NFT Roundup #5: Satoshi Nakamoto as an NFT; Dreamverse, an NFT-powered festival; NBA's Brandon Jennings gets into the NFT game; MLB & NFTs (x2)
Buy the rumor, sell the news
Quick programming note: this newsletter has been converted from a general theme to one which covers NFTs (non-fungible tokens) exclusively. For more on this change, please refer to this introductory note here.
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RSK-Built NFT Genesis headed to millionaire collectible
An interesting question regarding NFTs is which blockchain will come to dominate the market. While Ethereum, and, increasingly, Solana, get most of the attention in NFT world, there are some people trying to build NFT marketplaces on bitcoin sidechains.
One such bitcoin sidechain is rsk.
NFT Genesis and the RSK Ecosystem
As a non-fungible token created on a Bitcoin sidechain and by a leading artist who has worked with renowned firms like Netflix, NFT Genesis has gained notable attention from global art collectors.
Notably, the RSK sidechain enjoys security features similar to those on the Bitcoin blockchain. Mind you, it uses a two-way-peg mechanism in which Bitcoin miners help secure both Bitcoin and the RSK ecosystem.
With these notable infrastructures surrounding the NFT Genesis pieces, market analysts expect the real value of the artworks could scale to million dollars. Moreover, the NFT global market cap has skyrocketed to approximately $3 billion this year.
Dreamverse: The world’s first NFT art and music festival
NFTs are mainly a digital and virtual phenomenon. An interesting question arises when we start to think about how NFTs can interact with the physical world we inhabit. Dreamverse is an upcoming in-person event occurring in New York City:
Beeple’s $69 Million Non-Fungible Token (NFT) artwork, “Everydays: The First 5000 Days”, was the auction house’s first-ever NFT auction. Now, the artwork will be getting its own interactive event later this year.
On November 4, 2021, the image’s owner, crypto fund Metapurse, will host a one-night-only party in New York’s Terminal 5 called “Dreamverse”. The world’s first NFT-focused music, art, and technology festival. It will be the first authorised public display of “Everydays: The First 5000 Days”.
The party is split into two parts: a gallery during the day – showcasing more than 150 artists featuring works both digitally and physically — and a projection of Beeple’s artwork in the evening. The projection will be accompanied by a set played by DJ Alesso.
One of the more common criticisms about NFTs, especially art-based NFTs, is that they provide no utility. While I don’t think it’s true that art-based NFTs provide no utility, the utility they provide, which is mainly about signaling (“I’m wealthy enough to afford this and you’re not”) is not the kind of utility that most people value.
But connecting NFTs to real-world events--ticketing, essentially--is a utility that many people can intuitively grasp. NFT Ticketing Alliance is a good Twitter account to follow for developments in this nascent industry. GET Protocol is trying to build a protocol for NFT-based ticketing.
Blockparty, NBA’s Brandon Jennings to launch into NFT space with Ballislife
I’ve written before that NFTs allow people to fulfill their need for mimetic desire, and nowhere is this more easily seen than in NFTs connected to celebrities. Whether the celebrity is an athlete, a fashion designer, an actor, or a musician, the celebrity’s platform is a unique one in that many people want to associate with him or her, and will pay significant sums to signal that affiliation.
It’s interesting, therefore, to consider NBA star Brandon Jennings’ NFT project:
Digital collectibles platform Blockparty has announced a partnership with the NBA’s Brandon Jennings and his luxury streetwear brand Tuff Crowd to launch into the NFT world via a collaboration with the sports and entertainment brand Ballislife.
“Blockparty has always been passionate about helping empower brands to form deeper connections with their communities and fans, and that relationship has some of its strongest roots in the sports and entertainment world,” says Vladislav Ginzburg, chief executive officer, Blockparty. “We’re thrilled to be working with such notable and iconic names in sports to only further strengthen the relationship between players, brands and fans.”
Fans and collectors can have access to Brandon from owning one of his original VCR mixtapes to a signed jersey from the pro legend.
As with art-based NFTs your response to the above is largely a function of your interest in the subject matter at hand. If you’re a rabid basketball fan, this sounds very cool. If you’re uninterested in sports you’re likely left scratching your head. As ever just because you don’t see value in an NFT doesn’t mean that no one sees value in it.
Two related stories illustrate this trend: