ICYMI: Last Week In Crypto - Adidas and Pharell launch Doodles digital wearables & Romania build national NFT marketplace
Meanwhile, Moonbirds🐥 got a new world 🌎
This week on ICYMI, Adidas and Pharell Williams announced the launch of digital wearables for Doodles NFT holders and Romania take their first stance in Web3 with the launch of its first national NFT marketplace. Also, NFT market reports show that other blockchains are gaining on Ethereum in volume of NFT sales and MMA takes on a partnership with Animoca games to launch a mobile fighting game in 2024.
NFT Market Report: Polygon, Cardano and Solana NFT Sales Spike as Ethereum NFT Sales Slump
Non-fungible token (NFT) sales have recently seen a slight uptick on other layer 1 blockchains and layer 2 networks, though Ethereum's blockchain is still by far the most popular option for NFT minting.
The layer 1 blockchain Cardano, whose token is ADA, briefly surpassed the Ethereum scaling platform Polygon early on Monday, according to data from CryptoSlam, to become the fourth-most popular blockchain by NFT sales volume.
According to Crypto Slam, Cardano had fallen back to sixth place, trailing BNB and Polygon despite an 86% increase in sales in the previous day. According to CNFT.io, two projects, Goofy Gophers and Spacebudz, have generated more than 185,000 ADA (roughly $70,000) in trading volume over the last 24 hours, which appears to have driven the increase.
Over the last week, sales volume has increased for other blockchains, including Solana (SOL). The release of Mad Lads, which had such high demand that its mint had to be delayed, was a major factor in the increase in sales, unique buyers, and unique sellers that Solana saw on April 22. According to Crypto Slam, the mad dash for the Mad Lads contributed more than $8 million of the $9.9 million in sales on April 22 — a high not seen since January. Over the last seven days, Solana's sales volume have increased overall by 129%.
Meanwhile, a Dune dashboard created by NFT researcher Sealaunch shows that Polygon has seen an increase in sales volume over the past few days. It seems that the majority of the activity on OpenSea and Magic Eden has been driven by NFT collection Y00ts, which recently moved from Solana to Polygon.
While sales of Ethereum NFTs have decreased recently, NFT sales on other blockchains have increased. According to Crypto Slam, the volume of sales on Ethereum has decreased by 12% over the last week, and there have been fewer individual buyers and sellers as well.
A few collections over the past few months have caused brief increases in trading, suggesting that the overall NFT market has cooled amid an extended crypto winter. The number of unique users across the top NFT marketplaces, including Blur, OpenSea, and LooksRare, dropped to 7,805 on April 19, a low not seen since July 2021, according to a Dune dashboard by SeaLaunch.
According to the same Dune data, there were 16,149 sales across NFT marketplaces on April 19, a sharp decline from the previous day. When sales were last that low, it was in November 2021. The past few days have seen a slight improvement in the numbers.
Romania taps into Web3 with the launch of its national NFT marketplace
With the introduction of an internal nonfungible token trading platform, Romania's National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (ICI Bucharest) hopes to accelerate Web3 adoption nationwide.
The ICI D|Services institutional NFT platform, which aims to connect users and institutions in the public and private sectors, will launch on April 26. The platform's primary function is an NFT market, enabling individual and institutional users to create, hold, and exchange NFTs.
Paul Niculescu-Mizil Gheorghe, the coordinator of the ICI Bucharest blockchain laboratory, expressed the motivations behind the nation's efforts to adopt Web3-based technologies.
Over the past five years, ICI Bucharest has primarily concentrated on research and development, but as the blockchain, Web3, and nonfungible tokens markets gained traction globally, ICI Bucharest began to shift its focus.
According to Gheorghe, NFTs have grown significantly in popularity in recent years as a result of their ability to produce distinctive and rare digital assets that can be used in a variety of use cases. Due to their increased value as assets for institutions, the NFT platform was proposed by ICI Bucharest in late 2021.
Midway through 2022, the organization started creating and implementing the marketplace system's architecture in collaboration with MultiversX, the first strategic project utilizing the blockchain infrastructure provider.
According to MultiversX CEO Beniamin Mincu, the partnership also entails the creation of a decentralized DNS and top-level domain (TLD) ecosystem.
The project, according to Gheorghe, who has a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and blockchain technology, has received support from both the secretariat-general and the Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digitalization of Romania:
“Our institute wants to create a bridge between the young generations and the public institutions values, initiating a comfort zone for the interactions with the digital space.”
Five distinctive NFT collections created in association with a few well-known Romanian athletes, organizations, and institutions will be featured at the platform launch.
Among them are the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, the Central University Library in Bucharest, the 100-meter freestyle swimming world record holder David Popovici, 18, the Romanian news agency Agerpres, and the national philately organization Romfilatelia.
According to Gheorghe, the government of Romania's support of creative initiatives like ICI D|Services increases the nation's economic potential by creating new revenue streams, promoting economic growth, and fostering an innovative and entrepreneurial culture.
“Blockchain technology increases the efficiency of the institutions, to approach solid use cases based on digital asset management, transparency, security in various institutional operations, such as in education, health, transport, land registration, supply chain management.”
These ideas were echoed by Mincu, who emphasized the Romanian government's dedication to embracing technology and fostering fresh opportunities for user interaction between individuals, organizations, and businesses.
Web3 Entertainment Studio Toonstar to Release NFT-Backed TV Series ‘Space Junk’
Toonstar, a Web3 entertainment company, will soon debut "Space Junk," a brand-new animated television program backed by non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Starring "School of Rock" actor Tony Cavalero and "Napoleon Dynamite" actor Jon Heder, the comedy series is about trash collectors in space and is written by "Workaholics" producer Dominic Russo.
The first episode's world premiere was presented by the creators at Consensus 2023 in Austin, Texas. The series' inspiration and negotiations behind the scenes were then discussed by the series' creators, voice actors, and producers on stage.
Fans of the show will have the opportunity to create "Space Junk" NFTs on the Theta blockchain, giving them the chance to interact with the project's intellectual property (IP) by developing the show's storyline, creating characters, and taking part in experiences available to token holders only.
The model of "Space Junk," as well as other Toonstar productions, helps dismantle conventional creator regimes that have long existed in Hollywood, according to John Attanasio, CEO and co-founder of Toonstar.
“Our mission really is twofold – one is to create original entertainment IP using Web3 as a springboard and the other is giving opportunities to new and diverse creators that may not have had a chance to … get something made,” said Attanasio.
Artificial intelligence will also be a part of "Space Junk"'s content creation process. The program will have a fully artificial intelligence (AI) generated robot character named "Wellbecca" who welcomes fan interaction.
After releasing the Mila Kunis-starring series "The Gimmicks" in March 2022 and giving token holders the opportunity to influence the show's direction, Toonstar became well-known. Toonstar and retailer Hot Topic collaborated in July to release NFT-related merchandise for the program.
On May 15, Space Junk NFTs will be available to mint, and on May 19, the show will be streamable.
NFT Collective Proof Announces 3D World for Its Moonbirds Community
The "Moonbirds Monaverse," a new social and virtual world for the Moonbirds community, will be unveiled by non-fungible token (NFT) collective Proof and 3D world-building platform Mona, the two organizations announced during CoinDesk's Consensus 2023 conference here.
In order to assist Proof in enlarging the virtual world, Mona stated that it would offer technical support. According to the companies, the collaboration aims to produce community events like live town halls, viewing parties, and art reveals. On Thursday's episode of the "100 PROOF" podcast, a sneak peek of the virtual experience was broadcast live.
“We will continue to provide unique experiences aimed at combining immersive art and technology to our holders,” Kevin Rose, co-founder and CEO of Proof, said in a statement. “The world Mona has created unlocks a new way for Moonbirds holders to hang out and enjoy digital art together.”
A new Moonbirds collection by Proof debuted earlier in April. It featured 22 artists, including Beeple, Summer Wagner, and Terrell Jones. Proof joined forces with United Talent Agency in January to expand its brand beyond the Web3-native community.
Adidas and Pharrell Roll-out Digital Clothing for Doodles NFT Holders
With fully customisable avatars, Doodles is moving beyond its Ethereum profile picture (PFP) roots. With assistance from Pharrell Williams and Adidas, the Doodles 2 Character Builder has officially launched today for NFT holders within The Stoodio app, marking a significant advancement.
Doodles has announced a forthcoming airdrop for a "Pharrell Pack" in conjunction with the release of the Character Builder, which enables Doodles NFT holders to customize their appearance and attributes for a full-body avatar. Pharrell Williams, a musician, and the fashion brands he either founded or worked with are represented in the NFT pack with digital clothing.
Digital Doodles wearables from Adidas, Human Made, Billionaire Boys Club (BBC), and Ice Cream are included in the box. Each bundle contains digital wearables as well as a token that can be exchanged for a single, limited-edition actual article of clothing.
Only 300 of the packs will be made, and those Doodles holders who meet certain requirements can get them for free. The Dooplicator NFT must be used to create digital clothes, and owning an original Doodles NFT is one of the requirements, according to the project website. There will be a lottery to select the winners if more than 300 people ultimately qualify by the deadline.
Joe Ranzenbach, the head of product management at Doodles, declined to disclose whether these companies would ever offer separate digital clothes for Doodles or engage in other kinds of partnerships. But he added that Doodles has a "pipeline of brand partners" prepared for further releases.
Since June 2022, when he was appointed the startup's Chief Brand Officer, Williams, the renowned musician and record producer responsible for hits like "Happy," has been associated with Doodles. Williams will serve as executive producer on an album by Doodles that will be released on Columbia Records, but it hasn't been made public as of yet.
Williams was regarded as "integral" to the project and a "day-to-day influence" on the expanding brand by Doodles CEO Julian Holguin at WebSummit in November.
Building a Doodle
Ranzenbach offered a brief demonstration of the Doodles 2 Character Builder tool, highlighting the different customizations and animated clothing that users can employ. Despite the fact that Doodles 2 and its apparel are minted on the Flow blockchain, the original Doodles was launched on Ethereum.
Ranzenbach said that when users add clothing to their Doodles 2 avatar, the avatar NFT technically "owns" the clothing assets at the blockchain level. As a result, users can sell their fully-equipped avatars as constructed, with all included components packaged alongside.
That could be helpful as Doodles users might gather an entire set or outfit from one brand in order to sell the entire ensemble as an avatar—or else style an original look in order to sell it on Gaia's secondary Flow marketplace.
According to Ranzenbach, the capability also allows Doodles avatars that accumulate unredeemed awards in a play-to-earn game, for instance, to be swapped with everything included. Following the launch of Character Builder, more use cases might emerge as metaverse games and platforms start to support Doodles avatars. Even more options are opened up by the fact that Doodles intends to use its characters across multiple chains.
MMA Enter Web3: Mobile Fighting Game With NFTs to Launch in 2024
A mobile strategy combat game for mixed martial arts (MMA) is being developed by Notre Game, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, in collaboration with Singapore's One Championship and NFTs. Early player testing for the One Fight Arena game will start later this year, with an early 2024 release date currently planned.
In order to give owners statistics on character rarity and provable authenticity, the game's athletes will become NFTs in the game. For individuals who want to play completely for free without any in-game in-game currency or tokens, One Fight Arena will also be made available as a free-to-play mobile game.
According to the statement, the One game will feature the brand's roster of various fighters and would emphasize "strategic gameplay" from a first-person point of view. Additionally, the game aims to simulate each fighter's journey, beginning at the very beginning of their individual fighting careers.
One Championship co-founder and Group President Hua Fung Teh thinks the One game is a means to provide MMA fans a novel experience, despite the fact that little more about it has been made public.
“We’re thrilled to work with an industry leader in Animoca Brands to launch One Fight Arena, our first Web3-enhanced video game,” Teh said in a statement. “This partnership will give us the opportunity to engage with our global fanbase at a deeper level.”
Yat Siu, the executive chairman of Animoca Brands, had a similar opinion about why Web3 components are being used in the game's development.
“Our partnership with One to create One Fight Arena will enable the fans of the world’s largest martial arts organization to access a novel gaming experience with true digital ownership at its core,” Siu said in a statement.
The release of Animoca and One's game coincides with Asia being a major market and producer for Web3 games. For example, a DappRadar research last month predicted that Asia would eventually control 80% of the global Web3 gaming business, a prediction that other participants in the sector have made recently.