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Bitcoin News & Updates / 2 Reasons Bitcoin Price Might Be In for More Gains: Analysis

« on: May 26, 2021, 04:52:58 PM »

The amount of stablecoins on exchanges has surpassed the number of bitcoins. Combined with the entire crypto sentiment and the enhanced BTC withdrawals from trading platforms, the price of the underlying asset could be primed for a boost.

Stablecoins Ratio MACD Suggests a Leg Up for BTC
According to data from the crypto analytics resource CryptoQuant, the Stalebcoins Ratio MACD indicator has gone into a more bullish state for bitcoin. The metric follows the amount of BTC reserves in USD divided by the stablecoins reserves across all digital asset exchanges.

Or, as the analytics company says – the Stablecoins Ratio MACD provides a general picture regarding the selling pressure on trading venues.

As of now, the firm outlined the high number of stablecoins compared to BTC holdings stored on exchanges. Previously, the correlation between the two has led to significant price movements in either direction.

For instance, the 2020/2021 bull run started in September last year – at the time, the stablecoins were significantly more on exchanges than bitcoins.

In contrast, the number of BTC superseded that of stablecoins in early 2021 when the primary cryptocurrency retraced by several thousand dollars.

Keeping this in mind, CryptoQuant said bitcoin has “enough bullets to go up” now. In the past few days, BTC has recovered $10,000 and jumped to $40,000.

This came after the most violent market-wide correction in USD terms in which bitcoin nosedived from $50,000 to $30,000 following negative news from Tesla and China.

It’s worth noting that investors deposited significant quantities of their BTC holdings to exchanges amid the most violent days of the crash. However, they have started to withdrawal substantial amounts since then and the bitcoins sitting on trading platforms have decreased notably in days.

More info

Bitcoin Mining / Elon Musk Is Wrong Person for Green Bitcoin Mining Leadership, Nic Carter Speaks

« on: May 26, 2021, 04:47:57 PM »

When speaking to Bloomberg TV earlier today, partner at Castle Island Ventures Nic Carter shared he doubts that Elon Musk is the right candidate to “lead the charge for Bitcoin to become more green” and this is not only his take on this issue.
“Elon Musk is the wrong person but his proposal is good”
Nic Carter has explained why he does not believe Tesla CEO to be the right person for leading the movement to make the Bitcoin mining industry a more green one.

He referred to the Bitcoin community, who are mostly still skeptical of Musk, as Carter pointed out, partly due to the fact that he is involved in selling carbon offsets.

However, Carter said that the proposal made to Bitcoin miners about being more transparent in the future about their energy mix is good, whether it comes from Elon Musk or would have come from somebody else.

Musk’s proposal to US-based Bitcoin miners
On May 23, Michael Saylor (head of MicroStrategy business software giant) helped Elon Musk to make a conference with top executives of major US-based mining companies.

They agreed to form the Bitcoin Mining Council and miners agreed to be more transparent on the fossil-fuel energy they use and on the renewable energy they strive to utilize. They also promised to gradually shift to a 100 percent usage of green energy and persuade miners all over the world to follow their suit.

Musk called it “potentially promising” in his recent tweet. On that news, Bitcoin price managed to briefly recover above the $40,000 level earlier today.

Musk admits that he is not “DogeFather” after all
Responding to a tweet earlier today, in which Musk was highly praised for treating Dogecoin like one of his own companies, Tesla CEO reminded the prominent DOGE account holder that he does not control the project.

Musk tweeted that DOGE has no formal organization and even so, Doge devs do not report to him. So, he emphasized, his ability to impact on anything to do with Dogecoin is limited.

Apart from the coin’s price it seems. The coin’s exchange rate has seen several major rises this year following Elon Musk tweeting about it.

Some Wall Street experts have previously stated that the eccentric billionaire can easily manipulate not only the DOGE market but “stonks” as well, when he mentions certain companies in his tweets to let the prices soar – as it was with GameStop and a few others this year.

sorce

Bitcoin News & Updates / How Another Chinese Power Outage May Have Led to Bitcoin’s Flash Crash This Week

« on: May 22, 2021, 09:33:02 AM »

Earlier in April, an accident at a Chinese coal mine in Xinjiang sent Bitcoin network’s hash rate plummeting 30% in a span of a day, which crippled the major cryptocurrency’s rally.

Now, Bitcoin’s hash rate is suffering a similar loss as miners based in Sichuan, China face limitations on power usage.

The State Grid in Sichuan’s Aba county — which encompasses a significant portion of the region’s hydropower — issued a notice earlier this week that required local enterprises and households to limit their power consumption as the province was met with a surging utility demand.

The notice was specifically aimed at all operations located in the region’s “Hydro-electricity Consumption Industrial Demonstration Zone.”

These zones were created by the government as a form of incentive for “power-intensive industries” to utilise cheap hydroelectricity during summer months. Many of the Bitcoin mining facilities were allegedly operating in these government-sanctioned industrial zones.

Sorce

NFTs & Collectibles / Alcohol Industry Is Embracing Crypto, From Payments to NFTs

« on: May 02, 2021, 04:39:52 PM »

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies are expanding out from the tech sphere into different sectors, including the alcohol industry.

“Fermentation equals civilization,” said American author and poet John Ciardi. Globally, this philosophy has endured with different countries relying on various alcohol producers for significant economic contributions and returns.

Brewers, distillers, and wine-makers increasingly embrace new technologies for both better taste and profit. Some are turning to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies.

Crypto meets the alcohol industry
Last year, French wine distributor, Vin Malin said it would begin accepting cryptocurrency payments.

Jean-Christophe Gallois, the company’s director, said, at first, this would be limited to bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH). Still, the possibility remains that more cryptocurrencies could be accepted in the future.

This is not the first French wine merchant to get into the crypto game. Another French merchant has also been seeing major returns during the latest bitcoin bull run. BTC Wine, an online retailer, run by Lasserre & Papillon, is a Bordeaux-based company that sells wine exclusively in bitcoin.

However, France isn’t the only country where alcohol and crypto have joined forces.

In February, France’s neighbor Switzerland got involved. Sygnum Bank and Fine Wine Capital collaborated to tokenize premium investable wines as digital assets for trading.

“Tokenization of wine assets enables us to expand our private collector investor base to new private and institutional investors interested in fractional ownership in distinctive real assets. This provides them the opportunity to hold, trade or request a physical settlement of this unique asset in an efficient manner,” Alexandre Challand, Fine Wine Capital co-founder, explained.

Another European alcohol brewer also joined in on the NFT craze. Irish whiskey distiller Kinsale Spirits’ is offering a rare 20-year old single malt as part of its alcohol NFT auction. By creating legally binding, easily trackable digital assets ownership, the measures may set a precedent for this up and coming space.

The rare cask is one of the few that remain from Cooley’s original distillery in Louth. Described by the sellers as a rare piece of history, the whiskey, “Pallet No. 14730,” is from 2001 and resides in an ex-bourbon barrel. Commenting on the development, a co-founder of Kinsale Spirits, Ernest Cantillon, said:

“I would be hopeful that bidders in Asia, in particular, could be interested in this. It is a rare whiskey which in itself makes it a good investment but then of course if it captures the imagination then hopefully we get many multiples of its face value.”

In the United States, the country’s oldest wine shop announced it would start accepting cryptocurrencies as payment. Established in 1820, legendary wine shop Acker houses the largest rare and fine wine auction house in North America. Acker seems to be proud to accept this novel form of payment, with Acker chairman, John Kapon, saying:

“Cryptocurrency is here to stay, and we are excited to offer these additional options for payment in this ever-changing and shifting world. We look forward to growing our already robust network of wine lovers and making more exciting announcements in the digital space soon.”

Businesses embrace blockchain in Europe
However, alcohol producers and merchants aren’t the only cryptocurrency enthusiasts in European business. There is a growing trend towards cryptocurrencies in both the public and private sectors in Europe as a whole.

Chairman of the European Blockchain Association, Michael Gebert, explains how businesses are turning to blockchain technologies to address problems facing their companies. However, he points out that the region overall is still more conservative than other parts of the world.

He explains:

“While European companies have identified breakthrough ideas on how blockchain could solve some of the most pressing problems in business and society today, according to our observations, there is a huge gap in their progress toward turning those ideas into reality, particularly from a strategic viewpoint.”

Interest by the government is also ramping up. The country’s central bank, Banque de France, started trials of its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), the first such trial in Europe.

Gerbert points out that these kinds of trials and interests are important for the growth of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance in the region.

“Policymakers and regulators need to progress in assessing whether existing policies and laws are fit for purpose or if new frameworks will be required,” he says.

Overall, interest in crypto continues to grow across sectors. The alcohol industry is just one of many proving the benefits of looking to the blockchain for solutions and trends.

More info

NFTs & Collectibles / Kurt Cobain’s Last Photoshoot Collection Goes up for Auction as an NFT

« on: May 02, 2021, 04:37:01 PM »

Photographer Jesse Frohman is auctioning off his entire collection of ‘The Last Session’ photos as a non-fungible (NFT) this week.

The auction is set to start on May 3 and will run until May 7. The auction which is titled ‘The Last Session’ features all 104 images taken by Frohman. Including never-before-seen images of the deceased rockstar.

Jesse Frohman is well known for shooting some of the most iconic legends such as Run DMC, James Brown, and Spike Lee. However Frohman’s most iconic work is the photoshoot with Kurt Cobain. The photoshoot took place roughly six months before the musician would take his own life.

Cobain’s last photoshoot
Frohman will be auctioning off the entire collection as an NFT. The Last Session NFT collection includes images, polaroids, and contact sheets with Frohman’s original markups, some of which have never before been seen.

The landmark NFT release offers those who celebrate Kurt’s legacy a chance to share ownership of a moment that is etched deeply upon the soul of music and culture.

The auction is taking place on Frohman’s website. The auction will start at 27.27 ETH, approximately $79,000.

The collection comes as a one-of-one edition. Meaning the winner will become the sole owner of a piece of music history. Included in the auction, the winner will also be able to choose one print, and the opportunity for their own photoshoot with Jesse Frohman.

The photographer is also auctioning off ten “Nevermind” NFTs. The NFT features a quadriptych of Kurt Cobain. The starting price is 2.7 ETH.

More info

NFTs & Collectibles / Built on Filecoin and IPFS, NFT.Storage offers free protection for NFT asset dat

« on: May 01, 2021, 03:20:27 PM »

NFT.Storage, a service specifically created for storing NFT data and backed by Protocol Labs and Pinat, has announced its launch. NFT.Storage allows developers to store non-fungible token (NFT) data on decentralized networks easily, securely, and for free. With just a few lines of code, anyone can leverage the power of IPFS and Filecoin to ensure the persistence of their NFT data.

“Content addressing and distributed storage networks ensure that digital artwork, basketball cards, and virtual real estate are guaranteed to stay secure and available long-term. NFT.Storage makes it completely frictionless to mint NFTs following best practices through resilient persistence on IPFS and Filecoin.”
– Mikeal Rogers, Engineering Manager at Protocol Labs

Levering IPFS, NFT.Storage creates digital fingerprints for all new NFTs that universally reference the content regardless of how or where it is stored. Using these fingerprints to reference NFT assets and metadata prevents problems like NFT assets disappearing or getting “rug pulled.”

Filecoin, a decentralized storage network, assists NFT.Storage in protecting NFT assets and metadata with dozens of global storage providers to ensure that the content is publicly accessible without a central point of failure for the long term. Filecoin also provides publicly verifiable proof that content is being stored over time, so anyone can verify the data’s integrity and availability.

NFT.Storage is designed to support NFT apps like Palm, a new NFT protocol being brought to market by Protocol Labs and ConsenSys, which also relies on IPFS and Filecoin for decentralized storage. The Palm network, which will operate on its own environmentally-friendly Ethereum sidechain, saw world-renowned artist Damien Hirst releasing a collection entitled ‘The Currency Project’ as part of the launch.

Filecoin also powers the VideoCoin marketplace and recently surpassed 4 billion gigabytes in storage capacity, making the network capable of storing over 1.2 billion 1080p high-resolution movie files. VideoCoin integrated with Filecoin to protect the provenance of their videos with NFTs.

https://cryptonews.net/en/news/nft/595126/

NFTs & Collectibles / Dole & Datuna NFTs to Fight Hunger

« on: April 30, 2021, 03:34:35 PM »

Inspired by “the Hungry Artist’s” stunt where he ate a $120,000 banana affixed to a canvas at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, The Dole Sunshine Company is partnering with David Datuna to address food insecurity and malnutrition across the globe. The initiative will see Datuna create an NFT collection to complement Dole’s “Sunshine for All” program.

Datuna is producing a five-part series displaying people coming together to fight hunger. The first four parts of the series will go to auction on Rarible starting May 6th, followed by the May 8th auction of the fifth piece in the series. The final auction will be accompanied by a physical installation and a digital display in a Decentraland-based virtual gallery. Proceeds will be donated to Boys & Girls Clubs.

Digitalax Bridges Digital Fashion With Physical World Through “Memetic” Patches

As the pioneer behind the digital fashion movement, platform Digitalax continues to push the boundaries of NFTs as memes by introducing a physical fashion line that an accompanying NFT will complement. Through its collaboration with Polygon, which will be responsible for issuing the NFTs, Digitalax aims to build a gateway to bring fashion enthusiasts into the blockchain fold.

Each piece of physical clothing from the collection will feature a memetic patch that brings attention to important themes like the undervalued creators behind the industry, the profiteering which takes advantage of minor supply-chain players, and sustainability. The clothing will be available for purchase in fiat currency, presenting no barrier for eager enthusiasts to participate in this project. A corresponding inventory claim ticket will be used to represent rights to the memetic NFT that accompanies each piece.

NFTs Attract Interest From America’s Oldest Wine Shop

To correspond with an upcoming fine wine auction for one of Burgundy’s most famed winemakers on May 12th, American fine and rare wine auction house, Acker, will be incorporating non-fungible tokens as part of its offering. The event, which features 16 bottles from Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair’s 2019 vintage, will see each bottle accompanied by a one-of-a-kind NFT.

Each NFT will contain a detailed description from famed producer Comte Louis-Michel Liger-Belair regarding the vineyard’s expression for every corresponding bottle of wine. The auction, which will accept dollars and cryptocurrencies, will be hosted on Acker’s proprietary platform. Winning bidders’ NFTs will be transferred via OpenSea to the Ethereum network.

NFT Roundup: Drumpfs Hit the Market, Dole Takes A Bite Out of Hunger, Digitalax Introduces Fashion Hybrids, and Burgundy Wine Collectibles Arrive
https://cryptonews.net/596286/?utm_source=CryptoNews&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=shared

NFTs & Collectibles / UFC Files Trademark for Cryptocurrencies

« on: April 30, 2021, 03:32:08 PM »

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the world’s premier MMA promotion‚ and it’s poised to start selling NFTs.

The UFC has filed two trademarks. The applications were first noticed by Josh Gerben, founder of law firm Gerben Intellectual Property.

The first is a trademark to launch a UFC-branded cryptocurrency. The application makes room for fungible and non-fungible tokens alike: it encompasses “cryptocurrency services, namely, providing a digital currency, digital token or non-fungible token for use by members of an online community via a global computer network.”

The second provides an app for its would-be cryptocurrency. The application reads: “Downloadable software which provides members to receive, access, spend, trade and manage cryptocurrency, digital currency, digital tokens, non-fungible tokens, digital collectible and digital assets.”

The filings were made with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 23.

The UFC and crypto
The UFC may be dipping its toe into the NFT business, but current UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has already beaten the promotion to it.

Ngannou made more money from the NFTs he released after beating Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title—$58,000—than what the UFC guaranteed him for the title bout itself.

UFC Champion Francis Ngannou's NFTs Sold For More Than His Title Fight Purse
The UFC’s patent applications may be recent, but the MMA promotion already began working to put its most famous fighters—like Conor McGregor—on the blockchain.

Dapper Labs, the team behind CryptoKitties, began working with the UFC in 2020 to create digital collectibles of its most famous fighters.

The continued merger of sports and NFTs
The UFC’s moves signal how yet another popular American sport—Mixed Martial Arts—has embraced the booming NFT market.

To date, basketball, football, and baseball—by far America’s most watched sports—have all jumped on the NFT bandwagon.

NBA Top Shot—an online marketplace where users can buy the NBA’s most memorable moments as NFTs—has already become a household name in the wider world of crypto. But that hasn’t stopped individual players or specific franchises from embracing NFTs themselves.

NBA Prospect Jalen Suggs Sells Epic March Madness Shot as NFT
Jalen Suggs, current Gonzaga star and hot NBA prospect, recently released his March Madness game-winning shot as an NFT. The Golden State Warriors, one of the NBA’s most popular franchises today, also recently released a series of NFTs celebrating the team’s greatest moments.

In the NFL world, a rookie trading card of now seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady recently sold for $1.68 million worth of Litecoin. Brady has also launched his own NFT platform with some of the world’s biggest sports and tech companies, including Spotify, Apple and DraftKings.

Rob Gronkowski—Tom Brady’s favorite teammate in New England and Tampa Bay—is also fully on board the NFT train. His NFT collection sold for $1.6 million in March of this year.

Red Sox Legend Ted Williams Collectibles Hit NFT Market
Elsewhere in the NFL Carolina Panther Russell Okung and Kansas City Chief Sean Culkin have converted part, or all of their NFL salaries to Bitcoin.

In baseball, Red Sox legend Ted Williams’s daughter has released an NFT collection chronicling the hall of fame career of her father. The auction—which took place earlier this month—saw some of the proceeds go to charity.

Beyond America’s mainstay sports, MMA has surged in popularity during the last decade, and the UFC might be next in line to embrace NFTs.

UFC Files Trademark for Cryptocurrencies
https://cryptonews.net/596464/?utm_source=CryptoNews&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=shared

NFTs & Collectibles / IOST NFT Marketplace TOKENLINK Auctions Music NFTs

« on: April 30, 2021, 03:29:58 PM »

IOST’s NFT marketplace TOKENLINK is now auctioning the first audio track NFTs.
Audio Track NFTs Released on TOKENLINK
In an announcement made today, decentralized, high-performance smart contract platform IOST (IOST) stated that the Platinum Egg team has released the first audio track NFTs on the IOST NFT marketplace called TOKENLINK.

For the uninitiated, Platinum Egg is an application development firm specializing in games and entertainment that develops CROSSLINK and TOKENLINK. In addition, the company offers consulting services for blockchain implementation in the gaming domain.

Similarly, the NFT marketplace – TOKENLINK – aims to develop a mixed metaverse of games, blockchain, and cryptographic art by developing NFT avatar parts and in-game events by leveraging NFT music.

It is worth highlighting that this audio track can be used as a game item on the CrossLink game. Further, every time an owner sells the track to a new buyer, the audio creator would stand to earn 10 percent loyalty of the sale price.

Regarding the audio track, the announcement reads in part:

“The first music audio is “Burning castle” by KAYY, as a guitarist and composer of the band fu-ca. He made his major debut on Universal Music (Japan)-Delicious Deli Records. Since 2010, KAYY has been active as a composer and sound producer.”

Adding:

“This is an equipment item with background music that includes Burning Castle. Once in your possession, you can set the background music from the settings screen. This item is a creator item. When buying and selling on Token Link, 10% of the sale price will be returned to the creator as revenue in addition to the normal commission.”

Users can check the TOKENLINK auction of the aforementioned NFT here.

IOST Committed to Expanding its NFT Ecosystem
Backed by major financial and VC firms such as Sequoia, Matrix, and ZhenFund, IOST is an enterprise-geared smart contract platform. As previously reported by BTCManager, IOST is pushing to expand its DeFi and NFT offerings this year.

In related news, BTCManager reported that Japanese manga artist Chihiro Tamaki is auctioning NFT digital art on the IOST-powered NFT marketplace TOKENLINK.

At press time, IOST trades at $0.061 with a market cap of more than $1.1 billion, according to data on CoinGecko.

IOST NFT Marketplace TOKENLINK Auctions Music NFTs
https://cryptonews.net/596440/?utm_source=CryptoNews&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=shared

NFTs & Collectibles / Crypto project selling NFTs wants to plant 1 million trees with 10% of sales pro

« on: April 29, 2021, 06:12:10 PM »

Smart contract-focused crypto project TrustSwap today announced a partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects to capitalize on the non-fungible token (NFT) boom and plant 1 million trees in return, as per a release shared with CryptoSlate.

NFTs are blockchain-based representations of tangible or intangible objects that tie ownership of an underlying asset with their holders. Anything can be represented as an NFT, with popular use cases ranging from crypto-collectibles and art to in-game assets and physical real estate.

The NFT angle
As per the release, TrustSwap will utilize its FlashLaunch feature to help raise additional funds for the Eden Reforestation Project.

The latter is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to reforestation and aims to plant over 1 million trees in 2021 to offset the heavy environmental costs created by PoW blockchains. Nearly 20,000 acres of forest have been earmarked for the cause.

“FlashLaunch” is similar to TrustSwap’s LaunchPad token offerings, but geared towards raises under $750,000 to enable smaller projects to participate in the crypto marketplace.

For each FlashLaunch organized, TrustSwap will mint and sell five “Golden Ticket” NFTs with 10% of the proceeds being donated to the Eden project.

Bids for these “Golden Ticket” NFTs will begin at 0.2 ETH (≈$500)and unlock access to a guaranteed $500 priority allocation for that launch. The “Golden Ticket” NFTs can also be traded and resold on any marketplace for 24 hours prior to the launch.

The who, what, why, where?
The move comes admist concerns of wide-spread ecological damage from the popularity and growth of the NFT market.

For the uninitiated, NFTs directly do not damage the planet. However, they are popularly issued on proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, which rely on massive computing infrastructure to validate transactions and maintain the network.

Critics say the production of NFTs is, basically, contributing to environmental damage by continuing to support PoW networks via the use of overlaying products and applications. Some have even started to claim that NFTs could eventually lead to a global climate crisis—an argument with little evidence and one that’s dismissed by prominent crypto developers.

Ok so I am across the “NFTs are bad because I don’t understand art”, which is just an extension of the age old argument of literally anything new is bad because I don’t understand it. But NFT = global climate crisis? Where is this argument coming from? I must have missed it.

— kain.eth (@kaiynne) March 15, 2021

Meanwhile, newer projects are trying to repair the so-termed damage. As CryptoSlate reported last week, some are donating to environmental charities directly, while some are using Ethereum-based art to raise funds and invest in forest ecosystems.

Crypto project selling NFTs wants to plant 1 million trees with 10% of sales proceeds
https://cryptonews.net/589142/?utm_source=CryptoNews&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=shared

NFTs & Collectibles / Kurt Cobain’s Final Nirvana Photoshoot to be Released as NFTs

« on: April 29, 2021, 06:10:37 PM »

Fans of legendary grunge rock band Nirvana and its iconic, late frontman Kurt Cobain can grab a digital piece of history next week when photographer Jesse Frohman releases images from the band’s purported final official photoshoot as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Dubbed “The Last Session,” the photos were taken in 1993, about six months before the singer took his own life in early 1994. The images themselves have been widely seen in the decades since, with Cobain wearing white-rimmed sunglasses, a leopard-print coat, and trapper hat, with some photos also featuring his bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic.

An NFT is like a deed of ownership to a digital item, be it a still photo, video clip, tweet, or something else, and it can be authenticated via blockchain technology. This allows creators to sell provably scarce, limited edition digital items. NFTs have exploded in popularity so far in 2021, surpassing $1.5 billion in transaction volume in the first three months, according to DappRadar. Crypto artist Beeple sold a single piece of NFT artwork for $69.3 million via Christie’s auction in March, setting a record that has yet to be surpassed.

Available for purchase on May 3, the Cobain NFT collection is headlined by a single-edition “The Last Session” complete collection, which includes a bundle of 104 images including Polaroids, outtakes, and never-before-seen shots. The starting bid is 27.27 ETH (more than $74,000, at today's prices). You can view all of the images on the project website, but only the winning bidder will receive the high-resolution versions.

(1/9) Today I’m proud to announce my first NFT drop of iconic images from my photoshoot of Kurt Cobain in 1993. The images, some of which have never before been seen, are from Kurt’s final photoshoot six months prior to his passing. #NFTCobain https://t.co/Psty3rdWK7

— Jesse Frohman (@jessefrohman) April 28, 2021

Additionally, the sale includes 10 “Nevermind” edition NFTs, each a montage with four images featuring distinct colorization, each of which starts at 2.7 ETH (about $7,360). There will also be 100 “In Utero” NFTs spanning 20 different images with five of each education available. Those will be sold outright (not at auction) for 1 ETH each (currently over $2,700).

“Everyone was doing an individual picture here, an individual picture there, maybe a group of three here, but I wanted to do something that other people hadn’t done before,” Frohman told Rolling Stone about offering a 104-image NFT bundle. “It’s something so special that won’t be offered again.”

The NFT sale is not officially associated with Nirvana or the Cobain Estate. However, Frohman told Rolling Stone that the estate is aware of the sale, and that he will donate a portion of proceeds to the JED Foundation, a suicide prevention and mental health awareness charity that the estate is involved with.

While Nirvana is not officially involved in this particular sale, many popular musicians have turned to NFTs as an additional revenue stream. Artists such as Snoop Dogg, Grimes, and The Weeknd have released NFT artwork, while Kings of Leon released a special NFT edition of their latest album.

Even Nirvana member Grohl has been involved in an NFT drop: he collaborated with Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger on the song “Eazy Sleazy,” which was turned into a tokenized animated video with artist Oliver “Extraweg” Latta. The single-edition sale raised $50,000 for charities benefitting music venues impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kurt Cobain’s Final Nirvana Photoshoot to be Released as NFTs
https://cryptonews.net/590482/?utm_source=CryptoNews&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=shared

NFTs & Collectibles / Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate Squashes Fake NFT Auction

« on: April 29, 2021, 06:08:44 PM »

The estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat has squashed the sale of an NFT tied to “Free Comb with Pagoda,” a mixed-media work from 1986.

The seller was a mysterious group Daystrom, who put out a press release about the sale on Tuesday. The announcement came along with a link to the NFT itself, which was for sale on the marketplace OpenSea.

“The estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat owns the copyright in the artwork referenced,” a spokesperson for the estate told The Art Newspaper. “No license or rights were conveyed to the seller and the NFT has subsequently been removed from sale.”

The NFT was delisted from OpenSea this afternoon.

Basquiat, who died in 1988, was one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century; his Untitled, from 1982, remains the most expensive American artwork ever sold at auction.

Daystrom describes itself as “the Emmy winning digital provocateur behind David Bowie’s online bank." The only other NFT attributed to its account on OpenSea is an image called “The All American Breakfast,” which appears to have something to do with QAnon.

Daystrom was also promising that the NFT could “be deconstructed” at the high bidder’s discretion, “leaving the NFT as the only remaining form of Basquait's [sic] work to exist.” Something similar happened with a Banksy earlier this year.

NFTs are non-fungible token">tokens that can be used to represent ownership of specific digital files on the internet. They've been around for years but have recently caught on in the digital art world. The market has exploded within the last few months, with NFT sales shattering records month over month.

The market, however, is also rife with inauthentic images. And this isn’t the first time this has happened with Basquiat—this past winter, a group called Seen Haus teased an NFT attached to what they claimed was a certified Basquiat (something the estate never confirmed).

Shepard Fairey, the artist behind former President Obama’s “Hope” campaign poster, recently tweeted about an issue with a copycat NFT on Rarible, an OpenSea competitor.

NFTs are often billed as hard and fast proof of ownership, but they raise significant legal issues around copyright and intellectual property; as with everything else in crypto, risks abound.

Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate Squashes Fake NFT Auction
https://cryptonews.net/590618/?utm_source=CryptoNews&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=shared

NFTs & Collectibles / Enterprise NFT is the Future of VeChainThor

« on: April 28, 2021, 04:22:46 PM »

Blockchain has revolutionized the global economy, and, as of today, the road to economic success lies in the mass adoption of the technology. The platform of VeChain is leveraging its partners, members, and stakeholders to reach the consensus of realizing the manifold benefits of the advanced blockchain technology. In recent times, there has been a skyrocketing surge in the public awareness of blockchain technology due to an exponential increase in the number of crypto markets. Traders and investors across the world are pouring in to invest in crypto assets. Currently, one of the most popular cryptocurrency assets is a non-fungible token or NFT. NFT is making headlines in mainstream media, some of which are the inclusion of NFTs in the Oscars and sales of $70 million at digital artwork auctions.

In the world of arts and collectibles, NFT is the latest trend. However, experts believe that NFT can go way beyond the space of art and culture and be of immense value in enterprises and businesses. VeChain focuses on the development of Enterprise NFT or eNFT to facilitate business and commerce through the adoption of blockchain technology. One can use eNFT to reach a definite consensus regarding the transaction history, ownership, and issuance of the NFT. The two significant effects from NFT include recognizing NFT as a member of the highly tradable asset class and the fundamental transformation in the ways of designing products and engaging users for the adoption of blockchain technology. Thus, NFTs are more accessible and more liquid due to many potential buyers and the relative convenience for trading.

The platform of VeChain is working on mass adoption to create a sustainable value chain for eNFTs. To this end, the platform is focusing on the points given below:

The object that is associated with eNFT needs to have a substantial inherent value.
The ownership of the NFT has to be enforceable.
Services like DeFi, stablecoins, and marketplaces have to be incorporated to facilitate secure and scalable NFT trading.
VeChainThor is indeed the most suitable choice when it comes to the development of eNFTs. It is the best blockchain-driven platform that can urge enterprises to adopt eNFT for business execution. The reasons behind the suitability of the infrastructure of VeChainThor are mentioned below:

The POA consensus of VeChainThor is one of the most feasible solutions for developing enterprise-grade blockchain technology. The consensus model offers a high throughput by permitting the nodes to make the best of the network bandwidth for fast transactions. The platform is also seeking to deploy POA 2.0 to amplify network security.
In order to preserve the sustainability of the platform, VeChain provides a well-designed and unique economic model of dual token use that does away with the drawbacks of a single token system. The model ensures fast and low-cost transactions and native support of fee delegation.
Moreover, the implementation of VIP-181 offers enterprise-grade APIs for a variety of NFT-based functions.

Enterprise NFT is the Future of VeChainThor
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NFTs & Collectibles / Terra Virtua NFT Team Launches Hashmasks Competition: Details

« on: April 28, 2021, 04:20:56 PM »

Terra Virtua HQ, a marketplace for non-fungible tokens, has shared an udpate on its partnership with NFT designers Hashmasks. Anyone who is interested in digital collectibles can join the contest and win a unique prize.

Introducing vFlects by Hashmasks
vFlects by Terra Virtua are digital collectibles that represent characters with unique superpowers. An internal core gives power to each vFlect: the ocular sensors of each vFlect reflect the character's superpower.

The first @TheHashmasks X vFLECT is getting ready to land on our marketplace this Friday, 30th April.

Don't forget to enter our competition for a chance to win a Hashmasks vFLECT 👉https://t.co/RNbTQu2mLr

Entries close at 9am BST 28 April, so get in there quick!#NFTCommunity pic.twitter.com/jmknksDsBY

— Terra Virtua HQ | Collecting. Reinvented. (@TerraVirtuaHQ) April 27, 2021
Now the Terra Virtua team has decided to release a series of vFlects in partnership with the Hashmasks team, a startup that creates tokenized masks of fictional characters.

The first-ever non-fungible tokens created via this partnership will be released on the Terra Virtua marketplace on April 30, 2021, with more releases to come.

To promote the accomplisment of this milestone, both teams are launching contests on social media.

Large-scale NFT competition announced
All Internet users who register on a special website before April 28, 2021, are eligible for this contest. Besides registration, a mention on social media is required.

The winners of the contest will be rewarded with one of Hashmasks' vFlects. So, there is a chance to get a new-gen digital collectible first.

Terra Virtua is a veteran of the NFT segment: it was founded in 2016 while, in 2018, the platform was activated in mainnet. Terra Virtua addresses many NFT-focused use cases and has a native coin, TVK.

Terra Virtua NFT Team Launches Hashmasks Competition: Details
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NFTs & Collectibles / Hasbro CEO: NFTs 'A Real Opportunity' For Magic: The Gathering

« on: April 28, 2021, 04:19:11 PM »

Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner has said that the toy and game manufacturer is considering incorporating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into brands such as Magic: The Gathering—a world-famous collectible card fantasy game.

“We'll continue to monitor and look at what appears to be an accelerating Magic business,” Goldner said during a quarterly earnings call, adding, “The NFT is a real opportunity for us.”

Goldner added that Hasbro has “many brands that really operate on multiple demographic levels,” including Magic: The Gathering and G.I. Joe. “We have really our arms around this and see multiple opportunities on the NFT side,” Goldner said. “You’ll hear more about that as we move forward.”

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are cryptographically-unique tokens that represent digital content such as artwork, videos or items in video games. The NFT market has boomed in recent months, with volumes on marketplaces surging as brands and celebrities have scrambled to launch their own NFTs.

A kind of Magic
Speaking on the earnings call, Goldner said that revenue from the company’s gaming platforms—including Magic—rose by 7% as “gaming continued to be a focal point for players, consumers and retailers.”

Some of that increased revenue may be down to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Goldner said that Magic is “allowing people to play at a distance who have never been able to reconnect with friends or family before.”

The 7 best blockchain games you can play right now
Magic: The Gathering is a card trading game with over 35 million players worldwide. Players take on the role of a Planeswalker, battling other players using collectible cards to represent spells, magical artifacts and fantasy creatures.

Sales of individual Magic: The Gathering cards have reached thousands of dollars, with an autographed copy of the rarest card in the game, the Black Lotus, selling for over half a million dollars at auction.

Indeed, big-ticket sales of Magic: The Gathering cards pre-empted the recent NFT collectibles boom, in which individual NFTs have sold for thousands or even millions of dollars. The combination of collectible cards and game mechanics is also one that NFT developers have explored in games such as Gods Unchained (which has seen individual NFT cards auctioned for tens of thousands of dollars).

The wider NFT boom
Elsewhere, the NFT market continues to break new ground.

This week, crypto exchange Binance announced that it will be launching Binance NFT, an NFT marketplace, in June of this year.

Assassin's Creed Publisher Is Making The Next Generation Of NFT Games
Gaming brands are also exploring NFTs, with Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft releasing NFTs that can be swapped between games and plunging $2.5 million into a dev fund for open-source game Nine Chronicles.

Hasbro CEO: NFTs 'A Real Opportunity' For Magic: The Gathering
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