8 min read

NFT Innovation Digest #46

Gucci goes APE(Coin) / Moonbirds' CC0 move / Tiffany & Co sell out their CryptoPunks collection / Magic Eden adds Ethereum NFTs
NFT Innovation Digest #46

Cover: Legendary Masks by Julian Brangold

Most innovative (author's pick)

Image: Muse

British rock band Muse's upcoming album, Will of the People, will be released as a 'Digital Pressing', a form of limited-edition NFT launched on the Polygon-based platform Serenade, in partnership with Warner Music UK. This marks the first time in seven years that a new chart-eligible album format has been accepted (The previous? Streaming!).

More:

  • NFT albums were made eligible by the UK’s Official Charts Company (OCC) several months ago, but this is the first release to meet the relevant criteria. This is also not MUSE's first NFT project, having collaborated with CrypoKitties back in 2020.
  • The cost of the NFT album will be £20 and limited to 1000 copies, each digitally signed by the band. Those 1000 buyers will have their names recorded on the official roster of purchasers and the roster will not be updated upon future sales.

Most discussed

Image: Boardroom

Kevin Rose, the founder of popular NFT collection Moonbirds announced this week that both Moonbirds and companion collection Oddities would move to a CC0 public license. Public opinion has been divided so far, with some collectors and commentators welcoming the move but others questioning whether it was a reasonable decision months after the launch without allowing holders to vote.

More:

  • Expanding on the decision, Rose stated: "Justin Mezzell (my co-founder), Josh Cook (our president), and I have decided to set Moonbirds and Oddities free and embrace the CC0 movement that allows any and all modifications to what we’ve built... The authenticity of Moonbirds will not come from lawyers enforcing trademarks but rather from the proven provenance and single source of truth of smart contracts."
  • Rose simultaneously announced the upcoming formation of a Moonbirds DAO.
Image: Tiffany & Co

Global luxury jewellery brand Tiffany & Co made waves this week after announcing the launch of NFTiff: a collection of 250 digital passes which can be redeemed by CryptoPunk holders for the creation of a custom pendant inspired by that Punk and a bonus NFT resembling the final design. As of Friday 5th August (two days since the launch), the collection has officially sold out!

More:

  • The cost of the NFTTiffs was 30ETH, around $50,000.
  • According to the official FAQs, "CryptoPunk colors are represented as closely as possible using the natural colors of various gemstones" and "Each pendant will be engraved with CryptoPunk series number on the reverse along with the Tiffany & Co. logo."
Image: University College London

Pearson, an educational textbook publisher, plans to sell its books as NFTs in order to secure a percentage of revenue from secondary sales. The response from the NFT community has been mixed, with some praising the potential mainstream literary adoption and others questioning the feasibility and suitability of the project, as well as the additional burden on students.

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  • CEO Andy Bird explained in a Bloomberg interview that “In the analogue world, a Pearson textbook was resold up to seven times, and we would only participate in the first sale. Technology like blockchain and NFTs allows us to participate in every sale of that particular item as it goes through its life”.
  • The Verge, however, responded that “NFTs don’t bring an obvious technical innovation to this question" and suggested NFTs would become "a fig leaf on top of an old-fashioned digital rights management or DRM framework."
  • Others have questioned how the IP would work, whether Pearson would even benefit financially given the lack of a digital resale market currently, and if this was merely an attempt to appear tech-savvy to their stakeholders.

Mainstream adoption

Image: BBC

Ticketmaster, the largest ticketing company in the US, is recruiting for a "Senior Product Manager, NFT Ticketing Integrations", demonstrating their intention to expand their offerings. According to the advert, they are also looking to add NFT-based products beyond tickets.

More:

  • The role is seeking someone to develop NFT-based products “across all content categories including sports and music.”
  • NFT ticketing is a hot topic, with multiple projects and collaborations recently announced - including a collaboration between Binance and football club S.S. Lazio.
Image: Wikimedia

Gucci announced this week that consumers will be able to pay with Yuga Labs' ApeCoin (APE) currency in selected US stores. The payments are facilitated by a partnership with BitPay.

More:

  • Other brands are now following suit, with Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer making a similar announcement this week.
  • Gucci has made several forays into NFTs this year, from a collaboration with vinyl toy creator Superplastic, to the 10KTF Gucci Grail - digital clothing for PFPs.

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New products and ideas

Image: Blockworks

Magic Eden, the NFT marketplace built on Solana, begins its multi-chain expansion project and will add support for Ethereum NFTs this month. Cross-currency trading tests are currently being conducted to enable users to purchase both Solana and Ethereum NFTs with $ETH, $SOL or a credit card. A cross-chain analytics dashboard is also in the works.

More:

  • This move heightens the rivalry between Magic Eden and OpenSea, who have openly and repeatedly critiqued each other's platforms. In particular, OpenSea has criticised ME's escrow system, meaning it has custody of listed NFTs.
  • Magic Eden was valued at $1.6B in its latest funding round in June 2022.
Image: Meta

Instagram announces support for NFTs in over 100 countries across 4 regions: Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas (with no word on when Europe may be included). Instagram users can share any NFTs they own by connecting their wallets, with support for Ethereum, Polygon and Flow NFTs enabled initially.

More:

  • At present, the feature will have no fees and a range of wallets will be accepted: MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, Dapper Wallet and Rainbow.
  • This announcement took place days after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin publicly criticised corporate attempts at Metaverse-building, stating that 'anything Facebook creates now will misfire'.
Image: NFT Plazas

As NFT collections continue to look for exciting and innovative mechanisms to reward holders, the Solana NFT project Okay Bears announced its first community airdrop will be Founders Coins that are redeemable for physical gold. Each will equate to a weight between 0.25 and 10 grams, with the current value for a gram of gold being $56.50.

More:

  • Alternatively, the coins can be exchanged for the equivalent gold value in $SOL or $USDC. Coins that are redeemed will then be burned.

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  • The Ultimate Guide to NFT Airdrops: In this new guide from NFT Plazas, Maruf breaks down the definition, use cases, and different types of Airdrop;
  • CC0 and NFTs: Understanding Ownership: Eric James Beyer revisits his deep dive for into what a CC0 license is and the pros and cons for NFTs, in light of recent developments such as Moonbirds' licensing update.

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NFT space in numbers

The values below are from 30 July - 5 August. Source: DappRadar.

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