Web3 Market Recap: Art Blocks' Marfa Weekend Illuminates NFT Art Innovation, SEC Wades Through NFT Regulatory Murk, and Meta Merges Style with Technology in New AR Endeavors...
NFT Weekly News #24 25th Sep- 1st Oct
NFT News Weekly Update #24
(09/25/2023-10/01/2023)
GM
Welcome to NFT Weekly News by Threekeyslab🗝️🗝️🗝️. Here you can find the latest curated news📰in the NFT world. Every week, we aim to provide a selection of the most interesting news and events that are fostering the development of the NFT world.
The NFT field is constantly evolving, and this article will review last week's Top🔝NFT news. Let's take a look👀together!
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Top News 🔝
📌NFT|Art Blocks' Marfa Weekend: A Flourishing Oasis of Digital and Generative Art (Oct 1)
Art Blocks' Marfa Weekend in West Texas became a hotspot for digital art aficionados, showcasing the resilience and innovation of the crypto and digital art world. The festival evolved into a vibrant ecosystem with a multitude of events and projects blending art and technology. Attendees experienced experimental projects, engaged in discussions about digital transitions and collective memory, and received unique, interactive collectibles. The event highlighted the continuous growth and enthusiasm in the digital art scene despite the challenges in the NFT market.
📌NFT |SEC Chair Gary Gensler Faces Questions Over Understanding of NFTs (Sep 30)
SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, has faced scrutiny over his understanding of digitized assets like NFTs. During a committee hearing, U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres questioned Gensler on the classification of NFTs as securities, using tokenized Pokémon cards as an example. Gensler's responses were ambiguous, and he failed to provide clear answers on whether tokenization itself qualified an asset as a security. This has raised concerns about the SEC’s recent decisions on high-profile NFT collections, highlighting a potential lack of understanding of the industry within the commission. Several NFT projects, like Stoner Cats and Impact Theory, have already been charged with violating federal securities laws.
📌AR&VR|Meta Unveils Enhanced Smart Glasses with Audio and Visual Features (Sep 28)
Meta has partnered with Ray-Ban to introduce enhanced smart glasses, featuring improved audio and camera capabilities. Aimed at creators, these glasses can replace headphones and allow users to take high-quality photos, videos, and even livestream directly to Facebook or Instagram, raising potential privacy issues. Despite the added functionalities and style options, user adoption remains uncertain after the lackluster performance of their predecessor, Stories. Priced from $299, they offer 4-6 hours of active use battery life.
Market Update 📣
To find out more about the notable NFT sales for the week, please click on the link below.
Other News 👀
AIGC|Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Advocates for Unregulated Development of AI (Sep 25)
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, has voiced his opinion against regulating artificial intelligence (AI), emphasizing the need for rapid development in the field for reasons such as national security. In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on September 23, 2023, Armstrong expressed concerns that regulation can stifle innovation and competition due to unintended consequences, citing the unregulated era of the internet as a "golden age of innovation" in software and technology. Armstrong suggests a decentralized and open-source approach to AI development, to foster innovation and progress in the sector.
NFT|BAPE and Bored Ape Yacht Club Unveil Streetwear Collaboration (Sep 26)
Streetwear pioneer BAPE is collaborating with Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) for an exclusive apparel release, first launching at ApeFest Hong Kong in November. Yuga Labs, the creator of BAYC, revealed that this collaboration integrates iconic designs from BAPE's archives and heralds a resurgence in streetwear collecting. Initially, the release will be exclusive to ApeFest attendees and BAYC NFT owners, before extending availability to Bapetaverse NFT holders and eventually releasing to the public through BAPE stores and their online shop in December. This partnership is emblematic of BAYC's prominence in the NFT market, and it follows Yuga Labs’ previous collaborations with renowned brands like Adidas and Gucci.
AIGC|Spotify Debuts AI-Based Voice Translation for Podcasts (Sep 26)
Spotify has rolled out an AI tool, leveraging OpenAI's technology, to translate podcasts while preserving the original voice of the presenter. Initially focusing on three popular English podcasts, translations to Spanish are available, with German and French coming soon. The service is part of an initiative to make diverse content accessible globally in native languages. Human oversight ensures translation accuracy amidst the ongoing controversy and debate over the use of AI in mimicking artists in the music streaming sphere.
NFT| Pudgy Penguins NFT Brand Extends Its Reach with Walmart Toy Line (Sep 26)
Pudgy Penguins, a notable NFT collection, is launching its Pudgy Toys line in 2,000 Walmart stores in the U.S, marking an integration of NFT brands into mainstream retail. Each toy grants access to Pudgy World, a multiplayer digital platform, aiming to increase brand visibility and user engagement. This collaboration enables users to experience a blend of physical and digital play realms and emphasizes the evolving consumer-brand interaction in the digital era. Despite the declining prices and demand in the NFT market, initiatives like these signify efforts by brands to sustain and expand their presence by connecting with real-world audiences.
Web3| Technical Issues Mar the Launch of Yuga Labs’ Legends of the Mara (Sep 30)
Yuga Labs' highly anticipated Legends of the Mara (LoTM) encountered technical difficulties upon launch, particularly in the Shattered Defense game mode, diminishing the initial excitement among players. The problems also extended to the game’s ‘hatching process’. Despite these setbacks, the game’s parent project, Otherside, supported by Improbable M² technology, promises to allow seamless on-chain interactions for thousands of players simultaneously. Yuga Labs is actively addressing these issues and remains committed to improving the user experience in their pursuit of delivering an innovative Metaverse experience.
Web3 | Runes Proposed as Cleaner Alternative to BRC-20 Tokens (Sep 26)
Bitcoin Ordinals' creator, Casey Rodarmor, has proposed ‘Runes’, a new Bitcoin-based fungible token protocol, as an alternative to the BRC-20 token standard. Rodarmor argues BRC-20 tokens clutter the Bitcoin network with “junk” unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs), impacting its efficiency. ‘Runes’ aims to integrate more seamlessly with Bitcoin, managing UTXOs more responsibly, maintaining the network’s transparency, and potentially attracting significant transaction fee revenue, developers, and users to Bitcoin. The idea is still in its initial phase, with potential funding offers for developers to explore and implement the proposed protocol.
Web3 | Friend.tech Achieves $50M TVL and 10,000 ETH in Revenue Amid Challenges (Oct 1)
Decentralized social protocol, Friend.tech, has achieved notable success, surpassing $50 million in total value locked (TVL) and earning revenue over 10,000 ETH. Launched on August 10, the DeSo protocol platform reached $1 million in fees within a day and has currently amassed approximately $17.6 million or 10,727 ETH in total revenue, according to DeFiLlama. Despite facing community backlash and database vulnerabilities, the protocol is nearing 10 million transactions. The success of Friend.tech has inspired the launch of similar applications like Friendzy on Solana and Alpha on Bitcoin.
NFT |PayPal Eyes Web3 with NFT Marketplace Patent (Oct 1)
PayPal is delving deeper into blockchain with a patented NFT marketplace, following its stablecoin, PYUSD. The proposed marketplace, distinct in enabling transactions in any currency both on and off-chain, will host a range of digital assets. It aims to secure ongoing income for rights holders through embedded royalties in smart contracts and to enhance NFT liquidity and sustainability using DAOs. Although the release date is undisclosed, PayPal's initiative signals its commitment to fostering an inclusive and balanced NFT ecosystem.