#94 Elon slams NFTs: just a URL of a JPEG?
How Elon was wrong about NFTs
GM - this is The Snapshot, edition #94.
This is what I’ve got for you this week:
This Week In NFT World - How Elon was wrong about NFTs
Sponsored Post - Lil Nouns sponsor $12,000 Lil Beans social media campaign
Notable Sales - DeGod Medusa, Bored Apes Lazer Eyes, Sam Spratt Skull
Creator Focus - Creators keep winning; Chat GPT slays
For sponsorship enquires, please DM me on Twitter.
Have a great day,
B
This Week In NFT World -
Elon Musk criticises NFTs which only link to URLs of the JPEG
On the Joe Rogan podcast this week, Elon Musk slammed NFTs.
“The funny thing about NFTs is that they are not even on the blockchain. It’s just a URL to the JPEG. You should at least encode the JPEG in the blockchain - if the company housing the image goes out of business you don’t have the image anymore.”
Elon Musk
This inspired a few notable supporters to defend the NFT cause.
Farokh emphasised the importance of the token as proof of authenticity, rather than the art itself.
And Steve noted how Elon’s point largely ignored the underlying NFT tech which is capable of so much more than just showing up as an image.
The reality, however, is that Elon has a significant point.
I wrote about this almost 2 years ago in my 9th newsletter ever in February 2022 in the article: Where actually are my JPEGs?
The key thought came from Chris King, Club NFT CTO:
“The link from the NFT to the official digital artwork file is the only thing that makes it worth money.
It’s just like if you own the Mona Lisa, lend the painting to a museum, and the museum burns down.
Having taken a photo of the Mona Lisa, you cannot restore the Mona Lisa, even if you still have your certificate of ownership.”
Chris King, Club NFT CTO Chris King on the importance of storage
Coming to this conclusion: does that mean that all NFTs are stupid? Or that all NFT technology is worthless?
Absolutely not.
Elon may have been wrong to dismiss the whole category of NFTs (to the extent he did that).
But he was not wrong to say that the file being stored on-chain is a far superior method of storage than how many images of NFTs are stored currently.
Animoca Brands announces $50M investment from Saudi Arabia's NEOM investment fund
Animoca announced a huge $50m raise from the Saudi investment fund this week.
What is so interesting about this is how they see “the growth of the Web 3 ecosystem as the emergence of a new meta-nation”.
The communities that are springing up online can be viewed as mini empires being built from the ground up.
And through that lens, there are parallels with NEOM - the futuristic mega-city which the Saudis are building deep in the desert bordering the Red Sea.
It is fascinating to see how blockchain technology will be used to help build cities from the ground up. I expect this to be a big movement in future.
A south-east Asian video game company, associated with the Bored Ape NFT ecosystem, has announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Buckingham Holdings Indonesia and the city of Pangkalpinang to introduce Ape Casino and Resort in Indonesia.
This is the first casino ever authorised by the Indonesian government!
Whilst this is not yet a legal certainty. it strikes me as significant that this group of investors have been able to talk the regulators to the table in a country which has never permitted casinos before. (I guess the profile of the Bored Ape NFT holders is something attractive to any country looking for foreign investment!)
Adidas announces football "collectible" in partnership with Bugatti for crypto auction
This will be 99 carbon fibered football boots engineered for speed and lightness.
The auction starts at 0.2 ETH on November 8, 4PM CET with “benefits” for NFT holders.
What are the benefits?
If you are a holder of ALTS by adidas; STRIKES ALT[er] Ego Bugatti, or Asprey Bugatti NFT, you will get an exclusive 10% premium added to your bidding price. (Ie. When submitting a bid, the smart contract automatically adds a complimentary 10% increase in your bid without you having to pay for that increase of the bid.)
For the amount football boots are sold for these days, this is definitely a good starting price. I think we go (much) higher.
Solana rips up 30% in 7 days from $31 to $44
Solana was on absolute fire this week.
Why did it rip so much?
Legendary had some thoughts:
What convinces me most is the idea that it is around 6x away from its all-time-high price; whereas BTC is just a 2x away.
If viewed through that (simplistic) lens, some may think it has more “room to run” than the other major coins because it is “undervalued”.
Whether, it’s 2x, 3x or more x, we hope for some more!
Sponsored Post - Lil Nouns sponsor $12,000 Lil Beans social media campaign
Lil Nouns DAO has sponsored a nounish 2d artist, Kimmy, with $12,000 to conduct a 6 month social media campaign to captivate and expand the Lil Nouns DAO audience.
Why did it win?
The Lil Nouns loved the art, and were very keen to see the total of 60 animations and 30 illustrations that will be posted every other day for 6 months.
Read the successful proposal here
The Lil Beans X account is now live and you can follow along here!
If you are curious about contributing to a cutting-edge DAO and getting paid to bring your ideas to life check out our website.
Notable Sales - DeGod Medusa, Bored Apes Lazer Eyes, Sam Spratt Skull
DeGod, Medusa - 110 ETH ($197,000)
CryptoPunk, VR - 56.95 ETH ($104,000)
Bored Ape, Lazer Eyes - 169 ETH ($304,000)
Dmitri Cherniak, Ringers - 50.5 ETH ($91,000)
Sam Spratt, Foreshadow - 75 ETH ($138,930)
Creator Focus - Creators keep winning; Chat GPT slays
Have a great day,
B
Disclaimer: The content covered in this newsletter is not to be considered as investment advice. It is for informational and educational purposes only.
I hold some of the NFTs mentioned in these newsletters