NFTs everywhere. At Super Bowl 2023. In Paris. For LeBron. Even Vitalik didn't think that.
Nameet Potnis
Founder @Muzify | Connecting Music Superfans with Their Tribe and Empowering Artists | Payments & E-commerce Expert
The No-Crypto Super Bowl; What Was That About? The lack of crypto ads during this year's Super Bowl sounded weird to us. So, we took it upon ourselves to recap the?top NFT moments of the big game and beyond!
?? DigiDaigaku's Epic Fail?
DigiDaigaku thought they hit the jackpot with their $7 million Super Bowl ad, which promised to be the world's biggest free NFT minting event. But as it turns out, their ad was a massive flop.
The ad promised 10,000 free Ethereum NFTs to viewers who scanned a QR code. The ad was criticized for being low quality and directing users to the Twitter account of the CEO of Limit Break. Some people felt that the ad was more about promoting the CEO's account than the game, while others complained that the process of claiming the NFT was too difficult and excluded people who were new to cryptocurrency.
Some viewers were able to claim free NFTs that are now being sold on secondary markets for hundreds of dollars. On OpenSea marketplace, they were initially trading for over $750 and have since seen over $1.3 million worth of trades.?
?? Reddit's “Meh” Giveaway?
Reddit joined forces with the NFL for a Super Bowl NFT giveaway! 1.3 million of these NFTs have been minted since the launch and users have minted nearly 10 million of Reddit's Collectible Avatar NFTs to date. The Super Bowl NFTs are offered for free to all Reddit users and are minted on Polygon, an Ethereum sidechain network. But, these NFTs aren't exactly causing a stir, with secondary market prices starting at just $0.23 and only about $7,600 worth of trades since launch.
??LeBron's Moment?
LeBron James made history with his record-breaking NBA performance, and it looks like it's had a big impact on the NFT world too. Sales of LeBron James NFTs have skyrocketed, with the platform NBA Top Shot registering $234,000 in sales and one NFT moment selling for a whopping $13,500. Dapper Labs dropped 100,000 packs of NFT collectibles at $9 each, with some buyers receiving the record-breaking moment NFT. LeBron's record-breaking shot is also being auctioned on Sorare NBA, with the current top bid at $7,600.
?? Punks in Paris
The Centre Pompidou in Paris is taking the digital art world by storm with its upcoming permanent NFT exhibition. The world-renowned museum will display NFTs from 16 digital artists, including popular collectibles like CryptoPunk #110 and Autoglyph #25. And that's not all – NFT creator Yuga Labs has also donated CryptoPunk #305 to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, as part of a global initiative to promote NFTs in the art world.
"Seeing CryptoPunk #110 displayed in the Centre Pompidou, arguably the world's most prestigious contemporary art museum, is a great moment for the Web3 and NFT ecosystem, and we're honored to help drive this cultural conversation," commented Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano.
Oh NFT - even Vitalik didn't believe in you
Who knew NFTs would be the wild card of the crypto game? Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently admitted he was caught off guard by the rise of these unique assets that are making waves in the DeFi, gaming, and metaverse world.?He thought smart contracts would be the main attraction, but little did he know that NFTs would steal the show! But even with this surprising twist, Buterin is still amazed at how much NFTs have taken off in recent years. On the?The Network State podcast?with?Balaji Srinivasan, he spoke about NFTs, all things Ethereum.
“NFTs are probably the one thing that I did not predict, by the way. If you look at the list of applications that were in the Ethereum Whitepaper, and you look at the applications that are popular today, the big thing that’s in the second list and not the first is NFTs.” [LISTEN]
In other news, Vitalik has shown his compassion and generosity by donating a whopping?$227,000 to aid victims of the recent earthquake?in Turkey and Syria. The disaster claimed 33,000 lives, and in response, Vitalik donated 50 ETH, or around?$77,000, to Anka Relief on Feb. 12th. Anka Relief expressed gratitude for Vitalik's kindness and mentioned that the crypto community has been making substantial contributions since the earthquake struck.
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Coinbase happy to defend staking
Last week, the crypto world was buzzing about the?Kraken vs. SEC drama. The SEC shut down Kraken's staking service, but Coinbase is not backing down. CEO?Brian Armstrong?says the company?"happily defend"?its staking services in court if needed, as it can't be classified as a security. Meanwhile, the SEC's decision has other exchanges on edge, and some are worried that decentralized options may become more popular.?
But let's not forget the reason?why staking is so important?- it helps keep proof-of-stake networks like Ethereum running smoothly. Staking rewards validators for their participation, and since becoming a standalone Ethereum validator can be tough for retail investors, they often turn to staking-as-a-service providers.?
With?$12 billion in the DeFi ecosystem, liquid-staking protocols are big business, and Lido is leading the pack with $8 billion in deposited funds. The SEC had a problem with Kraken's staking program because it made staking less intimidating for customers, but Coinbase is ready to defend its staking services and bring the matter to court if necessary.
Pay taxes with Crypto in Brazil. Pay 75% crypto mining tax in Kazakhstan
Brazil and Kazakhstan are heading to the crypto world, but in their own unique ways! In Brazil,?Banco do Brasil has teamed up with Bitfy?to make it possible for?taxpayers to pay their bills with crypto. No more counting coins or carrying heavy bags of cash! With Brazil already leading the way in digital payment innovations, this partnership is a step towards a more crypto-friendly future.
Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan, the government is taking a more hands-on approach with new regulations and laws to?prevent tax fraud and illegal activities in the crypto space.?Digital asset issuers must now get permission from the government and be monitored, while crypto miners must sell at least 75% of their revenue through registered exchanges for tax purposes. And to keep things interesting,?mining licenses are only valid for three years, and it depends on whether the miner owns the mining facilities. The laws go into effect on?April 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024,?respectively.
Saudi Arabia's tryst with blockchain. China ain't behind
The skies are about to get a lot more tech-savvy in Saudi Arabia as the aviation industry takes a giant leap into the world of blockchain. Meanwhile, across the seas, China is building a research hub to study the many wonders of this innovative technology.
Saudi Ground Services (SGS)?is set to soar to new heights by implementing a blockchain document solution (Doc Certs blockchain management solution)?at 28 airports?across the kingdom. With the ability to issue over?10,000 digital documents annually, SGS is making history and showing that local companies and blockchain startups can join forces for a successful collaboration.
Meanwhile,?The National Blockchain Technology Innovation Centre in Beijing?is set to be a hub of all things blockchain. Led by the?Microchip Research Institute and the Edge Computing Research Institute, this centre will bring together the best and brightest minds in universities, research institutes, and businesses. The goal? To discover all the exciting ways blockchain can be applied to the national economy and industries across the land.
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