Crypto Collectibles

Warner Music Group partners with OpenSea to create more Web3 opportunities for artists

The company stated that select artists can launch their NFT collections and limited-edition projects on their own dedicated drop pages.

On Sept. 29, global music and entertainment company Warner Music Group (WMG) announced a partnership with nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea to provide a platform for select musical artists to build and extend their fanbase into the Web3 community. 

According to the release, the collaboration between these two entities will allow select WMG artists to get early access to OpenSea’s newly rolled-out feature, which enables artists to launch their NFT collections and limited-edition projects on their own customizable and dedicated drop pages.

These WMG artists will have access to personalized storytelling on customized landing pages, as well as to OpenSea’s industry-leading safety and security features. The partnership, aimed at helping WMG artists build new Web3 communities, intends to introduce existing fan communities on OpenSea to new forms of connection and creativity through NFTs — and open up new opportunities for fans to engage with music and artists within the Web3 community.

Shiva Rajaraman, OpenSea’s vice president of product, shared:

“For artists and musicians, NFTs represent a new creative medium and a mechanism to build community, engage directly with fans, and express themselves across borders and languages.”

Oana Ruxandra, chief digital officer and executive vice president of business development at WMG, also stated, “Fundamental to music’s DNA, is community – it’s artists and fans coming together to celebrate the music that they love. Our collaboration with OpenSea helps to facilitate these communities by unlocking Web3 tools and resources to build opportunities for artists to establish deeper engagement, access, and ownership.”

The first collection of music NFTs is currently in development with Warner Records UK in collaboration with Web3 company Probably Nothing. According to WMG, this collaboration marks the latest in a series of efforts to build out the music company’s expertise in the Web3 space.

Earlier this year, Cointelegraph shared that Warner Music Group had announced a partnership with fantasy-themed collectible card game developer Splinterlands to create and develop play-to-earn, arcade-style blockchain games.

Anonymous makes numerous allegations against Yuga Labs and its Bored Ape Yacht Club

The Internet hacktivist group called on high-profile celebrities and big brands to speak up and take a stand.

On Monday, internet hacktivist group Anonymous released a video addressing blockchain technology company Yuga Labs and its nonfungible token (NFT)-driven social club, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).

The group’s statement included a laundry list of allegations regarding Yuga Lab’s alleged use of esoteric symbolism in BAYC’s art — which Anonymous believes shows the company’s support for numerous controversial subjects, such as Nazism, racism, simianization and pedophilia.

The hacktivist group alleged that after thorough research and interviews with key figures, it can confirm “without a shadow of doubt” that the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Yuga Labs are guilty of hiding these esoteric symbols in plain sight — a conclusion the company and project both openly protest.

The group cautioned against relegating its accusations to baseless “conspiracy theory,” adding that people who do so are “simply ignorant,” or “not versed, or worse, at a financial conflict of interest.” A representative of the internet hacktivist group shared:

“Anonymous is certain that the BAYC collection and the Yuga labs brand are infected with not one or two — but with dozens of examples of esoteric symbolism and dog whistles reflecting Nazism, Racism, Siminization, and Pedophilic support.”

Anonymous suggested that holders of these artworks are also victims of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Yuga Labs’s trolling, and urged owners not to stay silent out of a desire to protect their financial interests:

“Don’t your founders owe you more than this? Many outside the BAYC community continue to whisper how you’ve been deceived in a way that is both unprecedented and unforgivable.”

The group called on investors, partners, and high-profile celebrities such as Andreessen Horowitz, Mark Cuban, Dez Bryant, Tom Brady, Ben Simmons, Neymar Junior, Kevin Hart, Drake Bell and Shaquille O’Neal, and big brands such as Lion Tree, Adidas and Tiffany & Co to speak up and take an official stance on the practices of Nazism, racism, simianization, and pedophilia.

On June 24., Yuga Labs Co-founder Greg Solano denied similar claims against his company in a Medium Post, saying:

“We’ve become the target of a crazy disinformation campaign accusing us — a group of Jewish, Turkish, Pakistani, and Cuban friends — of being super-secret Nazis.”

Solano firmly stated at the time that the allegations of racism made against his diverse team were wholly unfounded.

On July 25, Cointelegraph reported on a proposed class-action lawsuit that alleged that Yuga Labs “inappropriately induced” the community to buy Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs and the project’s affiliated ApeCoin (APE). The proposed class-action lawsuit suggested that Yuga Labs used celebrity promoters and endorsements to “inflate the price” of the BAYC NFTs and the APE token.

Cointelegraph reached out to Yuga Labs, but received no response by the time of publication.

Selling physical items as NFTs, explained

A growing number of physical items are being immortalized in NFT form. What are the opportunities here… and the challenges that need to be addressed?

Where are the challenges that face the NFT sector in the future being discussed?

Mattereum is hosting a dedicated event to discuss physical asset NFTs on Sept. 21.

The meetup begins at 6pm London time — that’s 7pm in Berlin, 1pm in New York, and 10am in California.

A previous event was held in July 2022, and set out how coveted high-value assets such as red wine, fine art and real estate could benefit from Mattereum’s approach to NFTs.

With an ever-growing number of blue-chip companies exploring this space, adoption among everyday consumers will continue to skyrocket. Mattereum is determined to ensure that the industry gets off on the right foot, with investor protection a number one priority.

Learn more about Mattereum

Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you with all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor can this article be considered as investment advice.

What happens if something goes wrong?

Typically, disputes will end up going through the courts — but this can have mixed success.

It’s easy to forget that NFTs remain a nascent technology, and this means that legal systems still lack understanding about how they work. This may mean that the nuance surrounding digital assets may get missed during civil action… but those in the lawsuit will still have to contend with hefty legal bills.

Mattereum — a new protocol that delivers transferable proofs of digital ownership — aims to do things differently. It offers its customers the legal technical capability to create Trustable NFTs for their physical assets, and legally binding mechanisms for dispute resolution that can be enforced in over 160 jurisdictions around the world. Such smart contracts establish a bond between ownership of the NFT and ownership of the physical asset, whether it’s six bottles of red wine, a luxury car or a rare instrument.

While it may appear that this approach takes more time at first, it can have advantages. Offering valid authenticity documentation can significantly increase an asset’s value — and boost the likelihood of a sale. It also creates a solid legal framework for the future.

What are the safeguards in place to prevent scams?

It’s crucial to ensure that an asset’s authenticity, provenance, condition and ownership rights can be verified — giving buyers confidence in what they’re buying.

Standards across the NFT industry can help here. When the physical items that back an NFT go into a vault, it’s crucial to be crystal clear on who will have the rights to take it out again. External auditors could also be tasked with assessing the background behind a transaction, and information about the condition of an item could be woven into metadata.

More than anything else, it’s crucial for NFT platforms to gain a reputation for being trustworthy and credible. Not only is word of mouth a powerful marketing tool, but it can also assure consumers that they’ll be in safe hands if they buy a collectible through one of these platforms.

Are there any big brands that are getting involved with physical NFTs?

Yes — and that’s despite the bear market, which has seen trading volumes cool. More major companies are inevitably going to join in the future.

Nike has dominated the rankings when it comes to mainstream brands generating revenue from NFTs. Recent research shows the sportswear giant has netted a whopping $185 million in revenue after delving headfirst into the world of digital sneakers — in part thanks to a canny acquisition of the Web3 studio RTFKT.

But Nike’s efforts aren’t just about ensuring that avatars in the Metaverse look good in cutting-edge virtual threads. It’s also been dabbling in NFT collections that accompany digital designs with a real-world version of the sneakers they buy. This could shape up to be a new wave for the fashion industry — and the innovation doesn’t stop here.

Another particularly desirable memento for music fans relates to ticket stubs after they’ve been to a concert — a lasting memory they can stick on their wall that says “I was there.” Ticketmaster is now dabbling in establishing NFT tickets that can serve as a commemoration of memorable gigs, immortalized forever on the blockchain. Other forms of technology, known as Proof of Attendance Protocols (or POAPs) could take this concept even further.

Could this help modernize the lucrative world of collectibles?

Yes — and potentially ramp up safety in the process.

Sports memorabilia remains incredibly popular — with Pokemon cards also enjoying something of a renaissance in recent years.

NFTs can be used to create digital representations of items that exist in the real world. This can help clamp down on counterfeiting, and create a crystal-clear record of ownership. 

Some crypto companies have been established which even offer custody services for blue-chip collectibles — ensuring they’re kept in a safe place and in mint condition. While this may sound counterintuitive at first, this can prove especially compelling if you regard memorabilia as an investment opportunity.

It can also streamline the process of auctions in secondary markets.

How is it possible to sell real-world items as NFTs?

Practically anything can be tokenized these days — and several companies have already started transforming physical items into nonfungible tokens.

Perhaps one of the biggest and most compelling use cases to emerge so far concerns property. If you’ve ever bought a place before, you’ll know how arduous and time consuming this process is — with reams upon reams of paperwork and antiquated systems.

NFTs are being touted as a way of modernizing how things are done, with ownership being duly recorded on the blockchain. This can speed things up, reduce disputes, and help clamp down on fraud, too.

This also opens up the door to house purchases being made with cryptocurrencies instead of fiat — and a number of businesses, especially in Miami, have sprung up in recent months to bring this to reality.

OpenSea to allow creators to host NFT drops directly through its homepage

The marketplace intends to prioritize storytelling by allowing NFT creators to design customizable drop pages, share images, videos and more.

OpenSea, the digital marketplace for crypto collectibles and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), has launched a new initiative to make it easier for creators to create and distribute NFTs on its marketplace. 

As part of this new immersive initiative, creators will be able to launch their NFT collections on their own customizable and dedicated drop pages, which the company hopes will allow for greater visibility and discoverability on the marketplace’s new homepage. Under the customizable drop pages, creators will now have the ability to share images and videos, provide team highlights, outline roadmaps and more. According to the announcement:

“Drop pages will include information about the drop, the minting schedule, a countdown clock, and of course — an NFT gallery. We’ll also allow collectors to set alerts via email or add to their calendar to remind them when to return to mint.”

Project drops on OpenSea will also have access to SeaDrop, a new secure open source smart contract that will facilitate the drop experience, saving creators time and the technicalities involved in creating their own custom smart contracts. OpenSea shared:

“Developing a secure smart contract that can orchestrate multi-stage drops is one of the most important and technically complex elements, and now creators can skip this step entirely by using SeaDrop.”

In August, Cointelegraph reported that OpenSea’s volume had plummeted, with massive declines in the daily and monthly transactions on the platform. The marketplace went from processing $405.75 million transactions on May 1 to only processing $5 million worth of NFT transactions on Aug. 28.

Mean Girls set to make Web3 comeback as “crypto-collectibles”

Newly filed trademarks from Paramount Pictures suggest elements of the teen cult classic may come back in the form of “crypto-collectibles” and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

American teen comedy Mean Girls (2004) may soon be making a Web3 comeback, with recent trademark filings by Paramount Pictures revealing plans to expand the brand into “crypto-collectibles.”

According to tweets shared by licensed trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis, Paramount Pictures filed two trademark applications on Sept. 7 for the early 2000s teen comedy starring former Disney actress Lindsay Lohan.

The trademark applications cover “downloadable multimedia files containing artwork” which are authenticated by nonfungible tokens (NFTs), as well as “downloadable virtual goods” including crypto-collectibles and NFTs.

The application also covers transferring and accessing crypto-collectibles, NFTs, and “application tokens.”

Mean Girls is a 2004 teen comedy film that later developed a significant cult following, spawning countless fan-made memes and reaction GIFs. It’s considered one of the most quotable movies of all time and has even led to a national Mean Girls Day every year on Oct 3. 

The application follows only a day after mass media conglomerate Viacom International filed a similar trademark application aimed at expanding The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brand into the virtual world.

The number of companies filing trademarks for crypto-collectibles, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the Metaverse is continuously growing.

Recently, Cointelegraph reported that the number of trademarks filed in the Web3 space was on course to surpass that of 2021, as more companies are expected to join in the rush to secure a piece of the web3 pie.

Related: Iconic brands including Nike, Gucci have made $260M off NFT sales

Recent trademarks in the NFT and Metaverse space ranges from luxury designer brands, such as Hérmes to Sony Music Entertainment, to race car brand Formula One.

Data published by Dune Analytics report that high-profile brands such as Nike, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Adidas, and Tiffany & Co. have already amassed a combined $260 million from sales of NFTs, making the adoption of NFTs a highly lucrative and profitable addition to existing brands looking to expand into Web 3.

Japanese gov’t issues NFTs to reward local authorities’ work

A total of seven mayors received the NFT awards for various initiatives they undertook to ease the lives of the public in their respective regions.

The Japanese government has become one of the first to issue nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as a form of supplementary rewards to recognize the work of local authorities who have excelled at using digital technology to solve local challenges.

The awards were handed out by the Cabinet Secretariat, a government agency that is headed by the nation’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno during the “Summer Digi Denkoshien 2022” ceremony. The event was also attended by the country’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, reported Coinpost.

Seven mayors received recognition for their cities’ ideas centered on the digital economy. Among them was the mayor of Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, whose administration suggested using electric vehicles for local deliveries. An NFT prize was also given to Maebashi in the Gunma Prefecture for their idea for a platform that uses cameras on mobile devices to track changes in traffic conditions in real-time.

The Ethereum based proof-of-attendance (POAP) NFTs were issued through Hazama Base; the same platform previously used to distribute NFTs at an event held by the Liberal Democratic Party Youth Bureau. The assets are non-transferable, and therefore cannot be sold on the secondary market.

Related: Japan considers implementing tax reforms to prevent capital flight of crypto startups

Japan is known as a pro-technology and innovative country where crypto has been regulated by the government as a trading asset. The country’s prime minister has also shared interest in the use of NFTs on a number of occasions in the past. Thus, the recent initiative from the government could become a tradition to carry forward.

NFTs gained a lot of traction during the peak of the bull run, however, with the downturn in the crypto market, the NFT market has seen a steep decline in interest as well. With many pundits quick to dismiss NFTs as a bull run fueled mania, initiatives taken by the Japanese government tohighlight the adoption of the nascent tech beyond market

Tencent shuts down NFT platform as gov policy makes it impossible to thrive

While NFTs are not banned in China like cryptocurrencies, the government has warned against fraud risks associated with the nascent sector.

China’s internet giant Tencent has reportedly shut down one of the two nonfungible token (NFT) platforms owing to declining sales aided by the regressive monetary policies of the Chinese government.

Tencent shut down one of its NFT platforms on July 1, while the other one is struggling to remain afloat. A report from a local daily indicates that the wind-down process for the same began in May. The tech giant transferred key executives responsible for managing the NFT platform in the last week of May and completely removed the digital collectible section from its Tencent News app by the first week of July.

The primary reason for the slow down in sales and ultimate closure of Tencent’s digital collectible platform is being blamed on flawed government policy that prohibits buyers from selling their NFTs in private transactions after purchase, which makes these NFTS not so lucrative. The lack of a secondary market kills any chance of making a profit on these digital collectibles.

NFTs gained a lot of traction in China earlier this year, with several tech giants such as Tencent and Alibaba showing interest and even launching their own digital collectible platforms. However, with the rise in popularity, it also got attention from the government, which has warned investors to be wary of frauds associated with these NFTs.

In March, several Chinese social media giants such as Weibo and WeChat started removing accounts associated with digital collectible platforms fearing a government crackdown. In June, Alibaba launched an NFT platform but soon deleted all mentions of it from the internet.

Related: Chinese court rules marketplace guilty of minting NFTs from stolen artwork

While the Chinese government is known for its anti-crypto stance where it has banned all types of cryptocurrency transactions in the country, there is no such outright ban against NFTs. However, big businesses and tech giants still dwell with caution, fearing strict actions from the Beijing government.

Wu Blockchain, a China-focused Twitter handle, told Cointelegraph that citizens still sell their NFTs in the underground secondary markets, but large tech firms such as Alibaba and Tencent can’t afford to do so.

Despite a ban on crypto trading, mining and subsequent warning against NFTs, Chinese traders have always found a way to bypass strict regulatory crackdowns. For example, after the crypto mining ban in the country last year, China’s share of Bitcoin (BTC) miners dropped to zero from 60%. However, recent data suggest that China has climbed back to the second spot again, indicating miners found a way despite strict measures taken by the government. Similarly, the number of NFT platforms in the country grew five times in four months.

Croatian Web3 startup offers lifetime Netflix and Spotify membership via NFTs

The subscription-based unique NFT is capped at 10,000 and buyers would receive a digital debit card along with the NFT to pay for their subscription.

On Friday, Web3 subscription and ticketing solution provider Revuto announced a novel subscription model for Netflix and Spotify, using a nonfungible token (NFT) solution.

Revuto said it would offer a lifetime digital subscription for Netflix and Spotify via its Revolution NFT. A total of 10,000 users would be eligible to get their hands on the unique subscription model. Dino Ivankovic, head of business development at Revuto explained how these subscription-based NFTs could become an ecosystem of their own. He told Cointelegraph:

“We aim to bring more control to the end-user. NFT technology will allow users to monetize their unused subscriptions by sending or selling them to others who will be using them. Users might be able to even rent it in the future.”

These subscription NFTs can be traded on crypto exchanges as well, allowing for the growth of a secondary market for these types of NFTs. Once the NFT changes hands, the old user’s digital debit card would get canceled and the new owner would be provided with a fresh debit card. 

Revuto plans to introduce more subscription-based services through its NFT solutions and put an end to unwanted subscription charges. 

Related: Beyond collectibles: How NFTs are revamping the ticketing industry

While the NFT market has seen a constant decline in trading volume over the past few months, owing to the ongoing bearish dominance in the market, the innovation continues to see new growth in the industry. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, recently announced it would introduce NFTs soon on its social media platforms.

NFTS became a rage during the 2021 bull market peak, starting with digital collectibles and later expanding to GameFi and metaverse ecosystems. As of Friday, the NFTs have impacted several industries such as art, music, advertising, ticketing, real estate and many more.

Reddit announces new blockchain-backed ‘Collectible Avatars’

The company said that the project is set to utilize the Polygon blockchain for decentralized trading and third-party sales.

Content aggregation, ranking and discussion website Reddit announced a new blockchain-backed avatar system on Thursday. Though no official date was revealed, the company suggested that the avatars will be available to the general public in the next few weeks. For now, Reddit is providing first-look early access to a limited number of people who join the r/CollectibleAvatars community.

Collectible Avatars are a set of limited-edition artwork created by independent artists who are also users of the Reddit website. The new avatars can be purchased with local currencies. However, the announcement stated the artwork is stored on the Polygon blockchain. In addition, management of the Collectible Avatars is handled through Vault, Reddit’s blockchain-powered wallet that functions on Ethereum-compatible chains.

Related: ANALYSIS How the Metaverse can revolutionize the fashion industry

This latest move by Reddit aims to empower artists that use the website, as stated in Thursday’s announcement on their website:

“From the start, our goal has been to empower artists to create and sell their work. Artists will get paid for every Collectible Avatar that sells on Reddit, less any fees, and are also entitled to receive royalties from secondary sales of their Collectible Avatars on open marketplaces.”

The new collection will be available where Reddit users normally build their avatars on the website. Once a Collectible Avatar has been purchased, it can be used as an avatar on Reddit. Owners of the Collectible Avatars will be eligible to receive unique benefits and Collectible Avatar creators will receive a percentage of future secondary sales.

From Thursday’s announcement, “Collectible Avatars are currently stored on Polygon, a general-purpose, Ethereum-compatible blockchain. We chose Polygon for its low cost transactions and sustainability commitments.”

Reddit said that the avatars aren’t proper nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies aren’t part of the process of buying or selling them for now, but indicated that “Blockchain-backed Collectible Avatars are one of the early steps we’re taking to test out the potential benefits of this concept on Reddit.”

Reddit also mentioned future visions the company in regards to the concept’s related features:

“In the future, we see blockchain as one way to bring more empowerment and independence to communities on Reddit. Reddit has always been a model for what decentralization could look like online; our communities are self-built and run, and as part of our mission to better empower our communities, we are exploring tools to help them be even more self-sustaining and self-governed.”

This isn’t Reddit’s first foray into NFTs, the company released CryptoSnoos back in February of this year.

Amid the crypto crash of 2022, some companies are choosing to build. Other recent NFT developments include a new DappRadar report showing that there could be NFT platform wars ahead, along with the Lamborghini-backed GT racing team’s decision to authenticate car parts using NFTs. While art-based tokens have been very popular over the last few years, some have started looking at expiring copyrights as the next potential NFT gold rush.

Despite what you heard, NFT market is far from dead: DappRadar

There’s no question that blue-chip NFT collections such as BAYC have declined in value recently, but the market for digital collectibles is much bigger.

The market for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, has slowed from its peak, but that doesn’t mean the industry is dead — far from it, actually. 

NFT sales volumes came in at a healthy $3.7 billion in May, according to DappRadar’s latest Industry Report, which was released on Wednesday. While volumes were down 20% compared with April, industry activity remains robust considering that crypto assets as a whole are in a bear market.

DappRadar also highlighted the fact that marketplace volumes aren’t down nearly as much when measured in their native tokens such as Ether (ETH). Case in point: OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, generated 950,000 ETH in trading volume last month, which was down only 6.5% compared with April. When measured in United States dollars, OpenSea’s monthly volumes decreased by 25%.

Meanwhile, Solana NFTs posted their best trading month, generating $335 million in volume across all marketplaces for an increase of 13% compared with April.

While NFT sales and trading volume are down from their peak, industry activity remains robust. Source: DappRadar.

DappRadar’s report cited NFT collections such as Moonbirds and Solana’s Okay Bears as being the biggest catalysts for the industry’s solid performance in May. Meanwhile, the free-to-mint NFT collection Goblintown has generated $31 million in sales since launching on May 22. The high demand pushed the project’s floor price from zero to 6 ETH at the time of publication.

However, the news wasn’t all positive, as so-called “blue-chip” collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) saw their value decline sharply as buyers shifted to the newly hyped collections. The floor price for BAYC declined 38% in May, falling from 150 ETH to 93 ETH, according to DappRadar.

Related: Nifty News: Robinhood to launch a Web3 wallet, LimeWire inks deal with Universal, and more

Although NFTs are not immune to crypto market volatility, the industry appears to be carving out a strong niche — and gaining mainstream adoption in the process. According to a recent report by crypto data aggregator CoinGecko, the NFT market is projected to move more than $800 billion over the next two years.