Dapper Labs

Disney reportedly scraps its metaverse division

The metaverse division was initially created to work on new ways of engaging Disney’s audience.

Entertainment giant Disney has reportedly ditched its metaverse division as part of a broader restructuring plan to cut its operating expenses by $5.5 billion and lay off 7,000 staff over two months.

The news was reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in a March 28 post, citing “people familiar with the matter.“

All of the metaverse division’s 50 or so members will be left without a new employment contract, except for Michael White, who led the broader consumer products unit, the WSJ reported.

The metaverse division is understood to have been created in February 2022 to create new ways for Disney audiences to engage with its stories.

Disney also patented a “virtual-world simulator,” which aimed to facilitate headset-free augmented reality (AR) attractions at Disney theme parks on Dec. 28, 2021.

The firm also once considered how it could integrate metaverse technology into sports betting, but the idea never progressed.

Related: Silicon Valley tech CEOs are not big fans of metaverses

The decision to cut operating expenses and staff count came following a consultation with McKinsey & Company to find cost-cutting opportunities, according to the report.

Unfavorable economic conditions and increased competition in the streaming sector were two main factors that led to the decision.

Both Disney’s former and current chief executives, Bob Chapek and Robert Iger, once considered the metaverse to be a very bullish investment opportunity.

Chapek has reportedly described the metaverse as “the next great storytelling frontier,” while Iger previously worked as a director and adviser in Genies, a digital avatar platform running on Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain.

Cointelegraph reached out to Disney for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Magazine: Web3 Gamer: D&D nukes NFT ban, ‘Kill-to-Earn’ zombie shooter, Illuvium: Zero hot take

‘It would be absurd’ for US court to rule private NFTs as securities: Lawyer

The comments from the hosts of lawyers come as Judge Victor Marreo said that Dapper Labs’ NBA Top Shot Moments NFT might constitute a security.

The Blockchain Association’s chief legal officer says “it would be absurd” for a United States court to rule that digital assets on private blockchains are securities, following a federal judge’s decision to allow a lawsuit against Dapper Labs’s NBA Top Shot nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to play out. 

U.S. attorney Jake Chervinsky commented after federal judge Victor Marreo denied a motion to dismiss a 2021 lawsuit accusing Dapper Labs of selling NFTs as unregistered securities.

Chervinsky was among a host of lawyers on Twitter to reiterate that the judge’s denial of the motion does not mean a ruling has been made on the lawsuit, only that it was “facially plausible.”

“The judge didn’t decide anything. He allowed the case to proceed past a motion to dismiss because the securities claims were at least ‘plausible,’ an extremely low bar and not a final ruling at all,” he explained.

“This dispute aside, it would be absurd if all valuable digital assets stored on centralized databases were securities.”

“This would turn every major video game developer, event ticketing platform, travel rewards program, etc. into a public reporting company regulated by the SEC,” he explained.

Another U.S. lawyer, Jesse Hynes, also weighed in on the motion in a Feb. 22 tweet, noting that motions to dismiss are “rarely ever successful” because the plaintiff only needs to plead enough evidence for the case to proceed.

“The judge ruled in the Dapper case that the plaintiff pled enough evidence that IF ALL THE ALLEGATIONS ARE TRUE, that there is a securities violation.”

“Now we go into discovery to learn what the real facts are. Once that is done Dapper will likely file for a motion for Summary Judgment,” the lawyer added.

Meanwhile, another U.S. lawyer, James Murphy — known as “MetaLawMan” — noted that the allegations that Dapper Labs issued the NBA Top Shot Moments NFTs on a privately-run blockchain were a “fundamental” factor behind the court’s decision to reject the motion to dismiss.

This prompted MetaLawMan to suggest that this “could be considered a net positive” for Ripple in its case against the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), because XRP (XRP) is issued on a public blockchain.

Related: Dapper Labs suspends Russian accounts after new EU sanctions

The class-action lawsuit against Dapper Labs was filed in May 2021 by plaintiff Jeeun Friel, who claimed that Dapper Labs sold NFTs as unregistered securities.

Marreo denied the motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Feb. 22. He said the scheme by which Dapper Labs offers the NFTs potentially creates a sufficient legal relationship between investors and themselves, which satisfies the investment contract criteria under the Howey test.

However, it’s unlikely the ultimate ruling of this case would establish a precedent for NFTs, as Marreo said that not all NFTs will constitute securities and that each case will need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Shortly after the dismissal, the Dapper Labs-issued Flow (FLOW) token fell 6.4% from $1.24 to $1.16 in 15 minutes. However, FLOW token has since rebounded at $1.29, according to CoinGecko.

Dapper Labs suspends Russian accounts after new EU sanctions

The firm outlined that as its “payment processing and stored value service partner is subject to EU regulations,” Dapper has been directed to impose the restrictions on these accounts under EU law.

Flow blockchain developer Dapper Labs has suspended Russian accounts after the European Union imposed new sanctions against Russia and its nationals.

Announced on Oct. 6, the latest set of EU sanctions on Russia stipulates a full ban on the provision of crypto-asset wallets, accounts and custody services, regardless of the total value of the assets.

Following the sanction announcement, Dapper stated that accounts with connections to Russia will no longer be able to sell, purchase or gift nonfungible tokens (NFTs), withdraw funds from their accounts or add to their balances, stating:

“It is now prohibited to provide crypto-asset wallet, account, or custody services of any value to accounts with connections to Russia, irrespective of the amount of the wallet.”

The firm outlined that as its “payment processing and stored value service partner is subject to EU regulations,” Dapper has been directed to impose the restrictions on these accounts under EU law.

“However, Dapper has not closed the accounts. Users impacted by these actions can continue to access and view their NFTs. Additionally, regardless of this new regulation, any NFT previously purchased by an impacted user continues to belong to that user,” the firm stated.

The sanctions on Russia include a complete ban on cross-border crypto payments between Russians and the EU, which also results in the prohibition of “all crypto-asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet.”

With Dapper following orders to bar access to Russians, it marks another occasion in which a crypto-related company has had to yield to regulatory pressure to avoid compliance issues, much like the Tornado Cash crypto mixer debacle from August.

On Twitter, user XBT002 criticized Dapper over the move, as they argued that it works against the censorship-resistant notion of blockchain tech:

“If you’re freezing ‘accounts,’ you’re actively censoring in an industry that was founded around censorship resistance.”

In response, EIDumboTS, who claims to be a Dapper employee, reiterated that the firm was “directed” to take this action on the Russian accounts and therefore had its hands tied in this situation.

Dapper is a centralized firm headquartered in Vancouver, Canada with a reported valuation of $7.6 billion. Alongside the Flow blockchain, Dapper has launched a host of popular NFT projects including NBA Top Shot, NFL All Day and Crypto Kitties. 

Nifty News: NFL All Day opens to the public, Boss Beauties go to Hollywood and more

Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins is jumping on the NFT train, while lovers of fine art are set to enjoy a fancy exhibition event in Decentraland next week.

NFL fans at large will now be able to get their hands on digital keepsakes of their favorite football stars after Dapper Labs’ NFL All Day nonfungible tokens (NFTs) finally opened to the public after a seven-month-long closed beta.

On Wednesday, The National Football League (NFL), the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), and Dapper officially launched the project and announced the first public NFT drop, a pack of four NFTs dubbed Headliner consisting of four different new player moments.

Users will have the chance to get their hands on NFTs depicting popular players such as Tom Brady, Trevor Lawrence, Javonte Williams, and Jalen Ramsey. There will be a total of 22,500 packs on sale for $59 a pop.

The NFTs come in different rarity tiers of common, rare and legendary, with just 187 packs containing a highly sought-after legendary NFT.

Much like Dapper’s first officially licensed NBA Top Shot project, NFL All Day offers tokenized player and team collectibles depicting various in-game video highlights known as “moments.” There are also GameFi elements added to the experience via avenues such as collector challenges to earn rewards in NFTs, game tickets, VIP experiences, jerseys and others.

The project has been in closed beta since February and has generated more than $37 million worth of sales to date according to data from CryptoSlam.

“Last year’s soft launch brought in a surge of early adopters who began collecting video highlight NFTs of NFL plays and we plan to grow the number of users significantly with the official launch of the platform,” noted Joe Ruggiero, the senior vice president of consumer products at the NFL.

NFT start up pens Hollywood deal

NFT start-up Boss Beauties has penned a representation deal with major Hollywood talent agency WME.

As part of the deal, WME will represent the company across the entertainment sector as it works to secure Boss Beauties intellectual licensing (IP) deals in film, Web3, gaming, events and brand partnerships.

The Boss Beauties project consists of 10,000 unique tokenized digital art portraits depicting female avatars with various career choices such as CEOs, pilots, doctors and astronauts. The collection reportedly sold out in 90 mins after launch in September.

The project has generated more than $48.3 million worth of sales to date, with a portion of the proceeds from primary and secondary sales going toward empowering women via mentorships and scholarships.

CryptoPunks creators Larva Labs signed a similar deal with competing agency UTA back in September.

Metaverse Art Week 2022

Decentraland, one of the biggest Metaverse platforms in the blockchain sector, is set to host the third-annual Metaverse Art Week event in its virtual world between Aug. 24 and Aug. 28.

The event will see a wide array of curated NFT art being featured from big names such as Sotheby’s, OpenSea and Artnet, while there will also scheduled panel discussions, a virtual outdoor sculpture garden and a 3D interactive art wall.

“The third annual Metaverse Art Week will explore how the human spirit is hardwired to elicit an emotional response when presented with art inspired by mathematical designs present in nature, and how metaverse technology is pushing the boundaries of programmatic art and redefining what an immersive experience is,” the Decentraland team wrote in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

Related: Celebrities called out for shilling NFTs: Nifty Newsletter, Aug 10–16

From Golden Globes to NFTs: Sir Anthony Hopkins

Renowned 84-year-old actor Sir Anthony Hopkins has jumped aboard the NFT gravy train by announcing The Eternal Collection, a set of 10 digitally animated NFT pieces depicting Hopkins as various Jungian psychological archetypes.

The various 1-of-1 NFT artwork pieces feature realistic digital renderings of Hopkins’ face as the Hero, the Rebel, the Magician, the Sage, the Ruler, the Explorer, the Lover, the Creator, the Giver, and the Jester. The auctions are set to go live on OpenSea on September 16. The face of each art piece will also be used to create 100 profile picture NFTs for each of the 10 pieces, equating to 1,010 NFTs in total. The project is in collaboration with Web3 media company Orange Comet.

The Eternal Anthony Hopkins: Orange Comet

Other Nifty News:

The Australian Football League (AFL)’s first limited edition drop of NFTs sold out in just under 12 hours on Wednesday. The project is called AFL Mint and follows a similar format to NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day. The first Ripper Skipper 2022 drop consisted of 3,800 packs which generated more than $130,000 in revenue for AFL Mint.

Solana-based wallet provider Phantom launched a new burn feature on Thursday, which enables users to remove spam NFTs sent by scammers.