GREYSCALE REVEALED THE LIST OF THEIR POTENTIAL INVESTMENTS
Grayscale, one of the largest digital assets manager, demonstrated a great interest in some particular crypto assets.
Assets Under Consideration lists some digital assets that are not currently included in a Grayscale investment product, but that have come to its attention as part of exploration of this sector, and that Grayscale team has identified as possible candidates for inclusion in a future investment product.
Interestingly, metaverse & GameFi tokens received quite a portion of attention from Greyscale. Among 35 potential investments there are Axie Infinity (AXS), Enjin (ENJ), Gala (GALA), The Sandbox (SAND), and Yield Guild Games (YGG).
Although Greyscale notes that not every asset under consideration will be turned into one of their investment products, we can clearly see that their interest in Metaverse and gaming is reaching far beyond their all-time favorite Decentraland.
Grayscale, one of the largest digital assets manager, demonstrated a great interest in some particular crypto assets.
Assets Under Consideration lists some digital assets that are not currently included in a Grayscale investment product, but that have come to its attention as part of exploration of this sector, and that Grayscale team has identified as possible candidates for inclusion in a future investment product.
Interestingly, metaverse & GameFi tokens received quite a portion of attention from Greyscale. Among 35 potential investments there are Axie Infinity (AXS), Enjin (ENJ), Gala (GALA), The Sandbox (SAND), and Yield Guild Games (YGG).
Although Greyscale notes that not every asset under consideration will be turned into one of their investment products, we can clearly see that their interest in Metaverse and gaming is reaching far beyond their all-time favorite Decentraland.
NETVRK UNLOCKED ITS LAND NFTS FOR SALE
Netvrk is a social Virtual Reality platform on the blockchain and it promises a plethora of possibilities for its users. After NFT unlocking event on Jan 25, Netvrk Metaverse Land now is in the top 15 trending NFT collections in volume on OpenSea (surpassing 1000 in $ETH volume, at the time of writing).
Surely, with a growing interest to the virtual land in general, it is not surprising that among the digital assets proposed by Netvrk (Transport, Avatars, Bonuses), Land attracted the biggest attention.
Entire Netvrk metaverse is presented in 5 districts: Entertainment, Creative, Education, Business, and Adult. Therefore, besides the main center of this universe, each district has its own center of some sort. It seems like different districts also obtained a slightly different geography which makes Netvrk metaverse akin to real world. Of course, practically it’s not very important since users are welcomed to create their own worlds (with their own characteristics). Yet, symbolically, it makes a lot of sense, because one of the special features of Netvrk is its physics: elements, created within the Netvrk virtual space, have physical attributes such as gravity, weight or breakability, so users can interact with created virtual space as if it was IRL.
Further developments in this field could facilitate faster adoption of Netvrk metaverse. Immersive quality of Netvrk virtual reality alongside its possibility to provide near-to-real-life conditions for trainings (tryouts, or bench tests) could bring Netvrk to the top. But can it beat the hype around Decentraland & Sandbox (enhanced by mainstream brands, celebrities and investors) in the nearest future?
Netvrk is a social Virtual Reality platform on the blockchain and it promises a plethora of possibilities for its users. After NFT unlocking event on Jan 25, Netvrk Metaverse Land now is in the top 15 trending NFT collections in volume on OpenSea (surpassing 1000 in $ETH volume, at the time of writing).
Surely, with a growing interest to the virtual land in general, it is not surprising that among the digital assets proposed by Netvrk (Transport, Avatars, Bonuses), Land attracted the biggest attention.
Entire Netvrk metaverse is presented in 5 districts: Entertainment, Creative, Education, Business, and Adult. Therefore, besides the main center of this universe, each district has its own center of some sort. It seems like different districts also obtained a slightly different geography which makes Netvrk metaverse akin to real world. Of course, practically it’s not very important since users are welcomed to create their own worlds (with their own characteristics). Yet, symbolically, it makes a lot of sense, because one of the special features of Netvrk is its physics: elements, created within the Netvrk virtual space, have physical attributes such as gravity, weight or breakability, so users can interact with created virtual space as if it was IRL.
Further developments in this field could facilitate faster adoption of Netvrk metaverse. Immersive quality of Netvrk virtual reality alongside its possibility to provide near-to-real-life conditions for trainings (tryouts, or bench tests) could bring Netvrk to the top. But can it beat the hype around Decentraland & Sandbox (enhanced by mainstream brands, celebrities and investors) in the nearest future?
"I think the underlying value of clothing that you would wear to a meeting or a concert or whatever—wearing some cool clothes that you bought from a designer—is similar to the value of buying clothes in the real world. Right now, because of the speculative, tulip-bulb type thing going on, it’s impossible to separate the speculative noise from the value of the underlying assets. But if you ask what is the actual value of a digital painting that you can hang on your wall in your digital house, or a digital pair of shoes you can wear on your avatar? I think Second Life provides at least some guidance, which is to say that the value of those things is, sensibly, lower than it is in real life, but it's certainly not zero. " - Philip Rosedale
Full interview with Second Life creator Philip Rosedale on WIRED (by Gilad Edelman)
Full interview with Second Life creator Philip Rosedale on WIRED (by Gilad Edelman)
Wired
How to Build a Better Metaverse
Second Life creator Philip Rosedale wants to prevent the Facebook-ization of virtual reality.
APPLE DEMONSTRATES AN INTEREST IN METAVERSE
Time Cook, Apple CEO, said that Metaverse applications have a lot of potential and that his company is investing in AR developments on its devices.
Cook pointed out that Apple (APPL) already has a bevy of 14,000 apps on its App Store that have been designed using the AR developer platform ARKit. Apps designed using ARKit could help users gain access to the Metaverse.
Brian Newar, Cointelegraph
#quicknews
Time Cook, Apple CEO, said that Metaverse applications have a lot of potential and that his company is investing in AR developments on its devices.
Cook pointed out that Apple (APPL) already has a bevy of 14,000 apps on its App Store that have been designed using the AR developer platform ARKit. Apps designed using ARKit could help users gain access to the Metaverse.
Brian Newar, Cointelegraph
#quicknews
NIKE CONTINUES TO MAKE ITS WAY TO THE METAVERSE
It started in Dec 2021, when NIKE Inc. acquired RTFKT, a virtual shoe company that operates within the twilight zone between fashion and gaming.
However, creation of digital shoes "for the Metaverse" is not enough for Nike. It looks as though Nike is preparing to enter the metaverse, as the fashion giant is looking to hire at least five metaverse specialists.
According to the job denoscription, director of metaverse engineering will “lead the development of rapid end-to-end proof of concepts, prototypes, and production of metaverse software and device solutions…for use within Nike, as part of existing Nike products, and for new lines of business” - NME
The company is also looking to fill four other metaverse-related roles, including a senior 3D game designer, metaverse engineer, a program manager specializing in Blockchain, and a virtual material designer.
That seems like a lot of plans..
NME
#quicknews
It started in Dec 2021, when NIKE Inc. acquired RTFKT, a virtual shoe company that operates within the twilight zone between fashion and gaming.
However, creation of digital shoes "for the Metaverse" is not enough for Nike. It looks as though Nike is preparing to enter the metaverse, as the fashion giant is looking to hire at least five metaverse specialists.
According to the job denoscription, director of metaverse engineering will “lead the development of rapid end-to-end proof of concepts, prototypes, and production of metaverse software and device solutions…for use within Nike, as part of existing Nike products, and for new lines of business” - NME
The company is also looking to fill four other metaverse-related roles, including a senior 3D game designer, metaverse engineer, a program manager specializing in Blockchain, and a virtual material designer.
That seems like a lot of plans..
NME
#quicknews
TAKASHI MURAKAMI FINALLY ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF HIS PERSONAL NFT PROJECT
Murakami.Flowers NFT project will be released in Feb 2022.
Resembling famous NFT collectibles such as CryptoPunks, Murakami.Flowers appears as a collection of pixelated characters (flowers) that have slightly different trait values (color, background, facial expression, etc.) which relatively determine their rarity.
Initially, 108 images of collection noscriptd Murakami.Flowers were released on OpenSea back in March 2021 but the project was abruptly cancelled in April. The reason was that it seemed as though the interests in the NFT at auctions were concentrated only on the numbers game, and Takashi Murakami found himself “overly concerned about the market trends than about NFT's creative potential”. Therefore, artist decided to take time and learn more about the possibilities of non-fungibility.
In Dec 2021, Murakami-sama had a chance to learn it by doing. He agreed to cooperate with RTFKT and this unusual (yet very natural) combo resulted in extremely popular Clone X project.
Once again, the overall aura around NFT seems quite suitable for Murakami’s practice, conceptually. However, will Murakami.Flowers reflect the creative potential of NFTs?
Murakami.Flowers NFT project will be released in Feb 2022.
Resembling famous NFT collectibles such as CryptoPunks, Murakami.Flowers appears as a collection of pixelated characters (flowers) that have slightly different trait values (color, background, facial expression, etc.) which relatively determine their rarity.
Initially, 108 images of collection noscriptd Murakami.Flowers were released on OpenSea back in March 2021 but the project was abruptly cancelled in April. The reason was that it seemed as though the interests in the NFT at auctions were concentrated only on the numbers game, and Takashi Murakami found himself “overly concerned about the market trends than about NFT's creative potential”. Therefore, artist decided to take time and learn more about the possibilities of non-fungibility.
In Dec 2021, Murakami-sama had a chance to learn it by doing. He agreed to cooperate with RTFKT and this unusual (yet very natural) combo resulted in extremely popular Clone X project.
Once again, the overall aura around NFT seems quite suitable for Murakami’s practice, conceptually. However, will Murakami.Flowers reflect the creative potential of NFTs?
A BATHING APE ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF (B)APETAVERSE
A Bathing Ape (aka BAPE), one of the most influential Japanese streetwear brands, was founded by Nigo (Tomoaki Nagao) in 1993.
Despite its sucess, in 2013, Nigo officially departed from BAPE. In Sep 2021, after many years of pioneering the streetwear, he has been appointed as an artistic director of Kenzo.
In early 90’s BAPE became a crucial part of the new culture, embodying the connections between streetwear, hip hop and visual art. Jun Takahashi (Undercover), UNKLE, Pharrell Williams, Adidas, and KAWS are just a few names within the list of BAPE’s collaborators.
Today, Jan 2022, A Bathing Ape introduced (B)APETAVERSE, BAPE’s very own NFT community for most dedicated fans.
Classically, BAPE’s first drop will consist of 10,000 unique NFTs that will grant the access to “exclusive BAPE contents in a world of limitless possibilities”. And it goes without saying, NFTs containing the imagery of apes proved to be quite successful.
Meanwhile, the fun fact. A BAPE’s name, accordingly to Nigo, pays respect to founder’s love to science fiction and Planet of the Apes (1968 movie), in particular. It is also a reference to a Japanese phrase “A bathing ape in lukewarm water”, describing a spoiled kid who has an easy, comfortable life. If only crypto non-believers knew the phrase, they would definitely use it against all the crypto enthusiasts. Perhaps, after the drop, huh?
A Bathing Ape (aka BAPE), one of the most influential Japanese streetwear brands, was founded by Nigo (Tomoaki Nagao) in 1993.
Despite its sucess, in 2013, Nigo officially departed from BAPE. In Sep 2021, after many years of pioneering the streetwear, he has been appointed as an artistic director of Kenzo.
In early 90’s BAPE became a crucial part of the new culture, embodying the connections between streetwear, hip hop and visual art. Jun Takahashi (Undercover), UNKLE, Pharrell Williams, Adidas, and KAWS are just a few names within the list of BAPE’s collaborators.
Today, Jan 2022, A Bathing Ape introduced (B)APETAVERSE, BAPE’s very own NFT community for most dedicated fans.
Classically, BAPE’s first drop will consist of 10,000 unique NFTs that will grant the access to “exclusive BAPE contents in a world of limitless possibilities”. And it goes without saying, NFTs containing the imagery of apes proved to be quite successful.
Meanwhile, the fun fact. A BAPE’s name, accordingly to Nigo, pays respect to founder’s love to science fiction and Planet of the Apes (1968 movie), in particular. It is also a reference to a Japanese phrase “A bathing ape in lukewarm water”, describing a spoiled kid who has an easy, comfortable life. If only crypto non-believers knew the phrase, they would definitely use it against all the crypto enthusiasts. Perhaps, after the drop, huh?
TODAY IS THE DAY FOR A #SUPERGUCCI DROP
Later today we will finally see the long-awaited results of collaboration between luxury fashion house Gucci and Superplastic, the leading creator of animated celebrities, vinyl and digital collectibles (including limited-edition designer toys and apparel).
SUPERGUCCI is a collection of 500 NFTs co-created by Gucci's head of design Alessandro Michele and Superplastic’s animated celebrities Janky & Guggimon. Each NFT incorporates classic Gucci patterns, and comes with an exclusive 8-inch tall white ceramic SUPERGUCCI SuperJanky sculpture, hand-crafted by Gucci’s own ceramicists in Italy.
For the 3-part series of NFTs each with their own handcrafted porcelain sculpture, Superplastic’s synthetic artists Janky and Guggimon combine their digital style with the House’s historic codes. In the first release, the famous SuperJanky figure finds itself within ten different whimsical scenarios inspired by Gucci Aria.
This first collection dropping on Feb 1, 10AM ET will be available on Superplastic via Gucci Vault.
The owners of Superplastic NFT (CryptoJanky or Headtripz) will have an exclusive early access to the drop (146 NFTs available).
SUPERGUCCI NFTs will be priced at 1.5 ETH per NFT (which is $4200 at the time of writing).
20 of the 500 SUPERGUCCI NFTs are reserved by Gucci and Superplastic, bringing the number of available NFTs for sale to 480 in total.
Later today we will finally see the long-awaited results of collaboration between luxury fashion house Gucci and Superplastic, the leading creator of animated celebrities, vinyl and digital collectibles (including limited-edition designer toys and apparel).
SUPERGUCCI is a collection of 500 NFTs co-created by Gucci's head of design Alessandro Michele and Superplastic’s animated celebrities Janky & Guggimon. Each NFT incorporates classic Gucci patterns, and comes with an exclusive 8-inch tall white ceramic SUPERGUCCI SuperJanky sculpture, hand-crafted by Gucci’s own ceramicists in Italy.
For the 3-part series of NFTs each with their own handcrafted porcelain sculpture, Superplastic’s synthetic artists Janky and Guggimon combine their digital style with the House’s historic codes. In the first release, the famous SuperJanky figure finds itself within ten different whimsical scenarios inspired by Gucci Aria.
This first collection dropping on Feb 1, 10AM ET will be available on Superplastic via Gucci Vault.
The owners of Superplastic NFT (CryptoJanky or Headtripz) will have an exclusive early access to the drop (146 NFTs available).
SUPERGUCCI NFTs will be priced at 1.5 ETH per NFT (which is $4200 at the time of writing).
20 of the 500 SUPERGUCCI NFTs are reserved by Gucci and Superplastic, bringing the number of available NFTs for sale to 480 in total.
AMBUSH REVEALED ITS ROADMAP
It is fair to say that the history of AMBUSH started in 2002 when Yoon Ahn (a founder and creative director of the brand) was running a namesake design company. At that time, she was creating original album covers and this is where connection with the hip hop scene appeared.
Shortly after that, Yoon Ahn started to design jewelry which gained quite a traction from hip hip celebrities and related fashion clique. In 2008, Ahn and her husband Verbal launched AMBUSH® as experimental jewelry label, known for innovative pop art inspired designs capturing a distinct Tokyo aesthetic.
After teasing fans with the announcement of the first friends and family NFT project as a homage to the design genesis of the brand (POW!®), AMBUSH® finally revealed its roadmap denoting the date of POW!® “Reboot” NFT drop.
14 Feb 2022, AMBUSH® will mint 2,022 NFTs which supposedly will grant some perks for POW!® “Reboot” holders in the AMBUSH® very own METAUNIVERSE.
It is fair to say that the history of AMBUSH started in 2002 when Yoon Ahn (a founder and creative director of the brand) was running a namesake design company. At that time, she was creating original album covers and this is where connection with the hip hop scene appeared.
Shortly after that, Yoon Ahn started to design jewelry which gained quite a traction from hip hip celebrities and related fashion clique. In 2008, Ahn and her husband Verbal launched AMBUSH® as experimental jewelry label, known for innovative pop art inspired designs capturing a distinct Tokyo aesthetic.
After teasing fans with the announcement of the first friends and family NFT project as a homage to the design genesis of the brand (POW!®), AMBUSH® finally revealed its roadmap denoting the date of POW!® “Reboot” NFT drop.
14 Feb 2022, AMBUSH® will mint 2,022 NFTs which supposedly will grant some perks for POW!® “Reboot” holders in the AMBUSH® very own METAUNIVERSE.
The legal battle between French luxury brand Hermès and the creator of the MetaBirkins — virtual interpretations of the famed bag sold as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — is shaping up as one of fashion’s big intellectual-property fights of the blockchain era.
In its lawsuit Hermès argued that Mason Rothschild misused the Birkin name by selling a collection of 100 MetaBirkin NFTs in December.
“Many people assume that, when you talk about an NFT, the content of the NFT is inside the token, which it is not, and because it is not, there is no unauthorized reproduction,” said Primavera De Filippi, co-author of “Blockchain and the Law”.
Even if the luxury brand wins its case against the creator of the virtual interpretations of its famed bag, the NFTs can’t be erased, at least not in any conventional sense.
While there is a chance the parties will settle before the case makes it to trial, the fact that Hermès decided to pursue a case at all is interesting in itself.
Marc Bain, Business of Fashion
In its lawsuit Hermès argued that Mason Rothschild misused the Birkin name by selling a collection of 100 MetaBirkin NFTs in December.
“Many people assume that, when you talk about an NFT, the content of the NFT is inside the token, which it is not, and because it is not, there is no unauthorized reproduction,” said Primavera De Filippi, co-author of “Blockchain and the Law”.
Even if the luxury brand wins its case against the creator of the virtual interpretations of its famed bag, the NFTs can’t be erased, at least not in any conventional sense.
While there is a chance the parties will settle before the case makes it to trial, the fact that Hermès decided to pursue a case at all is interesting in itself.
Marc Bain, Business of Fashion
「12 MONTHS OF AFTERLIFE」 ARE READY FOR THE SECOND DROP
Vogue Singapore is not new to tech. Launched in 2020 during the pandemic, it began with a 360-degree digital experience in place of a launch gala, and soon after introduced augmented reality “holograms” that enable readers to see 360-degree, moving models in their own space by scanning a QR code (technically backed by Beem). The September print cover is also a QR code that, when scanned, introduces multiple digital covers – VOGUEBUSINESS
So it's not at all surprising that Vogue Singapore stepped into 2022 with a new NFT project and its first contributing metaverse editor Krista Kim.
This time it is a collaboration with multidisciplinary artist Luna Ikuta. The 12-piece collection by Ikuta is noscriptd 12 months of Afterlife —veritable digital floral wonders composed of 12 bouquets. Her striking aesthetics are created through merging bioengineering and aquascaping—a process that clears the plant compound’s pigments and chlorophyll, leaving the flowers’ form and structure perfectly intact – Brytehall
The first drop – magazine’s actual cover, that as NFT calendar, combines 12 bouquets, took place on SuperRare, Jan 2022.
The second drop, which is additional 12 NFTs (also available on SuperRare) is announced for 8 Feb 2022, and judging from the artist's teasing, those NFTs are truly mesmerizing.
All 13 artworks are brought to life as looped videos. Each NFT comes in edition of one and also includes a Vogue Singapore x Luna Ikuta calendar featuring the collection, signed by the artist.
Vogue Singapore is not new to tech. Launched in 2020 during the pandemic, it began with a 360-degree digital experience in place of a launch gala, and soon after introduced augmented reality “holograms” that enable readers to see 360-degree, moving models in their own space by scanning a QR code (technically backed by Beem). The September print cover is also a QR code that, when scanned, introduces multiple digital covers – VOGUEBUSINESS
So it's not at all surprising that Vogue Singapore stepped into 2022 with a new NFT project and its first contributing metaverse editor Krista Kim.
This time it is a collaboration with multidisciplinary artist Luna Ikuta. The 12-piece collection by Ikuta is noscriptd 12 months of Afterlife —veritable digital floral wonders composed of 12 bouquets. Her striking aesthetics are created through merging bioengineering and aquascaping—a process that clears the plant compound’s pigments and chlorophyll, leaving the flowers’ form and structure perfectly intact – Brytehall
The first drop – magazine’s actual cover, that as NFT calendar, combines 12 bouquets, took place on SuperRare, Jan 2022.
The second drop, which is additional 12 NFTs (also available on SuperRare) is announced for 8 Feb 2022, and judging from the artist's teasing, those NFTs are truly mesmerizing.
All 13 artworks are brought to life as looped videos. Each NFT comes in edition of one and also includes a Vogue Singapore x Luna Ikuta calendar featuring the collection, signed by the artist.