Metaversal is a Bankless newsletter for weekly level-ups on NFTs, virtual worlds, & collectibles

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Dear Bankless Nation, 

Your NFT edge is doing your homework. 

What I mean is that earlier this week traditional news outlets reported the NFT market was collapsing thanks to very incomplete data from a single NFT analytics service. 

Turns out if you check the chain, it’s clear the NFT market is teeming lately and even setting new activity records here and there. 

<div class="tweet" data-attrs="{"url":"https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt/status/1522036120808210433","full_text":"we do a lil correction and we shill a lil @DuneAnalytics 🫡 ","username":"tomhschmidt","name":"Tom Schmidt","date":"Thu May 05 02:11:03 +0000 2022","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FR9bxjFXsAADvtC.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/xNJNwxpupn","alt_text":null}],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":9,"like_count":109,"expanded_url":{},"video_url":null}”>

Tom Schmidt @tomhschmidt

we do a lil correction and we shill a lil @DuneAnalytics 🫡

So no, the NFT collapse isn’t upon us. But the inertia from the initial reporting is still spreading out through meatspace and many people won’t see the story has already been debunked. 

That’s your edge, then. While many people in the mainstream are still writing off NFTs because they don’t understand them or know how to, you’ve a head start because you do understand the basics. You’ve searched Dune Analytics before. You know how to dig in, as it were. 

There are many arbitrages and opportunities to be made in that gap between us and the mainstream. The gap is closing by the day as NFTs continue to take over the world, so keep doing your homework here and making the most of it while you can. In the meantime, have a great weekend ✌️ 

-WMP

🙏 Sponsor: Rarible – discover & trade NFTs across multiple blockchains and communities✨

🛒 NFT News & Platforms

• Coinbase NFT is now open to everyone. 

• Kraken is launching Kraken NFT:

<div class="tweet" data-attrs="{"url":"https://twitter.com/krakenfx/status/1521483576583274497","full_text":"*･｡ﾟAnnouncing Kraken NFT *･｡ﾟ.nnEnjoy the premium features you need to explore, curate &amp; secure your NFT collection.nnEnter your email to join the waitlist for Kraken NFT: kraken.com/nft ","username":"krakenfx","name":"Kraken Exchange","date":"Tue May 03 13:35:27 +0000 2022","photos":[{"img_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/upload/w_728,c_limit/l_twitter_play_button_rvaygk,w_120/tix87gs0ip8hrmnlm9gq","link_url":"https://t.co/ONh9TDmZJf","alt_text":null}],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":271,"like_count":1142,"expanded_url":{},"video_url":"https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1521483530416664577/pu/vid/540×540/eGKOCzZpwBAMbfnG.mp4?tag=12"}”>

Kraken Exchange @krakenfx

*･｡ﾟAnnouncing Kraken NFT *･｡ﾟ.

Enjoy the premium features you need to explore, curate & secure your NFT collection.

Enter your email to join the waitlist for Kraken NFT: kraken.com/nft

• Starbucks plans to release NFTs that offer unique customer experiences later this year.

• Yuga Labs asserted that “ApeCoin will need to migrate to its own chain in order to properly scale.”

• Zora Labs, the builders of Zora, raised $50M in a new funding round. 

🏆 Digital Collectibles

• Azuki kicked off the BEANZ reveal:

Azuki @AzukiOfficial

BEANZ are a small species that sprouts from the dirt in the garden. While they’re earnestly driven by the desire to help their Azuki friends, some BEANZ simply can’t resist the allure of the alley…

They are a great sidekick to an Azuki, although some like to kick it alone.

2/x

May 5th 2022

38 Retweets343 Likes

• Moonbirds is launching public profiles next week.

• Takashi Murakami launched his Murakami.Flowers collection.

• Cool Cats introduced a new UI for Cooltopia.

• Doodles welcomed Julian Holguin, previously the President of Billboard, as its new CEO.

• Forgotten Runes Wizard’s Cult published an epic new trailer:

Forgotten Runes Wizards & Warriors @forgottenrunes

It is not the Wizards who forgot the runes

It’s the rest of the World

May 4th 2022

708 Retweets2,348 Likes

🎨 NFT art

• Fingerprints, a blockchain art collector group, just celebrated its 1st birthday and interviewed OG blockchain artist and NFTer Rhea Myers. 

• Sofia Crespo released Chimerical Stories on BrainDrops:

<div class="tweet" data-attrs="{"url":"https://twitter.com/braindrops_art/status/1521492502376767490","full_text":"Check out chimericalstories.com the drop from @soficrespo91 / @entangledothers coming in less than two hours to braindrops.cloud/projects/12 ","username":"braindrops_art","name":"BrainDrops 🧠","date":"Tue May 03 14:10:55 +0000 2022","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FR1s1IrXEAABSsW.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/FKygwUfRoO","alt_text":null}],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":10,"like_count":25,"expanded_url":{},"video_url":null}”>

BrainDrops 🧠 @braindrops_art

Check out chimericalstories.com the drop from @soficrespo91 / @entangledothers coming in less than two hours to braindrops.cloud/projects/12

• 0xphiiil released Zupermat on Art Blocks earlier today:

<div class="tweet" data-attrs="{"url":"https://twitter.com/0xphiiil/status/1520826137345241088","full_text":"I’m very happy to announce "Zupermat" my first generative art series on @artblocks_io nIt’s going live Friday May 6th at 11am CT / 12pm ETnartblocks.io/project/305nnshort thread 🧵 ⤵️ ","username":"0xphiiil","name":"0xphiiil","date":"Sun May 01 18:03:01 +0000 2022","photos":[{"img_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/upload/w_728,c_limit/l_twitter_play_button_rvaygk,w_120/thssenn1um4q9mz4sbzw","link_url":"https://t.co/AXLtLAMxNv","alt_text":null}],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":6,"like_count":20,"expanded_url":{},"video_url":"https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1520821795544313858/pu/vid/320×320/vUpL7huANxS1gHDM.mp4?tag=12"}”>

0xphiiil @0xphiiil

I’m very happy to announce “Zupermat” my first generative art series on @artblocks_io
It’s going live Friday May 6th at 11am CT / 12pm ET
artblocks.io/project/305

short thread 🧵 ⤵️

🎮 NFT Gaming

• Ancient8 Research, a new GameFi research portal, just launched. 

• Axie Infinity published an overview of its progress on land staking.

• Illuvium is conducting its first NFT land sale in June 2022. 

💽 Music

• Coopahtroopa.eth published This Week in Music NFTs – May 1st.

• RAC kicked off a token-gated guild via Guild, an NFT membership management project:

<div class="tweet" data-attrs="{"url":"https://twitter.com/guildxyz/status/1519353133738172416","full_text":"With 4.2M monthly listeners on Spotify, @RAC has dropped a guild for the elite fans. The music NFT and social token pioneer called for a ‘min-max token amount’ setup, so we shipped the feature real quick. 🧵 ","username":"guildxyz","name":"Guild","date":"Wed Apr 27 16:29:49 +0000 2022","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FRXTjsXX0AAMx7Z.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/jZrYtCXe9C","alt_text":null}],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":13,"like_count":98,"expanded_url":{},"video_url":null}”>

Guild @guildxyz

With 4.2M monthly listeners on Spotify, @RAC has dropped a guild for the elite fans. The music NFT and social token pioneer called for a ‘min-max token amount’ setup, so we shipped the feature real quick. 🧵

🌐 Virtual Worlds

• Yuga Labs refunded ETH to everyone whose transactions failed during the Otherdeeds mint event. 

• Webaverse appeared on the Delphi Digital podcast this week. 

• Cryptovoxels rebranded to Voxels.

• Decentraland published a Decentraland Security Update. 

💎 DeFi x NFTs

• Deadfellaz invested in Syndicate, a web3 investment infrastructure project. 

• Drops DAO, an NFT lending project, arrived on mainnet. 

Action steps

• 🚨 Have you used Hop Protocol to bridge funds for trying out L2 NFTs? See if you’re eligible for the newly announced HOP airdrop. 

• 📺 Watch Overpriced JPEGs Recap #22

• 📺 Watch Ethereum’s Hollywood Moment with Camila Russo on Bankless

• 🧐 Read my other Bankless and Metaversal write-ups from this week: 

  • 5 tips to spot the next big NFT

  • NFT lending 

  • Hot and Cold NFTs

Author Bio

William M. Peaster is a professional writer and creator of Metaversal—a Bankless newsletter focused on the emergence of NFTs in the cryptoeconomy. He’s also recently been contributing content to Bankless, JPG, and beyond!

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Not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.

Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here.