NFT Innovation Digest #14

Most innovative (author's pick)

After a successfully closed phase, Manifold Studio is now open for all the creators, free of charge. The platform was Users can deploy and own their contract and mint ERC-721 and ERC-1155 NFTS. The opening of Manifold Studio is another step to empower any creator to create their collection with a great user interface experience, flexibility, and no coding.

For the first time, the floor price of Bored Ape Yacht Club has "flipped" the floor price of CryptoPunks. The floor price of Punks has been steadily declining over the months and Apes' floor rising.

More:

• Multiple factors can explain the "flip", with IP rights discussions between BAYC and Punks holders, where BAYC gives the IP rights to the NFT owners, while Punks'creator Larva Labs does not assign the IP rights to the holders;
• The Bored Ape Yacht Club is also innovating bringing new utilities to the NFT owners and solid roadmaps that accrue value to the digital assets.

Twitch co-founder's Fractal NFT project gets exploited by a hacker on Discord. Before the project launched, a bot used for its Discord channel was hacked.

More:

• The hacker added a link to a fake NFT website that stole the $154,800 in SOL from its users;
• Fractal is a Solana NFT marketplace for buying and selling NFTs. The project was supposed to go live on December 24. The team did not announce any reimbursement policy for the users who lost their SOL in the fake mint.  

Mainstream Adoption

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri stated that the social media platform is actively exploring NFT integration.

More:

• “Nothing to announce yet but we are actively exploring NFTs and how we can make them more accessible to a wider audience”, said Mosseri;
• In May of this year, Instagram hosted a panel for NFT creators as part of its “Creator Week” event.

Melania Trump launched an NFT platform featuring “Melania’s Vision” NFT, available on Solana for 1 SOL. Melania plans to regularly launch new NFTs including a “one-of-a-kind auction of historical importance" in January 2022.

More:

• The NFT platform will be powered by the social media platform Parler;
• A Solana Labs representative stated that the company plays no role in the launch, and Melania's decision to use the Solana blockchain was her own.

Toymaker Mattel partners with Team Vaynerchuk to create a deck of playable UNO featuring Veefriends. The card game has 17 different design drawings from VeeFriends and an additional ornamental “foil” card for collectors.

More:

• The UNO VeeFriends deck launched on Dec 17th for $25 a pack with no digital version attached to it and sold out immediately;
• Each deck is a certified "ultra-rare" physical version of the card game undergoing accreditation with the “Professional Sports Authenticator” the biggest authority on rare collectibles.

New products and ideas

Nexo launched an NFT lending protocol with Three Arrows Capital that enables loans collateralized with NFTs. The service now accepts "blue-chip" NFT collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks.

More:

• Users will be able to borrow stablecoins, ETH, and other assets using the supported NFTs. The loans will be backed by Nexo's centralized lending platform;
• Three Arrows Capital will provide expertise on hedging, valuation, and liquidation mechanisms for the platform.

Metamask is preparing an NFT integration for its wallet. The feature is supposed to come "very soon" and will enable users to see their NFT portfolio inside of their wallets.

More:

• The NFT visualization feature already exists on the mobile app, but the update will bring it to the browser extension version, so users will no longer need to navigate to a hosting website to see their NFTs.

Recommended Readings/Watchings

• NFTs, Utility, and Marketing: This NFT Insight article explores how projects and brands are using marketing and utility to differentiate themselves in the NFT space;
• NFTs Are More Popular Than Ever Despite Sour Mood in Wider Crypto Market: This CoinDesk article analysis the current popularity of NFTs and the lack of necessary relation to the crypto market as a whole.

New podcasts and shows

• The Delphi Podcast: In this episode, the co-founders' os ALL.ART discuss metadata, infrastructure, and the IP issues around NFTs;
• Zima Red Podcast: In this episode, Andrew talks to Jen Kim, Head of Product at NFTBank, to discuss the social and financial ramifications NFTs will have on our future.

NFT space in numbers

The values below are from 17th - 23rd December 2021. Source: DappRadar.

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