Tracking Brands Moving Into Web3, Developments in NFTs, and the Metaverse.

🔵 Rare David Bowie NFT sold on Monday night for 96.5 ETH ($127,000). The David Bowie estate partnered with OpenSea to sell “Bowie on the Blockchain”. The collection contained fifteen NFTs to commemorate the British pop legend and the colorful motifs.

The collection was initially listed on September 30, 2022, and features artwork from nine artists. Renowned 19-year-old NFT artist FEWOCiOUS created a collection highlight.

🔵 Hugo Boss launches first NFT collection and 360-degree metaverse experience. HUGO x IO (Imaginary Ones) launched the exclusive NFT collection, Embrace Your Emotions. The collection is aimed at sharing the message that all feelings — positive and negative — are valid.

Five of the characters will enter the metaverse, representing everyday emotions: JOY, SADNESS, FEAR, ANGER, and LOVE. A sixth character combines all the emotions and will be auctioned on World Mental Health Day, on October 10th.

The proceeds will go to Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM).

🔵 VeeFriends expands to the toy industry Macy’s, Toys’R’Us partnership. Gary Vaynerchuk is turning NFTs from his project, VeeFriends, into kids' toys. The toys are based on ten VeeFriends characters and will be available in Macy’s and Toys’R’Us departments and online stores.

🔵 New Mastercard product will help banks tackle crypto financial crime. Crypto Secure helps banks spot and cut off transactions from fraud-prone crypto exchanges. Mastercard is launching the service as one solution to the uptick in crypto-related crime.

🔵 Warner Music Group continues web3 expansion with metaverse job posting. Two weeks ago, WMG partnered with OpenSea. Last week, WMG posted a job for a senior director for metaverse development. The role looked for someone to lead the metaverse strategy. The posting hints at a continuation to expand their Web3 strategy.

🔵 NFT poster collection celebrates 60 years of 007. MGM and EON, the production company behind James Bond, release a selection of iconic poster NFTs on Veve to celebrate James Bond day. The purchase will be blind so buyers will not know which poster they have bought until purchasing.

The first series contains posters from Dr. No to Diamonds are Forever. Three more series are to come in the following months.

🔵 NFT platform ‘LaLiga Golazos’ to launch on October 27. Dapper Labs developed the Flow-based platform following the format of NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day with a closed beta test.

LaLiga, the Spanish soccer league, will sell bilingual NFTs that include play-by-play narration, player performance details, and match stats. The collectibles will feature notable moments from the league from 2005 to today.

🔵 FTX’s token surges 7% after a report that Visa partners with the exchange. FTT, the native token of the crypto exchange, increased by 7% following news about Visa partnering with FTX to roll out crypto debit cards across forty countries. The focus will be on Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

🟣 OpenSea launches SeaDrop. SeaDrop is an open-sourced smart contract that is being implemented to streamline the NFT minting process for creators and reduce the need for technical know-how.

SeaDrop smart contracts are compatible with Ethereum and Polygon, with support for Optimism, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Gnosis Chain, and BNB Chain coming in the future.

🟣 The number of NFT-related trademark filings in 2022 has already tripled the figure for 2021. Similarly, metaverse trademarks are also on the rise. This highlights growing interest from brands and signals increasing mainstream adoption.

🟣 Yuga Labs launches the first BAYC community council. The council consists of seven ‘Apes’ and will likely grow. These members were chosen as they are already proactive leaders in the BAYC community.

🟢 Shiba Inu is launching Shiba Eternity, a collectible card game on October 6. The game was initially tested in Vietnam and Australia, becoming an instant hit. Shiba Eternity has a Japanese martial arts theme.

Each player has their own “Shiboshi” that they have to protect from others. The meme coin has often been criticized for a lack of utility. Shiba Inu are trying to change that.

🟢 Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans for investing in digital transformation including NFT and metaverse services. The country has been promoting investment in digital technology, even through tax incentives.

Kishida’s administration recently launched a Web3 policy office under the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry to create policy for the country’s blockchain expansion.

🟢 Ubisoft and Take-Two back Ethereum NFT game maker Horizon in $40m Series A round. Since its founding in late 2017 Horizon has been delivering products to solve web3’s shortcomings and unlock utility.

Series A enables them to grow the Sequence ecosystem, expand Skyweaver content and launch Niftyswap.

🙌 Thank you for reading! See you next week!

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash