Metaversal is a Bankless newsletter for weekly level-ups on NFTs, virtual worlds, & collectibles

Dear Bankless Nation, 

Minecraft's new NFT ban misses the forest for the trees. It's like saying "we won't do web stuff" during the early blossoming of the internet.

The next waves of great fun things will be built on and around NFTs. Believe that!

Why? Because the "open garden" cultural surge that NFTs foster and the ability to use these digital objects in unprecedented ways will lead to brave new territories of funness over the decades ahead.

More simply put, NFTs will play a major role in redefining what fun looks like in the 21st century. The NFT ecosystem has already started decisively on this path, and this reality won't be ignorable by the powerful forever.

Going forward, the possibilities around tokenized digital things are endless, and here the game is just starting, so to speak. So don't worry about Minecraft, they'll come around one day. In the meantime, thanks kindly for reading and have a great weekend everyone ✌️

-WMP

🙏 Sponsor: Sequence—developer platform + smart wallet to build user-friendly web3 apps✨

🛒 General NFT News

• amazon.eth received a 1M USDC bid.

• Franklin Caldwell, a Bored Ape whale, accidentally bought his own joke ENS domain for 100 ETH. 

• MetaMask is working on a new confirmation window that will help mitigate SetApprovalForAll NFT scams:

cygaar @cygaar_dev

Here's the new @MetaMask setApprovalForAll UI in action on Opensea and LooksRare. It's now a lot more transparent when you're granting approval permissions to your NFTs. Should keep users safer in the future. Thanks to @Montana_Wong and @NFTherder for pointing out this change.

4:43 PM ∙ Jul 19, 2022

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• OpenSea introduced a Solana launchpad. 

• PREMINT had its website temporarily commandeered by a hacker, who then stole ~$375k USD worth of NFTs. 

• PREMINT also acquired NFT authorization service Vulcan. 

• The U.S. Office of Ethics issued new NFT rules for executive branch employees. 

• Yuga Labs warned of a “persistent threat group” that may be on the verge of launching a coordinated attack against multiple NFT communities. 

🏆 Collectibles

• Moonbirds held its Oddities reveal:

JΛSON ⌐◨-◨ @Jason619

New PFP who dis! Loving the @gremplin vibez with my fresh new @oddities_xyz ! Much love to @proof_xyz and @moonbirds

5:03 PM ∙ Jul 20, 2022

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• Nickelodeon launched its Rugrats PFP collection. 

• Yuga Labs is estimated to have made the equivalent of ~$150M USD via NFT royalties to date. 

🎨 Art

• Gremplin auctioned Bufo Canicidus via Endaoment for 3 ETH, the proceeds of which will fund conservation efforts around the Colorado River Toad. 

SACRΞD GARDΞN | ∆FLORA NFT @sacrdgardn

1/1 'Bufo Canicidus' by @gremplin of @cryptoadzNFT 24 hours auction is now live via @endaomentdotorg. Let's fund conservation and research of the psychedelic Incilius Alvarius led by @Tucson_Herps RT & help #savethetoadz bit.ly/3yOOuxP

6:11 PM ∙ Jul 19, 2022

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• The VerticalCrypto Art Residency Program celebrated its 1st birthday. 

• Pxls, a cryptoart project on StarkNet, is launching. 

🎮 NFT Gaming

• Axie Infinity unveiled its first Lunacian Summer skins:

Axie Infinity🦇🔊 @AxieInfinity

The first Lunacian Summer skins are being revealed right now! You can check the reveals as they come in through this link: marketplace.axieinfinity.com/axie/?auctionT…

4:34 AM ∙ Jul 19, 2022

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• Cool Cats is holding a Fall Guys tournament next week that will have unminted Cool Cats up for grabs as prizes:

Cool Cats @coolcatsnft

The Fall Guys Tournament is next week July 26th-28th 🎮🎉 Here are some details you won't want to miss 🧵

12:44 PM ∙ Jul 21, 2022

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• Sablier token streaming is now live on Ronin. 

• Square Enix is teaming up with Enjin to create 25th anniversary NFT collectibles for Final Fantasy VII. 

💽 Music

• Sound has paid its artists over $3M worth of revenues to date. 

• Spores launched an Acoustify functionality. 

🌐 Virtual Worlds

• Minecraft banned NFTs, sending Minecraft-based projects like NFT Worlds scrambling to come up with new plans. 

• nft42 / nameless parted ways with TokenSmart, the crew behind iconic Ethereum metaverse events like The WIP Meetup, Metalympics, and more. 

• Nike x RTFKT released AR Genesis Hoodie NFTs, which are digitally compatible with Clone X avatars and come with accompanying physical versions.

💎 DeFi x NFTs

• NFTX rolled out a new Yield dashboard. 

• sudoswap’s new sudoAMM crossed the 500k ETH trading volume milestone already. 

• Vesta is preparing to close eligibility for its V-Key NFT program.

Action steps

• 📺 Watch interviews with Art Blocks founder SnowFro and Tattoo Skullz Society artist Juan Salgado on Overpriced JPEGs

• 📺 Watch interviews with Ethereum builder wiz Austin Griffith and The Network State author Balaji Srinivasan on Green Pill

• 🧐 Catch up on my other write-ups from this week: 

  • 🎊 NFT drop styles 

  • 👨‍💻️ zkEVM: a huge unlock for NFTs

  • 👛 How to create your own crypto treasury

Author Bio

William M. Peaster is a professional writer and creator of Metaversal—a Bankless newsletter focused on the emergence of NFTs in the cryptoeconomy. He’s also recently been contributing content to Bankless, JPG, and beyond!

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Not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.

Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here.