Letter from the Editor #3

 

A Weekly Roundup: 

This is the first letter from the editor of which we’re going to publish, in part, as an article.

 

In lieu of this, I’d like to introduce myself and the upcoming direction that the editorial team and myself have in mind for this outlet in the coming months.  My name is David Cash, and I’ve been the active Editor-in-Chief of this exciting new publication for the past month.  Alongside our Managing Director Glassy Music and Web Editor Albert Polanco, we have managed to take this platform from an NFT blog to a functioning news outlet harnessing the power of some of the most incredible writers in the NFTfi space.  

 

I entered the NFT space back in 2019 when I didn’t even call the images I was minting “NFTs.”  A few years later, and after writing a master’s thesis on the subject, I feel incredibly fortunate to be an active part of this NFTfi world.  This publication has given me the outlet to share many thoughts that, only several months ago, people would have thought that I was crazy to have.  NFTS.wtf is for the early adopters, those who like to be well informed, and those interested in unbiased opinions from key thought leaders in the community.  

 

We don’t spread FUD just because other news sources pick up on gossip.  Our writers and executive staff extensively research every piece we put out, often going above and beyond to seek the opinions of key community leaders in the process. We are a decentralized community, and in the coming months, we hope to scale our current offerings and introduce some exciting new features, with the ultimate goal to be your voice of truth in NFTs.  

 

So what’s the plan?  If you are receiving this as an email, you’ll notice the cover image for this newsletter.  Every week we’re releasing a digital cover to accompany our Newsletter, and in the coming months, each of these covers will be made available as NFT collectibles of varying rarity.  This will be facilitated by the launch of a dedicated storefront which will allow our readers to collect the most newsworthy moments happening in the NFT space.  Collectors of multiple covers will eventually unlock access which will allow them first access to our genesis DZine (digital magazine) which will be launching this fall. More information on that is coming soon.

 

To read the rest of this letter discussing generative art and the current state of NFTS…

 

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PRIDE is all about liberty, self-love, acceptance, and expression. We love ourselves a little more when we are rocking an epic garment, as fashion intrinsically ties into our identity. We are now granted liberties that surpass anything that fashion has given before with the availability of digital fashion like the most recent drop by Amber Jae Slooten and her digital fashion house The Fabricant. Slooten, alongside the iconic Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter /superstar Pabllo Vittar, Nicola Formichetti of NicoPanda, and artist Blake Kathryn, is enabling buyers to convey style without leaving a scar on the environment. Their digital garments are never brought into the physical world, forever living in the digital space that newer generations now exist in more than reality. We can now embody a variety of new elements to express our individualities while cleaning up the fashion industry too!

Presented by Nifty Gateway and Playboy, the collection boasts bold rainbow colors, beautiful variance in textures, and cool eye-catching animations. Go check it out for yourself! Although the collection sold out quickly, you can still view it in cool animated form and listen to the futuristic soundtrack. (That’s right musicians — You can now overlay your music into these digital fashions too!) The collection stays true to the unique playfulness we think of when we see people express their PRIDE style. Just like the purveyors of the event are doing by disrupting stigmas and previous social norms, this new form of apparel is shaking up what we once believed about our appearance.

dressx.com

 

Fashion is on the threshold of evolution and the future is looking… Simple. Clean. Sustainable…Yet also vibrant and bold, with a variety of never explored variants. Imagine wearing a simple robe IRL, but on your social media, you’re wearing an ornate gown made of materials previously foreign to the clothing production process.  With digital fashion, we are unconstrained by the same guidelines we’ve had to follow in the past. Unburdened by excess waste, the overhead of brick and mortar storefronts, or shipping logistics. Not to mention the overall pollution caused by the fashion industry (more than almost all other industries btw,) we are free to explore new realms of design. No longer are there rules eliminating certain elements in fashion due to lack of functionality.

While many are just learning about NFTs, Slooten has been utilizing the blockchain since at least 2019 with her release of Iridescence, a breathtaking digital gown that was never stitched or brought into the physical realm, but was still highly regarded and admired in the fashion world. With her ideas and wearables like the ones you can find on DressX, we are liberated to stylize in various ways never explored. DressX is a platform used by several designers and sustainable fashion advocates like Amber, to display their latest digital fashions for sale, alongside several others. The items are available for sale using FIAT currency and can be uploaded directly and superimposed onto the photos of your choice to be “worn.” Slooten is no rookie to this highly sustainable realm, she has actually been creating these designs for years already. “Fashion is a language we speak, it’s something we wear but it communicates in such a big way.” She shared on the TedEx stage, “Now this message of fashion was one I wanted to tell, but I came into school and I could not believe how physical things still were. I had to sew outfits day and night… and I thought why are things so physical, when the digital world permeates our daily life so much?”

Quantrum Boots
Photo Quantum Boots

I recommend giving Dressx a spin if you don’t know what the digital fashion hype is about yet. For now, you upload photos and place outfits accordingly, but with advancements like AR glasses, we could eventually have these adorning our bodies as we walk around, only visible to those with the appropriate eyewear. How cool would it be if our earthly environments were sleek, chic, and minimal until you put on your glasses activating a beautiful digital world full of spice and variety like we’ve never seen thus far. Sounds pretty nice to me, but what are your thoughts? Reach out at our NFTs.WTF Twitter and let us know!

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The United States Space Force recently announced their first NFT release. Launching a satellite in honor of Neil Armstrong, the Space force decided to commemorate and immortalize this project through accompanying the launch with a collection of one-of-a-kind, blockchain-based assets, fit with augmented reality add-ons.  

The collection launch took place on June 14th through Star Atlas (a blockchain-based metaverse offering virtual space exploration with next-generation multiplayer gaming technology), before being released on Ethernity’s platform on the 17th—the GPS III SV05 ARMSTRONG satellite’s launch date. This satellite launch will be the fifth of its GPS III fleet and will aid in advancing the GPS constellation’s navigation services for both military and civilian users.

 

The NFT collectibles, affiliated with this launch, can be bought on Star Atlas, as well as the VueXR app, until July 20th. Space Force partnered WorldwideXR and VueXR, to release this set of NFTs, with augmented reality add-ons. The collection consists of augmented reality tokens depicting satellites, mission badges, and coins—as depicted below.

 

Launching campaigns both on the metaverse and earth’s orbit, this project supports the U.S. military and its veterans, though it should be noted that it is not officially connected to, or endorsed by, the U.S. Department of Defense. 

 

While countries like Panama have adopted Bitcoin as a reserve currency in place of gold, countries like Turkey have banned the use of cryptocurrencies altogether. Seeing the US Space Force getting involved in the blockchain and metaverse arena might represent a turning point in US attitudes, leveraging the permanence of blockchain and honoring the role of artists in extended reality technology. NFTs are starting to become a household name, and this project will only further advance the NFT name in popular culture.

 

Following its creation as an independent branch of the U.S. armed forces in 2019, the Space Force was accused of being a vanity project of President Trump’s, amidst its centrality to the administration’s agenda at a time when domestic and international concerns were arguably far more of a concern. The Biden administration has, however, continued to signal full support for the world’s only independent Space Force. The Space Force is, in fact, the only military service set to grow under Biden’s 2021-2022 budget plans. 

 

Biden’s administration has also signaled a future for blockchain-related activities, through mention in the new “American Families Plan.” Biden contends that cryptocurrency represents a “relatively small portion of business income today” but that “cryptocurrency transactions are likely to rise in importance in the next decade…”  Accordingly, government response to blockchain activity remains preliminary, but this symbolic collaboration certainly marks a historically significant moment for the NFT space. 

 

As articulated by Michael Wagner, co-founder, and CEO of Star Atlas, “this partnership unlocks the potential of blockchain technology. It immerses our community in the growing adoption of real-time graphics, multiplayer video-game, and decentralized financial technologies on the Solana blockchain” through mainstream channels. 

 

With the launch of this project, the US Space Force hopes to inspire more people to explore space and, coincidentally, the metaverse too.

 

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Digging through Twitter threads to figure out what’s going on can be like having to make a trip to the DMV -it’s almost never fun and almost always painful. 

On the 24th of June, there was a little spark of controversy that flamed out into what appeared to be the only thing people were talking about, at least for a few hours in the NFT Twitterverse.  Especially if you live in the NFT echo chamber on Twitter and follow some of the most engaged accounts.

It started when account @beanieMaxi revealed that he was allegedly not just one person, but was a team of professional marketers and that he and @digitalartchick, another prominent NFT tweeter, were in fact the same group of people running both accounts for engagement purposes.

This prompted a backlash from the community and royally pissed off @digitalartchick as she then replied with a swift selfie with a side of Fuck You directed at Beanie.

 

 

Now, why in the fu*k should any of us care about what these two NFT Twitter accounts are saying? Who are they? and why are you even going to spend the next few minutes reading this article about this Twitter drama? 

 

Beanie is a self-proclaimed senior art critic @punkscomic, villain, and JPEG Shiller who at the time of this article being released has around 25K Twitter followers.



Digital Artchick, with a similar following on her Twitter, states that she drinks and tweets about art.  Both of these individuals are semi prominent collectors and recognized figures in the NFT space. They are known to invest in various projects and tend to draw attention to NFTs when they become collectors and start to tweet about them. 

 

Digital Art Chick

 

There are a few things about this whole debacle to unpack from this that I’d like to highlight:

Operating under anonymous pseudonyms and Twitter handles allows people to be curated versions of themselves, sometimes realistic, sometimes not so much.  This can also be problematic especially if the NFT community is going to grant these people any form of influence over this growing non-fungible token ecosystem.

Take both of these accounts, for example, they are pretty raw and no-filter-type Twitter accounts that create controversy as a method to gain engagement and exposure. While many find these antics entertaining, it also seems to really muddy the NFT space, at least from my perspective.

First of all, let me ask you a question, do you talk to other people in real life the way we see many of these Twitter personalities speaking to others online? 

I would hope not, much of the terrible manners I see in public social media conversations across the board, in real life could possibly earn you a good punch to the face, due to the overall lack of respect and basic decency. 

To be honest, this is not just these two influencers, it seems society and platform-wide, this is a growing trend that once you have some level of obscurity in your conversations, humans get a whole lot less inclined to have manners and I am not sure that is a good thing.

Personally, I refuse to even get involved in Facebook conversations outside of the tight-knit communities I am involved in because it is just so energy-draining and toxic to see how disrespectful and intolerant people feel entitled to act when they are hiding behind a keyboard.

What we pay attention to grows and so why would I even highlight this drama, that at the end of the day could be ignored by hitting the block button as many who value their sanity choose to do.

@Digitalart chick felt so much backlash from Beanies stunt that she posted a selfie to prove she was in fact a woman and not the alleged group of male marketers pretending to be a woman, and then ruthless twitter began to bash her for how she looked, which was definitely not cool.

Is this what the NFT community is about?

There is some humour to be found in Meme culture, but there is also a line we should consider as a community.  Berating, trolling bullying others online just does not represent what the NFT space is about in my opinion. In many ways what Beanie did was just reckless, added zero value to the community, and overall shows a lack of empathy and basic respect.  Selling out for engagement at the expense of others in the community is not just on this one individual, it falls on us as a community that engages with, applauds, and rewards this type of behaviour.

The fact that I am writing an article about it now, calling more attention to this type of behavior, in some ways can be seen as rewarding these types of antics. However, my goal is to start a discussion about our ethos in general as a community and to dialog about how we can begin to agree to treat one another better in this space.

To be honest, I can see why some find Beanie entertaining, but personally, for me, I’ll just mute him and keep moving forward. Which may be a very valid way to filter out what you want entering into your own mental space.

I find it much more worth my time to be inspired by others in this space who are building awesome things, helping others, contributing to causes that matter, and having a good time while still retaining some basic kindness and decency.  

At the same time I am not looking to always be politically correct or cater to each and every person’s personal triggers because at what point do you draw the line? Humans can virtually be offended by nearly anything these days and Who TF has time for all that?

 

Here are just a few profiles in this space that I do believe are worth highlighting for their work and how they show up in the NFT Community.  

 

 

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Members of Carbonbase (a climate fintech company based in Hong Kong) founded Project Ark, an organization dedicated to taking effective action against climate change by leveraging data science, blockchain technology, and sustainability.  

In partnership with Carbonbase  and World Wildlife Fund Panda Labs, Project Ark is an innovative new conservation platform, and an online marketplace, which sells rare NFT collectibles, in exchange for funds that support and protect both animals and the environment.

 

Project Ark: A Quick Overview

“At Project Ark, we aim to realize this potential impact by bringing together passionate artists, with purpose-driven collectors, and deserving projects to create a win-win-win situation,” says Jon O’Sullivan, head of Business Development for Carbonbase spearheading Project Ark.

The story of a WWF member holding one of the last rhinos in her palm just before it died in 2020 inspired the team to get involved with protecting the most vulnerable species wherever needed on the planet. As a result, Project Ark was created; a carbon-neutral NFT platform worked on by World Wildlife Fund Panda Labs, that directly funded conservation and animal protection organizations.

 

As part of Project Ark’s mission, the organization seeks to build a market where any artist can participate in whatever conservation project inspires them, in which a portion of the proceeds will go to the partner organizations. “We believe that the NFT space has tremendous potential to raise much needed resources, but also provide emotionally evocative and experiential art that can change the way people view our natural world,” explains Jon O’Sullivan.

 

Additionally, O’Sullivan’s team intends to release its large scale natural endowment funds and create their own Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) token, He adds: “this DAO will create a democratic governance amongst communities, in our mission to protect natural resources that are part of the common good but exploited by private interests.”

 

Staying conscious of sustainability and Carbon emissions, the team decided to go ahead and mint on the Polygon (formerly Matic) Network, “which is PoS (Proof of Stake) based and therefore involves negligible gas fees and Carbon emissions” O’Sullivan argues. “We also partnered with Chainlink (one of the more widely used Oracle Networks) so we can include Verifiable Randomness (VRF), and Dynamic NFTs going forward with the help of their oracles.”

 

Genesis Campaigns/Drops: An Overview

The current Genesis Drop offers 50% of all proceeds to World Wildlife Fund Romania, which supports their efforts to return endangered European Bison to the wild and to engage local communities in the conservation effort. Furthermore, Project Ark has a number of exciting conservation initiatives in the pipeline with which they will partner with creatives across a range of artistic mediums. 

 

The campaign was launched with the release of four NFT Egg tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum). Romanian instruments are used to create an original soundtrack for each of the Eggs, which represents an aspect of Romanian folklore and culture. Additionally, Project Ark has minted and offered 20 Genesis artworks up for grabs, which can be won by holders of Egg NFTs or purchased individually.

Besides the NFT Eggs, the entire Project Ark community will be able to access the Early Supporter Badge NFT.

 

 

World Wildlife Fund: An Overview 

 

“Our mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth…At every level, we collaborate with people around the world to develop and deliver innovative solutions that protect communities, wildlife, and the places in which they live.” _  World Wildlife Fund 

 

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)  has been working in its mission to help people and nature thrive for over 60 years working with nearly 100 countries.  

 

As the world’s leading conservation organizationWWF, engages businesses, local communities, academia, and conservation through Panda Laboratories . By attracting partners from various fields and gradually funding prototypes of identified solutions, Panda Labs will become the decentralized accelerator of WWF Romania, devoted to preserving nature and fostering local development.

 

Since 2006, WWF Romania has been dedicated to conserving wildlife in Romania’s Carpathian forests and along the Danube. Home to threatened species like amur leopards, brown bears, the sturgeons and European bison. Additionally, a program for young people to learn about the environment is being incorporated into this project.

WWF Romania started re-wilding the bison in 2014, and is now transforming local communities into conservationists through its extensive conservation program. As a result, bison populations running free in the wild have increased more than 200-fold, providing these communities with new and exciting economic opportunities.

 

 

Project Ark Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeAreProjectArk

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/3DEGTZJ68J

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareprojectark/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/Project_Ark

To purchase the art: https://opensea.io/collection/genesis-drop-ark

 

Chainlink:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chainlink

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/aSK4zew

Website: https://chain.link/

 

Polygon:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/0xPolygon

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/polygon

Website: https://polygon.technology/

Main featured image credit: “Back From The Brink” – NFT by @JonnyOhCanada

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As the world continues to familiarize itself with decentralized currencies and the concept of NFT’s, we are simultaneously presented with a wide range of possible applications associated with them. Remember, when people were denouncing the credibility and functionality of NFT’s? Remember that last piece I wrote on NBA Topshot? Well, very soon you’ll be able to take that very same Zion Williamson NFT I mentioned prior and use it as a security for collateral. As if earning “interest on deposits and borrowing assets” wasn’t akin enough to an FDIC-insured bank, AAVE has taken further steps. AAVE’s latest development in the world of DeFi is the opportunity for its users to use their NFT’s as collateral, as stated by their CEO Stani Kulechov.

(Image Credit: Aave)

We don’t have very much information as this is all very new, however, we should discuss what this means for the crypto community at large. Using valuable assets has always been a means of establishing net worth. Acquiring a home or car, applying for a loan, or in place of bail or bond in a courtroom. What if you had the option to add digital assets to the equation? The mere ability to do so would absolutely be of major financial assistance to artists in any foregone situations. Nonetheless, this goes much deeper. I’ve included images and quotes from various community members with opinions to illustrate what the average persons’ perception of NFT’s might be. (adam22)

 

 

A financial institution with as much notoriety in the crypto world as AAVE backing NFT’s so much that they are willing to allow users to put them up as collateral against something like a house is a major statement in favour of their potential value. At this point in time, a majority of people still do not understand cryptocurrency, even less appreciate NFT’s, and less than that would buy them. AAVE’s next move could be the catalyst for people to start informing themselves. Think about how simple it would be for a rich individual to acquire an NFT to store his asset’s, simultaneously making the artist’s career. Similarly, an individual with a more average bank account could easily acquire an NFT and allow it to balloon into something more monetarily valuable, then later use it as collateral.

Think about how difficult it was to pitch to your parents that you wanted to be an artist. Consider the effort involved with fighting to get people to take your art more seriously. In the traditional art world, we’ve seen illustrious works of fine art used as backing for collateral, this isn’t even uncommon. With AAVE backing you, your parents who grew up before the internet was conceived are given good reason to have faith in your craft. When AAVE implements this feature, there will surely be more crypto institutions of similar sizes who follow suit. This just means more credibility to both the concept and the artist.  In other words, AAVE’s soon to come collateral system doesn’t just back your NFT or the home you’re looking to buy. Before all of that, it backs you as an artist. We’ve had enough polarity in this genre of digital art, and this may very well be the solution. Funny enough, both collectibles and fine art can be accepted as collateral, and an NFT can arguably be classified as both, but certainly can be at least one. it’s honestly strange that this hasn’t happened already.

I love DeFi and a good NFT as much as you the reader likely do too, but to be taken seriously we must consider the opposing perspective, not just bash them. What happens when you put your piece up for a collateralized loan and it’s value depreciates? Here’s an easy example to follow: you’re a young collector who purchases a collectible pack from NBA Topshot. You score a one of a kind piece featuring Lebron James dunking on Steph Curry. You then take said NFT, and put it up for a loan for 20ETH. The following month, Lebron dunks on Curry again, and somebody else purchases that minted moment. Does your NFT’s value effectively get cut in half and leave you stuck to pay off an enormous debt you can’t possibly pay? It will be interesting to see exactly how something backed by DeFi will hold up in the long term against something with a somewhat fixed or a more fungible value.

In conclusion, while there is only room to speculate on AAVE’s NFT collateral system, I can say with the utmost confidence that the benefits heavily outweigh the negatives. As the universe surrounding NFT’s grows more roots, it will be easier to say how things will branch out. That being said, as the days grow closer to bringing this concept to life, I postulate that speculation will grow with it, especially as the story accumulates more media attention. The success of this feature seems to be incredibly pertinent to inciting the range of potential positives I mentioned earlier in this article. I have no doubt that AAVE will get this right from the beginning as a lot is dependant on them. What happens from here remains to be seen, however I’m looking forward to using my own artwork to create a stable future as well.

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The Super Yeti community experienced the long-awaited reveal of their treasured Yetis on June 14th. The remarkable efforts by the team behind the project were well-received by many members of the crypto community at large as well as by the secondary NFT market where sales of Yetis have topped 5 ETH. With an equitable launch of 0.1 ETH for every Yeti, a portion of the proceeds received will go towards cultivating a game and a community while also working to fight human trafficking in Nepal and India.

Photo Credit: @pranksyNFT and Super Yeti

 

 

The Project

The Super Yeti founders go by the names Supercape and Sparq, choosing to retain anonymity. Despite this fact, they have nonetheless made themselves fully present on their Discord server and through discussions on Clubhouse and Twitter, in addition to a podcast. Tirelessly answering questions while displaying their character and ambitions. Supercape has been part of three Silicon Valley startups and lends a jovial, optimistic attitude to the project that is balanced by Sparq’s diligent, data-driven approach. Sparq is an astute and experienced blockchain developer, having worked with solidity to secure multiple De-Fi projects since 2015.

 

Superscape’s vision was to build a “Yetiverse;” a blockchain game and a community of Yetis that would help decide what the fate of that game would look like. The project was essentially crowd-funded with NFTs to deliver a game for those who provided funding or bought a Yeti later. Critically, a social cause was attached to the project, establishing that 5% of all proceeds would go to fighting human trafficking in Nepal and India. 

 

Allocation & Pre-Sale

The Super Yeti company held 240 Yetis to fund future game development and community initiatives, awarded 60 to team members individually, and another 500 Yetis were given to community members as part of a giveaway. The Super Yeti project then started its pre-sale on June 8th at 3 PM EST, in which the remaining 9,200 Yetis went up for sale at 0.1 ETH each. Initially, 24 different traits were defined for each Yeti’s characteristics including their eyes, hands, colour, and background that could form up to 20,000 different combinations of Yetis. Nobody who participated in the presale knew what properties their Yeti would end up having, how rare they would be, or what they would end up looking like, but the community was excited by the vision and the cause, as well as their firm belief in the team’s ability to achieve it.

Super Yeti
Photo Credit: @MrTrapie and Super Yeti team

 

The pre-sale quickly gained traction, and all 10,000 Yetis were sold out only a few days later on June 11th. Due to popular demand, the Super Yeti team brought on additional team members that focused on community management, graphic design, and development. The result of these additional resources was the exponential increase in the number of possible Yetis, and thereby further enhanced the uniqueness of each Yeti. Instead of 24 traits there were now 88, reportedly capable of forming over a million combinations, up from 20,000.

The community was delighted to receive this news on the Super Yeti Discord Server. Furthermore, ahead of the reveal, the Super Yeti team announced their first significant donation of 10 ETH to New Light Kolkata, a public charitable trust based in India with a broad array of social justice programs including educating and caring for the children of sex workers and “untouchables”- a social caste in India placed on the bottom of the social ladder that limits many opportunities.

 

The Reveal

The Super Yetis were revealed on June 15th at 3PM, exactly one week after the pre-sale began. People began to notice their NFTs changing from the question marks overlaying the Yetis to the Yetis they were awarded. Many flocked to Twitter and Clubhouse to show off the designs of their new Yetis, and within a few days some of the rarest ones were selling for 5 ETH. 40 minutes after the reveal, Opensea finally gave the project the verified badge on their site. The reveal had been successful.

Since then, the Discord community has grown both by member count to over 3700 members, and also by breadth of discussion. There now exist many additional channels covering many topics even beyond Yetis. 

 

The Future/The Impact

The Super Yeti community that has assembled over the past two weeks has been united by their belief in the blockchain game that they could build, as well as by the social cause that is inseparable from the project. The Yetis of legend are often placed around the Himalaya Mountains, the same mountain range that separates Nepal from India. It is across these two countries that the Super Yeti project focuses its donations to fight human trafficking. 

 

This is proof of many concepts. First, that a project can be crowdfunded by a community while simultaneously rewarding those that participate. NFTs provide the ideal use case for such a model. Furthermore, it verifies that a social cause attached to an exciting project can truly supercharge the potential for both. As we move to a more socially responsible future, we look to pioneers like the Super Yeti project to exemplify taking advantage of these new technologies to improve the lives of others around the world.

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Pinkwashing: A term used to describe the action of using gay-related issues in positive ways in order to distract attention from negative actions by an organization, country, or government. [ Sarah Schulman, The New York Times, November 23, 2011

Super Rare Pride

 

SuperRare, one of the Largest invite-only NFT marketplaces is quite respected in the metaverse.  Unsurprisingly, earlier this Pride Month, like almost all other companies in the space, SuperRare announced their virtual pride programing. What came as a surprise to myself, and fellow LGBTQ+ folks in the community was that after what most assumed to be their “initial” post, their “pride programming” simply stopped…

Their Instagram post on June 14th, halfway through pride month, mentioned that they would “be donating 100% of [their] commissions earned between June 14-16 to @outintech 🌈.”

Now before getting too deep into analyzing this, I want to mention that I have nothing but respect for Out in Tech and similar international organizations that champion LGBTQ+ working professionals. However, given that this event was and is the only LGBTQ+ fundraising effort made by SuperRare this month, it feels like a quota made to be filled. 

First of all, SuperRare processes millions of dollars in trades annually. Even though they only take a 3% fee on transactions, they recently raised over 9million USD in their series A round alone. While it is “nice” of them to offer a portion of their profits to a queer-centric organization during pride month, it doesn’t feel like enough. Especially considering that it was only for two days out of the month and that this was one of their only pride activations. And the only one with a direct monetary donation or incentive. 

This is extra unfortunate for me, as I previously quite liked SuperRare as a platform despite the exclusive nature of their marketplace. However, as a decentralized organization in the DeFi space, I believe that companies have an obligation to do better. We need to move past the “old boys club” of the traditional art market and put in the work to truly champion diverse artists from around the world. Any platform that hasn’t gone out of its way this month to highlight and champion LGBTQ+ and BIPOC voices, in lieu of Pride Month and Juneteenth, is simply out of touch. And I don’t believe that they have a place in this ecosystem. 

I should mention that this wasn’t the only thing that SuperRare did.  The same day they put out a tweet with a blog post highlighting a few LGBTQ+ artists on their platform and also released a poster celebrating 50 years of pride.  However, it all stopped there – and it’s simply not enough!  These efforts, even in aggregation, are super lacklustre — and seem to be a sheepish attempt to compensate for primarily promoting white cis male artists on their platform. All one needs to do is go to their Instagram profile to see their one single pride-related post followed by going back to regular programming.  They even went so far as to “balance out” their rainbow post with a rainbow piece of art (with no mention of pride month of course).

 

Now am I trying to vilify SuperRare? Not at all. I would just like to issue this as a public statement to SuperRare and all other major players in this space to DO BETTER! We are a decentralized community. We exist internationally and represent a rainbow of races, creeds, gender expressions, sexualities, belief systems, and so much more. This shouldn’t be perceived by big companies as a burden, but an opportunity! And we have already seen it starting. Companies like Decentraland have gone out of their way to create Pride parades, and entire pride month calendars in partial replacement of physical events still closed due to covid restrictions. 

These kinds of large organizations going out of their way to champion marginalized communities is exactly what we need in order to make the decentralized art world a better place to be a part of. I really hope that SuperRare and other organizations take this article to heart and reflect on how they can be better allies to the members of their workforces and communities at large. 

I would love to follow this article up with a conversation with any representative from SuperRare that might be so brave as to hop on a recorded zoom interview with me-

If interested, email me at david@nfts.wtf

 

Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈

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Eric Andre has announced his debut into the NFT space with his piece “Nonflushable Turd.” After joining Foundation just this month, Andre’s one and only piece, “Nonflushable Turd,” minted on June 21, 2021, is being auctioned off at noon PST on June 24th. The piece depicts a multi-headed amalgamation of flesh, covered in Andre’s face, amidst a serene backdrop. This audiovisual piece was crafted in collaboration with Maylee Todd (musician), Kyvita (multi-media artist), and Matthewdavid McQueen (music mastering). 

Andre announced his NFT debut via Instagram this past week—but shortly after removed the post. Fans and foes alike have begun to accuse Andre of being a “hypocrite” or a “sellout” for making this move. 

Eric Andre NFT

 

Andre is best known as the creator and host of the “The Eric Andre Show” on Cartoon Network’s late-night program, Adult Swim. Unlike traditional late-night television—constrained by certain etiquette, and oriented towards the comfort and viewing pleasure of its audience—Andre’s show refuses to run smoothly, basks in discomfort, and capitalizes off of the incomprehensible. His transition into the world of NFTs has undoubtedly been no different. 

Some onlookers repudiate Andre’s involvement in this new space, suggesting he is no longer the countercultural icon he used to be; others speculate that Andre may have taken down this Instagram announcement after receiving such backlash. 

I would think it expedient to further examine what this shift into the NFT space means for Andre’s work before jumping to such conclusions. 

 

Eric Andre Show
Eric Andre Show

 

Some critics cite environmental impact. First of all, when compared with almost any other industry, (fashion, food, shopping, internet providers, etc-) the amount of energy being used by the ethereal blockchain is negligible. Current efficiency also has the potential to be ameliorated once Ethereum is able to transfer to a Proof of Stake (POS) system, as opposed to its current proof of work system (POW). Put simply, this would allow for transactions to only be processed by one computer/server at a time, as opposed to multiple. Like in any new industry, efficiency can always be improved. 

Others take the position that transferring to the big-tech, high-capital world of blockchain runs counter to Andre’s “counter-cultural” brand. But, Andre’s work—this piece as no exception—centers upon the unbelievable. The NFT art space, as it currently exists, has constantly embraced the “new”, as a futuristic and extremely iterative space. The unbelievable is a core tenet of this. 

 

 

If we apply the Dadaist objective of “overturning traditional notions” to Andre’s work, his entrance into the world of NFTs starts to make a little bit more sense. The concept of Dada, borne out of the aftermath and socio-political attitudes of the first world war takes on a worldview of nihilism—a surrendering to the absurd. In our contemporary political climate, we begin to see a resurfacing of such attitudes. If reality seems absurd, Dadaism takes it a step further. Today, we exist in an age of limitless information, biological warfare, and increased political polarization—to the point where it seems nearly impossible to consider what our future might look like. We find ourselves, once again, turning towards the absurd because what else is one to do in times like these, but laugh?

“Hypermodernity” describes our current situation in which technology has begun to rapidly outpace expectations, but also describes the new body of multi-media art we see taking form, especially in the NFT space. 

 

 

We may have never expected Eric Andre to put out an NFT, but when has Andre given us what we have expected? The Eric Andre Show takes a sledgehammer to the concept of the traditional talk show and affronts audiences with unexpected expletives, nonsensical narratives, and shock-value comedy. His work in music, under the pseudonym “Blarf,” follows suit with a similar lack of structure. Blarf’s most recent album “Cease and Desist” features a nearly thirteen-minute song entitled “I Worship Satan ” in which car chase sounds and static noise are intermittently cut by samples from Stanley Kubrik’s Paths of Glory. Across genres, Andre has left us with a lot to make sense of, but little to make sense of it. His NFT debut is no exception. 

Ultimately, it’s not supposed to make sense. And it doesn’t.

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Imagine you’re preparing for the biggest event of your life. You’re traveling out of town, and you’ve made specific wardrobe choices to compliment your groundbreaking moment. While packing for your trip, you had to choose between an additional outfit or an extra pair of shoes because your luggage is too small, and you had to decide which outerwear to bring because there wasn’t enough room in your carry-on for more than one jacket. After nearly missing your flight, you land at your destination only to discover the airline has misplaced your luggage. This happens all the time.

Now imagine how convenient it would be if your whole outfit, including your accessories, were instantly emailed to you. Everything you’re wearing, from head to toe, is created digitally, with your designer’s imagination being the only structural limitation. She receives your body measurements through an app and styles your unique, custom-made garments using computer-aided design software without ever meeting you in person. You can save your design, backup your entire wardrobe closet on a hard drive, and print your clothing locally. You can choose which materials to use based on the weather, season, or style preferences, and you can even change colors to suit a special occasion the next time you print. The materials you’re wearing are completely re-usable, so you’re making environmental sustainability a fashion statement. This may sound futuristic because only 1% of the market’s textiles are being recycled, yet forward-thinking fashion designers like Danit Peleg are hard at work; innovating the wearable future of fashion, today.

Peleg has always been curious about the relationship between fashion and technology. Before her studies at Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Peleg was experimenting with knitting machines, laser cutting, and digital printing. The focus of her studies landed her a prestigious internship at an Avante Garde fashion house in New York, where Peleg had a firsthand look at 3D wearable objects for the first time. Although the materials she worked with were stiff and breakable, Peleg was inspired by the waste-free simulation process and began to explore the design potential for eco-friendly wearables of her own making.

“When I started to learn about the current situation with the global fashion industry and production, I was really, really depressed,” Peleg recalls. “I started to research and learn how fashion design became the second most polluting industry. Being a participating member, I didn’t want to be part of it. We’re using the same technology we used 100 years ago. But now you don’t have to go through tons of inventory and you can see the digital design and even try on the garment with augmented reality.”

 

With the opportunity to learn an industrial process that rendered 3D printed wearables unaffordable for the everyday consumer, Peleg was determined to find a cost-effective solution to achieve her brand ambitions. The printers being used were massive, so she needed to scale her process to smaller machines in order to work alone or with a core collaborative team. A chance encounter at Burning Man became the galvanizing gift; a 3D-printed necklace that had been created using a commercially available desktop 3D printer. With her design modeling experience and several 3D printers within arm’s reach, Peleg designed her first 3D-printed wearable fashion collection called Liberty Leading the People, which she launched from home while in her graduating year at Shenker. Her collection of five outfits were made entirely of 3D printed materials—including shoes and accessories. Peleg produced her collection on six 3D printers running 24 hours a day; waking up in the middle of the night to change the ink colors, assemble garments, and try them on her models. Peleg’s innovative spirit drove the success of her collection and propelled her career to the forefront of technological research and development in the fashion industry.

With sophisticated printers now at her disposal, Peleg is dedicated to improving upon 3D print materials that are currently available to the public. The focus of her research involves the combination of flexible structures with flexible materials to create softer fabrics. Most of the materials she’s currently using look and behave like rubber; they’re soft, yet nothing like cotton, silk, or leather. Her collaboration with Moon Creative Lab develops sustainable materials for 3D printers that behave like fabrics and are still 100% reusable and recyclable. The traditional process to create a fashion collection results in tremendous waste, leftover fabric, and raw materials that are either buried or burned.

“I imagine all of our clothes can be recycled,” Peleg muses. “You just go to the store, give back your old t-shirt, and get a refund or credit for your next purchase based on the weight—or you can simply reuse your own material,” she emphasized. “You can do something else with it. You’ll have a spool of similar material to wool or cotton or silk, and you’ll be able to choose and reuse your materials over and over.”

 

 

Design manufacturing is now so fast that the latest trends can be released every day, which isn’t entirely unlike NFTs on the blockchain. When combined, you can produce an NFT garment with zero inventory, and sell as many pieces as you want. Peleg’s NFTs come with an unlockable folder containing the 3D printable files and a document explaining how to print and assemble your clothing. A virtual file is also included for your avatar to wear the very same garment in the metaverse. An augmented reality filter on Peleg’s Instagram offers the convenience of viewing her clothing in your own home, and if you don’t have access to a 3D printer, Peleg will print your garment in pieces and ship them to you. You also have the option to order the entire garment printed in her studio.

“I believe the proof of provenance and ownership that NFTs offer will help revolutionize fashion, specifically digital and 3D-printable fashion,” Peleg says. “This will enable designers to sell their work directly to customers who will not only want to wear and promote their fashion in the metaverse, but will also print and wear them in the physical world. If you want to prove you own the Gucci bag with its NFT twin, you need to own both the digital and physical piece.”

 

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The Binance NFT marketplace, from the Binance crypto exchange, launches June 24th. The marketplace kicks off with “100 Creators” ranging from crypto artists to musicians to athletes. The launch is preceded by numerous NFT platforms and marketplaces appearing on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). In addition, Featured by Binance recently launched under the auspices of the Binance developer network, Binance X.

Binance is currently ranked by CoinMarketCap as the world’s largest exchange based on volume. It has been particularly adept at fast following trends developed in other ecosystems, particularly in the world of Ethereum, and in finding ways to participate in decentralization while maintaining a very centralized organization. It is not the least bit surprising to see NFTs launching on BSC and for Binance itself to be launching an NFT platform. What remains to be seen are the larger potential effects of NFTs being directly supported by such a major force.

Binance NFT is expected to launch on June 24th featuring a high-end “Premium Event” category and a more open “Trading Market” category. The platform is custodial and will require Binance.com accounts to participate. The overall goal, as stated by the Head of Binance NFT, Helen Hai, is to “provide the largest NFT trading platform in the world with the best minting, buying, and exchanging experience, by leveraging the fastest and cheapest solutions.”

 

With low transaction fees and a 1% processing fee on sales, Binance sounds like a great deal. Perhaps the biggest catch is that the secondary marketplace will provide only a 1% royalty. Given the sizable role Binance plays, one would expect a large group of collectors to respond to this opportunity. While they might appreciate lower royalties, increasing the percentage would be a smart move by Binance in order to attract the best artists active on other blockchains.

That said, the “100 Creators,” include some standout names such as Osinachi, Kelvin Okafor, the Uganda National Museum and Trevor Jones. Other participants are known more as influencers or celebrities, such as Russell Simmons, or have a solid history in crypto art with somewhat less visibility in the West, such as IOYOI. Overall, the group seems relatively diverse though seems to be overly dominated by male participants even more than is typical in the space.

Musicians and sports figures will also play a prominent role, as noted in two preview posts on the Binance blog (here and here) again featuring only men. Musicians include Lil Yachty, Kyle and Lewis Capaldi while athletes include Michael Owen, Alphonso Davies and Guti.

 

 

I spoke briefly with four crypto artists about their involvement with Binance NFT.

Trevor Jones, well known for the “Picasso’s Bull” drop on Nifty Gateway in 2020, also created the “Binance, Bull and Rocket” physical artwork shown above and an animated NFT MP4 at that time. Due to the pandemic, Jones’ plans for exhibiting this work were put on extended hold. When Binance contacted Jones to see if he would be interested in participating in the launch, he recognized that it would be a great opportunity to finally release the NFT.

Notable African crypto artist Osinachi found out about Binance NFT when a Binance Africa staff member contacted him. He will be “sharing 5 artworks that encourage people to create happiness with what is around them.”

He also states:

“I’m joining Binance NFT marketplace because I feel that, just as they are an exchange with incredible success, they can help spread the NFT gospel to people in crypto and even add to the already existing channels through which enthusiasts can buy and trade NFTs.”

IOYOI, a crypto artist based in Taiwan, is active on a variety of platforms and is also a member of The Sandbox Creators Fund. He is “currently focusing on the combination of voxel and painting.” His initial collection for Binance NFT “interlaces retro games with today’s blockchain universe (metaverse), from sports video games to Sandbox lands.”

IOYOI is “honored” to be among “talents from various fields selected by Binance NFT platform to exhibit together.” He appreciates being in the first wave of creators given that it is a “big platform” and a “new opportunity” with many more artists able to join after July.

Phygital artist MAIKEUL will also be offering three 1/1 NFTs “which are the digital versions of physical works that will be available at Eternity Gallery in Paris, on the same date as the launch date of the NFT platform of Binance.”  He is “super excited” about the launch and “think[s] Binance NFT is a good thing” to achieve “more visibility and to share [his] vision of what NFTs are.”

 

Featured by Binance is a related NFT platform, though non-custodial, that Binance X launched on June 17th. Its debut featured the work of Dylan Cole who has designed for over 60 films including Lord of the Rings, Avatar and Maleficent. Essentially Featured by Binance supplies the decentralized wing of Binance’s entry into the world of NFTs. This approach allows Binance to satisfy a broader range of needs than a centralized NFT marketplace alone could address.

A variety of other NFT marketplaces and platforms have launched or are launching on BSC, including some that will be compatible with other blockchains as well, such as:

 

While the Binance NFT marketplace, along with Featured by Binance, may initially overwhelm smaller NFT platforms on BSC, in the long run, it may well produce a stronger ecosystem. Binance’s efforts to promote NFTs will likely validate them to skeptics in a way that numerous smaller platforms could not do so easily. As Binance introduces a growing number of new collectors to NFTs, some will eventually seek out specialized markets on BSC. Enticing artists and collectors when Binance will offer its own NFT marketplace next to Featured by Binance will be no simple task for smaller platforms. But those prepared for the long haul will find themselves part of what is likely to be an incredibly rich ecosystem for NFTs on BSC.

 

Featured Images by Binance

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This past week, President Biden signed a bill into law making Juneteenth a national holiday.  Although the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation officially freed all enslaved peoples in 1863, June the nineteenth marks the date, two and a half years later (in 1865), when Federal troops marched into Texas to effectively implement this order. Finally recognizing this long-held tradition at the Federal level, Biden’s administration acknowledges the fact that the fourth of July is not everybody’s day of independence in this country. Commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, Juneteenth celebrates Black Americans’ progress and commitment to continue fighting for equality and meaningful social change in the ever-flawed system we exist in today. 

Official recognition of this holiday is no panacea for the structural inequities Black Americans continue to encounter. However, while celebrating this step forward, we must continue to demand reparations, demand an end to police violence, demand representative and accessible education, and continue to fight for Black liberation. Black contributions in labour, culture, innovation, and the arts, have made this country what it is today, yet Black artists continue to be overshadowed in traditional networks. 

This year, in celebration of Juneteenth, Black Lives Matter (BLM) is collaborating with Nifty Gateway (one of the current largest NFT marketplaces) to host a digital art fair, highlighting the work of several Black creators. The exhibit features artists such as Oto Abasi Attah, Gianni Lee, Shanina Dionna, Julian Gillam (AKA Logik), Kennedy Yanko, and others.  

giannilee
Photo by https://www.instagram.com/giannilee/

 

The exhibit, curated by Damon Turner (founder of Trap Heals), exemplifies a growing trend in the NFT space through which digital partnerships allow influencers, or organizations, in collaboration, to harness their audience in order to maximize sales. This collaborative tactic is not unlike the collective action we see in social activism more frequently. 

 

But why choose NFTs?

The NFT space gives Black creatives the opportunity to transcend geographical boundaries, political barriers, and produce radical art in a radical space. It is understood that the power of truth often depends upon the power of whom it is in the hands of. Many minority groups, notably Black Americans, have had their truths silenced for many decades. Yet, through collective action and political agency, minority groups have, over time, been able to work to translate truth into power. NFTs present a forum for this kind of translation — freeing artists from the constraints of governmental and/or corporate bureaucracy. In the traditional art world, power structures and inequities have solidified themselves over time. NFTs place power in the hands of the artist. Though leading social change in the decentralized space of NFTs at its infancy, BLM and other social movements may be able to play a role in shaping the future of NFT marketplaces and how they might be able to advance a shared cause. 

The NFT platform, aside from its social implications and benefits for artists, holds investment appeal as well. NFTs present unique value to potential donors in terms of the unique return value, provable scarcity, indivisibility, guaranteed ownership through smart contracts, transferability, and cryptographic security. These characteristics of NFTs enable creators and consumers to engage in transactions through secure, transparent, and efficient means. 

In whole, the platform complies with artists’ needs, consumers’ needs, and overall serves to bolster the cause of BLM, in its mission “to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.” This past Juneteenth, and onwards, it is important to reflect not only upon past realities – but also on the ways in which we can pave the way for greater equality in the future. The decentralization of power propagated by the NFT space is beginning to spur change in this direction. 

Marking Juneteenth as a national holiday has inspired a reclamation of Black stories, histories, and celebrations, as exemplified by this BLM X Trap Heals initiative on Nifty. 

Visit Nifty Gateway or BLM Juneteenth Events Page for more.

 

Image Source: Trap Heals by Oto-Abasi Attah

Main Featured Image By Julian Gilliam aka LOGIC

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