NFT Innovation Digest #22

Most innovative (author's pick)

Lit Protocol is a decentralized utility protocol that enables the access to remotely operated devices via the blockchain. In one of the used examples, Chris Cassano connects a Tesla to an NFT through an app deployed on Cloudfare.

More:

• The app enables control of the car through a doubled encrypted gateway (lock and unlock the car, flash the lights, and start its engine,). To gain access to the app, the user needs to connect a wallet containing the NFT to the app;
• The experiment is only one possibility of integration of NFTs and real-life objects, with the possibility to implement many more innovations.

Most discussed

The first U.S. real estate NFT has sold for 210 ETH (~$653,000). The sale was facilitated by real estate startup Propy. The 2,164-square-foot house in Gulfport, Florida was auctioned, with the winning bidder being awarded an NFT as proof of the home's ownership.

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• The NFT is linked to the ownership of an LLC that owns the physical asset, not the housing deed itself. According to Propy, the NFT can be used as collateral for crypto borrowers and investors.

YouTube is hiring for director to lead Web3 push. The job advert posted on LinkedIn asks for 15 years in product management and experience in "Internet consumer products and/or crypto."

More:

• The job advert has also preferred qualifications as "experience buying, owning, and trading cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and tokens." and "understanding of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, consensus mechanisms, NFTs, and other Web3 technologies";
• Early in February, YouTube's CPO said in a blog post that the company would start creating metaverse experiences on its video platform.

Mainstream Adoption

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has filed a trademark application to provide a marketplace for NFTs and various other digital goods. The application suggests the marketplace would have similar features of OpenSea and Rarible.

More:

• In April 2021, NYSE minted its first NFT collection with homages to six tech stocks that were listed in the exchange, including Spotify, Roblox, and Coupang.

Samsung is distributing a commemorative NFT to south Koreans who pre-ordered its new Galaxy S22 smartphone. Theta Labs will provide infrastructure and support for the NFT drop.

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• The NFTs reportedly come with "ongoing membership benefits and privileges," according to Theta Labs's CEO;
• Theta Labs is pushing its network focused on esports and video streaming niche and incentivizes platform activity through its $THETA token.  

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New products and ideas

Decentralized cloud platform Cere Network to launch DaVinci NFT media platform on Polygon blockchain. DaVinci will focus on content creation in the entertainment section, enabling creators to mint NFTs that unlock exclusive content for fans.

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• The platform is powered by Cere's technologies, including Polygon-based NFT minting as a service called Freeport and a storage solution called Decentralized Data Cloud (DDC).

VR platform Cyber partnered with Rarible to create a virtual NFT marketplace. The new feature will enable consumers to browse and purchase NFT collectibles through an immersive VR experience.

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• The Cyber VR app can run on mobile phones, desktops, and on Oculus VR headset, widening the experience for NFT buyers;
• "We launched and placed the first brick of a bottom-up metaverse company that we would build with the help of the [blockchain] community," said Rayan Boutaleb, Cyber's founder.

NFT Artist of the Week - Victoria L

This week's Artist of the Week is Victoria L, an NFT artist focused on 3D and conceptual sculpting art. Her Fragile Animals collection aims to create 100 unique 3D animals, seeking to inform about the conservation status of various species, highlight the problems associated with the consumer attitude to wildlife, and pay forward to those who care.

To claim your exclusive Art POAP, subscribe to the NFT Innovation Digest for free and follow Victoria on Twitter, you will receive an email with your personal claim link within a day. Each claimed POAP will get the chance to win a free NFT giveaway by the Artist of the Week.

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Recommended Readings

• The Advent of NFT Finance #1: The Path to NFT Financialization: The first part of the research series from NFTfi in collaboration with CADLabs explores how NFT-based financial infrastructure will help cement NFTs as a universal internet primitive for tokenizing anything non-fungible;
• The leading categories within the NFT industry: This Twitter thread and article by Mason Nystrom analyzes the data behind the leading categories in the NFT industry;
• Cool NFT tools | Q1 2022: This article by Metaversal summarizes useful and innovative NFT tools updated for Q1 2022.

New podcasts and shows

• The Matthew and Rizzle Show: In this episode, Matthew and Rizzle speak with Jan and David from MovieShots, a project that will release NFTs that feature select stills of every segment of a movie separated by hard-cuts;
• Unchained Podcast: In this episode, Laura talks to the crypto tax experts Shehan Chandrasekera and John Cardone. The experts explain everything crypto traders need to understand when filing taxes for 2021;
• Overpriced JPEGs Podcast: In this episode, Carly interviews M Shadows aka Matt Sanders, frontman for Avenged Sevenfold, a world-renowned rock & metal band. Matt explains why his band is on the cutting edge of innovation around web3’s artist-fan relationship.

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.
• 20th - 23rd June: NFT NYC is the leading annual NFT event, don't miss it!

NFT space in numbers

The values below are from 11th - 17th February 2022. Source: DappRadar.

Top Marketplaces

Top Sales

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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