Category: Crypto Art

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Crypto Art Crypto News NFTs

Toys ‘R’ Us Launches NFT Collection of Beloved Mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe

The parent company of Toys “R” Us, WHP Global, has partnered up with non-fungible token (NFT) platform Ethernity to release the brand’s first NFT collection of iconic giraffe mascot Geoffrey.

‘Geoffrey Through the Years’

Available for sale on digital marketplace OpenSea, the series of limited-edition NFTs are designed by digital artist Exacto, also known as Bryan Lopez. Entitled “Geoffrey Through the Years”, the series will include six separate editions in pop-art style and Andy Warhol-inspired modern portraits of the famous mascot, each one a reflection of Geoffrey’s look from 1960 up until today. The collection went on sale on November 13.

The collection has also added a one-of-one piece named “The Geoffrey Stroll”, which is currently being auctioned off live – closing November 17. The 3D animation features Geoffrey as he saunters into a bright new future with an instrumental version of the Toys “R” Us jingle I Don’t Want to Grow Up, I’m a Toys “R” Us Kid playing in the background.

The buyer of this unique piece and a guest will have the opportunity to attend a Toys “R” Us store grand opening in the US in 2022.

The Geoffrey Stroll is currently being auctioned off live. Source: Ethernity

Yehuda Shmidman, CEO and chairman of WHP Global and Toys “R” Us, has said that the company will continue to invest in the growth and future of the brand, and entering the blockchain marks a big step into the future.

As we continue to invest in the growth of the brand, entering the blockchain signifies a momentous step into the future and allows us to broaden our engagement with our loyal and expanding community of Toys “R” Us fans.

Yehuda Shmidman, CEO and chairman, WHP Global and Toys “R” Us

Famous Brands Join the NFT Boom

Along with Toys “R” Us, famous brands Coca-Cola and Playboy have also entered the explosive NFT market. Earlier this year, Coca-Cola announced it would release a collection of branded NFTs to mark International Friendship Day and to raise money for Special Olympics International. The three-day auction, also hosted on OpenSea, took place from July 30.

In October, American lifestyle brand Playboy launched a series of 11,953 “Playboy Rabbitars” – 3D rabbit characters in NFT form which will serve as keys to a reimagined Playboy Club. The “Rabbitars” also give owners access to benefits such as members-only events, merchandise, artworks, and exclusive artist collaborations.

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Blockchain Crypto Art Crypto News Gas NFTs

NFT Marketplace Rarible Inks Deal to Reduce High Gas Fees

Earlier this week, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Rarible.com and Rarible protocol announced it would be integrating with the Flow blockchain. The announcement means that Rarible users are now able to create, list and trade Flow-based NFTs on the Rarible marketplace.

Lower Gas Fees, Faster User Experience

The integration with Flow – a fast, decentralised, and sustainable blockchain – now allows users to create, list and trade Flow-based NFTs on the marketplace, ensuring lower gas fees and a swift user experience. As it stands, the most expensive type of transaction on Flow costs about US$0.0001, while the throughput on the blockchain is designed to scale to millions of active users.

Flow’s low gas fees and ability to scale many transactions is akin to what the popular project Sorare is achieving at the moment. A blockchain specifically tailored for optimal gaming and NFT experiences, Flow was originally created by Dapper Labs, which brought us CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot.

Since Flow was created with both end-users and developers in mind, it will also integrate with the Rarible Protocol, meaning that users can now make use of fully open-source infrastructure to create NFT projects with Flow’s refined developer ergonomics.

Rarible Makes Strides in the NFT Game

Rarible recently also announced that it would partner up with Adobe to enhance the attribution of NFTs on the Rarible marketplace. Adobe will soon launch a “prepare as NFT” option to its Photoshop software in an attempt to counter an otherwise highly exploitable market. The system to be built into Photoshop can assist in proving that the person selling an NFT is the one who made it.

The software will allow NFT sellers to link the Adobe ID with their crypto wallets, thereby allowing compatible NFT marketplaces, such as Rarible, to show verification certificates to prove the art is authentic.

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Blockchain Crypto Art Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

Rolling Stone Magazine Enters NFT Market in Partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club

As the vintage song by Dr Hook said, “Gonna see my picture on the cover / wanna buy five copies for my mother / gonna see my smilin’ face / on the cover of the Rolling Stone …”

And now, almost 50 years later, it has come to pass – for the glazed-eyed primates of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, at least, and while they’re not exactly smiling, they’re surely celebrating on the inside.

Rolling Stone has added to its presence in the non-fungible token (NFT) market by auctioning two of its digital magazine covers created in partnership with the simian-themed art collection that has so far generated around US$1 billion in secondary trading volume.

The collaboration debuted in physical form last week, with the instant sale of 2,500 limited-edition Rolling Stone magazines featuring a Bored Ape on the cover.

Bids Push Toward $50,000

That same magazine cover is now on auction as an NFT, with bidding live on the SuperRare marketplace. Set to last five days from November 11, the auction initially attracted bids beyond 10 ETH, or around US$47,000 at the time of writing. Bidding for another Rolling Stone magazine cover NFT featuring a “Mutant Ape” went live on SuperRare at the same time, and will also last five days.

Five More Pieces to Come

The covers are the first of seven planned NFT releases by Rolling Stone in collaboration with Bored Ape creators Yuga Labs. The remaining five digital pieces, to feature signature Bored Ape characters, will be created by various NFT artists.

In July, Australian pop artist Tones and I featured on Rolling Stone‘s first NFT magazine cover. Four months earlier, Playboy magazine began issuing NFTs that chronicled nearly seven decades of photography and art from the magazine, including pictures of classic centrefolds.

Around the same time, TIME magazine issued three 1966 covers minted as NFTs, but when it announced a new collection offering “unlimited access” to its website throughout 2023, the resultant sale rush clogged the Ethereum blockchain, sending gas fees through the roof. And last month, Playboy magazine staged its first NFT exhibition after inviting submissions from digital artists.

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Blockchain Crypto Art Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

Beeple’s Programmable Artwork Sells for $29 Million

The American digital artist known as Beeple is making headlines again with his latest installation artwork, Human One, paired with an NFT, selling at auction house Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sale for almost US$29 million.

Human One, by Michael Winkelmann, aka Beeple.

Human One is a 3D mobile sculpture of a person in a spacesuit moving through different landscapes. In what is the first physical piece of art from Beeple (aka Michael Winkelmann), the life-sized astronaut-like figure is contained inside a translucent box, which the artist describes as “the first portrait of a human born in the metaverse”. 

The accompanying digital piece is the NFT containing the deed of ownership, minted on the Ethereum blockchain.

Beeple Holds Dual Record

Beeple now holds the record for both the most expensive and the second-most expensive non-fungible token (NFT) artworks ever sold.

In March, Beeple sold his ‘Everydays: The first 5000 days’ digital art collection for a mammoth US$60.25 million, setting a new NFT benchmark.

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Crypto Art Crypto News Ethereum Investing Markets NFTs

Gary Vee: NFT Winter Is Coming

Gary Vaynerchuk, affectionately known as Gary Vee, anticipates a bear market ahead for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) but still believes that “NFTs are going to be here for the rest of everybody’s life”.

Too Much Short-Term Greed Will Cause a Bear Market

In an interview with Decrypt, Vee said he believed that “winter is coming” for NFTs. While the creator of Ethereum-based VeeFriends, and a collector of CryptoPunks and other NFTs, remains very bullish on the future of NFTs, he still believes a significant pullback in valuation is coming.

When discussing why he believed people were investing in the market boom, Vee said:

The conversation is about to get very interesting when we hit an NFT winter, because there’s way too much short-term greed, and supply and demand issues.  

Gary Vee, crypto entrepreneur

Vee has pocketed a pretty penny during the NFT craze with his hand-drawn doodles netting US$1.2 million, outselling similar works by Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.

In early 2021, the NFT market exploded and generated US$2.5 billion during the first half of the year but seemed to fade in the second half, leading some to suggest the NFT market frenzy was just a short-term fad. However, the market surged to new heights in August and DappRadar reported a trading volume of US$10.67 billion for Q3 alone – a 700 percent increase over Q2 2021.

Vee did not say he thinks a pullback per se is coming, but rather believes that a potential drop in the valuation of NFTs might occur in the future. He has previously predicted that the majority of NFT projects would lose significant value over time, but that blue-chip projects might come out even higher at the other end.

Vaynerchuk made specific reference to NFT projects such as CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club, as well as certain pieces from the XCOPY collection, which have seen numerous sales above the million-dollar mark. He added: “XCOPY shows all the nuances of potentially becoming a Warhol, a Banksy, or a Pollock.”

NFTs Will Be Here for the Foreseeable

I do believe firmly that 90 percent of the NFT projects right now, [their] values will be less than that when it’s all said and done … The problem is the 2 percent that are going to be so much more extraordinarily high … that one is required to do the homework to see the opportunity.

Gary Vee

On the current state of NFTs, Vaynerchuk has said that many people are spending money they cannot afford on things they do not understand:

Regardless of his views on the current state of NFTs, Vee predicts: “NFTs are going to be here for the rest of everybody’s life – and [they are] going to get more meaningful, not less.”

Agree with Vee? You Can Now Short the NFT Market

If you agree with Vee that the NFT market is currently overheated, SynFutures is launching NFTures, a product that will allow users to short the future prices of NFTs. As many continue to question the value of NFTs, and with many tokens serving no purpose other than being able to be bought or sold, SynFutures is looking to change the way we derive profit from NFTs.

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Crypto Art Crypto News NFTs Tokens

18,666 Simpsons NFTs Sell Out in Minutes in Issue-Ridden Drop

The first-ever official non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for hit animated TV series The Simpsons dropped November 7 on VeVe, but not without some glitches.

As part of its Golden Moments collection, Disney dropped its first collection of NFTs, The Simpsons. The collection will feature some of the most beloved characters from the franchise featured on Disney+, with the entire collection minted in gold.

About The Simpsons NFT Range

Sold via NFT marketplace ECOMI, the collection launched via blind boxes. This essentially means that buyers did not know which collectible they would receive until after they were purchased.

The two available for purchase were Homer and Bart (“common” collectibles, of which there were 12,333 editions) and Bart’s skateboard (“rare” collectibles, of which there were only 6,333 editions). Each blind box cost US$60.

Problems on the Platform

When users logged on to get in on the drop, however, they were met with endless glitches. According to a tweet by VeVe, “one of our third-party providers [was] not scaled properly at drop time, which caused the performance issues”, leaving many unable to buy NFTs.

Many users took to Twitter to vent their frustrations:

Homer Makes History

With the Homer and Bart collectible sold as “common” and Bart’s skateboard sold as “rare”, questions have been raised about this classification. Buyers are wondering why a mere skateboard, instead of significant characters such as Homer and Bart, is classified as a “rare” collectible.

In any case, buyers are urged to HODL to this piece of history.

Added Utility for Simpsons NFT Range

As with other NFT collectibles, buyers bought in just for the sake of collecting them. With The Simpsons NFT range, buyers who purchase NFTs from the Simpsons Golden Moments range will also receive a three-month subscription to Disney+.

This is similar to what actor/producer Mila Kunis is doing for the Stoner Cats series. Fans of Stoner Cats have to mint an NFT to get access to the first five-minute episode, but that NFT will also function as a lifetime pass for all subsequent Stoner Cats episodes.

Hollywood Gets Into the NFT Game

Amid the NFT boom, Hollywood also has skin in the game. Just last week, writer-director Quentin Tarantino announced he would release seven never-before-seen scenes from his cult classic film Pulp Fiction as NFTs. Earlier this week, Warner Bros, owners of popular film franchise The Matrix, also announced it would release a series of NFTs for just US$50 each from November 30, ahead of a Matrix reboot, The Matrix Resurrections, due for cinema release on January 1.

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Blockchain Crypto Art Gaming NFTs

Warner Bros Releases Matrix NFTs with ‘Red or Blue Pill’ Options

Ahead of the first Matrix reboot in 18 years, Warner Brothers is set to release a range of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for just US$50 each from November 30.

In conjunction with social NFT platform Nifty’s, Warners will launch 100,000 avatars themed around The Matrix Resurrections, the fifth instalment of the blockbuster film franchise and the first since 2003’s twin release of The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Resolutions, set to open in Australian cinemas on January 1.

The series centres on a cyberpunk story of humanity’s technological fall, with the creation of artificial intelligence (AI) heralding a race of self-aware machines that imprison mankind in a virtual reality system – the Matrix – to be farmed as a power source. Some of the prisoners break free from the system and, considered a threat, are pursued by the AI both inside and outside of it.

Your Choice: Red Pill or Blue Pill?

A central theme of The Matrix is the dilemma of choice versus control, symbolised by the red pill and the blue pill: you can learn a life-changing truth by taking the former or remain in a state of blissful ignorance by taking the latter.

Similarly, buyers of the Matrix NFTs have a choice: choose the blue pill, and their avatar’s character remains in the Matrix; choose the red pill, and their avatar transforms into a resistance fighter.

If you think about all the ways fans of content can interact with their favourite characters and stories in 2021 – via retail stores, theme parks, social media, collectibles, or online shops – digital art and collectibles are certainly on that list now. NFTs are another touchpoint for fans to engage.

Pam Lifford, president, Warner Bros consumer products
Scene from The Matrix Resurrections, opening in Australia on January 1. Source: techbriefly.com

Warner Bros are far from the only filmmakers exploring the potential of NFTs for creative and commercial purposes. New 2021 feature films Lockdown and Zero Contact were both released as NFTs, while 2015 martial arts movie Kung Fury director David Sandberg has launched a line of NFT characters that may feature in his upcoming movies. And just last week, Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino announced the release of a line of NFTs based on his celebrated 1994 film.

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Crime Crypto Art Crypto News NFTs Scams

Adobe Photoshop to Add ‘Prepare as NFT’ Feature to Help Verify Art Authenticity

An unfortunate side-effect of the booming non-fungible token (NFT) market is that scammers are grabbing the opportunity to exploit it. In an effort to combat NFT art theft, Adobe will soon launch a “prepare as NFT” option to its Photoshop software.

Adobe’s Content Credential is a system built into Photoshop that can assist in proving that the person selling an NFT is the one who made it. The system will allow NFT sellers to link the Adobe ID with their crypto wallets, thereby allowing compatible NFT marketplaces to show a verification certificate to prove the art is authentic.

Fighting Theft in an Exploitable Market

Art theft has become rife in the NFT industry, chiefly because anybody can mint an NFT – even if they don’t own the content’s copyright. As it stands, there is not much the blockchain can do to stop this. Earlier this month, a 17-year-old 3D artist promised to deliver 8,000 NFT artworks but disappeared with US$500,000, leaving investors with the rug pulled right out from under them.

To help prevent similar events, Adobe’s authentication system is designed to counter an otherwise highly exploitable market. Scott Belsky, Adobe’s chief product officer, revealed in a recent Megaphone interview that the new feature will preview by the end of October.

The Content Credential attribution data will live on an InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a decentralised method of hosting files where a network of people, rather than a single company or entity, is responsible for safeguarding data and making it available.

According to Adobe, NFT marketplaces such as Rarible, OpenSea, KnownOrigin and SuperRare will be able to integrate with its attribution data system.

To further enhance NFT copyright security, Crypto News Australia recently published a guide to the best 10 NFT websites to buy digital collectibles.

This system doesn’t make it harder to mint an NFT of media you don’t own the rights to, but it could make that NFT less attractive to the market.

Scott Belsky, chief product officer, Adobe

While Adobe concedes that it is still possible to click on an existing image of an NFT and mint it again, and that this may still fool buyers, it says its new system at least provides a means to prove that if you are selling an NFT, it is not stolen.

Twitter Gets on the Verification Train

Twitter recently announced it would be rolling out Bitcoin Tips, but is also looking into plans to integrate NFTs into its workings. The social media giant has said that it intends to “explore NFTs for authentication”.

According to Twitter executive Esther Crawford, “it’s a way to support creators making this art with a stamp to demonstrate authenticity”, and that “by allowing people to connect their bitcoin wallets, they can track and showcase their NFT ownership on Twitter”.

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Crypto Art Crypto News Events Investing NFTs

Why Are Buyers Forking Out $7 Million for NFTs Not Yet Minted?

Non-fungible token (NFT) investors have piled US$7 million into Tyler Hobbs’ “Incomplete Control” NFT collection, without being able to view them. Participants poured money into an auction to stand a chance to win one of 50 Golden Tokens, which will grant them ownership over unminted NFTs.

Yes, you read that right. Investors have put US$7 million into a Dutch auction that has sold 50 tokens to confer them ownership of NFTs they have not yet been able to view, and that will only be minted in December this year.

The artist behind the popular NFT series “Fidenza”, Hobbs will soon launch 100 one-of-a-kind NFTs in his latest collection, “Incomplete Control”, from December 9-13 at Bright Moments Gallery in New York.

NFT Madness Scales New Heights

On October 22, fans of Hobbs contributed 1,800 Ether (ETH), worth an estimated US$7 million, in exchange for 50 of the 100 “Golden Tokens”, which will grant holders ownership rights to one of the NFTs that will only be minted during the exhibition.

The Golden Tokens were sold through a Dutch auction hosted by Mirror Protocol that lasted only 90 minutes. Each token was priced at 500 ETH, scheduled to reduce every five minutes until it reached 5 ETH. All tokens sold were priced between 30 ETH (about US$120,000) and 80 ETH (about US$320,000).

The 50 remaining Golden Tokens will be randomly distributed on November 5 to 50 wallets of those who currently hold works from the artist’s earlier series, “Fidenza”, or the “CryptoCitizens” NFT projects. Owners who receive the tokens will be able to buy a 15 ETH “Incomplete Control” NFT at a 50 percent discount.

According to Hobbs, this new collection reflects the theme of control in the analogue and digital worlds. On his website, the artist says:

Every work takes a certain amount of time to achieve impact, another length of time to achieve understanding, and a further length of time to reach exhaustion. The forces of chaos and entropy give the natural world a certain warmth, and there are patterns and lessons there that we can use. I like to introduce these elements into the digital world, and Incomplete Control continues that work.

Tyler Hobbs

Do You Think the NFT Market is Overheated? Then Short It!

Many are starting to think the NFT market is overheated, with some NFTs fetching absolutely ridiculous amounts of money. Recently, an EtherRock, a simple grey and black illustration of a rock, sold for over US$100,000.

If you, like many, are sceptical as to the longevity of this craze, Singapore-based decentralised derivatives exchange SynFutures is launching NFTures, a product that will allow its users to short, or bet against, the future prices of NFTs. Currently, the only way to derive profit from NFTs is by buying or selling them, but SynFutures is looking at ways to change this.

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Blockchain Crypto Art Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

Playboy is Launching 11,953 Rabbit NFT Avatars

In a follow-up to May’s ‘Liquid Summer‘ NFT series whose first drop sold out in under three minutes, American lifestyle brand Playboy is launching a new collection called ‘Playboy Rabbitars‘ that goes all the way back to its roots.

In a nod to its foundation year of 1953, Playboy will release 11,953 unique Rabbitars, 3D rabbit characters in NFT form serving as keys to a reimagined Playboy Club and giving owners access to benefits including members-only events, merchandise, artwork, and exclusive artist collaborations.

The Rabbitars have been created by Playboy’s Web3 Innovation team in partnership with Possible Studios and WENEW, the art studio and blockchain technology company co-founded by Michael ‘Beeple’ Winkelmann and Michael Figge.

In metaverse terms, Rabbitars are NFTs that live on the Ethereum blockchain as ERC-721 tokens hosted on IPFS (InterPlanetary File System, the metaverse’s decentralised file storage system).

Avatars Inspired by Brand Art and Editorial History

Each Rabbitar is generated from a pool of more than 175 traits, including fur, facial features, ears and headwear, apparel, accessories, occupation-related characteristics, and more. Some of the rarer examples are inspired by aspects of Playboy’s art and editorial history.

According to Jamal Dauda, Playboy’s vice-president of blockchain innovation, distributed ledger technology is revolutionising how fans and consumers interact with brands.

At Playboy, we’re committed to moving out of the era of merely acquiring followers and into an era of building thoughtful communities where each member has a voice. Our goal is to deliver meaningful opportunities for ownership and unique value.

Jamal Dauda, vice-president of blockchain innovation, Playboy

Liz Suman, Playboy’s vice-president of art curation and editorial, points out how the brand’s 68-year history began with the rabbit logo:

When it came to visualising the Rabbitar world, our goal was to pay homage to our legacy in the arts, while tapping into the spirit of innovation to create something entirely new for the NFT community.

Liz Suman, vice-president of art curation and editorial, Playboy

Available Across Three Separate Sales

Playboy Rabbitars will be available for purchase for 0.1953 ETH (US$813) on the official Rabbitar site using crypto or USD in three separate sales:

  • presale for whitelisted ETH-paying collectors from October 24-26;
  • public sale for Fiat/USD-paying collectors on October 26 following the whitelist sale; and
  • public sale for ETH-paying collectors on October 27.

All collectors will need an Ethereum wallet whether paying with Ethereum or USD.