Are Reddit’s NFT the Key to Mass Adoption?
Hey frenz and fellaz,
I hope you've all had a buzzing week - I know I did! I celebrated my birthday this week by attending a comic con, two different soccer matches, and a Thrice event. Bonkers!! 🥳 🎉
In the meanwhile, the web3 space was as active as ever - my favorite snippets?
Reddit has more active wallets than OpenSea
Cheetos has decided to venture into the Metaverse
Shopify users can now create, mint, and sell NFTs
MLB is looking to hire someone to spearhead NFT projects
Lord of the Rings is launching NFTs
We also have a follow-up on last week's newsletter; Magic Eden, the leading NFT Marketplace on Solana, switched to an optional royalty model. As a result, the Solana NFT trading volume has imploded, going from 14k users to less than < 3k. Yikes 🤐!
In other news: I'm about to embark on a trip to Los Angeles to attend Deadfellaz's Halloween party. On my way back, I'll make a detour and wander around London to crash some of the NFT London after-party events. Make sure to reply if you're in the area and want to meet up for drinks 🍻!
— 🩸💀 AMERICAN RADASS
Reddit Has More NFT Wallets Than OpenSea
Since the introduction of the series in July, more than 3 million Reddit Vault wallets have been established so that users may purchase and sell NFT avatars based on the platform’s Snoo character, as stated by chief product officer Pali Bhat.
Although Reddit isn’t the first site to support NFTs as profile photos, it has been one of the well-received debuts. What’s interesting is the fact that the market’s biggest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, only has 2.3 million active wallets. That means Reddit has more active wallets than OpenSea.
Azuki Set Off $2.5M Bidding War
NFT project Azuki completed an auction for eight Golden Skateboard NFTs — which will also be redeemable for physical Golden Skateboards — with the lowest and highest winning bids coming in at an even 200 ETH ($261,682.00) and 309 ETH ($404,298.69), respectively.
The skateboards, though currently only in digital form, are all among the most expensive skateboards ever sold — by a wide margin. Some of the costliest skateboards sold previously include Jamie Thomas' and Bob Dylan's "Blowin’ in the Wind Skateboard," which sold in a fundraiser for $38,425 in December 2012, and a Tony Hawk-owned "Beatles' Blackbird Board," which features handwritten lyrics to the song and Paul McCartney's signature and was auctioned for $27,116.
NFT Marketplace Blur Launches With Free Airdrop
VC-backed marketplace Blur launched Wednesday, promising new users free crypto in the form of an airdropped gift that contains an undisclosed amount of BLUR tokens.
If you’ve traded an NFT within the past six months, you may be eligible for the free airdrop—but you won’t be able to open the airdrop and access your gift until January 2023.
Crypto Twitter went wild, causing Blur to already have a bigger 30-day volume than SudoSwap, despite only being public for 4 days. Making it the #1 NFT aggregator by volume.
📰 OTHER NEWS FROM THE PAST WEEK
Deadfellaz has announced a partnership with DraftKings that sees thirteen NFL players become zombified digital collectibles.
IRS includes NFTs in new draft tax instructions, updating "virtual currencies" to "digital assets."
Shopify users can now create, mint, and sell NFTs with the Venly Shopify App
This year’s Ballon d’Or winners are given NFTs along with the prestigious award and a golden Ledger to “secure it.”
A Southern District of New York judge has denied a motion to dismiss the wire fraud charges against former OpenSea employee Nathaniel Chastain.
Nike and BAYC biggest winners as NFT royalties generated $1.8 billion
Axie Infinity price struggles as $189M worth of tokens are set to be unlocked
Slotie NFT, a virtual gambling entity, received a cease and desist order.
FTX US and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried are under investigation by the Texas State Securities Board.
Polkadot co-founder Gavin Wood is stepping down as CEO of Parity Technologies, the developers behind the proof-of-stake blockchain.
✨ NEW IN THE SPACE
Cheetos has decided to venture into the Metaverse to celebrate its Halloween, joining forces with Horizon Worlds.
Major League Baseball, the American professional baseball association composed of 30 teams, is looking to hire someone to spearhead digital gaming, NFT, and metaverse licensing projects.
The Lord of the Rings is bringing its magical worlds into the realm of Web3, through an NFT offering made possible by Warner Bros. The drop already received some FUD on Twitter thanks to their previous VeVe drops.
Twitter has teamed up with OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden, Dapper Labs, and GuardianLink’s Jump.trade marketplaces to enable tweet tiles for NFTs.
Interpol has announced the launch of its fully operational metaverse, initially designed for activities such as immersive training courses for forensic investigations.
Rarible has uplifted its NFT marketplace with a new ecosystem that functions as an aggregated platform and includes various enhanced updates.
Binance.US has hired a new head of investigations from the FBI's cybercrime team.
The French Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, wants France to become the European hub for the crypto ecosystem.
Mastercard is launching a program to let financial institutions offer cryptocurrency trading to their clients.
📖 LEARN HOW TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH
M. Shadows, the frontman of Avenged Sevenfold, has explained how people should introduce NFTs to a new audience: by approaching them as a piece of software, and not are 'just an image'.
In the same podcast, he talks about the freedom that web3 provides artists & how to build a web3 community.
😊 ENJOYED THIS WEEK'S ALPHA?
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🤓 DISCLAIMER: NFA & DYOR
This newsletter is a curated overview of the most exciting 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.