NFTs: no for real, though
Dear Bankless Nation,
It seems anti-NFT critics’ jeering is reaching a fever pitch lately. For the most passionate among them, NFTs are totally irredeemably evil and can never do any good.
Such absolute irredeemability is hardly true for anything, and it’s demonstrably not true for NFTs. Just this week alone, artist Dmitri Cherniak raised enough money to cover 16 million meals for the needy with a single cryptoart drop.
This is one example, yet the possibilities for doing good with and around NFTs extend out endlessly in every direction, both individually and collectively speaking. So when hardliners argue NFTs are irredeemable, they’re doing themselves and everyone else a disservice.
I can wax poetic on the current shortcomings of Web3 with the best of ‘em. Yet I’m also astonished by the positives of Web3 and work to advance these. That the anti-NFTers can’t do both shows they’re not seriously paying attention. For real, though.
-WMP
🛒 NFT News & Platforms
- OpenSea upgraded its minting contract in an effort to mitigate “inactive listing” NFT sales; the NFT platform also just became the #1 used product on Ethereum.
- 0x Protocol is adding multi-chain NFT swaps support to its V4 infrastructure.
- Flastmint, which lets users mint from any NFT allowlists, arrived.
- Gem experienced its first CryptoPunks sweep.
- Rarible is working on an integration with Polygon.
- Gamestop will use Immutable X to power its upcoming NFT marketplace.
- Coachella launched lifetime festival passes as NFTs.
- Disney is making NFT hires.
🏆 Digital Collectibles
- Yuga Labs, the team behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, is reportedly in funding talks with Andreessen Horowitz amid huge recent success.
- BAYC record: Bored Ape #232 sold for 1,080 ETH!
- Larva Labs is exploring going after CryptoPunks V1 for copyright infringement.
- Cool Pets claiming began.
- Lost Nouns, a Nouns derivative project showcasing unused Noun traits, kicked off its first auction.
🎨 Cryptoart
- Dmitri Cherniak published Dead Ringers: Edition, the proceeds of which he directed to the Food Bank for New York City.
- Thomas Lin Pedersen released Screens via Art Blocks this week:
- Cryptoart data: Right Click Save published a new article detailing high-level insights on recent cryptoart market activity.
🎮 NFT Games
- Axie Infinity unveiled economic balancing adjustments for the game’s upcoming Season 20.
- Chainfaces Arena completed its first battle event; the winner was the Bears Deluxe NFT project, whose successful fighter won 58 ETH!
💽 Music
- Sound.xyz has paid out +$300k to its +30 artists to date.
- Tycho auctioned his song Jetty on Catalog.
- Music NFTs as the next big trend in NFTs? Check out this new Bankless analysis.
🌐 Virtual Worlds
- Cryptovoxels is hiring for multiple positions.
- Decentraland published its 2022 Manifesto.
- The Sandbox completed its LAND migration.
- Atlantis World is building virtual clubhouses for Nouns and SharkDAO.
💎 DeFi x NFTs
- Charged Particles V2 is launching this month.
Action steps
- 📺 Watch Interview with Doodles’ founder Poopie by Overpriced JPEGs
- 📖 Read Why Ethereum still dominates NFTs by Metaversal
- 📖 Read Bridging the L1-L2 NFT divide by Metaversal
- 📖 Read Crypto down, NFTs up by Bankless