NFTs & DeFi 🗓

2022-08-27 00:10:07 Animoca Brands’ Japan unit raises $45M at $500M valuation for NFT push

Asia’s crypto games and web3 investment powerhouse Animoca Brands is making inroads into Japan as its local unit picks up $45 million in financing at a $500 million pre-money valuation. The investment, which was shelled out equally by the parent firm Animoca Brands and MUFG Bank. Japan isn’t the most crypto-friendly country. Currently, it imposes a 30% corporate tax on profit from cryptocurrency holdings, including unrealized gains, a policy that has triggered a blockchain brain drain and pleas by local crypto startups to lower tax rates.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2022-08-26 18:50:08 Researchers warn of darkverse emerging from the metaverse

The metaverse is seen by many companies as a great business opportunity and for new ways of working. Security provider Trend Micro, however, warns in a recent research report that cyber criminals could misuse the technology for their own purposes. Security researchers predict that a kind of darknet structure could emerge there, similar to today's Internet. The machinations of the cyber gangsters could even take place in protected rooms that can only be reached from a specific physical location and via valid authentication tokens.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2022-08-26 14:10:10 Azuki NFT The Anime Avatar Project Killed by Its Founder

Despite hundreds, possibly thousands of NFT projects launching since the NFT avatar scene exploded in early 2021, not too many went from zero to hero, and even fewer circled all the way back. Azuki’s story is one of those: one of reaching the absolute heights of hype and falling to relative mediocrity. Launched in January 2022 by four anonymous founders, Azuki was one of the few avatar NFT collections that everyone believed had done everything right.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2022-07-25 16:15:07 LinkedIn Co-Founder Launches NFT on Solana Marketplace

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is transforming DALL-E Arts into Solana NFT. The billionaire is rolling out a series of Solana-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on digital images he creates with DALL-E artificial intelligence software. Hoffman explained the development in a Twitter thread, noting that it was inspired by the potential of DALL-E and NFTs. Speaking further on the NFT initiative, the LinkedIn co-founder noted his fascination with how DALL-E “created both digital abundance and digital scarcity.” On digital abundance, he explained that a user with no prior experience with art could generate several images that depict expertise.

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2022-07-25 09:10:06 Fortune India 40 Under 40: ‘Metaverse is a natural progression into the future’

With the Metaverse market estimated to be an $8-trillion opportunity in the coming five years, fashion brands are going big on this next big thing so stay relevant in their game. Is it an opportunity for smart companies or a just bubble? During a 'Metaverse - From Fantasy to Reality' panel discussion at Fortune India's 40 Under 40 Awards. People were scared of how data will be transferred. After the pandemic, virtual reality and extended reality, I feel metaverse will be the next very big opportunity where people don't want to travel or want to have a different experience. Like you go to a supermarket and find predefined clothes.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2022-07-25 05:08:02 22.9 million people register interest in Dubai Police’s first NFT collection

Dubai: As many as 22.91 million people from all over the globe registered their interest in getting Dubai Police’s first collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which was released by the Dubai Police General Command during the second quarter of this year. Brigadier Khalid Nasser Al Razooqi, Director of the General Department of Artificial Intelligence at Dubai Police, said that the Dubai Police received more than 7,000 direct messages from participants through its social media platforms.

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2022-07-24 17:18:05 NFT sales will fund the restoration of physical monuments in Ukraine

The Ukrainian government will be using the proceeds of sales from an online nonfungible token, or NFT, museum to restore artwork in the real world. According to a Friday announcement and information shared with Cointelegraph, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy said the government supported. Meta History Museum of War platform, aimed at preserving the timeline of major events in Russia’s war with Ukraine, raised 803.28 Ether (ETH) — roughly $1.3 million at the time — through NFT sales. The ministry said proceeds from the sales will go toward “the restoration of Ukrainian cultural institutions,” many of which have been damaged or destroyed by missile attacks from Russia.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2022-07-24 11:15:02 Minecraft ban ‘hypocritical’ and NFTs are inclusive: Animoca’s Yat Siu

Yat Siu, the co-founder of crypto/NFT venture fund giant Animoca Brands, labeled the recent Minecraft NFT ban as “hypocritical” and emphasized that nonfungible tokens (NFT) can be inclusive, despite arguments to the contrary.The firm stated that NFTs were against its values, as they foster price speculation, scarcity, exclusion and potential rug pulls. Projects such as NFT Worlds were utilizing Minecraft’s open source servers to host a metaverse platform that had crypto and NFT ecosystems built around it. The project appeared to be relatively popular, given that it has generated more than $80 million worth of NFT trading volume and claims to have around 100,000 players.

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2022-07-24 06:35:03 Telefonica to Invest in Metaverse Through Gamium

Telefonica, one of the largest communication companies in Spain, has decided to invest in Gamium, strengthening its metaverse push. The company will allocate a non-disclosed amount of funds to this metaverse initiative through Wayra, its innovation-based incubator arm. Metaverse initiatives have become popular for companies and VCs to invest in during this market downturn. Telefonica, one of the biggest communication companies in Spain, has announced it will fortify its metaverse investment by supporting Gamium, a Spanish virtual world initiative.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2022-07-23 20:45:08 BitMart Elite NFT-Based Membership Program Launches

BitMart is thrilled to announce an innovation to the NFT and Web3 space: an industry-first tokenized month-long membership program. BitMart will be airdropping users an NFT that, when held in a BitMart wallet, will provide users with access to unique benefits across many BitMart products. Unlike many NFTs, which are simply digital art, this NFT represents proof of membership, offering an elite status to BitMart users that comes with exclusive member benefits.

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