Category: NFTs

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Blockchain CBDCs China Crypto News NFTs Regulation

China Plans to Create NFTs on a State-Backed Centralised Blockchain

China has created its own version of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are in no way linked to any cryptocurrencies or public blockchains and will be running on its state-backed Blockchain Service Network (BSN).

China’s Blockchain to Support NFTs

According to the South China Morning Post, BSN will be rolling out a new infrastructure that will support the use of NFTs called BSN-Distributed Digital Certificates (BSN-DDC).

The ban on cryptocurrencies in China doesn’t necessarily affect the use of NFTs, with one of the technical advisers to BSN stating that NFTs “have no legal issue”. Mainly it’s important that they do, however, distance themselves from cryptocurrencies.

The platform is poised to launch by the end of the month and only Yuan will be permitted for transactions. The main reason public blockchains have been outlawed is that regulators cannot intervene in events classified as illegal, as well as the fact that the state requires all internet systems to verify user identities, which usually isn’t the case with public decentralised applications.

BSN-DDC Could Disrupt the Industry

The BSN-DDC is compatible cross-chain and according to the report, issuing an NFT could cost as little as 0.05 yuan (A$0.01). At the moment the biggest NFT market is for digital art, but China is looking more at using it for certificate management.

NFTs in China will see annual output in the billions in the future.

He Yifan, chief executive officer, Red Date Technology

The expected rise of NFTs in China is in part also due to the platform that will “offer application programming interfaces for businesses or individuals so they can build their own user portals or apps to manage NFTs”.

China’s Solution to Monitoring Chains

According to the report, Red Date, a technical support provider to BSN, has come up with a solution to govern blockchains in China. By connecting them to the open permissioned chain run by China Mobile, China UnionPay and State Information Centre public chains can be “localised”.

Red Date CEO He Yifan also added that since 2018, more than 20 public chains have undergone this process and with the new BSN-DDC another 10 will be integrated including “the adapted version of Ethereum and Corda, plus domestic ones like FISCO BCOS”.

China has long been working on blockchain technology and was even one of the first countries to start research on CBDCs. The Digital Yuan will even be controlled by Smart Contracts, with China’s mobile CBDC wallet launching ahead of the Winter Olympic Games.

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Crypto News NFTs Scams

NFT Community Comes Together Amid $1.3 Million Frosties NFT RugPull

Another non-fungible token project has pulled the rug on its investors, stealing at least US$1.3 million out of their pockets, in the first NFT scam of 2022.

Developers from Frosties NFT Vanished, Community Tries to Fight Back

As per a report from Business Insider, the developers of an NFT project called Frosties disappeared after investors bought all 8,888 available tokens on OpenSea. The NFTs were sold out just 40 minutes after the drop, and had an average floor price of 0.04 Ether (ETH), or US$121 at the time.

The majority of the funds were transferred out of the developers’ original wallet, as noted in the Etherscan report. As usual, the project erased all traces of them on social media, deleting Twitter, Discord, and the official website. The developers’ wallet was also removed from the collection’s landing page on OpenSea.

Now the Frosties community is coming together to plan a way to recover their funds. Many members are flocking to a recently created Discord channel to help each other out, starting by wrapping their NFTs to stop devs from getting sale royalties:

Always Invest Only What You Can Afford To Lose

After the news emerged, some members of the NFT community were asking for a way to apply KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures to teams behind crypto projects.

But NFT scams will continue in the space as long as people are willing to stake their money. This is why the perennial advice is to only invest money you can afford to lose, and especially do your own research before jumping into a new project.

One of the most recent NFT rugpulls occurred on the Solana network last month when SolGame, a decentralised P2E (Play-2-Earn) NFT project, shut down its Discord channel and official website. Some members are still looking for the creator of the project, but no light has been shed up to now.

Another controversial NFT rugpull from 2021 was presumed to have been performed by a 17-year-old 3D artist. As Crypto News Australia reported in October, the teenage developer stole US$500,000 through Iconic Sol, an NFT project on the Solana blockchain.

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Blockchain Crypto News E-commerce Fashion NFTs Tezos

Clothing Retailer The Gap Launches Tezos-Based Gamified NFT Collection

Gap Inc is collaborating with Brandon Sines, the artist behind Frank Ape, to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) collection on the Tezos blockchain with a gamified digital experience called Gap Threads.

This week’s release will offer a gamified digital experience in which customers can unlock the opportunity to buy digital art by Sines and a physical, limited-edition Gap hoodie. The digital collectibles for Gap Threads feature four levels: Common, Rare, Epic, and One of a Kind. The first level, Common, went on sale at 9am PT on January 13 for a reasonable price of 2 Tez (XTZ) each until 8:59 PT on January 15.

Additional drops will be available over the next two weeks: Rare on January 15 for six XTZ, Epic on January 19 for 100 XTZ, and One of a Kind will go to auction on January 24. At the time of writing, two Tez were worth US$8.30, but exact conversion rates may vary based on market price fluctuations.

Why Tezos?

As part of Gap’s commitment to do the right thing for the planet, it has chosen to leverage Tezos, an open-source blockchain, to create the customer experience. Tezos requires less energy and cost to operate than proof-of-work algorithms, thus making it an ideal platform for sustainable uses. The platform has recently been involved in collections from other consumer-facing brands, including Red Bull.

Gap intends to learn more about how customers want to engage in a digitally focused environment and has flagged additional digital experiences in the future, developed in partnership with cultural influences.

According to Gap’s chief digital and technology officer John Strain, “As part of our mission to create enduring customer relationships, our teams are constantly innovating. We are excited about the possibilities that a more planet-friendly blockchain technology can unlock for us and all the new ways it will enable us to connect with our customers.” 

The Future of Clothing is Here

NFTs are the perfect fit for the fashion industry, which is obsessed with authenticity and exclusivity. Chris Le, co-founder of RTFKT, has said that augmented reality will be a huge part of society in the future and that “you’re going to be walking out on the street and seeing NFT clothing on people”. RTFKT sold about 600 pairs of digital sneakers for US$3.1 million in just seven minutes last February at the inaugural Crypto Fashion Week.

Not everyone shares this view and many believe technology still needs more time before the big luxury brands dive in, according to RTFKT Studios co-founder Benoit Pagotto. If you also believe that the fashion industry is not quite there yet, and think the NFT market is overheated, you can short it.

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Blockchain Crypto News NFTs Tokens

Gary Vaynerchuk to Open World’s First ‘NFT Holders Members Only’ Restaurant

Introducing Flyfish Club: the world’s first private dining experience where VIP membership is purchased on the blockchain and owned by the token holder. The premier dining destination in New York City will only be accessible by owners of Flyfish NFT tokens.

NFTs are not just all about trading digital art. Longtime startup investor and NFT enthusiast Gary Vaynerchuk (above) is the first crypto entrepreneur to create a members-only restaurant through Flyfish Club NFTs.

There [are] so many variables that come along with NFT life that people don’t think about, that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. We want to create incredible value for the people that are part of this process.

Gary Vaynerchuk

The team behind the Flyfish club is a company founded by Vaynerchuk – VCR group is a collective of operators and hospitality professionals who say they thrive on creating something innovative for the restaurant industry, something “fresh and fun” that has never been done before.

Adopting NFTs for VIP-only access turns club membership into an asset for those who join the Flyfish community. The NFT membership model creates an extra level of exclusivity for those seeking the high-end fine dining experience.

Flyfish Membership NFTs Sold Out

All Flyfish NFTs that went on sale through the Flyfish website have (unsurprisingly, given Vaynerchuk’s popularity) already sold out. There are two different levels of membership that will allow token holders access to the restaurant when it officially opens its doors in 2023.

The two Flyfish Club membership tiers

1. The Flyfish Token: All 2,650 Flyfish NFTs sold for 2.5 ETH each. Members can access the cocktail room, the restaurant with its outdoor space and skyline views of Manhattan, as well as admission to events (both physical and virtual).

2. The Flyfish Omakase Token: All 385 Flyfish Omakase NFTs sold for 4.25 ETH each. Members can access everything Flyfish Token holders can, plus the “Omakase experience” – dining in the private Omakase Room (with one guest), with meals curated by one of the best sushi masters in the country.

Read more about how it works on the Flyfish club website.

Vaynerchuk is the creator of the NFT project VeeFriends, which offers token holders access to exclusive events “focused around business, marketing, ideas, creativity, entrepreneurship, innovation, competition and of course, fun”.

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Blockchain Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

Decentralised Blogging Platform ‘Mirror’ Offers Writers a Way to Monetise their Articles

Thanks to the slow, agonising and ongoing death of mainstream media, writers are running out of avenues to monetise their work. One of a number of new platforms designed to address the problem is Mirror.xyz, a publishing tool that leverages cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies.

Created by Denis Nazarov, a former investment professional at US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Mirror is a decentralised writing platform developed to help creators connect with their target audiences in a direct and innovative way.

The functionality of Mirror differs from popular blogging sites such as Medium in that it enables writers to earn in cryptocurrency rather than fiat cash transactions. Authors can also seek crowdfunding for creative projects via non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that can be continuously traded and keep earning on a writer’s behalf, via Mirror’s use of the Ethereum blockchain.

Mirror Turns Written Articles into NFTs

Typically, most NFTs traded online are for digital art and music files. Mirror makes it possible to turn various forms of creative writing into NFTs, whether they be poems, essays, novels or short stories.

Mirror allows its writers to be the gatekeepers of content. As that content is stored on a blockchain, there is less chance of it being appropriated or accidentally dumped. Each written work becomes a unique NFT that can be auctioned off or sold to the highest bidder in exchange for crypto.

You Can Take It With You

Users can leave the platform at any time and take their material with them, since it remains cryptographically safe and cannot be altered or deleted. Mirror has grown from a tool for authors to a complete Web3 creative stack for communities and DAOs, according to the developers behind it.

As soon as they link an Ethereum wallet to the platform, users may begin generating content and inserting media blocks such as films, iFrames, social media postings, NFTs, auctions and crowdfunds.

American freelance writer Meagan Loyst is just one satisfied Mirror user, making a strong case for the platform over Medium, the site she used to write for. She describes Mirror as “the future of blogging”:

Revolutions Afoot in Writing and Music

As also reported by Crypto News Australia this week, Opulous is a new blockchain-based music platform built for creators and investors to address the biggest challenge facing artists in the music industry today: raising capital. It is to musicians (and fans) what Mirror may turn out to be for writers, and ultimately readers.

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Blockchain Crypto News DeFi Gaming Metaverse NFTs

5 Interesting NFT Projects for 2022

Last year saw explosive growth in the non-fungible token (NFT) market, with interesting and innovative projects popping up left, right, and centre. The new year already looks promising with exhilarating projects up for launch in 2022.

We’ve compiled a guide to five of the more interesting projects set for 2022, as we did for projects launching in December and for five Christmas-themed NFT projects.

Expantum: The Game

Expantum balances tokenomics and gameplay.

Expantum is a next-generation play-and-earn strategy game that uniquely balances cutting-edge tokenomics and fun gameplay and is built on the Ethereum blockchain. In the Expantum metaverse, players can prove themselves as outstanding leaders at all stages of the game, and can build provinces and capitals while organising continuous production and supply of resources. Players can choose an optimal composition of an army and customise their set, creating alliances with other players for the sake of victory.

GANime

GANime: anime characters based on AI-generated NFT videos.

GANime is on-chain machine learning-generated anime characters built on the Ethereum blockchain, based on AI-generated anime NFT videos. Its creators call it fun and accessible for all.

Solice Metaverse

Solice: an interconnected metaverse of virtual worlds, NFTs and communities.

The Solice Metaverse is the first cross-platform virtual reality metaverse on the Solana blockchain where users can play, build, own, socialise and monetise their virtual experiences. Solice is an interconnected metaverse of virtual worlds, NFTs and communities with the aim of improving overall user experience.

Illuvium

Illuvium: join the quest to hunt and capture deity-like creatures.

An open-world RPG adventure game built atop the Ethereum blockchain, Illuvium is a journey across a vast landscape on a quest to hunt and capture deity-like creatures called Illuvials. More than 100 Illuvials populate this alien world, each possessing different affinities, classes and abilities. Creatures can be captured, fused and upgraded to more powerful forms.

Opulous

Opulous brings DeFi to the music industry and a fairer payment method for artists.

Opulous, built for creators and inventors, brings DeFi to the music industry, changing how artists access funding as well as providing a launchpad for the first music copyright-backed NFTs. Opulous offers DeFi loans backed by future royalties that will replace the unfair deals traditionally forced on promising new artists. The project is powered by cryptos, using future-proof blockchain and smart contract technology to connect investors and artists like never before.

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Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

Ethereum NFTs Domains Can Now be Used for Single Sign-On Logins

Ethereum and Polygon non-fungible token (NFT) domains can now be used for single sign-on logins, thanks to an initiative from Unstoppable Domains, a US-based company that provides blockchain-based domain names.

Log In Using NFT Domains

The service allows users to have an NFT portable name and use it to easily sign in to their favourite apps, lowering the barriers for users by eliminating the need to provide additional information.

Several applications are now providing support for Login with Unstoppable Domain. The app in question will read the domain and direct the user to the authorisation server saved to that domain name. All the user needs to do is to authenticate and grant access to the information requested by signing a transaction with the key that owns their domain.

This login system is based on domain names! By using domains as your global login identifier across the internet, you have a single name that you can use to log in across every app. Every app can then reference this domain to pull the info you’d like to share – such as your domain name or favourite NFT profile picture – to show in their app.

Unstoppable Domains blog post.

Blockchain-Based Domains

So far, Unstoppable Domains has 2 million registered domains ending in .crypt, .nft, .wallet, and more. This move will allow millions of users to simply register across a myriad of apps by using their NFT domain names.

Blockchain-based domains are hexadecimal wallet addresses turned into easy-to-remember names that are stored on the blockchain, and cannot be modified by third parties.

In order for these crypto domain names to supersede .com, Ethereum will have to address speed and fees issues – Ethereum layer projects may be able to help provide the infrastructure to scale globally.

They have reached a level of mainstream attention too. In August 2021, Crypto News Australia reported that American beer brand Budweiser had bought the Beer.eth domain name for 30 ETH.

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Accommodation Blockchain Crypto News NFTs Real Estate

Crypto Community ‘Satoshi Island’ in Vanuatu is Offering Citizenship NFTs

Satoshi Island in Vanuatu is a real world blockchain use case where citizenship and all assets and rights are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) built on top of a decentralised financial system only operating in crypto.

In the South Pacific, nestled among the other islands of Vanuatu, there is a 297-hectare private holding called Satoshi Island under development to become a sustainable smart city dedicated to the crypto community.

Get Your Own Piece of Satoshi Island

The developers want to create a place where crypto enthusiasts and professionals can converge, with the goal of creating “the crypto capital of the world”. Individuals wanting to attain citizenship and own a piece of land on the island can do so by getting their hands on a Satoshi Island NFT:

The island will be built with blockchain technology at its heart, running the first real world crypto economy built on an entirely decentralised financial system and blockchain-based democracy. The developers of the island also welcome crypto projects to set up shop, offering the community networking opportunities and a way to live and work among like-minded people. With events planned all year round, inhabitants only need to keep their ear to the ground.

Concept house on Satoshi Island. Source: satoshi-island.com

With the first stage of development already completed, early visitors will be greeted by classic-style villas. As the project progresses, the island will be further developed with ultra-modern modular sustainable houses and offices designed by renowned Hong Kong-based architectural firm Cybertecture.

Concept offices on Satoshi Island. Source: satoshi-island.com

This idea is not unheard of; just last month, a group of cryptocurrency investors gathered capital through crowdfunding a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) to buy a tokenised island in the Bahamas.

Get a Citizenship NFT for Satoshi Island

Anyone can visit Satoshi Island, but by holding a Citizenship NFT there are exclusive benefits to be had. These NFTs will be limited to 21,000 and will be released in collections. First-edition citizenships will be granted via airdrop to early supporters of the project, as detailed on its website.

The benefits of holding a Citizenship NFT are:

  • voting rights on policies that govern the island;
  • access to long-term accommodation at lower rates not available to short-term visitors; and
  • citizenship holders with Land NFTs can develop property on their chosen space.

Island Has 2,100 Blocks of Land NFTs 

The island has been subdivided into 2100 unique blocks of land, which anyone can own by purchasing a Land NFT. Each block is large enough to build a house on and those who own multiple Land NFTs can combine them to develop office blocks, mansions, or even apartment complexes to add to a unique property portfolio.

The private opening is envisaged for Q4 2022 with the public opening scheduled for Q1 2023. Once Satoshi Island is privately opened, citizens can visit short-term. After it is publicly opened, properties can be developed, occupied, or rented out to short and long-stay guests.

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Blockchain Crypto News NFTs

Opulous is Providing Artists with Music Copyright-Backed NFTs

The days of signing bad deals with unfair terms are a thing of the past – artists no longer need to sell their souls to greedy record companies in order to get their music out into the world.

Opulous is a new blockchain-based music platform built for creators and investors. It is addressing the biggest challenge facing artists in the music industry today: raising capital.

Opulous allows fans to bankroll their favourite artists by harnessing the power of DeFi. They can also benefit from music sales as part copyright owners, thanks to NFTs.

Opulous brings Decentralised Finance to the music industry, changing how artists access the funding they need and providing a launchpad for the first music copyright-backed NFTs.

opulous.org

Artists Retain 100% of Copyright, Fans Share in Earnings

How will Opulous help artists? Based on historical data, Opulous calculates an artist’s future earnings and offers loans based on that forecast, while allowing the artist to retain 100 percent of their music’s copyright.

By implementing NFTs, Opulous makes it possible for artists to split up the ownership of their music into tokenised shares and offer them directly to fans. This means fans can invest in the artists they love and financially benefit themselves through earnings made from sales.

The Opulous model provides a monetary incentive for fans to help further an artist’s career and encourages them to promote the artists they have invested in. The more successful the artist is, the more money the fan makes, through royalties paid out every month.

Opulous model explained. Source: Opulous

Crypto investors can buy and stake OPUL tokens with the reassurance and trust that their investment is backed by actual real-world assets. Watch the video below to learn more about how Opulous works:

$OPUL Rewards and Staking

After Opulous launches this month, you can stake OPUL to earn more OPUL. The video below explains how the Opulous dashboard works. Read more about how to stake OPUL and earn more OPUL on the Opulous medium.

NFTs are playing a major role in reshaping the music industry. The technology is revolutionising the payment structure for artist royalties and making it possible for artists to receive a larger (and fairer) cut of sales while maintaining ownership of their own brand and product.

Innovative music platforms harnessing the blockchain offer exciting features that directly benefit artists and fans alike: a virtual touring company called Animal Concerts is bringing live music events to the metaverse, and music streaming platform Audius is the largest decentralised consumer blockchain application, with a roster exceeding 100,000 music artists. The future of music looks bright.

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Crypto News Crypto Wallets Hackers NFTs Tokens

Lympo NFT Platform Hacked for $18.7 Million, LMT Token Down 99%

Animoca Brands subsidiary Lympo has suffered a breach that cost the minter of sports non-fungible tokens (NFTs) close to US$19 million worth of its native token, LMT.

Hackers broke into Lympo’s systems on January 10 and drained 165.2 million LMT, worth US$18.7 million at the time. Since then, the value of the token has plunged 92 percent, though blockchain security company PeckShield claims it could be more than 99 percent:

According to a post from the Lympo team, 10 different project wallets were compromised in the attack. Most of the stolen tokens were sent to a single address, exchanged for Ether on Uniswap and SushiSwap, then diverted elsewhere.

Liquidity Removed to ‘Minimise Price Disruption’

In a later tweet, the team also stated that it had removed liquidity LMT from liquidity pools to “minimise disruption to token prices”:

Removing liquidity from pools means traders will be unable to buy or sell any significant amount of the tokens without experiencing a dramatic loss of value on their trade.

Lympo advised traders that most of the LMT reserve sits in so-called cold wallets that are disconnected from the internet. These were unaffected by the attack.

We are investigating the incident and how we can make up for it for our community. At this point, we recommend not buying or selling additional LMT tokens.

Lympo post on Twitter

Second Hot Wallet Hack in a Week

Lympo is a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based game software and venture capital company. According to Animoca CEO Yat Siu, “We are working with Lympo to assist them on a recovery plan, but we don’t have any specific mechanisms.”

This was the second hot wallet hack in a week, with crypto exchange LCX losing nearly US$8 million on January 8. Both incidents follow the US$200 million BitMart hack in early December.