NFT Innovation Digest #23

Most innovative (author's pick)

NFT Playbook is the first comprehensive guide to launch quality NFT projects. The guide aims to inspire, grow and give back to the early and developing NFT ecosystem by providing insights from top projects like Crypto Covens, Chainrunners, World of Women, Womenrise, Infinity Labs, & more.

More:

• The playbook has three tiers:
• "Shelter", with free access to 38 out of 79 topics;
• "Home", costing 0.06 ETH at the genesis and a 350 supply, provides access to 54 out of 79 topics;
• "Manor", costing 0.11 ETH at the genesis and a 170 supply, provides access to all the 79 topics plus access to private Discord with NFT founders and exclusive new content drops and updates.

Most discussed

An apparent phishing attack affected 32 OpenSea users on 19th February, causing the loss of 54 tokens worth approximately $1.7M. OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer described the attack as the victims signed a partial contract with a general authorization; with the signature, the attackers completed a contract call to their own contract which transferred ownership of the NFTs.  

More:

• All the orders made by the attackers contained valid signatures, meaning the issue was related to phishing and not a systemic risk with OpenSea;
• None of the malicious orders were executed against OpenSea's new contract (Wyvern 2.3) which indicates they were signed before the contract migration.

Sotheby's withdraws lot with 104 CryptoPunks minutes before the auction. The auction was withdrawn after discussions with the consignor, 0x650d. Early this month the auction house announced the auction and had also planned a discussion pannel and afterparty to signify the event.

More:

• The value of the lot had been estimated to be between $20M and $30M, according to Sotheby's statement at the time of its initial announcement.

Mainstream Adoption

Universal Music Group (UMG) partnered with Curio, an NFT platform for entertainment brands, to launch NFTs from UMG's record labels, operating companies, and recording artists.

More:

• According to Universal, the collaboration will provide greater "scalability and flexibility to issue fan-oriented collectibles.";
• Since its launch in 2020, Curio has released over 75,000 NFTs with entertainment brands. Its co-founder Ben Arnon previously worked at UMG.

Actress Reese Witherspoon partnered with the NFT project World of Women (WoW) to make films and TV series using the project's IP. Reese's company Hello Sunshine, sold to Blackstone for $900M, will develop the films and shows.

More:

• In the last month, WoW signed for Hollywood representation with Madonna and U2 manager Guy Oseary;
• The WoW token holders will have the opportunity to get involved in the production process of the media projects.

New products and ideas

Crypto exchange FTX U.S. is launching FTX Gaming, a new gaming business focused on helping gaming studios to integrate blockchain and NFT technology into their games.

More:

• FTX Gaming will provide a "crypto-as-a-service" platform to game publishers launch tokens and offer support for NFTs;
• According to two job openings created earlier this month, FTX U.S. is hiring software engineers with experience in C# and Unity, a popular game development platform.

NFT artist Pplpleasr announced a decentralized video platform called Shibuya at ETH Denver. According to the artist, Shibuya aims to be a mix of Netflix, Vimeo, and Kickstarter, but with a decentralization focus.

More:

• The first media launch of Shibuya is called White Rabbit, which includes elements of anime, the English drama Black Mirror and Web3;
• “Shibuya is a decentralized Hollywood, where cultures and ideas meet in one eclectic and inspiring place,” Pplpleasr said at ETHDenver.

NFT Artist of the Week - Lilya

This week's Artist of the Week is Lilya, a graphic designer and visual storyteller NFT artist. Lilya's creations represent a mix of photo manipulation, digital art, and drawings in order to express thoughts and metaphors.

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

Recommended Readings

• How to Keep Your NFTs Safe: This article by NFT Insight explores different types of scams in the NFT space and provides security best practices to keep your NFTs safe;
• Metaverse Explorer: Exploring ONYX by J.P. Morgan: This NFT Plazas article explores the first J.P. Morgan lounge in the Metaverse.

New podcasts and shows

• CoinGecko Podcast: In this episode, Ben interviews Karl Jacob, founder of LoanSnap. Karl provides insights on how Bacon Protocol provides DeFi wallet owners to access the mortgage markets to diversify their investments;
• Zima Red Podcast: In this episode, Andrew talks to Alex Svanevik, founder of the blockchain analytics platform Nansen. Alex shares his background and the reason he started Nansen;
• The Metaverse Podcast: In this episode, Jamie talks to Nate Alex, the creator of ChainFaces and CMO of Secret Project, on the importance of experimentation with new technology, NFT use-cases, and the pressures of an NFT community.

Save the date

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

NFT space in numbers

The values below are from 18th - 24th 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.