ICYMI: Last Week In Crypto - Assassin's Creed Roll-out Smart Collectibles & Sotheby's Auction Swoops in $2.4million
Hey Mint, It's the Zeneca👀💸
This week on ICYMI, Web3 educators Curios Addys and Zeneca teamed up to build a an NFT platform for creators and collectors, and the famous Assassin’s creed game franchise announced the release of smart collectibles. Also, Pudgy Penguins sold over 20,00 toys on Amazon debut and Sotheby’s Auction raised over $2.4million
HeyMint: Curious Addys And Zeneca Team Up to Launch NFT Platform
Last Monday, Web3 education platform Curious Addys and non-fungible token (NFT) educator Zeneca announced a partnership to build HeyMint, a beginner NFT platform to help creators build their first collection.
HeyMint seeks to be an accessible, equitable, and affordable creative tool with the aim of easing the minting process for creators and onboarding new entrants to Web3. Creators can upload their creative work, select their preferred blockchain, set up a presale list, and impose royalties. At the moment, HeyMint supports three chains that are compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM): Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
On HeyMint, Creators will not pay a listing fee for their collections, and collectors pay $1 per mint.
The CEO of Curious Addys, Mai Akiyoshi, cited that in order to be successful, creators need tools that welcome them into the Web3 community rather than alienate them with overly technical procedures.
“The biggest problem we saw is that creating smart contracts is really difficult and even NFT standards like ERC-721 or 1155 are really standardized,” said Akiyoshi. “We have a lot of experience in educating people in our community and we want to be able to bring in more people who are not familiar with NFTs.”
In addition to working with well-known companies like Universal Music Group and the World of Women NFT collection, Curious Addys, and Zeneca have already amassed $5 million from their respective NFT collections. Before Web3, Zeneca established Zen Academy, an online program to attract new NFT collectors.
Assassin’s Creed Roll-Out “Smart Collectibles”
One of Ubisoft's most well-known video game franchises, Assassin's Creed, has unveiled a line of customisable "smart collectibles" with both digital and physical components.
The collectibles, which are scheduled to go on sale on May 16, are made up of a transparent 3D-printed cube that contains a character figure and a "Digital Soul," a nonfungible token (NFT) built on Polygons that serves as ownership documentation.
Fans of the series must buy a Digital Soul NFT, which is available in two levels of rarity. They can then choose different poses, outfits, and weapons for their character, and have the finished product delivered right to their door.
The level or rarity a person purchases determines the number of customization options that are available.
The near-field communication (NFC) chip that is embedded on the 3D cube and a companion app are what give the collectibles their "smart" quality.
Users can access the app to complete achievements and earn various "items, recipes, loot boxes," and other utilities by scanning or tapping the physical collectibles.
The collection is a component of a larger endeavor carried out in collaboration with Integral Reality Labs, which the Assassin's Creed team refers to as a "co-reality platform."
The platform is slated to host the sale of the "Pieces of Eden Pass" NFTs and will soon have a marketplace where Assassin's Creed collectibles can be traded.
The collection includes a "unique limited edition" Digital Soul NFT in addition to 1,500 tokens that offer special benefits and experiences.
NFT Collection DeadFellaz Launches StreamingFellaz
The creators of the zombie-themed non-fungible token (NFT) collection Deadfellaz, DFZ Labs, announced on Friday that they are launching a video utility extension that will let users interact with their tokens and embody their avatars on screen.
The Deadfellaz token holders, also known as The Horde, will be able to use the collection's intellectual property (IP) in addition to the artwork itself thanks to a tool called Streamingfellaz. On platforms like Google Meet, Twitch, Zoom, and YouTube, holders can present themselves as their Deadfellaz NFT by tracking users' movements and body language to make their tokens come to life.
According to a press release from DFZ LABS, CEO and Co-Founder Betty, Streamingfellaz will further the goal of Deadfellaz, which is to provide users with a Web3 digital identity and new means of self-expression.
“So many of our collectors have an emotional connection to their profile picture (PFP),” said Betty. “It’s important for us to foster that connection by providing tools that allow our wildly creative community access to empowerment of expression - without needing to have the technical skills.”
Dead Channel, a member of The Horde, had the opportunity to beta test the new product and expressed great enthusiasm for it. "With my Streamingfella, it's been great to fully express my Web3 identity. I am my fella, and my fella is me, as is the case with many in the Horde. In the release, Dead Channel stated.
Since its inception, Deadfellaz has been eager to extend its intellectual property beyond its digital artwork. In October, the clothing line and wearables were released in collaboration with well-known DJ and NFT collector Steve Aoki. In order to earn an NFT linked to the clothing item, Deadfellaz and denim company Wrangler collaborated to release a line of Deadfellaz-themed jeans with an NFC chip in September.
According to data from secondary marketplace Opensea, Deadfellaz currently has a floor price of 0.22 ETH, nearly $400, with a trading volume of 33,747 ETH or about $61 million.
Sotheby's Auctions Part of 3AC's Rare NFT Collection, Bringing In $2.4 Million
On Friday, Sotheby's completed the sale of a number of valuable non-fungible tokens (NFTs) seized from the extensive collection of the defunct cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), making $2,482,850 to make up for some of the money that was lost.
The auction house began its multi-part sale in 2021 that included NFTs from the Grails collection, which was primarily formed as part of 3AC's asset portfolio. In July, the Singapore-based hedge fund declared bankruptcy.
Teneo, 3AC's liquidator, announced its intention to sell a broad range of NFTs in February, with an estimated value of millions.
Sotheby's refers to the contents of the Grails collection as "some of the most significant digital artworks ever assembled." NFTs that were on the auction block this round included generative art pieces, like Tyler Hobbs’ Fidenza #725 and Dmitri Cherniak’s Ringers #375. Larva Labs-created Autoglyph #187 and CryptoPunk #1326 are also included in the sale.
"This meticulously selected collection showcases the works of four leading artists who are pushing the boundaries of contemporary algorithmic art," Sotheby's writes in its catalog description.
Seven generative works of art were available in total. More NFTs from the collection of 3AC will eventually be made available in chapters through auctions or private sales.
Fidenza #725, which was expected to sell for between $120,000 and $180,000, and Autoglyph #187, which was expected to fetch between $120,000 and $180,000, are the two most expensive NFTs from Part 1 of the Grails collection. For respectively $1,016,000 and $571,500, the NFTs were sold.
Fidenza #725 was valued at 184.4 ETH, or roughly $335,000, according to Deep NFT Value, a machine learning tool that analyzes high-value NFTs by looking at previous sales of the digital assets, current market conditions, and the distinctive rarity traits of each collection. The second most expensive item, Autoglyph #187, was estimated to be worth 205.7 ETH, or about $373,800.
"My understanding is that the estimates are meant to be low so that they get beaten," said Nikolai Yakovenko, CEO of Deep Value NFT, told CoinDesk. "In the case of the Ringers and Fidenzas, [Sotheby's] are making an estimate perhaps above the operating floor price, but well below the premium they expect."
The impressive NFT portfolio owned by Starry Night Capital, which was established in August 2021 by 3AC in collaboration with renowned NFT collector Vincent Van Dough, is unrelated to the upcoming Sotheby's sales.
Pudgy Penguins Smash Amazon Debut, Sells Over 20,000 Toys
The famous NFT collection Pudgy Penguins saw explosive interest and sales after the launch of its new "Phygital" Toy Collection & Experience on e-commerce behemoth Amazon.
Over the course of the first two days, Pudgy Penguins sold more than 20,000 individual toys, according to project CEO Luca Netz, who reported sales of over $500,000.
The team's thesis, according to Netz, is that "they want Pudgy penguins to win but also push the space forward," and they are committed to bringing millions of users into the Web3 space in ways that they can't even begin to imagine. Netz made this statement on Saturday across a number of Twitter Spaces.
The toys outperformed established brands like Disney, Transformers, Pokemon, Barbie, and Legos in Amazon sales charts over the past 48 hours, according to Alejandro Navia, co-founder and president of NFT content and analysis website nftnow.
According to the Pudgy Penguin CEO yesterday, the recent launch on Amazon is consistent with the project's strategy, which is to involve the biggest companies and A-players from the music or sports worlds to attract millions of users who haven't explored the NFT space yet.
One of the few Ethereum-based projects that "bucked" the NFT crash this year was Pudgy Penguins, which raised $9 million in a round led by early-stage investment company 1kx and including participation from Big Brain Holdings and Kronos Research, among others.
Launched in 2021, Pudgy Penguins capitalized big on the NFT boom, driven in part by a New York Times story, leading the team to confidently post on Twitter: “We aren’t waiting for mass adoption… we’re creating it.”
With a team of six gif artists, Netz ended one his interviews on Twitter with an ambitious declaration:
“I want Pudgy Penguins to be the face of NFTs,” making it “unequivocally clear for everyone that they are the most familiar NFT on the market.”
Art and NFT "Art" is a great money laundering system. Not that I do any of that. Just saying.