max amount of $500 worth of tokens.

Ross Ulbricht the founder of now-defunct dark web marketplace Silk Road, caused a stir on Wednesday by announcing his own NFT drop depicting hand-drawn artwork that will be auctioned off on Superare this month. Proceeds from the auction will help fund a trust to support Ulbricht’s efforts to be freed from prison.

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Warner Bros to Launch Matrix NFT Avatars With Blue Pill and Red Pill Options

Warner Bros to Launch Matrix NFT Avatars With Blue Pill and Red Pill OptionsWarner Bros., the American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate has announced the launch of non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles for the upcoming film “The Matrix Resurrections” after dropping official Space Jam NFT collectibles. The Matrix NFT program will start on November 30 as Warner Bros. plans to drop 100,000 Matrix Resurrections’ NFTs. ‘You Take the […]

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