NFTs & DeFi 🗓

2022-10-06 16:10:08 Japan Launches Headlong Into Metaverse in Bid To Revitalize Economy

The prime minister of Japan has said the country would prioritize investments in digital technology, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse, during an annual address to the country’s legislature. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke about the current state of affairs in Japan, from its pandemic response, to how it would cope with rising inflation. One priority, the prime minister emphasized, would be focusing on supporting the social implementation of digital technology. He added that this would involve promoting the expanded use of Web3 services that utilize the metaverse, and NFTs.

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2022-10-06 09:29:03 Ubisoft, Take-Two Back Ethereum NFT Game Maker Horizon in $40M Round

The two firms are among those that participated in the funding round, which was led by Brevan Howard Digital and Morgan Creek Digital. Other backers include Polygon, gaming-centric VC firm Bitkraft, metaverse investor Everyrealm, payments firm Xsolla, and Initialized Capital. Horizon also attracted some notable individual investors with the round. Skyweaver is a digital trading card game akin to Blizzard’s popular Hearthstone, albeit with the cards represented as Ethereum NFT assets that can be sold and traded—similar to rival NFT game Gods Unchained. An NFT is a blockchain tokenthat represents ownership in a unique item, including digital goods like artwork, collectibles, and video game items.

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2022-10-06 04:25:02 Mainstream NFT adoption will be driven mostly by their utility

Hype may have been a factor in the rise of NFTs, but the actual utility will be the catalyst for the mainstream adoption of the technology. Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have seen a stratospheric surge in popularity accompanied by sky-high values, giving rise to legitimate and ongoing worries about a market bubble, as many projects lacked real-world application or utility. NFT utility is an essential component because it adds value and functionality to the technology. One of the most well-known use cases for NFTs is the ownership of digital art pieces like CryptoPunks. Play-to-earn (P2E) gaming is another use case that had massive popularity in 2021. In addition, collections have access to a strong branding strategy that works in conjunction.

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2022-10-05 22:10:07 NFT Domains Make Transacting in Crypto Easier

Under the new agreement, users of the 1inch Wallet can purchase a domain name from Unstoppable Domains that they can freely mint as a non-fungible token (NFT). The user will then be the perpetual owner of the name. Domain names help prevent users from accidentally entering incorrect alphanumeric strings when transacting with other wallets. 1inch Network is a suite of DeFi protocols accessible through a unified frontend. The most popular protocol is the 1inch DEX aggregator that can aggregate or collect prices from multiple decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and split trades to offer consumers the best prices.

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2022-10-05 16:10:06 Hugo Boss to launch NFT and '360-degree metaverse experience' with Imaginary Ones

Hugo, the youth-focused arm of Hugo Boss, said that it would be taking its apparel into the metaverse via a partnership with the whimsical NFT project Imaginary Ones. It will launch a "holistic, 360-degree metaverse experience," Hugo announced on Tuesday, as part of a "global refresh" of its brand. The NFT collection, which launches in early November, will consist of 1,001 three-dimensional animations and will be entitled Embrace Your Emotions (EYE). "The aim of the collection is to encourage everyone to connect with their emotions, and to share a message that all feelings – positive and negative – are valid and should be embraced, as the freedom to feel and express can significantly improve mental health and overall well-being," Imaginary Ones explained in a release.

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2022-10-05 09:40:04 $1.5 billion Web3 VC firm founder projects NFTs to rebound powered by more use cases

After recording a surge in popularity in 2021, the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) market is now in dire straights in correlation with the general crypto sector. However, a section of the market is projecting a rebound in the NFT space with a possible increase in use cases. Haun, the CEO of the $1.5 billion VC firm, noted that a return of NFTs would also be powered by the increasing. In particular, the founder of Web3-focused venture capital (VC) firm, Haun Ventures, Katie Haun, has suggested that NFTs will make a comeback mainly inspired by the general shift to the digital world, she said during an interview with Bloomberg Crypto on October 4. It is worth noting that the collapse of the NFT market was recently highlighted by the significant plunge in the trading volume. As reported by Finbold on September 29, NFT trading volume dropped by 97% since the high recorded in January.

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2022-10-05 04:03:01 NFT Monthly Sales Top $947M as Solana Gains Ground on Ethereum

Amid the ongoing crypto market downturn, overall NFT sales volume remained largely flat in September. But while overall volume appears stagnant, individual NFT sales are keeping pace, high value NFTs on Ethereum are still selling, and Solana NFTs are gaining steam. All in all, $947 million worth of NFT trading volume was recorded in September, according to data from DappRadar—and that figure specifically excludes suspected wash trades. That compares to $927 million in August and nearly $916 million in July. June was the last month to crack the billion-dollar mark at $1.03 billion. The NFT market remains in significant decline from the frenzy of late 2021 and earlier this year.

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2022-10-04 22:29:02 TIME President on NFT Haters: ‘I Don’t Understand the Politicizing of a Technology’

According to TIME President Keith Grossman, Web3 wasn’t part of the plan. In an interview with Decrypt at the Mainnet conference in New York, Grossman shared the story of how TIME was changed forever through crypto and NFTs, and offered his thoughts on Web3 skeptics. The main plan was never to bring TIME into Web3,” Grossman said. “We were really rehabilitating a brand that was neglected for ten years. Until COVID created national isolation and an even deeper dependency on the internet, that is. The global pandemic made Grossman realize that, from his location in upstate New York, his digital identity was just as important as his physical one. Not only did Grossman see NFTs as a business opportunity—he also sees a parallel between memes and NFTs.

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2022-10-04 15:50:06 Bored Apes' Otherside Builder Improbable Eyes Fresh Funding at $3.6 Billion Valuation

Gaming technology startup Improbable is set to raise a new funding round of $111 million (£100 million) as it sets its sights on creating metaverse worlds for buzzy Web3 firms like Bored Ape Yacht Club-creator Yuga Labs. The hyped, Softbank-backed company is finally close to achieving “operating profitability,” its CEO Herman Narula said. The CEO said its venture with Yuga Labs, where it and Animoca Brands were tapped to create the "Otherside" metaverse, will contribute a big part of its revenue in 2022. The latest round would value the company at $3.36 billion (£3 billion), up from its last $2.8 billion (£2.5 billion) valuation in 2018.

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2022-10-04 09:55:06 Ocean Outdoor and LandVault Launch World’s First Web 3 Metaverse DOOH Package

Digital out of home (DOOH) media owner Ocean Outdoor has launched the world’s first cross-platform Web 3 metaverse out of home package with retailer Argos as its brand partner. Argos is using the space on the metaverse screens as part of its strategy to drive consideration and awareness of premium products and tech brands. The dual world campaign has also appeared on Ocean’s Holland Park Roundabout tri screen in London alongside an NFT replica of the same billboard inside Somnium Space VR Metaverse and is running across real world roadside locations in Birmingham and Manchester until October 23. Argos campaign manager Becky Desert said: “This campaign is part of a reappraisal strategy for Argos where we hope to drive consideration and awareness of more premium products and brands that some people don’t think of Argos for.

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