NFTs
FarmVille developer Zynga set to release first NFT game this year
San Francisco-based game developer Zynga, best known for the FarmVille and CSR Racing series, has announced plans to release its first blockchain and NFT-based games this year. The billion-dollar game studio first made waves in the crypto world last year after appointing 30-year gaming industry veteran Matt Wolf as Vice President of Blockchain Gaming to lead the company’s charge into the burgeoning industry. Zynga has also announced plans to increase the current blockchain gaming team from 15 employees to anywhere up to 100 by the end of this year. The company may also soon fall under the umbrella of video-game colossus Take-Two Interactive, publisher of Grand Theft Auto which publicly announced a $12.7 billion dollar acquisition move set to close in the first quarter of 2023. Speaking on ...
Nifty News: Land grab in the Shiberse, floor prices fall, NFT house sale and more…
The team behind one of the top memecoin projects Shiba Inu (SHIB) is rolling out tokenized real estate dubbed “Shiba Lands” as part of its upcoming metaverse project. Shiba’s upcoming metaverse is yet to receive a name, with the team referring to it as the “Shiberse,” and stating that the official title will be revealed later this month. The launch date for the tokenized land sales and auctions is also set to be announced soon and hodlers of the LEASH token (which is available via Shiba Swap) will be granted first access to the land sale events. After the first round of sales, access will then be opened up to the public. New Blog: A METAVERSE Story that begins… with an update! Introducing Lands, a queue system, and more!$LEASH holders will be the first to gain access to Shiba Inu Met...
AssangeDAO concludes raise with $53M to help Julian fight for freedom
The Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) supporting Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s legal plight has concluded its raise, generating a whooping 17,422 Ether (ETH) worth roughly $53.7 million. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the AssangeDAO intends to use the fund to bid on a one-of-one NFT from a drop called “Censored” by digital artist Pak in collaboration with Assange. The proceeds of the sale will go towards Assange’s defense fund and additional awareness campaigns as he fights extradition to the U.S. this month. Assange has been languishing in a U.K. jail for the past three years, with U.S. prosecutors seeking to try him on espionage charges. Supporters say that Assange is a whistleblower, journalist and publisher. BREAKING: Almost US $55m ($54.2m/ 17,422 ETH) raised ...
A metaphor? NYC ‘solid gold cube’ crypto promo turns out to be hollow
The “solid gold cube” crypto promo that surfaced in New York this week has turned out to be hollow on the inside, with onlookers online lampooning the stunt as an appropriate critique of the extravagant promises of crypto and blockchain tech. On Feb. 2, Artnet reported that a 24-carat 410 pound gold cube worth $11.7 million had been placed in Central Park surrounded by a “heavy security detail” as part of a promo for German artist Niclas Castello’s crypto project dubbed Castello Coin (CAST). New in NYC: A cube made from $11.7 million worth of solid gold is sitting in Central Park—and has its own security detail: https://t.co/DTsqhgCcbc pic.twitter.com/5kXUDSVnS9 — Artnet (@artnet) February 2, 2022 According to the project’s website, CAST will be the first crypto coin in history to “achieve...
Gamestop partners with Immutable X for NFT marketplace, announces $100M grant for creators
On Thursday, iconic brick-and-mortar video game retailer GameStop announced a partnership with layer-2 nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, Ethereum (ETH) scaling solution Immutable X to develop GameStop’s upcoming NFT marketplace. GameStop will utilize Immutable’s technology for trading and minting NFTs. 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 Immutable developers claim that the new NFT marketplace will be 100% carbon neutral with no gas fees. In addition, both Immutable and GameStop will launch a $100 million grant program denominated i...
HitPiece Wanted to Make an NFT for Every Song — Only Its Founders Forgot to Ask Artists First
Over the last couple days, a beta version of a new platform called HitPiece has sparked outrage and confusion throughout the music industry after artists and their teams began finding NFTs of their songs posted on the marketplace without their permission. The NFTs were listed as “available for auction” or as “live” auctions under individual song titles with corresponding album artwork, and while they were characterized as “music NFTs” they did not appear to contain audio. HitPiece’s mission, according to the company’s pitch deck, is to make a “1 of 1 NFT for every song,” allowing “USD and Crypto for payment.” The company launched in December, but it wasn’t until Tuesday that people began to really take notice that it was listing NFTs for artists ranging from XXXTentacion to John Lennon to ...
Vitalik Buterin suggests making NFTs ‘soulbound’ like World of Warcraft items
In a blog post published Wednesday, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), expressed his wishes to make nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, soulbound as with the namesake item class in popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, or WoW. In outlining his reasons, Buterin explained that if someone shows they own an NFT that is obtainable by doing X, such as attending an auction, it is not possible to tell if the person attended the auction to obtained it or simply bought the NFT via the secondary market. An example of a soulbound item in WoW | Source: Blizzard Watch The soulbound feature in WoW prevents an item from being traded, mailed or sold at the in-game Auction House to other players. It was designed by developers to prevent “twinking” or passing down gear from high-level to low-lev...
IRS special agent: Crypto’s the future but there are ‘mountains of fraud’
A top special agent from the Internal Revenue Service has told a conference that NFTs and crypto are the “future” but highlighted that fraud and manipulation is still rampant in the space. Ryan Korner from the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles field office made the comments virtual event held on Tuesday by the USC Gould School of Law, Korner. Bloomberg reports Korner said: “We’re just seeing mountains and mountains of fraud in this area.” He told the event the IRS CI division acknowledges the significant growth of the crypto sector, but noted that the usage of digital assets has not been limited to payments and trading. He outlined various illicit behaviors such as fraud, including money laundering, market manipulation and tax evasion. Korner highlighted market manipulation in parti...
Kanye West wants royalties from Paparazzi photos, with the help of NFTs
Kanye West expressed his frustration at the paparazzi after being filmed arriving at Miami International Airport on Monday, as seen in a video posted by ET Canada. Kanye can be heard saying to the cameraman: “It’s just really one-sided. You guys can follow us, you guys to stand from the hotel at any given time. You don’t give us any percentage of what you make off us, off our kids. And I’m going to change that.” Kanye in Miami | Source: ET Canada The cameraman argued that, “without candid photography, there wouldn’t be a [documented] history of celebrities.” However, it was clear that Kanye’s main interest involved the right to royalties from paparazzi photos, rather than issues with the perceived invasion of privacy. “You know, N...
Blockchain metaverse ecosystems gain traction as brands create digital experiences
Billion-dollar companies are taking the Metaverse by storm as consumers have shown heightened interest in virtual, interactive, three-dimensional experiences that take place online. While the “Metaverse” is still a new concept, research firm Strategy Analytics found that the global Metaverse market is forecasted to hit nearly $42 billion by 2026. This very well may be the case, as a handful of businesses including Nike and Walmart have begun exploring consumer experiences in metaverse environments. NFT utility for brands launching in the Metaverse To understand how and why brands are leveraging the Metaverse, it’s key to point out the role that NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, play within these ecosystems. While the year 2021 saw an influx of NFTs, the rise of the Metaverse is predicted ...
Fan Controlled Football raises $40M to expand league with Bored Apes and Gutter Cats
Alternative sports organization Fan Controlled Football (FCF) has raised $40 million in Series A funding from crypto and blockchain gaming firms to support the league’s expansion plans, including four new teams and an NFT project. The FCF was founded in 2017 by Sohrob Farudi, Patrick Dees, Ray Austin and Grant Cohen and hosted its debut season inside a bubble environment in Atlanta amid the pandemic last year. The FCF features an indoor version of American football in a seven vs seven-player format, and the games are streamed live on Twitch. The unique feature of the league is that the teams are governed by their fans, who have voting rights on anything ranging from player acquisitions, in-game plays, branding and team selection. For the upcoming season, NFTs will play a key role in the vo...
‘Emergency’: Wikipedia editors vote against classifying NFTs as art
A group of editors on Wikipedia, the free user generated encyclopedia, have voted against classifying NFTs as a form of art and have come to a consensus to shelve the issue until a later date. A survey and debate started on the platform at the end of December revolving around the most expensive art sales by living artists and whether NFT art sales should be deemed as “art sales” or “NFT sales.” “Wikipedia really can’t be in the business of deciding what counts as art or not, which is why putting NFTs, art or not, in their own list makes things a lot simpler,” editor “jonas” wrote. Much of the discussion centered on whether an NFT represented the art or if it was simply a token that was separate to the underlying art. The editors were torn on the definitions and some felt that there w...
