NFTs & DeFi 🗓

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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2022-10-04 03:25:04 Japanese prime minister says gov't investment in digital transformation will include Metaverse, NFTs

According to Fumio Kishida, the government of Japan's investment in digital transformation included issuing NFTs to local authorities using digital solutions. Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan since 2021, has said the government will be making efforts to promote Web3 services, including those dealing with nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, and the Metaverse. In an Oct. 3 speech before Japan’s National Diet, Kishida said the government’s investment in the country’s digital transformation already included issuing NFTs to local authorities using digital technology to solve challenges in their respective jurisdictions. He also hinted at digitizing national identity cards. In addition, the prime minister said the cabinet would “promote efforts to expand the use of Web 3.0 services that utilize the metaverse and NFTs.”

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2022-10-03 20:40:06 Far EasTone scores points in 5G metaverse accelerator

Ericsson announced that Far EasTone (FET), a leading operator from Taiwan, has become the latest company signing up for Ericsson Startup 5G program, which is designed to help communication service providers (CSPs) capture the consumer potential of 5G. Through a curated network of more than 40 startups worldwide, the Ericsson Startup 5G program aims to help CSPs accelerate commercialization and monetization of 5G. The program is driven by the Ericsson ConsumerLab to foster innovation and collaboration across the 5G ecosystem, plugging into a wide range of sectors, including entertainment, education, gaming, sports, and social media. FET is the first CSP in Northeast Asia to enroll in the program, joining a lineup of word-leading operators.

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2022-10-03 16:05:05 OpenSea Recorded $144.5M in Revenue in Q3, With Creators Benefitting 76% of Funds

OpenSea earned $144.5 million in fees from users, with most of the money going to creators, according to Token Terminal. In a tweet, Token Terminal disclosed that only $35 million went to OpenSea LLC. This means 76% of the fees went to creators. This isn’t surprising since the NFT marketplace only collects 2.5% of the sale as fees. With OpenSea controlling about 90% of the NFT marketplace, trends in the marketplace usually mirror the overall market performance. Over the year, the sales volume has declined, dropping from $5.2 billion in January to around 349 million in September.

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2022-10-03 09:03:02 Apple CEO Tim Cook does not want to talk about the metaverse

Apple CEO Tim Cook continues to discuss VR and AR in a way that suggests Apple’s imminent entry into the market. However, this has been the case for years. Augmented reality is a “profound technology that will affect everything,” Cook says in a recent interview. Life without AR will soon be unimaginable; it “won’t be long now.”. These are just about the exact phrases Cook has been pulling out of his rhetoric drawer for years when reporters ask about Apple’s AR plans. Cook already said at the end of 2018 that life without AR would “soon” no longer be imaginable. So far, however, Apple has limited itself to simple AR applications with the smartphone, which cannot fulfill Cook’s full-bodied promises. In early 2023, an expensive tech headset from Apple with mixed reality mode.

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2022-10-03 03:14:01 Solana NFT Game Star Atlas Launches Playable Demo on Epic Games Store

Star Atlas is arguably one of the most ambitious NFT-driven games on the horizon, although it could be years before the Solana-based outer space strategy game fully takes shape. Eager players won’t have to wait that long to get a small taste, however: a limited demo has just been released via the Epic Games Store. Launched today as part of a live-streamed event, Star Atlas: Showroom is a pre-alpha demo of the Unreal Engine 5 technology powering the game. It lets Star Atlas NFT owners explore a 3D environment and view the ships and vehicles in which they've invested. The Foundation Software Development Kit (F-KIT) is an open-source SDK that lets Unreal Engine 5 developers integrate the Solana blockchain.

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2022-10-02 22:01:45 Christie's is Launching an NFT Sales Platform to Feature Its Digital Work

Christie’s has launched a new NFT platform called Christie’s 3.0, where buyers will be able to directly connect their wallets and bid on NFTs. In that way, it will function like NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea. Sotheby’s, a competitor to Christie’s, also has an NFT marketplace, but it so far has largely delivered mixed results. The inaugural auction held by Christie’s 3.0 will feature the works of Diana Sinclair, an 18-year old artist who was also recently signed to the United Talent Agency. Sinclair’s short video works are estimated at 6–8 ETH, or around $7,990–$10,650. Following the onset of a crypto winter during the first two quarters of 2022, the NFT space has been quiet, but according to Giles, the timing isn’t all that bad. She said that Christie’s decided to launch Christie’s 3.0.

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