Payments giant Visa has launched the Visa Creator Program, a one-year product strategy and mentorship course for entrepreneurs from the art, music, fashion and film worlds who seek to augment their work with non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Visa launches NFT program as it considers the digital art a new form of ecommerce: The credit card giant Visa has launched a NFT creator program in an effort to bring small businesses into the digital economy.
The program had its beginnings in October 2021 when Visa announced former major league baseballer Micah Johnson as its first official creator. Johnson’s art has since sold for a total value of almost US$21 million. His best-known piece is Aku, a young black astronaut who digitally “travels” to the International Space Station.
Creators like @Micah_Johnson3 are at the forefront of NFTs. His work with Visa is an exciting introduction to the Visa Creator Program, a global opportunity for digital creators & artists looking to deepen their understanding of NFT commerce. Learn more: https://t.co/oAQknwPdB4pic.twitter.com/E6B9QVTyDl
Roughly 50 million artists, musicians, fashion designers and filmmakers already publish content as a source of income, with the global creator economy worth an estimated US$100 billion. Visa’s inaugural class of content creators are already engaging with NFTs, and prospective candidates who intend to join them must apply and be selected.
Program Also Offers Web3 Engagement
The Visa Creator Program offers participants opportunities to engage with Visa’s network of clients and partners, as well as providing access to “thought leaders” in the Web3 space.
Visa’s immersion in the NFT space began last August when it bought a CryptoPunk for almost US$150,000. At the time, the company’s head of crypto Cuy Sheffield said that Visa wanted to “signal [its] support” for people involved in the NFT market.
Six months later, you could say it’s a case of mission accomplished.
Following the lead of Manchester City, Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain, Liverpool is the latest major football club to launch its own collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The LFC Heroes Club – launched in partnership with Sotheby’s Metaverse – features generative imagery of each of its 24 players in what the club says is an “innovative way to celebrate being an LFC fan from anywhere in the world”.
Better Reds than dead: LFC Heroes Club NFT. Source: liverpoolfc.com
‘Lower’ Price Points From $75 Per NFT
The collection will also feature 24 “Legendary” one-of-one editions, one for each player, to be auctioned off individually on March 30. The remaining NFTs will be sold at lower price points (from US$75) in a move the club hopes will make them accessible to its broader fan base.
The LFC collectibles will be available to purchase across a three-day sale window from Wednesday, March 30 to Friday, April 1. Half of the proceeds will go to the LFC Foundation, in addition to 10 percent from the ‘Heroes’ sale and all future resale royalties.
Backlash Begins Within Minutes
Within minutes of the NFT news breaking, however, disgruntled Liverpool supporters took to Twitter to air their misgivings:
Liverpool have spent a long time assessing external sentiment around NFTs in recent months and were warned about potential harms to investors/the environment but proceeded anyway. Presumably the financial gain outweighs any backlash as far as they’re concerned. https://t.co/zQzvghlKds
Liverpool are testing the waters on crypto/NFTs, asking fans about their familiarity, feelings, and to what extent a charitable contribution would offset any ill feelings towards them. These are my opinions I shared with the club🧵 pic.twitter.com/N6L9WgurZj
Liverpool have gamed the system pretty hard and I don't really blame them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some weird looking monkey NFTs to sell to the EFL for an obscene amount of money.
Public interest in crypto-related tattoos has boomed with related internet searches reportedly up by 222 percent in the past year. Whether depicting a bitcoin or a play on ‘to the moon’, digital asset-related ink is the new trend:
According to a report authored by ‘Crypto Head’, crypto investors and tattoo fans are creating their own Venn diagram as the overlap of people willing to mix the two passions grows.
The data claims that the phrase “crypto tattoo” was the subject of at least 1,900 internet searches last year. On Instagram, #cryptotattoo was used on 956 posts.
Bitcoin neck tattoo. Source: Pinterest
Blockchain brand tattoo. Source: Pinterest
Matching ‘to the moon’ shoulder tattoos. Source: Pinterest
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; where some want to be branded by their favourite blockchain, others may prefer to simply admire crypto ink from a distance.
NFT Interest Fluctuates
Crypto tattoos may be replacing NFTs as the hot new online trend. With sales sliding, Google Trends data from earlier this month indicated that global interest in NFTs is down by 45 percent in terms of internet searches. Actual sales were down 30 percent, with Solana the only NFT-supporting blockchain to make sales gains.
However, in September 2021, 84 percent of institutional investors believed there was a place for crypto in their portfolios. A lot of the investors surveyed also indicated they would like to be able to invest in crypto-related ETFs.
Indigenous Australian artists are digitising their work as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to create a new stream of income and share their art on a global marketplace.
Artists from the Yolngu nation in the secluded East Arnhem Land of northern Australia are world-renowned for their drawings connected to nature. For the first time, these artists are venturing into the crypto space by minting their artworks as NFTs.
According to Chainalysis, US$44.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency was sent to ERC-721 and ERC-1155 contracts in 2021 – the typical NFT standards on Solana and Ethereum – and these Australian artists will be accessing a piece of the pie. Blockchain technology will also aid with the copyright of artworks from their community as well as create a new stream of income for local artists.
Preserving Indigenous Art and Culture with Blockchain
The project is being funded by venture capitalist Mark Carnegie and artists from the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka art centre in Yirrkala who will be creating NFTs. The bark paintings of one of the artists, Wukun Wanambi, have been sold all over the world. “I like to try new things, a new way of sharing art to the world,” says Wanambi, whose digitised artworks now being sold online.
Yolngu artist Ishmael Marika. Source: abc.net.au
These works can also be digitally stored and preserved for future generations to appreciate. One of the goals of the project, according to Joseph Brady, the art centre’s Mulka Project director, is to buy more physical work so it can remain in the Yolngu community.
If enough of these are sold, Mulka’s portion of that will go to buying that piece for the museum here […] So the work will stay here at the museum within the community.
Joseph Brady, director, Mulka Project
Sharing Culture
Ishmael Marika, one of the younger accomplished Yolngu artists, hopes that digitising his art will help protect it against forgery and become an asset he can monetise. “We want more of my clan and our tribes to show themselves to the world, so the world can see [us] and carry on our stories,” Marika says.
What is the Yolngu Art Culture?
The art the Yolngu make represents their clan and all of nature. It is a unique part of their culture, which is why these artists are opting for NFTs. The use case for NFTs as a method to preserve indigenous art and knowledge over a decentralised network makes it a resilient method to keep safe the world’s cultural information.
The designs used by Yolngu artists, whether on paper, bark, ḻarrakitj (hollow logs), or on the body in ceremonial mode, reflect each artist’s clan and country. They are an expression of connection to family, country and to the Wangarr, or period of ancestral creativity. To learn more about the Yolngu art practice, click here.
Music fans of a certain age, Gen-Xers and Millennials in particular, may remember the Winamp media player, one of the earliest pieces of MP3 audio software.
Now, 25 years after its foundation, Winamp (yes, the brand still exists) is about to sell an NFT (non-fungible token) based on the original 1997 player’s graphical skin, making it the latest company to exploit the combination of nostalgia and crypto.
Winamp will put the NFT up for auction through OpenSea between May 16 and May 22, followed by a separate sale of 1,997 NFTs in total linked to 20 artworks derived from the original skin. Proceeds will go to the Winamp Foundation, which promises to donate them to charity projects starting with the Belgian non-profit Music Fund.
The team is thrilled to announce the auctioning of Winamp Original Skin as 1/1 NFT AND the launch of Winamp Foundation!🚀 All funds collected will be redistributed to charity projects supporting music & musicians. Curious? https://t.co/jC3zDdNfM5#Winamp#NFT#crypto#nftspic.twitter.com/NNU8GNDunj
All Winamp NFTs will sell for 0.08 ETH (about US$220 at time of writing). The artists will receive 10 percent of any royalties on later sales, where sellers will set their own price. Buyers will have the right to “copy, reproduce and display” their image, but they won’t own the copyright. Similarly, selected artists will agree to transfer all intellectual property for their work to Winamp.
Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used to Be
Winamp has evolved from its MP3 software beginnings and is now more of a mobile audio app. Peer-to-peer file-sharing service LimeWire also recently “relaunched” as an NFT marketplace but it bears no resemblance to its original early 2000s iteration.
Australia is preparing policy ahead of the federal election in May focusing on clearer rules for digital assets and artists. Policy specifically relating to NFTs needed to be implemented quickly to stave off a potential “brain drain” on Australia’s economy, according to NSW Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg.
Tax Restructuring Sorely Needed
Senator Bragg, speaking this week at Sydney’s inaugural 3D art NFT exhibition, Satellite, said the country needed to hear from artists on the best way forward for digital asset regulation. Tax restructuring was sorely needed to counter local firms looking to establish themselves in more favourable jurisdictions overseas, including in Singapore and the UK, he added.
At the moment, I think there are cases where NFTs are being taxed inadvertently. There’s no real transfer of value. We want to make sure that we’re not doing that – we need to make sure we’re tax-competitive. Otherwise, why would you do business here?
NSW Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg
What Does the ATO Say?
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has provided broad guidelines on the tax treatment of NFTs. You pay tax according to the method that applies to your particular use case:
under the capital gains tax (CGT) regime;
on revenue account as trading stock;
as part of a business or profit-making scheme; or
depending on the terms of the NFT smart contract and the rights it grants, a combination of the above.
If you are a tax specialist providing support to NFT or crypto owners please comment below… with your area of specialism and country.
For most users who are buying or selling NFTs, crypto art assets are treated in the same manner as normal cryptocurrency as they fall under the same rules for capital gains. The following actions involving NFTs are considered disposals and will accordingly attract CGT:
selling NFTs in exchange for cryptocurrency;
exchanging one NFT for another NFT or fungible cryptocurrency; or
giving an NFT as a gift (unless it is to a tax-deductible entity such as an Australian charity).
Minting an NFT is generally not subject to tax. Only the disposal of an NFT (through sale, trade or bridging) constitutes a CGT event. The exception is when the value of the asset the NFT was minted for has increased since the original purchase, which would constitute a CGT event in itself.
To all my Aussie frens 🇦🇺
Are you considering to set up a business structure for your Crypto/NFT trading to help minimise your tax and you’re not sure where to start?
Here is a quick thread focusing on when, why, and how to set up a company in Australia:#cryptotax#NFTtax
The event, taking place from March 10 to April 3 at beachside Bondi’s Twenty Twenty-Six Gallery, serves as an introduction to the world of digital art. Satellite aims to engage and educate the public on the fast-evolving NFT art movement through a digitally immersive and sensory experience. The exhibition is designed to empower artists in digital media and to inspire both existing and new audiences to embrace the evolution of the digital art world:
NFT exhibition at Twenty Twenty Six gallery, Bondi Sydney Aust.
Exhibition Will Shape the NFT Space and Creative Economy
The Satellite audience will be invited to connect with NFTs beyond the screens of personal devices by using QR codes in the exhibition space that link to the NFT marketplace Foundation, where art can subsequently be bought.
The curator of the exhibition, David Porte Beckefeld, says the exhibition at a Sydney fine arts gallery is the fulfilment of his dream, but not so much in regard to anything relating to blockchain or tokens. Beckefeld has brought together over 40 NFT artworks from an array of leading Australian and international artists, thereby shaping the NFT space and creative economy.
Artists include Jonathan Zawada, Serwah Attafua, David McLeod, BossLogic, LIŔONA, Mikaela Stafford, Chris Golden, Jessica Ticchio, Yambo, Trevor Jones, and Beeple.
Delighted to share a new piece with you all. ‘Iris Elation’ will be on display as a part of the @satellitenftart exhibition at Twenty Twenty Six gallery in Sydney and available for auction on @withFND March 9th. This will be my first ever NFT. pic.twitter.com/OZxQP2mDik
Vignette N°26 (Terra Mater) An artwork created for @satellitenftart – The first major international 3D NFT art exhibition in Sydney. 10 March — 3 April
Twenty Twenty Six Gallery 17 O'Brien ST, Bondi Beach
The exhibition is committed to sustainability and will work to offset the carbon footprint of all NFTs included in the event, including carbon emissions associated with NFT minting, bidding, sale, and transfer of ownership. To compensate for emissions, Satellite will buy carbon credit units from Carbon Neutral’s reforestation project located in the Yarra Biodiversity Corridor of Western Australia.
Last year was the year of the NFT. In June 2021, the art world launched Australia’s first physical NFT gallery exhibition. Hobart’s Museum of Art & Philosophy also launched the country’s first NFT gallery in the Tasmanian capital, where digital and traditional artists from all around the world could display their creations.
Could non-fungible tokens (NFTs) be the saviour of a Hollywood movie industry that appears increasingly bankrupt of original ideas? From endless Marvel remakes to the umpteenth reiteration of the Batman franchise, Tinseltown is way down on originality and NFTs may be the solution.
There have already been movies funded by NFTs and more than one documentary film in the works examining the NFT craze – worth a staggering US$25 billion in trading volume generated in 2021 alone – but movies based on NFT collections could well be the industry’s next hot ticket.
What follows are just a few of the major NFT projects announced to receive the film treatment, as well as those that have signed representation to explore potential movie deals and more:
Aku
Aku dreams of becoming an astronaut. Source: hypebeast.com
Artist and former professional athlete Micah Johnson’s Aku – an African American boy who dreams of being an astronaut – was the first original NFT character optioned in April 2021, just two months after the first Aku NFT dropped. Anonymous Content and Permanent Content, the latter company formed by musician Shawn Mendes and manager Andrew Gertler, will exercise the option.
Aku’s star has grown significantly across subsequent NFT drops, also spurred by the Aku World experiential show held at Art Basel Miami last December. According to Johnson, a former Major League Baseball player, NFT holders may be able to influence the direction of the IP as it expands into the world of film and beyond.
Huxley
Last week, longtime Marvel film producer Ari (Iron Man) Arad and his eponymous studio announced plans to co-produce a cinematic adaptation of Huxley, an NFT comic book project by artist Ben Mauro (Elysium, The Hobbit). Arad will develop Huxley alongside Web3 production studio Feature and Oscar-nominated VFX supervisor Jerome Chen. Mauro’s sci-fi credentials are evident in the trailer below:
World of Women
Last month, actor/producer Reese Witherspoon announced plans to create movies and TV series based on Yam Karkai’s World of Women (WoW) NFT project through her Hello Sunshine production house. In January, World of Women signed with music industry identity Guy Oseary to represent it in such media and product deals. Witherspoon vows that WoW NFT holders will have a say in the creation of projects based on the profile picture collection.
World of Women. Source: theindependent.com
On the ‘Maybe’ List
In October 2021, Yuga Labs announced it had signed with Oseary to explore media opportunities across various potential formats, including film, television, music, and video games.
The deal followed news last August that Larva Labs, creators of the influential CryptoPunks NFTs, had signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) for similar aims. Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has also signed pseudonymous NFT collector 0xb1 – who owns Bored Ape NFTs, among others – to licensing and partnership deals.
Sydney is set to host a three-day conference exploring potential opportunities for blockchain and crypto technology. The Emergence22 conference (March 9-11) at the Fullerton Hotel in the city’s Martin Place will feature more than 40 guest speakers, with free virtual passes on offer for those who wish to attend digitally.
Day one of Emergence Sydney is dedicated to discussion on renewable energy and the power grid, following a keynote address. Attendees can expect day two to touch on fintech and health care, and day three totally devoted to crypto with sessions on Web3 and NFTs and a lengthy list of industry guest speakers. The conference will also feature what Binance Australia is calling “the first NFT art gallery”.
There are free virtual passes to attend online, with live attendance tickets priced at A$101. For a more in-depth rundown of what’s available across the three-day event, access Emergence Sydney’s itinerary online. If you are looking to attend in person, limited tickets are still available.
More Notable Crypto Dates for 2022
March is action-packed in crypto terms, with several partnerships, announcements, rebrands and conferences greenlit. Most of this month’s live events are online, though we’ve compiled a full list of dates to make it easy for you to keep up.
The Gold Coast is set to host Australia’s largest crypto convention in September. This not-to-be-missed weekend will feature guest speakers, workshops, networkers, and more. Crypto News Australia has two weekend conference passes to give away. Visit our Twitter page for info on how to enter the draw:
We're giving away 2 x full weekend passes to Australia Crypto Convention at Gold Coast in September 2022.
To win: – follow @AusCryptoCon – tag a mate below that you would bring
The NFT, Woman #2681 (see below), was purchased on February 13 for 25 ETH (about US$73,000) before being transferred to a separate wallet. The company also revealed it owns kpmgca.eth, the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain name designed to make wallet addresses easier to use.
WoW #268. Source: OpenSea
WoW is a community that celebrates representation, inclusivity and equal opportunities for all, though its promotional focus is on female artists, who currently account for a tiny minority of NFT art sales. WoW also supports women-focused and, more recently, global ecological causes.
The signature WoW collection features 10,000 first-edition NFT artworks of diverse, inspiring, and powerful women living on the blockchain. Many of their female avatar art pieces have become prized collector’s items.
‘On the Cusp of Change’
“Women are underrepresented in the [crypto] world, which makes us proud to make our first NFT acquisition [from] a collection that supports women,” says KPMG partner Nancy Chase. “We hope that our purchase draws more women into a sector that’s on the cusp of changing how we interact with one another in the future.”
Actor/producer Reese Witherspoon, whose media company Hello Sunshine partnered with WoW last month. Source: variety.com
WoW has surged to the top of the NFT charts since launching in November, and now commands an 8.5 ETH (roughly US$24,000) floor price on secondary marketplace OpenSea. The project has benefited from promotion by A-list actor/producer Reese Witherspoon, whose media company Hello Sunshine partnered with WoW in February.
