web3 / 509 posts found
Next Up: Five Ones to Watch in January 2023
In 2021, a new creator economy was born on the blockchain. Since NFTs took center stage, artists have achieved NFT superstardom, billion-dollar brands have been forged in just a few months, and many lives have been utterly transformed time and again. Yet, the most inspiring thing about the NFT space is the number of artists of all creeds and mediums who have found community and support by embracing this technology. In keeping with our mission to empower creators, we present Next Up — our monthly franchise dedicated to showcasing rising artists. Although the NFT space has changed significantly over the […]
Square Enix Is Bringing Blockchain Games, Crypto Coins, and More in 2023
The Alpha: Square Enix, the company behind franchises like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Tactics Ogre, is recommitting to its blockchain strategy in 2023, according to its yearly letter from company President Yosuke Matsuda. The firm aims to launch several blockchain games and NFT projects using brand-new IPs sometime in 2023. The Japanese games company also plans to establish a game & service publishing business centered on blockchain games. Notably, it will also issue, manage, and invest in its own crypto coins as an international entity this year. Why it matters Square Enix has made a renewed commitment towards all […]
10 Artists in the NFT Space to Follow in 2023
Well, 2023 is finally upon us. Over the next year, members of the NFT space will be looking forward to a vast assortment of new art from some of Web3’s most influential creators. From established artists to the up-and-comers featured in nft now’s Next Up charts, the vast array of NFT smiths on the blockchain has begun fueling their proverbial fires, set to make the next 360-something days count. So to honor the artists that made a splash in 2022 and are poised to conquer the new year, we’ve hand-picked 10 artists, both big and small, that are well worth […]
Solana’s Bonk: A Guide to the Latest Meme Token to Rival Doge
The last 12 months have been rough for Solana, to put it lightly. Once regarded as a cleaner and greener alternative to Ethereum, following 2022’s Earth-moving Merge that saw the NFT community’s most widely-used blockchain finally shift to the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, Solana lost one of its most significant advantages over its biggest competitor in the NFT space. Couple this with a massive August 2022 hack that saw more than 8,000 Solana crypto wallets emptied of millions of dollars in SOL, along with controversy regarding the stance of its flagship NFT marketplace Magic Eden on creator royalties. If […]
4 Brands That Didn’t Need to Say ‘NFT’ to Bring Fans Into Web3
Despite the best efforts of the NFT community and builders leading the space into the future, the term “NFT” remains controversial for most of the internet. The mere utterance of NFTs has been enough to send fans of deceased creators into a frenzy upon learning of impending drops related to these late creators’ bodies of work. Regardless, some brands find the allure of launching an NFT project too great to ignore. After all, NFTs are just one prong of what is often a multi-faceted strategy to prepare for the mainstream arrival of Web3, the internet’s next great leap forward. So […]
Blockchain 101: All the Basics Explained
Web3 can be a confusing place. If you’re new, words like “blockchain,” “NFT,” and “smart contract” are opaque terms that do more to suppress curiosity than invite it. That skepticism shows up in the data: globally, just 1 in 10 working-age internet users own some form of cryptocurrency, the digital tokens needed to engage with much of the Web3 ecosystem. This is ironic, since Web3 is the latest version of the internet, founded on ideas of accessibility and equity. Don’t let the critics fool you; the stereotype that crypto and NFTs belong to an exclusive and unwelcoming “crypto bro” niche […]
5 NFTs People Have Minted Onto Their Skin
Since at least 2017, communities have rallied around NFT projects across the entire space, as seen with the explosion in popularity the CryptoPunks community and others enjoyed IRL, in the form of in-person community meetups and events. But for others, projects have inspired so much love in some members’ hearts that they’ve decided to represent their favorite NFTs IRL permanently — with tattoos. Considering the recent rise of NFTs existing in our physical world, it’s no surprise that enthusiasts have taken to using NFTs they own, or simply just like a lot, in a profoundly personal way. After all, what could be […]
Rolling Stone Unveils ‘Matriarchy Now’ With Pussy Riot Superstar
The Alpha: Rolling Stone has just announced the upcoming release of MATRIARCHY NOW — an 11-part NFT collection in partnership with Pussy Riot Co-Founder Nadya Tolokonnikova and noted photographer and artist Ellen von Unwerth. The collection drops on January 11, at 3:00 p.m. ET. The forthcoming collection will be spearheaded by the auction of the lead 1/1 MATRIARCHY NOW NFT, with proceeds distributed to help forward the cause of women’s reproductive rights through a UnicornDAO LegalAbortion.ETH via Endaoment. Tolokonnikova’s UnicornDAO has raised $4.5 million as of writing to help support this, along with many other women and LGBTQ+-focused social causes. […]
Owning Our Coverage: Here’s How We Decide What’s Fit to Print
Making sense of the news cycle can be exceptionally challenging. We live in an age of information overload, and parsing out what’s factual and relevant from what’s sensational and reckless is tricky for even the most seasoned internet denizen — and journalists are no exception. As a publisher, it is our job to produce objective and impartial coverage of notable and newsworthy events. We owe it to ourselves and our readers to take this responsibility seriously and focus our attention on subjects that matter — on the stories that uplift, inspire, or highlight valid concerns. And we also owe it […]
TV Isn’t Dead. It’s Being Resurrected in Web3
The entertainment media landscape has changed immensely over the past decade. And for new generations (Gen Z and later), it’s still changing. There was a time when kids woke up to cartoons and spent their evenings watching regularly scheduled family-friendly programming, but the youth of the 2020s now take their breakfasts with a side of YouTube and their late-night snacks while binging shows on Netflix. That’s not at all a bad thing, unless, of course, you’re in the television industry. Because in the past 10 years or so, subscriptions to video streaming services have skyrocketed while pay-TV subscriptions (cable) have […]