NFTs & DeFi 🗓

2023-04-27 10:25:07 Coty Launches Internal Upskilling Metaverse for Global Workforce

Beauty company Coty has stepped into the metaverse, launching a virtual campus designed to upskill its global workforce. Coty – which includes brands like Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Rimmel, and Nautica in its portfolio – has partnered with 3D social platform Spatial to create an internal metaverse to train its 11,000-strong workforce. Coty Campus will roll out in the Fall of 2023 and will be the first-of-its-kind virtual training platform. The metaverse generated a lot of hype when it first debuted, and consumer goods companies continue to build out virtual reality and “metaverse” platforms in sales and marketing efforts – primarily through immersive retail experiences. In 2021, for example, Nike, launched Nikeland on the Roblox platform, while Chobani hosted a virtual marathon on the same platform. For Halloween last year, PepsiCo and Frito-Lay North America gave customers the chance to immerse themselves in a digital neighborhood – Chesterville – and bring back discontinued Cheetos flavors. In recent weeks, Estee Lauder brand Clinique rolled out a new digital retail concept, The Clinique Lab.

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2023-04-27 04:25:06 The Sandbox partners with Ledger Enterprise to secure metaverse businesses

Decentralized metaverse platform The Sandbox will partner with security solution provider Ledger Enterprise to develop security integration for its partners, who will get their nonfungible token collections migrated to the Ledger wallet. The Sandbox announced the partnership in its official blog on April 23. The collaboration will include several initiatives. The Sandbox will appear as a DApp on Ledger Enterprise, and a certain widget will also be integrated in the Ledger Live desktop application. All NFTs in The Sandbox collection wallet will be transferred to the Ledger Enterprise wallet. Apart from that, as the release emphasizes, The Sandbox will recommend Ledger Enterprise to its LAND owner ecosystem, while Ledger will promote The Sandbox metaverse to its clients. The initiative extends the recently established partnership between The Sandbox and Ledger to promote crypto education in the metaverse. In 2022, companies have tried to work together for the first time, promoting crypto security education through a game, called School of Block, in The Sandbox’s Metaverse. According to the VP of communications at The Sandbox, Ariel Wengroff, the company was “thrilled” with this experience.

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2023-04-26 20:41:02 The LAMINA1 Ecosystem Fund (L1EF) Invests in Metaverse: Innovation Lab 0 Studio and Phygital Goods Platform Legitimate

The LAMINA1 Ecosystem Fund (L1EF), launched by LAMINA1 as the world’s first publicly-accessible rolling ecosystem fund for a Layer1 blockchain, announced its inaugural investments in two disruptive Web3 companies that are building immersive technologies and experiences driving the future of the Open Metaverse: IP innovation lab and studio 0Studio, and Legitimate, a platform that bridges physical and digital experiences The first-of-its-kind fund serves two goals: to offer global accredited investors a way to gain direct investment access to early-stage Layer1 projects not previously accessible to the general public, and to provide Web3 builders a vehicle for raising capital for their Open Metaverse ventures. With a minimum commitment of $2,500 quarterly and $10,000 annually, L1EF’s AngelList roll-up structure allows accredited investors to access and co-invest in companies and entrepreneurs through quarterly subscriptions. “Our goal at L1EF is to invest in builders, creators, and early-stage projects that broaden the LAMINA1 platform and bring the vision of an Open Metaverse to life,” said Peter Vessenes, Founding Partner of L1EF and Co-Founder of LAMINA1.

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2023-04-26 16:25:00 Mad Lads New Collection On Solana Rocking The NFT Market

Solana NFT is again in the spotlight with the highly successful launch of Mad Lads NFT. Since the collapse of the FTX/Alameda Research empire in late 2022, the Solana ecosystem has been in global trouble. It seemed that Solana would gradually recede, but in recent days, the keyword “Solana NFT” has once again taken over the community when the NFT Mad Lads collection caused an intense fever. Mad Lads is the NFT collection of Backpack, a crypto wallet on Solana. Mad Lads’ art style gives us an old-fashioned feel, along with the young men’s clothing styles of the previous decades. In addition, some images are not only people but also robots or alien entities, but are still “retro”. Thereby making the collection even more unique. The Mad Lads Collection – a project tied to the burgeoning field of duo Solana Armani Ferrante and Tristan Yver – will open to public mints at 7 pm ET (23:00 UTC) Friday, an account pegged to the enhanced non-fungible token (NFT) the project tweeted late Thursday. Representing Backpack and Mad Lads are veteran KOLs who have a voice in the Solana NFT community.

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2023-04-26 10:25:00 Web3 Entertainment Studio Toonstar to Release NFT-Backed TV Series ‘Space Junk’

Web3 entertainment company Toonstar will soon release a new non-fungible token (NFT)-backed animated television show called “Space Junk.” The comedy series, a story about trash collectors in space, is written by “Workaholics” producer Dominic Russo and stars “Napoleon Dynamite” actor Jon Heder and “School of Rock” actor Tony Cavalero. Fans of the show will be able to mint “Space Junk” NFTs on the Theta blockchain, giving them an opportunity to engage with the project’s intellectual property (IP) through building the show’s narrative, creating characters and participating in token holder-only experiences. John Attanasio, CEO and co-founder of Toonstar, told CoinDesk that the model of “Space Junk,” as well as other Toonstar productions, helps break down traditional creator regimes that have existed for years in Hollywood. Toonstar landed on the map in March 2022 after it released its show “The Gimmicks” alongside actress Mila Kunis, allowing token holders to help choose the direction of the show.

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2023-04-26 04:25:00 Polygon, Cardano and Solana NFT Sales Rise as Ethereum NFT Sales Slump

While the Ethereum blockchain remains by far the most popular choice for minting non-fungible tokens (NFT), other layer 1 blockchains and layer 2 networks have recently had small bumps in NFT sales. According to data from CryptoSlam, layer 1 blockchain Cardano, whose token is ADA, briefly overtook Ethereum scaling platform Polygon early on Monday as the fourth-most popular blockchain by NFT sales volume. As of Monday afternoon, Cardano had slid back into the sixth spot behind BNB and Polygon, according to Crypto Slam, although its sales were up 86% over the past 24 hours. The bump seems to have been led by interest in two projects, Goofy Gophers and Spacebudz, that have had over 185,000 ADA (about $70,000) in trading volume in the last 24 hours, according to CNFT.io. Meanwhile, Polygon has experienced a rise in sales volume over the past few days, according to a Dune dashboard compiled by NFT researcher Sealaunch. It appears that NFT collection Y00ts, which recently migrated from Solana to Polygon, has been driving much of the movement on OpenSea and Magic Eden.

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2023-04-25 20:41:01 L’Oréal Professionnel gets voluminous with new metaverse hairstyle drop

Collectively dubbed ‘Gravitas,‘ the new virtual hairstyles “offer more opportunities for metaverse gamers to fully express themselves,” L’Oréal Professionnel writes in a press release. As befitting the name of the new campaign (“gravitas” is a Latin word that translates into “heaviness” or “weight”), each of the new virtual hairstyles are shaped in a manner that seem to defy the laws of physics. And that seems to be precisely the point – after all, physical laws need not apply in the metaverse. The ‘Gravitas’ campaign was developed in partnership with Wunderma Thompson, an agency that has long been bullish on the metaverse. This isn’t L’Oréal’s first virtual rodeo. In November, L’Oréal Group – parent company to L’Oréal Professionnel – announced that it had launched five virtual hairstyles on Ready Player Me, a virtual avatar creation platform whose title is a play on the novel-turned-film Ready Player One. The results from the November campaign have apparently been promising enough to warrant the brand investing more heavily into its metaverse efforts. “Thanks to the success of this first launch,” L’Oréal Professionnel wrote in the press release, “the [‘Gravitas’] launch will go one step further, making [L’Oréal Professionnel].

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2023-04-25 16:25:13 Bored Ape Yacht Club Copycats Dealt Legal Blow by US Court

The hugely popular non-fungible token (NFT) maker of Bored Ape, Yuga Labs, has recently won its case against copycat Ryder Ripps. According to court documents, Yuga Labs is said to have won on all counts. The creator of the largest non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem comprising the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club, recently won a landslide over Ryder Ripps and his cohorts. The legal tussle which began last summer seems to have turned in the face of Yuga Labs. According to court documents, Yuga Labs has won its case against the copycats of its Bored Ape digital collectible on the cause of infringement. The US Northern District Court agreed with the prosecutor's position that the RRBAYC collection created by Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen was not only intended to highlight irregularities in Yuga Labs' NFT collection. Instead, it was determined that the defendant's use of the BAYC trademark did not represent fair use or due artistic expression as claimed. Not done there, the court also sided with Yuga Labs, ruling that the copycats committed false destination of origin and that the defendant's free speech claims were not tenable in this case.

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2023-04-25 10:25:07 PUBG Owner Reveals $37M Investment in Metaverse Startup

South Korean game developer Krafton behind the popular video game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (or PUBG) has disclosed a new metaverse venture in collaboration with Naver Z. In a press release, the Korean game developer said the new metaverse platform dubbed "Migaloo" will feature a create-to-earn (C2E) system, allowing content creators to make money from digital items in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). For PUBG's developers blockchain seems to be a promising technology as PUBG creator, Brendan Greene, earlier also revealed a new project called Artemis, which will be a metaverse game featuring NFTs.In an interview with Nathan Brown for Hit Points, Greene said the developers want to create a new digital place where players could have "a lot of meaningful things to do." It is unclear if Artemis and Migaloo can co-exist together or they are meant to function as independent entities. No timeframe for Artemis' release has been announced so far.It is unclear if Artemis and Migaloo can co-exist together or they are meant to function as independent entities.

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2023-04-25 04:25:07 Adidas Steps Into the Metaverse with NFT-Inspired Collection

Adidas is no stranger to innovation in the fashion industry. The company has been leading the way in creating new and exciting products that blend traditional design with cutting-edge technology. With the launch of the Indigo Herz Pack, a new NFT-inspired collection, Adidas is once again pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the world of fashion. Louis Vuitton is also exploring the world of NFTs with its new “LV League” project. The Indigo Herz Pack celebrates Adidas’ ‘Into the Metaverse’ transformation and includes 2145 pairs of Superstar shoes and 2195 printed hoodies, all inspired by the popular NFT, Indigo Herz. What’s unique about this collection is that #ALTSbyadidas holders will have token gated access to the collection, emphasizing Adidas’ commitment to bridging the gap between web2 and web3. This is a novel way for luxury brands and fashion brands to explore the world of NFTs and web3 technology. Adidas is not alone in exploring these new technologies. Many luxury brands and fashion brands are now exploring the possibilities of web3 and NFTs.

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