Web3 Roundup 3.6
A roundup of activity in NFT, Metaverse, Gaming and AI
Brand Activity
Balmain Introduces Digital Wearables
The NFT will be coupled with physical sneakers (The “Unicorn”)
Working with Space Runners NFT on the project and the NFT will be a wearable in their ‘fashion metaverse’
H3nsy (Hennessy) Leans into Web3
Following up on smaller launches like an NFT connected bottle, Hennessy is launching a hub for its web3 initiatives (H3nsy)
“The goal of H3NSY is to serve as a membership platform and hub for creators, cultures and communities, along with future NFT partnerships and Cafe 11 program annnouncements, Web3 bottle drops, and other blockchain innovations that the brand is currently investing in.”
Article Link: https://cryptobriefing.com/maison-hennessy-announces-the-launch-of-web3-platform-h3nsy/
Spotify to Test Token-Gated Playlists with Metaverse Bank Kingship
Token-gating is making its way to music and Spotify is only allowing those with a Kingship Key Card to listen to an exclusive playlist from the band
Article Link: https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/23/spotify-is-testing-playlists-that-could-be-unlocked-by-nft-holders/
NBA Announces New Scanning Feature for Their App
The NBA’s new feature allows you to scan yourself using your phone and replace a player in a live game or in the popular NBA 2k game (putting yourself in a highlight real)
The app uses LiDAR technology to render an avatar of the user
Article Link: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/19/1158161994/nba-app-avatar-feature
NFTs
Yuga Labs Is Dealing with Copywrite Issues
Yuga Lab’s collection “BAKC” has come under fire for extreme similarities between their logo and a ‘How to Draw’ tutorial
This comes at a time when Yuga is suing artist Ryder Ripps for copyright infringement
Article Link: https://nftevening.com/yuga-labs-faces-accusations-of-ip-theft-over-trademark-of-bayc-wolf-skull-logo/
SEC Attempts Attempts to Use Emojis for the Howey Test (defining whether something is a security)
To define something as a security there must be an investment of money or other tangible with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived primarily from the entrepreneurial or managerial efforts of others
To date, NFTs are have not been broadly as securities and projects go out of their way to avoid seeming as such
In the latest NBA Top Shot lawsuit, a federal court judge ruled that these emojis 🚀📈💰objectively mean "one thing: a financial return on investment." Users of these emojis are hereby warned of the legal consequence of their use.
Shopify Launches Token-gated Commerce Platform
A major ecommerce platform is leaning into web3 and launched a turnkey system to create token-gated digital storefronts
This will give NFT communities the tools to create exclusive experiences and purchase exclusive goods
Article Link: https://www.shopify.com/tokengated-commerce
AI News
Webaverse Metaverse Platform Launches AI Driven Avatar Creation Studio
Games and metaverses will be able to leverage AI to significantly increase the scale of their worlds
AI can create convincing NPCs (non-player computers) dramatically reducing the cost of making a world feel more full and immersive
ChatGPT Finds More Use Cases: Prompt Driven UI Design
And the First Deep Fake Scam at Scale
Deep Fake tech was used to fake an interview between a popular research and Joe Rogan, plugging a dietary supplement
A key challenge to solve will be authentication of these types of videos as they become both more convincing and easier to produce
Metaverse / Gaming
Popular game developer platform Unity incorporates web 3 friendly services
Unity is the second most popular game engine besides Unreal Engine
Unity has surprised the world by adding a decentralized section to their storefront
The biggest impact is the incorporation of the Metamask SDK into their storefront as MetaMask is the most popular wallet at the current time.
This will make it much easier for game developers to include web3 integrations like NFTs and crypto payments
Article Link: https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2023/02/28/gaming-engine-unity-taps-metamask-immutable-x-and-solana-for-web3-developer-tools/
Square Enix to publish a game on Polygon
The game studio behind the popular Final Fantasy franchise is throwing their hat into the web3 gaming arena
Many believe web3 gaming is the next adoption moment as a number of AAA games near release after years in development and major publishers like Square Enix enter the spaec
Article Link: https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2023/02/15/gaming-company-square-enix-partners-with-polygon-for-nft-art-project/
The Sewer Key has Sold
Yuga Labs wrapped up their skill based game Dookie Dash which awarded ranked NFTs to all the players
The number one scoring NFT owner received a mysterious “Sewer Key” NFT which was purchased for $1.6M
Interestingly, this original owner was not a web3 native but a professional Fortnite player who heard about the event
He ultimately made as much money in this single event as he had in his 3 years of pro-gaming highlighting the power of web3 gaming
Article Link: https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2023/02/27/winning-dookey-dash-key-sold-for-16m/
Roblox Continues to Improve With Age
Roblox has often been considered a platform for a younger audience due to the blocky graphics and family friendly games
However this is starting to change with better quality graphics and some games being released on the platform that are only available for players over the age of 18.
