Paper 60: The Crypto Bloodbath
Markets tank again on torrent of terrible news
GM - this is the BCheque Papers, edition #60.
Welcome to the 16 new subscribers this week - we are at 1,668 subscribers now!
I write about NFTs/crypto, and trying to make it independently in web3.
This is what we’ve got this week:
This Week In NFT World - The Crypto Bloodbath
Sponsored Post - Chimpers
Creator Corner - The Inspiration To Create with LG Doucet
On The Horizon - The Snapshot + Signal Interview
For sponsorship enquires, please DM me on Twitter.
Have a great day,
B
This Week in NFT World - The Crypto Bloodbath
LACMA drops NFTs with blockbuster artists
Cactoid Labs in conjunction with the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) launched an NFT collection with some of the finest artists.
They also mentioned another release in future with another set of headline artists: William Mapan, Tyler Hobbs and Deaf Beef.
This comes against the background of huge institutions accepting digital art for the first time.
Cozomo Medici donated a number of pieces to the LACMA; and Claire Silver will see her next collection in The Louvre.
Yuga Labs Twelvefold generative art project raises $16.5M
The creators of the Bored Ape NFT collection, Yuga Labs, branched into generative art this week.
The sale was conducted as a ranked auction, with the top 288 bidders receiving an edition of the art.
The highest winning bid was $160,000; the lowest successful bid was $50,500.
Muhammad Ali NFT collection coming soon
Ze Blocks, who launched the official Marilyn Monroe NFT project, has announced it also has the right to create and distribute the official Muhammad Ali NFT collection.
There are not a lot of details on the project yet, but it appears that Marilyn Monroe NFT holders will get guaranteed access to the Muhammad Ali project.
Here is the Marilyn Monroe project.
Getty Images announce digital 1970s music and cultural collection
Getty Images, whose watermark you see on so many prominent photographs on the internet, will launch an NFT collection which seeks to celebrate 1970s music and culture.
So far these more “corporate” drops have not done well. (Thinking of the recent National Geographic drop.) We wait to see how this goes.
Vitalik x Gitcoin
People completely lost their minds over the Gitcoin collaboration with Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum.
These NFTs did a 14x in 12 hours, going from a 0.05 ETH mint to 0.7 ETH - before retracing to 0.2 ETH, and now settling at a floor price of around 0.3 ETH.
An absolute rollercoaster, with 9,600 ETH ($13M+) traded on the secondary markets.
Think there will be genuine demand for this as a collectible amongst blockchain enthusiasts, but I do not see this volume sustaining.
Yuga Labs tease The 2nd Trip
Yuga Labs announced an interactive gaming experience with Team Captains for their next version of a “playable” version of their metaverse, Otherside.
It sounds like Otherdeed holders will also be able to invite guests into this live experience, which should broaden exposure for the Otherside world.
Starbucks latest mint a success
The Starbucks Siren Collection sold out their 2,000 supply stamp collection at $100 each.
They have settled at a floor price of approximately $400, which is a quick 4x for those who bought at the primary sale.
These NFTs are part of Starbucks’ broader web3 strategy to reward their most regular and loyal customers with unique product offerings.
Pixel Vault release “Supernova” roadmap trailer
After a lengthy period of “building in silence” and receiving strong criticism and feedback from the community, Pixel Vault followed up last week’s gaming announcement with a “supernova” roadmap trailer which has been received very well.
For all the criticism, in a similar vein to PROOF, this company is well capitalised - and even has significant DAO funds to stimulate community involvement.
The Crypto Bloodbath
A variety of factors behind this market turmoil:
Silvergate voluntarily liquidation (culmination of publication last week)
Ether alleged to be a security in new case against KuCoin
But most importantly, The Silicon Valley Bank appears to be in talks to sell itself as it has failed to raise last-resort capital.
Many are worried about the knock-on effects of this bank’s failure.
When you thought 2023 couldn’t get worse than 2022, looks like we have some more macroeconomic pain to go through yet.
Sponsored Post - Chimpers
You probably know about the eye-catching 5,555 Chimpers, their partnership with Paramount and all of their constant developments in the Dojo…
But did you know about the Adventuring game, the search for the lost amulet, and all of the rewards and prizes along the way?
After training under Sensei Master Chimpo in The Dojo, the Chimpers are ready to help their Sensei recover the precious jewels of his special amulet which will help piece together the forgotten mysteries of the Chimpverse.
In Adventure 1, Chimpers were hugely successful:
The First Chapter of The Boring Ape Chronicles Season 2 was launched at the end of the adventure;
The adventure brought everyone together, even family!
The winner of the first adventure had just 1 Chimp, proving that with grit, determination and Master Chimpo’s guidance, anything is possible!
Now Adventure 2 is starting SOON, Chimpers can look forward to a brand new map, with many rewards including merch, physicals, and various special - and some mysterious - jewels and NFTs from within and outside of the Chimpers ecosystem.
There are 6 jewels needed to restore the lost amulet.
And since this is the second adventure, the second jewel will be there for the taking!
If you would like to learn more about adventuring, you can check out the first medium article here: Chimpers Dojo - Introducing Adventuring
Creator Corner - The Inspiration To Create with LG Doucet
I had the pleasure this week to chat with LG Doucet, the very successful founder of The First Mint.
The First Mint is a web3 sports community who are genuinely passionate about sports, and LG was early to the TopShot collecting craze which arguable sparked the wild bull run in digital collectibles in 2021.
In our conversation we discussed:
The inspiration for creating
The importance of identity in a largely anonymous space and how it can create an impact
Content creation as an art and how to improve
We also went into a lot of detail on how to be successful in this space before thinking about the future success of sports NFTs.
(LG also happens to be one of my earliest supporters, for which I am eternally grateful!)
You can check out the full conversation here!
On The Horizon - The Snapshot + Signal Interview
I have been producing these “daily snapshots” of news for everything crypto/nft markets. This will continue. I would love your feedback as I try to create the best “daily digest” of news.
I will interview Signal, the writer, investor, and integral crew member of the web3 media powerhouse, The Nifty - for whom I work too. Looking forward to this chat a lot. All of these chats will be housed on the YouTube channel for now.
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