NFT & Crypto Updates

2023-09-18 16:02:59 OKX NFT Trading Soars 114%, Overtakes Blur and OpenSea in DeFi Craze

OKX NFT Marketplace has demonstrated its prowess by recording an astonishing 114% surge in trading volume, reaching a staggering $11.54 million on September 16. The marketplace’s rapid ascent can be attributed to its strategic focus on aggregating liquidity from various exchanges. By providing a seamless and efficient platform for NFT trading, OKX has successfully attracted a significant influx of users seeking to capitalize on the booming NFT market. OKX NFT Marketplace apart is its ability to cater to the burgeoning community of DeFi enthusiasts, affectionately known as “Degen players.” With overall active addresses accounting for approximately 49.6% of Blur and 14.8% of OpenSea, OKX NFT Marketplace’s offerings have evidently struck a chord with this niche segment of the market. Its user-friendly interface and diverse range of NFT collections have solidified its reputation as a go-to destination for DeFi enthusiasts. A substantial 31.13% of the marketplace’s addresses belong to Power Users, further underlining the platform’s appeal to experienced NFT traders and collectors. This diverse user base fosters an environment of innovation and growth, ensuring that OKX NFT Marketplace remains a dynamic and influential player in the NFT space.

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2023-09-18 10:02:59 Bitcoin Metaverse Token Coming From Animoca Game Studio

Crypto gaming and metaverse investment giant Animoca Brands has unveiled plans this week through one of its subsidiary companies to launch a first-of-its-kind metaverse ecosystem token on Bitcoin via the Ordinals protocol. Game studio Darewise Entertainment (aka Life Beyond Studios), an Animoca subsidiary, aims to create an all-encompassing metaverse ecosystem built around Bitcoin Ordinals—a protocol that lets users inscribe NFT-like assets to the blockchain and create BRC-20 tokens on Bitcoin. The studio’s metaverse plan includes gaming, brand integrations, real-world experiences, and more. Darewise is the studio behind Life Beyond, an upcoming metaverse game with NFTs. It will be the first game to implement the newly announced Bitcoin-based metaverse token for in-game assets, virtual lands, and more. To create the upcoming Bitcoin token, Darewise will collaborate with Horizen Labs, the company that helped develop the smart contract and token strategy for ApeCoin (APE)—the Ethereum-based token tied to the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project. Life Beyond has previously released gaming NFTs on Ethereum scaling network Polygon. “I'm very excited for our Life Beyond Studios to be pioneering the use of Bitcoin Ordinals,” Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung told Decrypt.

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2023-09-18 04:02:59 Karl Lagerfeld’s legacy goes phygital; Diesel NFT holders visit Milan Fashion Week

With fashion month in full swing, all eyes are on the physical runways. But there are plenty of activations taking place in the online world, too. Though big brands have significantly toned down their use of Web3-powered technologies this time, following a standout season for Web3 and blockchain in September last year, a small community of enthusiasts and experimentalists continues to push ahead with its tech vision on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Diesel is relying on traditional fashion week’s cultural influence to propel its latest project. With consumers demanding more than just a well-packaged item from luxury brands, the Italian retailer is expanding its horizons, and inviting its tokenholder community to attend the frontlines of its upcoming Milan Fashion Week runway. Experiential digital goods marketplace The Dematerialised launched the third product from its Karl Lagerfeld partnership, a phygital collection dubbed ‘POP Karl,’ created in collaboration with Venetian ceramics label Bosa Ceramiche and released on September 7. The drop included two limited-edition sculptures. Each arrived with its own non-fungible token (NFT), alongside 177 digital Karl proof of attendance protocols (POAPs).

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2023-09-17 21:44:48 Deloitte: Manufacturing Industry Expected to be Fundamentally Transformed by Industrial Metaverse

Deloitte and the Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC), "Exploring the Industrial Metaverse," examines the opportunity for manufacturers to leverage next-gen technology by entering the industrial metaverse and its immersive three-dimensional virtual environments to spearhead ongoing transformation and improve operational efficiencies. Adoption of the industrial metaverse technologies could help manufacturers to build new markets and unlock measurable value. The outlook for continued adoption of industrial metaverse infrastructure appears strong. The report found nearly two-thirds of respondents believe the industrial metaverse will fundamentally transform how organizations do business, interact, collaborate, or have value-added virtual experiences over the next five years. Analysis of the anonymous survey results identified a cohort of respondents whose companies are already taking the lead in metaverse implementation. They are likely to have a higher number of metaverse use cases in play; are committing larger investments to their metaverse initiatives; and are more likely to look towards external partners to help deploy metaverse initiatives.

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2023-09-17 16:03:01 PUBG Creator Krafton Unveils 'Overdare' NFT Game With AI Creation Tools

South Korean game studio Krafton, maker of the popular battle royale shooter PUBG, announced Thursday that its upcoming NFT-driven metaverse game project will be called Overdare—and offered a first look at the creation-centric platform. Previously known as Project Migaloo, Overdare will soft-launch in December and fully release sometime between January and July 2024, Krafton said in a statement. The company has created its own blockchain, Settlus, for the game. Overdare appears to be a Roblox-like mobile game platform built with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5 that will offer creators generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help gamers craft their own shooter games, role-playing games (RPGs), and action RPGs, to name a few. The social game platform will also let users create custom avatars and chat with each other. The first official teaser trailer above suggests an open-world platform that lets users build games and environments using AI tools, play the wide array of user-generated games, attend virtual concerts, customize their avatars, and more. Earlier this year, Krafton announced the project as a joint venture between the studio and Naver Z, an augmented reality (AR) tech firm.

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2023-09-17 10:03:01 Nouns Fork: Disgruntled NFT Holders Exit With $27 Million From Treasury

The community of NFT holders in prominent Ethereum collection Nouns fractured into two late Friday when a proposed fork from the project was completed. Holders of more than half of all Nouns NFTs opted to leave—and collectively withdrew over $27 million worth of ETH from the project treasury in the process. The owners of 472 total Nouns NFTs—out of 846 in total, or almost 56% of the collection—joined the fork, and took almost 16,757 ETH ($27.3 million worth at present) with them from the current Nouns DAO treasury into a new DAO organization. A DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, is an online group with tokenized membership and shared goals. Ultimately, the amount of Ethereum leaving the treasury divides down to approximately 35.5 ETH per NFT, or about $57,850. As a result of the fork, the owners’ original NFTs will be returned to the DAO treasury and each holder will be issued a replacement NFT with identical artwork for the new DAO. The new DAO will let holders “ragequit” and take their share of the treasury—that 35.5 ETH per NFT—and forfeit their profile picture (PFP) for good. The move signals a lack of confidence from many who bought into the current Nouns DAO format, which has seen millions of dollars worth of ETH spent since the project’s debut in 2021 to fund an array of Nouns-themed projects.

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2023-09-17 04:03:01 NFT Music Market Royal Founder 3LAU Withdraws From friend.tech, Donates ETH To Charity

3LAU, the renowned founder of the NFT music marketplace royal, has made a significant decision to withdraw from friend.tech. This announcement comes as a surprise to the crypto community, given 3LAU‘s prominent role in the NFT and blockchain space. Friend.tech, a blockchain-based project, had issued tokens known as KEY, which 3LAU held. At its peak, the maximum value of 3LAU’s KEY tokens on the platform was 0.36 ETH. However, recent market dynamics have seen the value decline significantly to 0.03 ETH. Despite this drop, there are still 20 holders retaining their KEY tokens. 3LAU’s decision to exit friend.tech and redirect his assets towards charitable endeavors underscores the importance of risk assessment and philanthropy within the cryptocurrency community. This move also highlights the dynamic nature of blockchain projects and the need for careful consideration when engaging with emerging platforms. The donation of 8 ETH to a NFT music-related charity reflects 3LAU’s ongoing commitment to the music industry’s growth and development, even as he navigates the evolving crypto landscape. As blockchain technology continues to influence various sectors, including music, 3LAU’s philanthropic gesture serves as a positive example of leveraging crypto wealth for social good.

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2023-09-16 21:03:01 Magic Eden integrates Solana’s compressed NFTs into marketplace

Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden has announced that it will support Solana’s compressed NFTs (cNFTs) to provide a cost-efficient and scalable alternative to owning digital collectibles. According to Magic Eden, this type of NFT is ideal for creating mass-produced collections in various industries like gaming, music, events and the metaverse. The NFT marketplace believes that it allows creators to reach wider audiences without spending more. The NFT marketplace also believes that by lowering the costs involved in NFT production, it can potentially promote adoption and become an “easy access point” for new people to try out collecting NFTs. With lower costs, users can collect NFTs without risking a large amount of funds to acquire collections. It lowers the risk of losing money over NFTs. CNFTs are powered by Solana’s state compression, a feature that allows as many as 1 million NFTs to be minted with just around $110. Compared with minting NFTs on Ethereum, which could cost anywhere from $2.9 to over $30 to mint per NFT, the cost of minting is drastically lowered with cNFTs.

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2023-09-16 16:02:56 Animoca Brands subsidiary to launch a metaverse token on Bitcoin

Darewise Entertainment, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is partnering with Horizen Labs to develop the first metaverse token on Bitcoin. Both firms are respected entities in the web3 and gaming arenas, and their alliance aims to challenge Ethereum’s(ETH) dominance in the space. “The potential for Bitcoin to become more than just a store of value is immense. To achieve that potential, we need to roll up our sleeves and build,” stated Benjamin Charbit, CEO of Darewise Entertainment. The proposed token will serve as the primary currency for Life Beyond, Darewise’s flagship game. It will facilitate transactions involving in-game assets, virtual lands, and more. Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, called this a “pivotal moment” for Bitcoin, saying, “high-quality gaming is one of the keys to mass adoption.” Horizen Labs, specializing in zero-knowledge cryptography, will provide technical and consultation services. “We are beyond thrilled to be working with Darewise and Animoca Brands. Our long history with Bitcoin makes this an inspiring project for us,” noted Robert Viglione, CEO of Horizen Labs. Despite their ambitions,there are hurdles to overcome.

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2023-09-16 10:02:56 Meta’s Horizon Worlds Metaverse Extended to Android & iOS

Meta, the tech giant formerly known as Facebook, is making a bold move to extend its Horizon Worlds metaverse beyond VR, starting with Super Rumble on Android and iOS. However, despite Meta’s claims of 200,000 monthly players, a YouTuber’s investigation revealed a different picture. Jarvis Johnson, a popular YouTuber, found Horizon Worlds nearly empty and populated by children, contradicting Meta’s policy and raising safety concerns. Moreover, Johnson’s investigation revealed that even in nominally 18+ spaces, he encountered underage users. Meta stated that it had introduced enhanced safety features and tools for parental supervision. However, Johnson’s findings suggest these measures may not be effective. In light of these findings, it’s worth questioning whether Meta’s new ad campaign, “The Impact Is Real,” will succeed in portraying VR as a practical technology for audiences beyond gaming. Google Trends data shows that interest in the concept of the metaverse has declined by over 90% since Meta’s rebranding. The company’s VR division, Reality Labs, which includes Horizon Worlds, lost $13.7 billion in 2022. With interest in its flagship VR product at rock bottom, Meta’s push to include Horizon Worlds on Android and iOS may be a last-ditch effort to revive the project.

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