Category: NFTs

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Blockchain NFTs

Mega Mutant Serum #69 Sold For Almost $6 Million, Crazy?

A single non-fungible token (NFT) from the Mutant Serum collection by the Bored Ape Chemistry Club has changed hands for almost US$6 million.

Serum #69, one of 10,000 in the series to be airdropped to all Bored Apes collectors, was purchased on OpenSea for a record 1542.069 ETH (US$5.8 million) on January 2 by @Deepak Thapliyal, an avid Ape collector and CEO of blockchain tech startup Chain.

Deepak took to Twitter to explain himself and his reasoning behind such an expensive investment:

Most Iconic NFT Project to Date

The level of creativity from Yuga Labs (creators of Bored Apes) is pure genius. The Bored Apes Yacht Club roadmap outlined that Bored Apes would be followed by another collection after all BAYC NFTs had been sold. Mutant Apes was always part of the project’s vision. The release of Serums adds an extra layer of uniqueness and generates further excitement among collectors within the Apes community.

Of 10,000 Serums already airdropped, there are only eight Mega Mutant Serums, making Serum #69 extremely rare. Serums are designed for a one-use mutation of a Bored Ape. Applying the mutating feature on the MAYC website, the Serum NFT merges with the Bored Ape NFT to create a new Mutated Ape character with combined features. Yuga Labs has ingeniously invented a way to add a scarcity model that goes beyond the original Bored Ape mint.

The original Bored Apes collection has become one of the most popular NFT projects to date. In September last year, a collection of Bored Apes NFTs sold for US$25 million.

BAYC is a phenomenon that has transformed the way the world sees digital art and NFTs, and has had a huge impact on the rise in popularity of the entire NFT space. Even rapper Eminem has one!

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Crypto News Cryptocurrencies Gaming Metaverse NFTs Tokens

South Korean Presidential Candidate to Use NFTs to Raise Funds for Campaign

In a blatant pitch for the tech-savvy youth vote, South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party (DPK) is to issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for electoral fundraising purposes in what it claims is a political world first.

Digital images of Lee Jae-myung, the ruling party’s presidential candidate, will be sent to supporters who donate money to his campaign from this month. The party says that these NFTs, which feature Lee’s photos and details of his policies, will serve as a kind of bond so holders can freely exchange the assets with others.

Digital Assets to be Taxed … But Not Just Yet

The party was quick to confirm that South Korea’s National Election Commission had quietly decreed last month that fundraising using NFTs does not violate the Political Funds Act or the Public Official Election Act. And while the South Korean Financial Services Commission said in November that NFTs would not be regulated, it has since backpedalled by announcing the digital assets would be taxed from January 2022.

But in a convenient loophole for candidate Lee and the DPK, the implementation of the new tax has been delayed a year because of flaws noted by party scrutinisers.

Lee Declares His Support For Gaming NFTs

As part of his efforts to win over Korean Millennials and Gen Zs, candidate Lee openly supports the gaming industry’s use of NFTs. In an interview last month with a gaming YouTuber, Lee said that Korea should lead the global trend of integrating games with virtual assets and NFTs. Failing to do so, he added, would be tantamount to isolationism.

As the young generation[s] are interested in emerging technologies, including virtual assets, NFTs and the metaverse, this type of fundraising could appeal to them. If we deny what actually exists, it will be similar to an isolationist foreign policy.

Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate, Korean Democratic Party

Party officials claim that if Lee’s initiative is successful, he will become the world’s first politician to issue NFTs to help finance a presidential bid. The NFTs, representing political memorabilia, could also hold future value and serve as an investment for donors. Donated digital monies will be converted into Korean won through a crypto exchange and then deposited into the campaign’s account.

Trump, Snowden Challenge Korea’s ‘World First’

As for the DPK’s claim of a political world first, former US first lady Melania Trump may have beaten Korea to the punch with last month’s launch of her own NFT platform. Its first offering was a tokenised watercolour of husband (and former president) Donald Trump’s eyes.

But as long ago as April last year, whistleblower Edward Snowden sold an NFT to help raise funds for the Freedom of the Press Foundation. That would certainly fit the description of a political act.

 

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Australia Blockchain Crypto News NFTs

Samsung Set to Release Smart TV with NFT Trading Capabilities

What’s the point of owning an NFT (non-fungible token) if you can’t show it off to everyone you know? Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics understands this and is here to help by introducing three TV models incorporating an NFT explorer and marketplace aggregator – a platform that allows owners to browse, purchase, and display their favourite art.

Samsung Brings Blockchain to Your Smart TV

The past couple of months has seen an unprecedented explosion in the NFT market, and the need for tech companies to get on board has become all the more important. Samsung is leading the charge in this respect by introducing a new “NFT Aggregation Platform”, designed for three of its 2022 TV models.

According to Samsung:

In 2022, Samsung is introducing the world’s first TV screen-based NFT explorer and marketplace aggregator, a groundbreaking platform that lets you browse, purchase, and display your favourite art – all in one place.

Samsung Electronics announcement

Watch TV, Buy NFTs

The platform, which will be available on Samsung’s MicroLed, Neo QLED, and The Frame models, will allow users to browse and buy NFTs directly from the TVs. The new platform pulls in NFTs from different marketplaces so users can preview the art and see who created it, along with all relevant blockchain metadata.

Promotion for Samsung’s upcoming NFT TV platform. Source: Samsung

For users who already own NFTs, the platform can be used to showcase their prized possessions. Samsung has also introduced its “Smart Calibration” technology that automatically adjusts the TV’s setting to match the original specifications, to ensure the image is rendered as optimally as the creator intended.

Among the impressive specs offered by the platform, the application will feature an “intuitive, integrated platform for discovering, purchasing and trading digital artwork”, which allows users to trade NFTs on set.

Hopefully Samsung’s forward thinking will inspire the 90 percent of Australians who reportedly remain ignorant of cryptos and NFTs to investigate the new revolution.

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Crypto News Ethereum NFTs Stablecoins

Vitalik Buterin Reflects on 2021: ‘I Completely Missed NFTs’

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the second-largest cryptocurrency and decentralised ecosystem, Ethereum, has admitted he “completely missed NFTs” (non-fungible tokens).

In a recent Twitter storm, the programmer and crypto writer shared his thoughts about the current state of the industry. Since the launch of Ethereum, Buterin envisioned a future where programmers could build decentralised applications on the Ethereum network and release them to the public. These would include DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations), ERC-20 tokens, and Oracles.

However, Buterin admits he failed to catch the NFT wave:

Crypto and Stablecoin Adoption on the Rise

Buterin started his thread by saying he had visited Argentina, where he noticed a rise in crypto and stablecoin adoption as more Argentinian businesses were operating with USDT.

Argentina is one of the many examples of how crypto and blockchain technology can be used to combat rising fiat hyperinflation. In a 2013 article, Buterin wrote that cryptocurrencies could protect citizens against declining purchasing power and the reduction of wealth in countries such as Venezuela, Argentina and Iran:

Buterin went on to reflect on the negative impact of the “internationalisation and regulation” of Bitcoin, which he also predicted nearly 10 years ago:

My views today: sure, Bitcoin’s decentralisation would let it still “survive” under a super-hostile regulatory climate, but it could not “thrive”. Successful censorship resistance strategy requires a combination of technological robustness and public legitimacy.

Vitalik Buterin

‘The Internet Of Money Shouldn’t Cost More than 5 Cents’

The Twitter storm also served as the arena for both supporters and detractors of Ethereum. While Buterin claimed that his invention kickstarted the internet of money and that it is still working on scalability, some users fired back at him for the expensive gas fees on the network, which can take up to 50 percent.

Putting aside those discussions, Buterin ended the thread in claiming he had changed his mind about political organisations, saying he was “more naive then”.

On tech, I was more often right on abstract ideas than on production software dev issues. Had to learn to understand the latter over time. I have a deeper appreciation now of the need for even more simplicity than I thought we needed.

Vitalik Buterin

The Ethereum Exodus Continues

While Ethereum has become the largest DeFi ecosystem, its massive popularity has caused it to struggle due to enormous traffic on the platform, which in turn drives up gas fee prices.

This is the main reason why several projects, including NFTs, are moving to other networks to offset excessively high fees on the ETH blockchain, and to achieve a higher throughput.

Ether, however, is one of the most beloved cryptos for whales – as Crypto News Australia reported in August last year, over 43 percent of ETH circulation is in hands of whales, according to analytics platform Santiment.

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Crypto News NFTs

Ozzy Osbourne Launches ‘CryptoBatz’ NFTs in Nod to Biting a Bat’s Head Off in 1982

Heavy metal musician Ozzy Osbourne, the self-proclaimed “Prince of Darkness”, has announced his first foray into the world of crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with his debut “CryptoBatz” collection.

Osbourne Has a History with Bats

The CryptoBatz project is a not-so-subtle digital nod to an infamous moment in 1982 when Osbourne bit the head off a bat during a live performance in Des Moines, Iowa, in the US.

CryptoBatz is a fucking mental project for NFT collectors and fans. The design pays tribute to one of my most iconic on-stage moments and is a chance to acquire a rare piece of art history. I love it!

Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
An example of the NFTs that Ozzy Osbourne fans can purchase. Source: CryptoBatz

I’ve been trying to get in on the NFT action for a while so when I asked Sharon for a Bored Ape for Christmas after several failed attempts of buying my own, and she said no, I decided to create my own.

Ozzy Osbourne

CryptoBatz Give Birth

The collection, which becomes available mid-month and introduces a host of unique and innovative features to the NFT world, is the result of a collaboration between the Prince of Darkness and NFT studio Sutter Systems.

In total there will be 9,666 unique NFT bats, each giving the collector an opportunity to “birth” an additional NFT. This can be done by activating a feature that will allow the user’s purchase to “bite” and mutate with another NFT from their digital wallet.

Known as ‘MutantBatz’, this feature will subsequently allow owners to combine the attributes of two separate projects – making ‘MutantBatz’ a rare offering for NFT collectors. At this juncture, CryptoBatz will be able to “bite” Bored Ape Yacht Club, SupDucks, CrypToadz and a fourth unnamed NFT collection.

CryptoBatz has some NFT collectors excited, suggesting it may soon overtake the likes of so-called blue-chip NFT projects such as CryptoPunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club:

How to Get Involved

A presale for the project is now open through the CryptoBatz discord channel, while a further 2,500 guaranteed CryptoBat presale whitelist passes will be available exclusively through the same channel.

Successful applicants will also be able to mint up to three CryptoBatz per digital wallet, while public minting will open in early February. For more details, visit the official Cryptobatz website.

Ozzy Osbourne
Another example of the NFTs Osbourne fans can purchase. Source: CryptoBatz

Given that 2021 saw the worlds of music and crypto collide, Osbourne’s move into NFTs is perhaps not that unexpected. With this year’s Grammy Awards featuring NFTs as prizes and with more concerts set to take place in the metaverse, 2022 may well be even more groundbreaking a year than the last.

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Crypto Art Crypto News Ethereum Metaverse NFTs

Eminem Buys Bored Ape for $452,000, Holds Another 166 NFTs

Slim Shady – aka Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem – joined the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) community late last year by buying a non-fungible token (NFT) from the collection for a sobering 123.45 ether. The rapper paid US$452,000 to add BAYC #9055 to his already impressive collection of 166 NFTs.

Slim Shady Slides into the BAYC Community

There is no doubt 2021 was the year of the NFT, with the BAYC NFT project alone grossing over US$1 billion in trading volume worldwide. BAYC recently entered partnerships with Rolling Stone to release two digital magazine covers featuring Bored Ape Yacht Club characters. Adidas also recently announced a collaboration with Bored Ape creators Yuga Labs to enter the metaverse. As a show of good faith, the sports apparel brand also bought its own BAYC NFT.

On December 30, Eminem joined the BAYC project by purchasing BAYC #9055 for a cool 123.45 ETH, or US$452,000. The rapper shared his new purchase by changing his profile picture on Twitter:

Eminem’s new Twitter profile picture. Source: Twitter.com

The BAYC #9055 purchase was further confirmed by the OpenSea platform, which indicates the new owner of the NFT to be “Shady_Holdings”. The portfolio also owns a number of Lil Baby Doodles X NFTs, Ditaggdogg#1 featuring a stencil image of the famous rapper, and Superlatives Apes #3880.

In fact, Eminem owns a number of ERC721 NFTs, including Shaq Gives Back #4077, and Adult Fantasy Sub-Dude (130/151). He bought BAYC #9055 from the NFT’s former owner GeeGazza, who took to Twitter to share his excitement:

In fact, GeeGazza predicted the sale back in November last year:

Eminem Now Owns 166 NFTs from 32 Collections

The sale was facilitated by digital agency “Six”, who proclaimed on Twitter that its creator-focused agency helped secure the ape for Shady, and are now calling the NFT “EminApe”. Admittedly, the ape does rather resemble its new owner.

According to data from dappradar.com, the rapper owns 166 NFT assets from 32 collections. As it stands, Shady_Holdings address holds 1.52 ETH following the purchase. Eminem got 124 ETH from an account that uses the name georgio.eth. That account holds 504 NFTs from 51 different collections, including BAYC #4936, and it also spent 43.98 ETH on two CryptoPunks.

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Crypto News NFTs Scams

OpenSea Freezes 16 NFTs Worth $2.2 Million Following Phishing Scam

A Bored Ape collector’s NFTs have been stolen in a phishing attack, prompting top NFT marketplace OpenSea to step in and freeze the assets on its site as some community members tried to get them back.

On December 30, an NFT collector was the victim of a successful phishing attack which led the hacker to a collection of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and other NFTs worth an estimated US$2.2 million:

Collector Todd Kramer, who runs the Ross+Kramer art gallery in New York and East Hampton, revealed in a series of tweets that he was hacked after clicking a malicious link fronting as a Dapp. The attack resulted in him losing 16 of his NFTs, with Kramer stating in a now deleted tweet: “I have been hacked. […] all my apes gone. [T]his just sold [referring to his profile picture] please help me”, further pleading with the OpenSea and NFT community to assist in any way.

BAYC has been one of the most successful NFT projects so far, with celebrities including talkshow host Jimmy Fallon and rapper Eminem also owning a few. So far, nearly US$1 billion has been spent on trading Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. 

Community Works to Return Stolen NFTs

Some buyers found the activity questionable as these NFTs were being sold for fractions of their value and had been flagged as suspicious by the marketplace:

After word got out, some community members approached Kramer to either sell back (albeit at a loss) or give back some of his NFTs.

The end result of the stolen BAYC and MAYC NFT fiasco has not been disclosed publicly, but it seems a few individuals helped ease Kramer’s worries and have assisted him in retrieving some of his stolen NFTs.

Freezing NFTs Brings Up Questions

After Kramer’s NFTs were stolen, OpenSea – the largest NFT marketplace – froze the assets, so they can’t be traded. In an earlier tweet, Kramer said: “All Apes are frozen […] Waiting for OpenSea team to get in”. This can be seen on OpenSea, where the items can no longer be bought or sold.

The deleted tweet from Todd Kramer, which was captured on archive.org. Kramer claims all the apes were frozen in the tweet.

This comment attracted criticism from the community since a third party was getting involved, which goes against the idea of true decentralisation. One Twitter user commented: “Feels pretty anti-crypto to be asking third parties to do this and ideally they shouldn’t be able to.”

Even famed software engineer Grady Booch added his opinion about the lack of decentralisation in this case when he commented:

Silly me. And here I thought that the code is the law and that one of the very ideas of cryptocurrencies was the elimination of any possibility of centralised intervention. Hypocrites; every one of you.

Grady Booch

Lack of Operational Security Partly to Blame

In the end, one can be sure that if other owners were in Kramer’s shoes, they would be thankful. One other mistake on his part was not practising good operational security – Kramer’s stolen NFTs were stored on a hot wallet connected to the internet, rather than using a cold wallet that requires physical action on the part of the holder to verify transactions.

Phishing has been a growing problem in the crypto space, with cybersecurity company PhishLabs reporting a tenfold increase in such attacks on crypto exchanges in the first half of 2021, compared to the previous year.

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Crypto News Events Metaverse NFTs Real Estate

New Year’s Eve Takes Place in Decentraland This Year

During unprecedented times such as the Covid-19 pandemic, large gatherings of people have had to come up with creative ways to remain safe and still enjoy themselves. New York City’s iconic New Year’s Eve Ball Drop is just one major event to have suffered the perils of the pandemic.

The virtual event, dubbed ‘MetaFest 2022‘, will include non-fungible token (NFT) art galleries, rooftop VIP lounges, and virtual musical performances. Virtual billboards will tie the experience to the event’s metaverse counterpart via live streams from New York City.

NYE Comes to Decentraland

On December 29, DCG and Jamestown announced their intention to recreate a significant cultural site within the metaverse – One Times Square. The 26-storey building in the heart of Manhattan’s Times Square is home to the annual New Year’s Eve Ball Drop celebration, now limited to 15,000 socially distanced and fully vaccinated attendees due to a rise in the number of Covid cases in New York.

NYE Ball Drop in Decentraland.

According to Simon Koster, DCG’s head of real estate, “This event highlights how virtual events can cohesively integrate with real ones in an effort to bring once-in-a-lifetime experiences to so many that would have never been able to participate otherwise.”

‘MetaFest2022’ is not the first event to take to the metaverse. As also reported this week by Crypto News Australia, a new project called Animal Concerts is building a virtual touring company to host VR live music events in the metaverse.

“The metaverse is an important part of the evolution of real estate and the built environment,” said Jamestown president Michael Phillips. “Whereas physical real estate is largely limited to people with geographic proximity, the metaverse can give people around the world meaningful access to places through immersive virtual experiences.”

To join in on the experience, users can create personalised avatars and explore the Times Square Plaza.

More and More Moving into the Metaverse

As the metaverse continues to explode, more and more industries are moving into the digital space and many are choosing the Decentraland metaverse to facilitate their move. In November, the Caribbean island of Barbados announced it would become the first sovereign nation to have a digital embassy in the metaverse, forging an agreement with Decentraland to host it.  

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Blockchain Crypto News Metaverse NFTs Tokens Virtual Reality

Music Concerts in the Metaverse: the New Wave of Adoption?

A new project called Animal Concerts is building a virtual touring company to host virtual live music events in the Metaverse. Through the project, artists can earn up to 50 percent of revenues from both ticket and NFT sales.

It’s time for the next generation of concertgoers and fans to deck out your home theatre, get a VR headset and watch your favourite artists from the comfort of your lounge.

The Animal’s Metaverse will include online concerts, virtual merchandise in the form of digital collectible NFTs, and a community of superfans. Bringing together all aspects of a real-world live event, Animal Concerts will be the hub for delivering online immersive virtual reality experiences for fans like nothing they’ve encountered before. Founder Colin Fitzpatrick says the goal is to become the “Netflix of live streaming concerts”.

With 360-degree cameras on stage, you can use a VR headset to get an immersive experience – like you are dancing on stage with your favourite bands, from your living room anywhere in the world. We want to enable you to enjoy the concert with friends by seeing their avatars.

Colin Fitzpatrick, founder, Animal Concerts

The platform will use cutting-edge technology, setting up multiple 360-degree cameras on stage to feed high-quality footage and audio directly into punters’ VR headsets. Click here to read the full roadmap of features outlined in the Animal Concerts Whitepaper.

A-List Artists to Promote the Metaverse

Animal Concerts will leverage the online fan reach of the A-list artists it promotes by contracting them to help market and push the brand of the platform. “No other crypto will have this many celebrities onboard, promoting us on social media,” its website boasts. “Propelled by these celebs, we will achieve the biggest social following of any cryptocurrency.”

Restrictions on travel and gathering in numbers over the past two years of the pandemic has decimated the revenues of artists who rely on live performance to generate income. Album sales have also been in sharp decline as streaming services continue to replace traditional methods of music consumption.

Round Up Your ANIMAL token

$ANIMAL will be the native token for Animal Concerts. Holding the Animal token will allow users:

  • payment for concert tickets, NFTs and other merchandise on the Animal Concerts marketplace;
  • tiered rewards for early investors;
  • governance, voting and fan interaction, free tickets, limited-edition merch and early access to unique materials and collectibles;
  • discounts for fans purchasing tickets with the ANIMAL token over platforms such as Ticketmaster, etc;
  • participation in online communities of loyal fans; and
  • creation of art, gaming and music NFTs.

At Last, a Serious Challenge to Spotify

Major streaming service Spotify, however, has been criticised for undercutting musicians’ revenues and has upset the industry with its unfavourable artist royalties distribution model. Animal Concerts is set to change this, allowing performers to earn 50 percent of revenues from both ticket and NFT sales. By benefiting the artists directly, Animal Concerts provides a massive incentive for celebrities to entice their fans into the metaverse.

Aiming to launch upwards of 20 virtual reality concerts in 2022 along with NFT collectibles, Animal Concerts has announced a lineup of artists that includes Adele, Arctic Monkeys, Beastie Boys, Backstreet Boys, Bruno Mars, Drake, Ellie Goulding, Fatboy Slim, Frank Ocean, Gwen Stefani, the Killers, Kings of Leon, Miley Cyrus and more.

Teaming up with some of the biggest players in the metaverse, Animal Concerts has partnered with 3D virtual world platform Decentraland, NFT and gaming giant Enjin, and blockchain payment company Circle, among others.

Participate in the IDO

Animal Concerts will be launching on PolkaBridge on January 18. To participate, fill out the registration form for Animal Concerts before January 17 and be sure to have ETH in your wallet:

As a precursor to the Animal Concerts model, in October the US financial services company Republic announced the launch of “Republic Music”, an investment product offering “an entirely new way to create, produce and share royalties from music”.

In an earlier challenge to the dominance of Spotify, Audius, a music streaming platform based on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, partnered with popular Chinese video-sharing and social media app TikTok to create TikTok Sounds. Within 24 hours of the August announcement, the $AUDIO token’s price spiked over 200 percent.

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Airdrop Crypto News Ethereum Giveaways NFTs Tokens

OpenSea Users Can Claim a Free Airdrop of SOS Tokens

SOS, an airdrop from OpenDAO distributed to people who have spent money on OpenSea transactions, has surged 1,000 percent in two days as a result.

Although OpenDAO is not affiliated with non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea, any user who has ever spent money on OpenSea could claim the Ethereum token SOS, with the amount determined by exactly how much users have spent.

Up to 240,000 Users Claim SOS Token

Since Christmas Eve, the popularity of the project has led to about 240,000 people claiming the SOS token, which pushed its value up 1,000 percent.

Tokens were dropped by OpenDAO, an independent decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) that has pledged to use some of the tokens it had earmarked for itself to compensate users of OpenSea for past scams, and to support the ever-growing NFT industry.

On Christmas Day, SOS was the largest gainer on CoinMarketCap, and by Boxing Day the token had risen to a market cap of US$321 million. The project’s Discord had about 50,000 members, and 100,000 people were following OpenDAO’s Twitter account.

How to Claim Your SOS

The more a person has traded, the more tokens that person is able to claim. OpenDAO calculates how many tokens are allocated based on transactions conducted prior to December 23. Any OpenSea transactions concluded after that date would not factor in the calculation.

For a short tutorial on the claims process, watch this informative video on YouTube:

OpenSea Thrives Following a Flurry of Issues

Amid the NFT boom, OpenSea appears to be thriving despite experiencing some issues. Earlier in 2021, the marketplace managed to raise US$23 million in a Series A round of funding to scale its NFT marketplace. Following a significant period of growth in the NFT market, OpenSea started experiencing some issues during September. Early that month, a bug was found on the marketplace that destroyed at least 42 NFTs worth around US$100,000.

Just a week later, OpenSea’s product lead Nate Chastain was accused of insider trading of NFTs promoted on the front page of the platform. The allegations were confirmed by the OpenSea team, and Chastain has since resigned from his position.