Alpha Schedule #21 - Nike-owned RTFKT Grants CloneX Holders Commercial Rights
Hi fellaz,
I want to excuse myself for sending out this newsletter a bit later than usual: the summer started, which means it's time to attend summer festivals once again! This weekend I was touching grass at Les Ardentes and enjoying a Tyler, the Creator concert on Friday.
The goal was to send the final version out on Saturday, but unfortunately: our newsletter provider, Revue, suffered from some technical issues.
Anyway; your weekly summary of NFT and Web3 news is here, so take a seat and enjoy!
Let's start with the most interesting reads of the past week:
PS: Everyone who submitted their wallet for the Tomorrowland's "The Reflection of Love" NFT Collection (which is set to be released on Magic Eden) has received an allowlist spot for the mint. 🎉🎉🎉
— 🩸💀 AMERICAN RADASS
RTFKT GRANTS CLONEX HOLDERS COMMERCIAL RIGHTS
Nike-owned RTFKT, pronounced "artifact," is giving commercial rights to CloneX NFT holders, in a move that will allow owners to create derivative projects, mint fan art, and make and sell merchandise featuring their avatar.
RTFKT, which was acquired by Nike in December 2021, launched in 2019 and was one of the first movers in the web3 fashion space, creating NFTs for large brands.
LIMEWIRE TEAMS UP WITH MUSICIANS TO LAUNCH NFTS
LimeWire is teaming up with a slew of artists, including Travis Barker, Brandy, Nicky Jam, and Dillon Francis, to launch NFT collections on its platform, the company announced.
Formerly known as a peer-to-peer file-sharing website, LimeWire recently made a comeback as a “digital collectibles marketplace” focused on music tracks, videos, digital artwork, and fan experiences.
YUGA LABS DEMO DRAWS THOUSANDS OF HOLDERS
Yuga Labs, creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, completed the first load test on Wednesday afternoon of the Otherside metaverse.
The test for the game - which lets users turn their NFTs into playable characters - lasted approximately 25 minutes. There was a gas-less signature to verify Otherdeed ownership and enter the test.
The feedback from landholders - which Yuga Labs will incorporate into the final version - was generally positive.
📰 OTHER NEWS FROM THE PAST WEEK
Luxury fashion house Neuno revealed some sneak peeks regarding their Deadfellaz partnership.
Cool Cats has a new CMO: Michaela. Notable roles? She used to be the marketing lead for AAA esports programs, and Neopets.
Deadfellaz confirmed the release of the Infected S2, coming Halloween 2022.
The US patent and trademark offices leaked the fact that Moonbirds is working on "RAVENS".
Meta has disclosed plans to discontinue its Novi pilot crypto program by September 1.
Quirkies created its own marketplace, in order to remove 3rd party fees.
Alex Atallah, one of the co-founders of OpenSea, will be stepping down in August in order to focus on new ventures.
In a bid to better serve its customers, the Solana-native wallet Solflare has integrated with FTX and FTX US.
Reddit launched an NFT marketplace where users can purchase blockchain-based avatars at a fixed price in fiat currency.
Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in a New York court.
Genesis Trading confirmed its exposure to bankrupt hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC). In a series of tweets, its CEO Michael Moro revealed that the cryptocurrency lender and broker had mitigated its losses.
The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain 000.eth was purchased for 300 ETH ($315,000), making it the second-largest sale measured in both ether and dollars.
✨ NEW IN THE SPACE
Jason Fung, former head of TikTok’s gaming unit, announced that he left TikTok to launch Meta0, a startup focused on blockchain video games.
Polygon has announced that it is partnering with phone maker Nothing to bring Web3 technology to mobile users.
Ripple partners with Lotus cars to ‘Bring Automotive NFTs to the XRP Ledger’
Lamborghini Squadra Corse GT racing team Vincenzo Sospiri Racing announced that it will begin using NFTs to certify and authenticate factory car parts.
Virtu Financial, one of Wall Street’s largest trading firms is hiring a crypto trader for the weekends.
Planetarium Labs, a Singapore-based web3 gaming technology firm, has raised $32 million in Series A funding led by Animoca Brands.
💀 HOW TO RECOGNIZE A RUG PULL
On Sunday, Crema Finance, a concentrated liquidity protocol on Solana, suffered from a flash loan exploit. The drained crypto funds were worth nearly $9 million at the time of the hack.
According to an update from Crema Finance, the attacker has returned the stolen funds following a negotiation ... allowing him to keep 45,455 SOL ($1.65 million) as a bounty reward.
The team has labeled the perpetrator as a "white hat," a term given to ethical hackers. This means it is unlikely that Crema Finance will take any legal action against the still-unknown hacker.
OTHER RUGPULLS
Hackers breached the Twitter and YouTube pages of the British Army and made several tweets promoting NFTs and cryptocurrencies.
A Solana investor has filed a class-action lawsuit against key parties in the Solana ecosystem for allegedly making misleading statements and profiting from selling unregistered securities to retail customers.
In the past 4 weeks 107 NFT discords have been exploited through social engineering including big projects like BAYC, Known Origin, and Boss Beauties.
🔮 LOOKING FORWARD
It’s no financial advice, but you might want to start doing your research and grinding for these allowlists before it’s too late.
📖 LEARN HOW TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH
Blockworks published a Twitter thread explaining how the primary purpose of ENS is to give people and applications an easy way to read and share crypto addresses and make Web3 more digestible. As Web3 matures, it is likely more protocols will be built around ENS.
😂 LAUGH OUT LOUD
Here are a few other great memes that made me laugh:
🤓 DISCLAIMER: NFA & DYOR
This newsletter is a curated overview of the most interesting things I’ve read the past week, the projects I’ve researched, and the NFTs I’ll be trying to buy.
This means I’m - per definition - biased, so don’t consider this as financial advice and keep doing your own research if you see something you like.