NFT Innovation Digest #1

Top picks

CryptoPunks have featured center position in the NFT space over the last year either for their cultural value and price upscaling. In the article "Will centralization kill the CryptoPunks?"  by NonFungible, the CryptoPunks data is broken down and the purchase accessibility and centralization are analyzed.

Trending

Nowadays there are more and more celebrities entering the NFT world. This week, the hip-hop superstar Snoop Dogg announced in a tweet that he is the person behind the NFT influencer "Cozomo de’ Medici", with more than 200 NFTs on OpenSea worth $17 million.

All types of scams and rug pulls are appearing in the NFT market, but the NFT sale based on the Kia Sedona meme was quite peculiar. The branded website "Jay Pegs Auto Mart" sold DONA reservation tokens that could be swapped to a 2007 Kia Sedona NFT. The sales raised 864.8 ETH ($3.1 million). An anonymous malicious code into the Miso platform and stole all their funds.

NFT x DeFi

With new NFT projects launch every day and collectors gas wars, the usage of DeFi on Ethereum Mainnet got expensive and inaccessible, with the number of active wallets interacting with DeFi Dapps decreasing 17% in August. In the article "Is NFT Hype Killing DeFi on Ethereum?" by DappRadar this topic is explored with aid of the latest DeFi and NFT usage data.

Product launches

OpenSea, the most famous NFT marketplace just launched its mobile app.

More:

• The app enables users to discover and manage NFTs, but it is not possible to purchase any digital asset through the app;
• The app helps with the OpenSea goal of "making NFTs more available to all".

Fresh Fundings

The fantasy sports platform Sorare raises $680 million series B round led by SoftBank at a valuation of $4.3 billion.

More:

• The funds will be used to expand the company team; sign new partnerships; accelerate mobile and marketing and expand into new sports.

The creator of the crypto social network BitClout launches a Decentralized Social blockchain with $200 million in funding.

More:

• The funding came from a16z and other high-profile venture firms;
• The DeSo blockchain supports traditional social media features plus blockchain native features such as social tokens and NFTs, that allow creators to earn money.

Dapper Labs, the firm behind NBA Top Shots and the Flow blockchain, has closed a $250 million funding round at $7.6 billion valuation.

More:

• The raise was led by Coatue, Andreessen Horowitz, Google’s GV and Version One Ventures;
• The funding will help expand NBA Top Shot operations and lead to new sports ventures worldwide, including European soccer with its huge fan base;
• The company also announced a partnership with LaLiga, Spain's top professional soccer league, to introduce Official Football NFT Collectible Highlights at scale.

Digital Collectibles

TIME magazine announces the launch of its first NFT collection of more than 4,500 original pieces from over 40 artists.

More:

• Beginning September 23rd, collectors will be able to purchase the pieces via randomized blind drop at nft.time.com.
• Each piece will be priced at 0.1 ETH and will give the owner various benefits such as unlimited access to time.com, exclusive invites for future in-person events, and a variety of exclusive digital experiences.

The famous Bored Apes Yacht Club collection revealed its roadmap 2.0, where the follow-up collection Mutant Apes Yacht Club will have extended utility with a Bored Apes versus Mutant Apes mobile competition.

More:

• There will be also extra features to the existing collections, such as 3D models of the avatars;
• With the news, the Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs saw an increase of 222% of trading volume.

Sports

The NBA team Philadelphia 76ers announced a six years partnership with Crypto.com as Official Jersey Patch Partner.

More:

• The Crypto.com logo will start to feature in the 76ers jersey this season;
• The deal also includes NFTs, the team is launching its first digital collection through Crypto.com’s NFT platform.

Quick Takes

Four Freddie Mercury NFTs on SuperRare have been placed for auction by the Mercury Phoenix Trust, a non-profit that focuses on funding education and awareness projects to fight AIDS/HIV worldwide.

Galaxy Eggs is a new NFT collection created by the digital artist Gal Barkan that sold over $35 million in 6 days and lists at top 3 volume NFT collection over the last 7 days, surpassing CryptoPunks.

The first official NFT drop of a Marvel comic book has seen its floor price on the VeVe marketplace increase by 770%.

The play-to-earn game Axie Infinity reached another impressive mark of $2 billion in all-time sales of its NFT collection on the Ronin sidechain. This mark ensures Axie Infinity is the most valuable NFT collection.

Podcasts/Shows

Bankless 84 - Defining the Metaverse explores the recent article "The Metaverse Emerges" in an attempt to define the Metaverse and explore the role of blockchains in creating Metaverses.

The Delphi Podcast - NFT Culture Series Ep. 4 talks to VonMises, a member of the Art Blocks curation board. The talk focuses on managing large collections, the Art Blocks curation process, and the future of generative art.

The Delphi Podcast - NFT Culture Series Ep. 5 features Sasha Fleyshman, junior Portfolio Manager and Special Situations Analyst at Arca. The conversation goes around the future of crypto gaming, blockchain vs. real-world art, PFP communities, and adoption.

Upcoming Events

• NFT Crypto Con – Brooklyn Tech Week
• Date: Sep 23
• Location: Online
• Description: The NFT Crypto Con will occur on Day 1 of the three-day Brooklyn Tech Week. It explores the emergence of NFT technology: the impact of NFTs in Music, Arts & Collectibles - Fractionalization - Funds - Pricing oracles - NFT marketplace protocols - Drop/distribution protocols - Borrowing/lending - NFT-native dexes.
• NFT.NFC
• Date: Nov 1-3
• Location: Times Square, New York City, USA
• Description: NFT.NYC claims to be the leading annual Non-Fungible Token event. However, it is a rarity in 2021 – an in-person event. This is the third iteration of the event, making it one of the longest-running in this new industry.
• NFTcomicon
• Date: Nov 6
• Location: Online
• Description: NFTcomicon aims to be the largest (virtual) gathering of NFT's dealers, sellers, artists ever assembled. Learn what opportunities are available with NFTs, while networking and partying like your favorite NFT crypto character. Meet celebrity artists, NFT startup founders, art collectors, and more.

NFT space in numbers

The values below are from 17-23 September 2021. Source: DappRadar.

Top Marketplaces

Top Sales

Top Collections