Features / 303 posts found
The Friendsies Fiasco: Rug Pull Rumors and Leadership Woes Explained
What is happening over at Friendsies? The kindness-themed NFT project, headed by FriendsWithYou founders Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, raised some major eyebrows in the Web3 community on February 21 when they tweeted that they’d be putting “a pause on Friendsies and all future digital goods for the time being.” Specifically, they cited market volatility and an inability to deliver the project as intended as reasons for the pause. Without further explanation, the team then deleted the Friendsies Twitter account. From rug pull accusations to a public offer to take over Frendsies, we dive into everything that happened next and […]
Exclusive: Yuga Labs Executive Talks Dookey Dash, Hacks, and What’s Next
You might say that Yuga Labs’ Dookey Dash was a success. At least, that’s what the hundreds of thousands of hours people spent playing the game and the nearly 37,000 ETH in Sewer Pass trading volume on the secondary market would indicate. When the game’s two-week run ended on February 16, few in the Web3 space were particularly surprised by the achievements of this latest gamified minting mechanism of the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem. But that near-blasé response to Dookey Dash’s smooth execution is compelling evidence of Yuga’s increasing ability to pivot to the play-to-earn (P2E) gaming sector via […]
Tokenized Minigames: The Next Big Thing in NFTs?
Many have theorized that the convergence of NFTs and gaming would bring about a unmatchably robust sector of blockchain interoperability. Yet, although a wide range of Web3 gaming endeavors exist and have achieved varying degrees of success, it seems that none so far have risen high enough to achieve the ultimate goal of NFT stewards: mainstream adoption. But is mainstream adoption really what the blockchain gaming sector should be gunning for? Sure, taking NFTs from niche to mainstream is an admirable goal that, more often than not, seems to be universally accepted throughout Web3. But who are the true beneficiaries […]
The Harvest: Per Kristian Stoveland’s Love Letter to Science Fiction
Per Kristian Stoveland’s artistic mind inhabits the liminal space between the logical and the playful. A visual artist who fell in love with coding at a young age and the co-founder of the Oslo-based design studio Void, Stoveland has recently found a home for his love of generative art and graphic design in Web3. On January 18, 2023, he released his latest NFT project, The Harvest, on the generative art platform Art Blocks. With a current floor price of 7 ETH and more than 2,684 ETH in trading volume on the secondary market, Stoveland’s first big entry to the Ethereum […]
What Can Web3 Do for Turkey and Syria?
It’s difficult to frame the scale of the devastation and loss of human life that has taken place in southern Turkey and northern Syria in the last week. The numbers only do so much to convey the gravity of the disaster; on February 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near the Turkish city of Gaziantep at 4:17 in the morning, instantly leveling buildings and killing thousands across dozens of municipalities. As people began to sift through the rubble to rescue family members in the bitter Anatolian winter air, a second quake hit, nearly as strong as the first, registering at 7.5 […]
Jack Butcher’s Checks Are Burning. What’s Next?
When Jack Butcher introduced his Checks project to the NFT space, he did so with a single sentence: “This artwork may or may not be notable.” Since his initial Tweet, it’s become clear that not only are Checks notable, but the collection marks a major shift in NFTs for the first time in nearly a year. Although still convoluted to some, Checks has emerged as the frontrunner of the newly incepted open edition (OE) craze, as well as a timely commentary on and criticism of Twitter verification under Elon Musk’s ownership of the platform. As the project continues to take […]
On-Chain-Strain: How Ordinals Inscriptions Are Impacting Bitcoin
Bitcoin NFTs, better known as Ordinals, have become nearly inescapable as of late, with more than 89,000 inscriptions in existence. For the first time in Bitcoin’s 14-year history, the blockchain is being used for something other than peer-to-peer transfers, but not everyone is pleased. While a significant portion of Web3 is thrilled with the way this new area of the NFT market is growing, others have raised concerns about the novel tech behind this burgeoning sector. Although opportunity abounds as more users find it possible and desirable to move their collecting and trading efforts over to Bitcoin, the blockchain itself […]
Here’s What Really Happened With DigiDaigaku’s Controversial Super Bowl Ad
NFTs didn’t take over this year’s Super Bowl like they did in 2022. But perhaps this was to be expected, considering the NFT space only recently began to emerge from a market lull. Despite a lack of blockchain-centric ads featured during the big game, NFTs still had a presence — and one that went far beyond Reddit’s highly successful collectible avatar collaboration with the NFL. We’re talking about DigiDaigaku, of course. An NFT-powered game created by Web3 startup Limit Break, DigiDaigaku made waves as one of the only Web3-leaning commercials to air during the Super Bowl. Although the project garnered […]
What NFT Marketplaces Support Creator Royalties? A Guide
Creator royalties: Love them or hate them, it cannot be denied that they provide central appeal for artists looking to make a blockchain-based living from their craft. Through royalties, creators receive recurring income whenever their works change hands through the various NFT marketplaces that populate the blockchain. This makes it possible for many in Web3, regardless of status, to sustain themselves from project to project. In 2022, though, creator royalties came under fire. Emerging as a major point of contention within the NFT space, the decisions of major marketplaces effectively shook up the established Web3 royalty dynamic, making it clear […]
Interview: Ryan Carson Opens Up About the Flux Controversy
There’s a poignant irony to the fact that Ryan Carson’s Twitter background is Norman Rockwell’s iconic 1961 painting, “The Golden Rule.” The image, which prominently displays the words, “Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You,” perfectly captures the spirit of discussion that Carson’s recent actions have caused the Web3 community to confront like never before. After fumbling the announcement of a new Web3 fund called Flux, the serial entrepreneur and host of the NFT Twitter Space, The Daily Dose, has found both his business acumen and character subject to a harsh interrogation by the NFT community […]