NFT Innovation Digest #20

Most innovative (author's pick)

Real-estate blockchain company Propy launched the first real estate-backed NFTs in the U.S. The company will auction two properties in Florida on Feb 8th as part of its goal to launch a real-estate NFT-ing service.

More:

• The company has been an active participant in the crypto space, facilitating blockchain-based real-estate purchases since 2017, but the current auction marks the first time it tokenized a property in form of an NFT;
• According to Propy's CEO, the company has developed all the necessary smart contracts and legal framework to enable tokenize any real-estate in the U.S.

Most discussed

ApeDAO, the third largest Bored ape holder with 81 pieces, is about to be dissolved and liquidate its ~$12M NFT portfolio. The debate on liquidations revolves around the current $APE price and the net value of the DAO's holdings. In case of liquidation, $APE holders would generate substantial returns o their investment (around 0.008 ETH per $APE token).

More:

• With the snapshot vote closing at 11:59 pm ET on Feb 2nd, it seems that ApeDAO will be liquidated, until Feb 1st the no votes were winning, but a major $APE whale (dingaling.eth) changed his vote in favor of the liquidation.

Coachella Music Festival partnered with FTX to launch three NFT collections this Friday. The three collections include Coachella Keys, Sights and Sounds, and Desert Reflections. Part of the auction proceeds will go to charities.

More:

• Coachella Keys consists of 10 NFTs that grant to its holders lifetime access to Coachella and a set of experiences at 2022's festival;
• Sights and Sounds consists of 10,000 NFTs, costing $60 to mint, minters randomly receive 1 of 10 combinations of images and soundscapes and each NFT is redeemable for a physical piece;
• Desert Reflections consists of 1,000 NFTs, costing $180 to mint, minters randomly receive 1 of 10 digital renditions of a Coachella poster and each NFT is redeemable for a physical copy of the Coachella.

Mainstream Adoption

NFT music platform OneOf partnered with Warner Music Group (WMG) to create exclusive NFTs for the record label. OneOf launched in September and is built on Tezos blockchain, providing energy-efficient minting.

More:

• In addition to partnering with WMG, OneOf recently announced a three-year partnership with the GRAMMY awards as well as a partnership with MusiCares to mint the first Keith Richards NFT.

The Sandbox partnered with Warner Music Group to conduct musical concerts within the Sandbox Metaverse. According to the press release, the partnership is the first venture of Warner Music exploring the realm of the Metaverse and NFTs.

More:

• Warner Music did not specify the artists that will perform, but the label is home to reputed music artists including Ed Sheeran, Elektra, Erato Lizzo, and Red Hot Chilli Peppers;
• The Sandbox has already established several partnerships with leading names in different industries including Snoop Dogg, Steve Aoki, and Adidas.

Reddit is actively exploring adding NFT-based profile pictures, according to the company's spokesperson. Last year, the company already experimented with NFTs by launching its collection called “CryptoSnoos”.

More:

• “We’re always exploring ways to provide value for users and communities on Reddit. At the moment we’re testing the ability to use NFTs as profile pictures (avatars) and verify ownership,” Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told TechCrunch;
• Reddit has already tested crypto by introducing ERC-20 tokens called MOONs and BRICKs for its /r/cryptocurrency and /r/Fortnite communities in May 2020.

New products and ideas

0x Protocol's last release (V4) will allow any project to offer swaps between NFTs. The NFT swaps will let users trade one digital asset for another across many blockchains (Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Fantom, Avalanche, Celo, and Optimism).

More:

• 0x provides smart contracts with up to 54% cheaper gas cost, royalties for creators, free non-custodial listings on any 0x-based NFT marketplaces, and more. Developers in any of the compatible chains can use it as a toolkit to build their marketplace without having to start from scratch;
• “We anticipate many new NFT projects powered by 0x will join our ecosystem. This will ultimately reduce market fragmentation, drive greater transparency and interoperability in the space, and help to prevent the platform monopolies that exist in Web 2.0,” said Warren, co-founder of 0x Labs.

OlympusDAO announced its plans to launch the Olympus Odyssey NFT marketplace on March 3. Olympus Odyssey will generate revenue for OlympusDAO members, and “offer a feature-rich NFT platform for DeFi natives and prove that OHM can be a medium of exchange,” says Olympus Odyssey core contributor Memetics.

More:

• According to Olympus, the platform will launch on Ethereum, but it's working with TreasureDAO to create a multi-chain NFT marketplace;
• Another factor that drove the decision to launch the marketplace is the potential of adding royalties to the DAO's treasury instead of sending them to OpenSea.

NFT Artist of the Week -

This week's Artist of the Week is Lawrence Lee (aka) NotoriousGangOfOne , best known for his iconic shamanistic images, and an established professional artist for over forty years. His work covers a wide range of capabilities, exploring abstract scenes, landscapes, crypto native art, and more.

To claim your exclusive Art POAP, subscribe to the NFT Innovation Digest for free and follow Lawrence on Twitter, you will receive an email with your personal claim link. Each claimed POAP will get the chance to win a free NFT giveaway yby the artist of the week.

Recommended Readings

• Soulbound by Vitalik Buterin: In his latest blog post, Vitalik suggests NFTs become "soulbound" as with the item class in popular MMORPG World of Warcraft (WoW). The soulbound feature in WoW prevents an item from being traded, gifted, or sold in the game. Vitalik points out that on-chain proposals to store real-life documents (driver's licenses, university degrees, etc.), would face problems if someone who doesn't meet the necessary conditions can readily purchase them.
• Decentraland roadmap for 2022: This article announces the expected features coming to Decentraland in 2022, including NFTs used as wearables; desktop client for Windows, Linux ad Mac; experimental VR client; mobile app in early prototyping, and more.

New podcasts and shows

• The Scoop Podcast: In this episode, Head of Growth at Parallel NFT Franklin Fitch and artist Dave Krugman join Frank to discuss how NFTs are changing the relationship between creators and the art market.
• Overpriced JPEGs Podcast: In this episode, Carly interviews Doodles co-founder Jordan Castro. Jordan shares lessons learned as the Head of Product for CryptoKitties and shares the mindshare shift that happened when he made Doodles into a global brand.
• Unchained Podcast: In this episode, Laura interviews Dapper Collectives CEO and Friends With Benefits founder Trevor McFedries. Trevor explores his vision for Dapper Collectives, his expectations for DAOs, and more.

Save the date

• 17th - 20th February: ETH Denver is the largest and longest-running ETH event in the world, with several panels, workshops, and hackathons, it's a no-brainer.

NFT space in numbers

The values below are from 28th January - 3rd February 2022. Source: DappRadar.

Top Marketplaces

Top Sales*

*The saleS occurred on the LooksRare marketplace and may be a subject of wash trading.

Top Collections

*Most of the sales in the collection occurred on the LooksRare marketplace and may be a subject of wash trading.

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