Category: NFTs

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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. 

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Crypto News DeFi Gaming NFTs Tokens

Axie Infinity Continues to Soar, Up 86% in a Month

Axie Infinity has been leading the P2E (Play-to-Earn) movement by becoming the highest-revenue generating game in the market, with over 1.8 million daily active users worldwide. Data from Binance shows ASX, its native token, has surged over 80 percent in just one month, highlighting the interest from investors and gamers alike for blockchain-based games.

ASX Has Mooned 150,000% Since its Launch

ASX had an 86 percent price boost last month, trading at US$121.36 at the time of writing.

Daily chart of ASX/BTC

Additionally, analytics firm CoinGecko reported that ASX was the second-best performing asset of the market in Q3 2021, with a three-month best ROI (return of investment) of 965 percent, and YTD (Year to Date) gains of approximately 15,000 percent.

Two weeks ago, ASX surged above 100 percent following a massive airdrop of US$60 million to early users and a staking rewards feature, where token holders generated returns of up to 385 percent APY.

Controversial Updates

While Axie has been thriving in the DeFi and NFT markets, some recent updates have staggered its price surge. Recently, the team behind the game revealed the 1.1.0a update, which embedded three fundamental technical changes: to the Ronin Block Explorer, bug fixing and game dynamics, and game tokenomics.

The last one caused the prices of ASX and SLP to drop nearly 10 percent in a matter of hours. Normally, players sell their Axie characters with their respective levels and characteristics, but this update now automatically resets the monster’s level to 1. This has outraged the community. But what’s more is that players with less than 800 MMR are prohibited from receiving rewards for playing the adventure modes or daily quests.

Despite the setbacks, Axie continues to be the frontrunner of P2E video games when it comes to revenues. The ASX token is now one of the top 50 tokens in the crypto market, following a 50 percent price boost in just a week.

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Australia Crypto News NFTs

Barossa Winemaker Launches Entire Vintage as Drinkable NFTs

Last week it was single-malt whisky, this week single-vineyard wine – a South Australian winemaker is the first in the world to sell an entire vintage in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

From October 19, Torbreck Vintners and Powell & Son founder Dave Powell has put up his 2021 single-vineyard wines under his new label, Neldner Road, for auction on leading NFT marketplace OpenSea.

Entire Vintage Available for a Lazy $9.15 Million

There are 101 NFTs redeemable for specific barrels of wine, or the entire vintage can be bought for a cool 2,373.28 ETH (US$9.15 million).

Winemaker Dave Powell. Source: bestwinesunder20.com.au

“When I first found out about NFTs, it seemed to fit well with wine,” Powell says. “This reminds me of how wines are sold in Bordeaux [France] through their en primeur system, which has been in operation for over a century.

“As with en primeur [whereby connoisseurs are allowed to buy wine futures 12 to 18 months before the wine is bottled], people who purchase an NFT have an advantage over the normal wine buyer who pays full retail price once the wine hits the open market,” Powell adds.

“And like en primeur, NFTs guarantee provenance, but it’s more about bringing my wines to a new audience who I think will be interested in what we’re doing.

Like the more ‘traditional’ NFT products, our wine is rare – just 100 barrels. Every vintage is different, and it’s the original collectible – the oldest personal wine collection we know of dates back nearly 4,000 years.

Dave Powell, founder, Torbreck Vintners, Powell & Son, Neldner Road

Buy More Than One NFT, Have Dinner With the Winemakers

Neldner Road – named for the location of the Kraehe Vineyard, one of several Powell works with – will cellar each barrel until its buyer is ready to receive it. Each contains 225 litres, enough to fill 300 standard wine bottles. Other bonuses include holograms, plus air tickets and dinner parties with the Neldner Road team if a buyer purchases multiple NFTs.

The auction began yesterday, with minimum bids set at a chastening 6.95 ETH (US$26,792). If it’s any buffer against the expense, above-average rainfall and a mild summer mean the 2021 vintage is shaping up as the best in living memory.

I’ve waited more than four decades to be in the right place at the right time. The confluence of climatic conditions that led up to the vintage I feel will never been repeated, and have resulted in fruit that is simply the best I’ve ever seen – and I think these wines may well be the best I ever make.

Dave Powell, founder, Torbreck Vintners, Powell & Son, Neldner Road

The auction concludes on November 17 at 5:30pm PST.

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Crypto News Gaming NFTs Solana

World’s First ‘Move to Earn’ NFT Game Genopets Raises $8.3 Million

Genopets, the world’s very first mobile ‘Move-to-Earn’, or ‘play-to-earn” (P2E) non-fungible token (NFT) game, has raised US$8.3 million in seed round funding to “bridge the physical and digital world(s)”, the company announced on October 18.

Genopets is an innovative game built atop the Solana (SOL) blockchain in which users can create a Genopet – an NFT connected with their fitness data. Genopets is one of three exciting P2E games launching on Solana. The game allows users to do real-world exercises to earn rewards within the game, which they can later cash out.

The funding round was co-led by Pantera Capital and Konvoy Venture (investors and board observer at Axie Infinity).

Exercise Brings Measurable Rewards

Genopets has said that the money raised in the seed round will fund its goal “to bridge the physical and digital world(s)”. The game aims to “provide income to individuals as an incentive to stay physically active”, CEO Albert Chen said in a statement.

Josh Chapman, managing partner at Konvoy Ventures, added:

Genopets is a liquid digital asset representation of a gamer’s physical activity in the real world. It sits at the intersection of gaming, play-to-earn, and physical activity. This platform connects a gamer’s real-world steps with their progression, customisation, and value creation in the Genopet universe.

Josh Chapman, managing partner, Konvoy Ventures

P2E Is a Key Force Behind the Massive Growth of NFTs

The announcement of the seed funding round comes at a time when the NFT space, and specifically the NFT-gaming industry, is exploding. Other NFT gaming platforms such as Sydney-based “Immutable” recently raised A$82 million (US$60 million) in a Series B funding round, bringing its total funding raised to A$105 million. Creators of SimCity also recently launched Proxi – a blockchain-based AI-driven game that employs NFT technology.

Paul Veradittakit, partner at Pantera Capital, had this to say about the booming NFT gaming industry:

Play-to-Earn pinpoints an intersection of gaming and blockchain that has struck a chord with users – earning real money proportional to in-game performance.

Paul Veradittakit, partner, Pantera Capital
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Crypto Art Crypto News NFTs

CryptoPunk Owner Turns Down $9.5 Million Offer, Could Have Made 11,500% Return

CryptoPunks have gone way beyond cult status with multimillion-dollar price tags and diehard collectors who refuse to part with these exuberant pieces of digital art, no matter what the cost or inducement.

CryptoPunk #6046

Canadian Punk collector Richerd bought CryptoPunk #6046 for 45 ETH (US$83,209) on Mar 31, 2021. Just over six months later he refused an offer for the same Punk, turning down a record-breaking on-chain bid of almost US$10 million, with a potential 11,500 percent return.

Richerd owns three other Crypto Punks: male punk #3936, which is basically the same as #6046 but without the cigarette, as well as two female Punks – #1032 and #1042 – and a variety of other, equally expensive NFTs, including Bored Apes.

@Richerd took to Twitter with his priceless punk #6046 featured as his profile picture, declaring that he will never sell his Punk.

He further explained that his CryptoPunks are deeply tied to the identity of his business’s branding, therefore selling ownership of the image would not be something he would consider.

My identity along with identity of other iconic Punks and apes have value beyond the NFT itself. We have our own brands similar to any other brand and that has value. Because I value my personal brand and identity, this was an easy rejection for me.

Richerd Chen, co-founder, Manifold

Richerd is otherwise known as Richerd Chen, the co-founder of NFT smart contract developer Manifold, a studio behind some of the most inventive NFT projects yet seen. Manifold Creator includes a powerful extension framework that allows creators to install blockchain “apps” into their creator contract, allowing them to create products beyond just visual and audio NFTs and support features beyond simply minting.

Chen added via Twitter: “I have huge conviction in the NFT space and in Punks. When it comes to [the] NFTs space, I think very long-term … To me, my brand, identity, and what I’m building in the NFT space will be way more valuable in the long run.”

See the below CryptoPunk image branding a truck wrapped with Spottie the CryptoPunk Rapper:

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Crypto Art Crypto News NFTs

Sotheby’s Launches Its Own NFT Marketplace, Dubbed ‘Sotheby’s Metaverse’

Auction house Sotheby’s has stepped into the metaverse trend by launching its own NFT marketplace, dubbed Sotheby’s Metaverse.

First Auction House to Have Its Own NFT Marketplace

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) is the fastest-growing trend in the DeFi community, with over US$10 billion in trading volume in the third quarter of 2021, with astronomical sums changing hands such as a collection of Bored Ape NFTs that sold for US$25 million last month.

NFTs are also used in the metaverse – virtual as in Decentraland, where players can interact with each other and trade items and pieces of land in the form of NFTs, all in a blockchain-based digital landscape.

With such rapid expansion in the space, Sotheby’s decided to step into the metaverse and become the first auction house to own an NFT marketplace. The platform, launching October 18, is powered by Mojito, an NFT studio and tech platform that provides services including brand identity, strategy and management for NFT businesses.

The platform will host various well-known NFT collectors and artists across the space, including Steve Aoki, Paris Hilton, Whaleshark, Pranksy, Straybits, and more. Some of its lots contain rare Pepe pieces, the famous CryptoKitties, and Time magazine’s NFT collection.

Sotheby’s is one of the world’s largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery and collectibles, with 227 years of history. An auction house with its trajectory could surely boost the NFT industry.

This isn’t the first time Sotheby’s has entered the digital world. As Crypto News Australia reported in June, the auction house accepted crypto for the first time as payment for a rare 101.38-carat diamond.

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Blockchain Crypto News DeFi Ethereum Gaming NFTs

DeFi Total Value Locked Has Exploded This Year, Up 10x Since January

The DeFi (decentralised finance) sector has been one of the hottest topics in the crypto community this year, mainly because of its fast-paced growth in a relatively short time. The TVL (Total Value Locked) across DeFi protocols is now at US$218 billion – a rise of over 850 percent from US$21.4 billion on January 1.

Ethereum Blockchain Takes the Lead with 69% Dominance in DeFi Market

DeFi TLV has exploded 10 times higher since the beginning of the year, surpassing the US$200 billion mark. According to data from DefiLlama, Ethereum is the blockchain that currently leads the market, with a TVL of US$151.15 billion.

Meanwhile, Curve – an exchange liquidity pool on Ethereum – is by far the largest TVL protocol with a dominance of 7.84 percent (7-day change) across various blockchains, including Avalanche, Polygon and Binance Smart Chain.

Source: DefiLlama

What’s Behind the Exponential Growth?

DeFi’s exponential growth can be attributed to numerous features and innovations within the sector. But there are two main drivers of the industry: the rise of blockchain video games with Play-2-Earn (P2E) mechanisms, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

P2E games have attracted numerous users across the globe, especially since the pandemic struck down economies worldwide and forced people to look for alternative means to make ends meet. Such was the case with Axie Infinity, a Pokemon-inspired, blockchain-based video game that allows users to play and earn SLP, the game’s native currency that can be traded for fiat money.

Axie hit a milestone by surpassing US$2 billion in trading volume by September, making it the first DApp to reach such a figure. There are other video-game DApps on other blockchains besides Ethereum, integrating P2E mechanisms and NFTs trading. Some of them are set to blow up in popularity in the future and take a slice of Ethereum’s dominance. One such example is Star Atlas, a metaverse real-time grand strategy game currently developing on the Solana blockchain.

NFTs Boosting the DeFi Market

NFTs are undoubtedly one of the hottest trends in the DeFi market, dragging artists, musicians and content creators across the globe to a digital ecosystem full of opportunities. Q3 saw a massive explosion for NFTs with a US$10 billion trading volume in August and September alone, inflating ETH’s price 20 percent amid a thriving NFT market.

DeFi is also taking off in Australia, which ranked 12th out of 154 nations to embrace and adopt DeFi and its numerous innovative DApps, most of them built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Some analysts even believe that NFTs and blockchain games will be future key foundations of the industry. Others like WallStreetBets (WSB) plan to “take over” traditional financial markets. As Crypto News Australia reported last month, the popular subreddit WSB has launched a DeFi protocol that allows trading of synthetic stocks backed by blockchain technology.

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Crypto Art Crypto News Ethereum NFTs Tokens

Glenfiddich to Release Rare, Expensive $18K Whisky as NFTs

Premium single-malt Scotch whisky brand Glenfiddich has partnered with new non-fungible token marketplace BlockBar to launch a series of 15 limited-edition NFTs, each worth a tidy US$18,000.

The tokens are offered through BlockBar’s NFT platform, which allows Glenfiddich to digitise and sell exclusive spirits products as NFTs directly to consumers for personal consumption, collecting or investment purposes.

Each token corresponds to a physical bottle of a 1973 Armagnac cask finish Single Malt Scotch Whisky sold by Glenfiddich. The purchaser of each NFT becomes the owner of the physical product represented by the token, which also takes the form of a digital receipt to verify the buyer’s ownership and the authenticity of the product.

Buyers can be assured their accounts won’t be compromised and their NFTs won’t be stolen as the tokens are protected by FireBlocks’ digital asset custody infrastructure and Chainalysis’s compliance technology.

Buyers Retain Resale or Transfer Options

Each buyer has the option to resell or transfer the NFT via the BlockBar platform or redeem it for the physical version. BlockBar is also responsible for storing the product and, on request, delivering it to thirstier buyers.

“Glenfiddich continues to push boundaries in whisky innovation and this mindset transcends to those we partner with,” commented Doug Bagley, chief commercial officer of William Grant & Sons,  Glenfiddich’s parent company.

We are proud to be the first luxury spirits brand to be available on BlockBar at the time of the launch. BlockBar brings a heightened level of authenticity to our brand via its proprietary NFT platform and creates an elite club of distinguished collectors with whom we’re excited to build long-term relationships.  

Doug Bagley, chief commercial officer, William Grant & Sons

The first series of Glenfiddich NFTs will launch October 19 on a first in, best dressed basis. Buyers can purchase them from BlockBar with Ethereum (ETH) or by credit card.

“BlockBar values transparency, authenticity and quality assurance, and Glenfiddich is the perfect partner to mark the launch of our mission to bridge the physical and digital worlds of luxury,” said BlockBar CEO Dov Falic. 

We’re proud to be providing the first direct-to-consumer, fully authenticated wine and spirits platform via an NFT marketplace. This is a momentous time for the crypto, NFT, and luxury wine and spirits communities, and we can’t wait to announce many more exclusive releases in future.

Dov Falic, CEO, BlockBar

NFT Space Continues to Show its Versatility

Not only does the Glenfiddich/BlockBar partnership herald the advent of the drinkable NFT, this month Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen was awarded the world’s first NFT chess trophy after winning the Meltwater Champions Tour.

Not all has been rosy in the blooming NFT garden, however. Last month, when Time magazine announced a new collection of NFTs offering “unlimited access” to its website throughout 2023, all 4,676 tokens tied to the digital artworks sold out in minutes. The sale rush clogged the Ethereum blockchain, sending gas fees through the roof – so much so that buyers spent almost four times as much on transaction fees as they did on the NFTs themselves.

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Blockchain CBDCs Crypto Art Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

New Visa NFT Program Aims To ‘Help Creators Reach New Audiences’

Financial services giant Visa has partnered with former major league baseballer Micah Johnson to launch an initiative to help digital creators learn about using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies, the company announced in a media statement.

In August, Visa sprang across the NFT board by purchasing a CryptoPunks NFT avatar for US$150,000 worth of Ethereum. The company now aims to bring more NFT awareness to a larger audience, in a new initiative it has launched jointly with Johnson.  

Bringing Blockchain to a Wider Audience

Johnson, a former MLB player turned crypto artist and creator of the NFT series character Aku, has launched along with Visa a program aiming to assist digital creators and small-business owners to better understand how NFTs work, and how blockchain can be used to create and mint digital art.

The initiative will select a group of creators, sponsor them and consult with them on NFTs and using blockchain to enter the digital art scene.

Johnson came onto the digital art scene in 2020 when he launched Aku, an animated astronaut character that became the first NFT to be optioned for a feature film.

Visa also aims to build connections between NFT creators and its current network of payment partners. Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, explained that Visa will help participants “navigate both crypto and traditional payment infrastructure”:

Visa Aims to Operate as a Universal Payment Channel

The financial services powerhouse is very active in the blockchain and crypto space. Earlier this month, Visa announced plans for the development of a protocol to make cross-border payments with Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins from any blockchain connected to its network.

Visa is developing the protocol to allow customers to send digital currencies between blockchains so as to operate as a “universal payment channel” (UPC). The payment channel will connect CBDC networks between countries and will link CBDCs with private stablecoins.

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Coinbase Crypto Exchange Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

Coinbase’s 43 Million Users Will Soon Be Able to Buy NFTs

US crypto exchange Coinbase has announced that it too will be joining the non-fungible token (NFT) game, with “Coinbase NFT” expected to launch by the end of this year.

Coinbase’s NFT marketplace will allow its 43 million users to buy and sell Ethereum-based collectibles, the company announced on October 12. Coinbase currently relies on its exchange fees but is now branching out into other revenue streams.

Today, we’re announcing Coinbase NFT, a peer-to-peer marketplace that will make minting, purchasing, showcasing and discovering NFTs easier than ever. Just as Coinbase helped millions of people access Bitcoin for the first time in an easy and trusted way, we want to do the same for NFTs.

Coinbase announcement

Coinbase Cashes In On NFT Madness

NFTs have certainly been the talk of the crypto-town in recent months, with transaction volumes topping US$10 billion in the third quarter of 2021, and Coinbase has got on board.

Coinbase NFT will include “social features” and tap into the creator economy of people making money by posting content online. NFTs have become a great way to fairly compensate artists who have been negatively affected by the availability of digital media.

The crypto exchange’s newest release will provide direct competition for NFT marketplace OpenSea, currently home to the majority of Ethereum-based NFT trading.

Coinbase Making Strides in the Crypto World

News of an NFT marketplace may console Coinbase users who were left furious when the platform failed during the September 7 crypto crash. Soon after that unfortunate event, Coinbase announced that US workers could be paid in crypto via the platform.