Issue 47 🍵 NFTs, coming through
It's here, NFTs are actually hitting the mainstream.
Disclaimer: This newsletter is not financial advice. We buy what we like, and you should buy what you like.
Honestly, if you’ve been on Twitter at all, you might have seen the new Twitter feature: you can now set your NFTs as your profile picture. If you see someone with a profile pic in a hexagon instead of a circle, they are paying for the privilege to flaunt the feature.
And this came at the heels of an announcement from Meta that they intended to add NFT support to Facebook and Instagram as well.
Which is . . . eh.
We try to make this section either whatever was clearly the most important news of the week, or something that we can adequately dig into too. But at some point last year, there’s definitely been an uptick in the amount of issues where we agreed that some tech giant pivoting to NFTs was the clear issue starter.
And I don’t really like it. Twitter doing this undeniably broadcasts NFTs to a wider audience, and it’s a very big validation for NFTs. And in this same week, it was surreal to watch a clip of celebrities Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton discussing NFTs:
Just, it’s weird.
I just lean towards all of this Web2 interest as a bad thing for the space. I don’t want a16z or celebrities or Facebook being the spokespersons for what NFTs are. That’s the fastest way to worsen the public’s view that NFTs are just environmentally destructive tech being touted by out-of-touch Silicon Valley rich bros.
Which isn’t necessarily true, there are thoughtful efforts being made. Just week, a sci-fi NFT card game raised $260,000 for Khan Academy, who provide free educational videos.
And it’s always cool that anyone in the world could have contributed to a good cause, and that the donation’s cost could have been only Opensea’s 2.5% fee. (Not sure about costs of liquidating those funds, but bet it’s still cheaper than Paypal?)
Fundamentally, people around the world being able to coordinate capital is always cool. But yeah, I doubt that the companies or celebrities would highlight or create new opportunities for the people.
All of these them are just trying to create opportunities for their bottom line. For real, look no further than the fact that you need to pay for a Twitter Blue subscription to show off your NFTs :/
Other news
🌱 Sci-Fi NFT card game “Parallel” has finally dropped their long-awaited Prime Proposal. It’s a lengthy 40-page PDF, and it will be interesting to see how it gets implemented this year.
🌱 Opensea’s been working overtime this week.
If you’ve suffered from the listings UI issue, they are reimbursing affected users.
There a new Opensea Support Twitter account!
The new CTO also did open calls for anyone in the public. All booked out now, but otherwise, still a very generous gesture.
And lastly, there’s hints that Opensea is expanding soon to the Solana blockchain.
🌱 Zora, the free NFT marketplace protocol, has updated to V3. Here’s a good summary of its highlights. (Did we mention it’s free? Which makes it such a good fit for holding your fundraiser?)
🌱 Flow, the creators of the popular basketball collecting game NBA Top Shot, is releasing a cricket version soon. (If the wheel ain’t broke, why fix it?)
Reading List
More proof of NFT influencer @beaniemaxi scamming. Stay critical out there, folks.
If you have the time, poke around this tweet thread from Jackson Dame of wallet app Rainbow, responding to a critique about NFTs and digital rights. Some good points from both sides.
And a meme, for fun:
Creative Corner
Doing her own take on other-worldly forms is Portland-based Julie Rose! Her colorful geometric works transports us to different worlds that we'd love to have an adventure on
You can check out more of their works on objkt, and follow them on Twitter and Instagram!
Try This
We found nothing free worth trying, and the markets aren’t doing so well anyway!
If it’s affecting you, we hope you’re doing well. If you’re not, please, enjoy your weekend. Get some sleep, catch up on Netflix, fix your skincare, or etc.
Take care of yourselves out there. *waves*
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