Are you ready for some NFTs news?
We've prepared a new article that covers the latest news and updates in the world of Web3 and NFTs. Read them below!
Contents
📈Macro - NFT Bucharest will take place in May 2024;
🗞️ Last week's news - Friend.tech, Salvador Mundi, Polygon Labs, OpenSea, LooksRare S3, VeVe;
💰Investments/Funding - Magic Eden, ZTX, OpenAI;
📣 Projects news/Updates - Azuki, Zynga, Yuga Labs, Wreck League, Cool Cats, CyberConnect;
⚖️ Legal - Metaverse Lawyer writes about how a US judge threw out copyright for AI-generated art, setting a precedent;
⚙️NFTility, by Mtk - The Memes;
📚 Dictionary - Soulbound Token, Satoshis;
💸 Sale of the week - Autoglyphs #490;
📈 Macro
NFT Bucharest will take place in May 2024 in the same location. We turned it on its head, it was by no means an easy decision, but hard decisions make the difference between success and long-term irrelevance.
In short:
- NFT Bucharest will take place on 10-11 May 2024. In the same location;
- For all the 1000+ frens who already have tickets, there is no need to upgrade: the same tickets will be valid;
- We have open registration for everyone else. Fill in the form and you will receive 50% discount when we put the tickets on sale. What form? You can find it on our new website, cool AF. Here.
BONUS? Also from today, we have opened some more forms. You can already apply for:
- Speaker;
- Sponsor;
- Volunteer;
- Media Partner
- Community partner. All on the website!
🗞️ News from last week
- Friend.tech, built on the L2 Base blockchain, is generating over $2.8M since its launch. The platform allows users to tokenize their social networks, so by buying a share, you can connect directly with your favorite people.
- Salvador Mundi, a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, valued at $450M, is the latest work of art to be turned into an NFT.
- Polygon Labs is working with SK Telecom to develop a web3 ecosystem in South Korea.
- OpenSea introduces optional fees for creators and will close Operator Filter from 31 August 2023.
- Season 3 of LooksRare kicks off and $1M worth of LOOKS prizes are announced from August 16 to October 16. Terms here.
- VeVe celebrates 30 years of Jurassic Park with digital collectibles. The waiting list is now open.
💰 Investments / Financing
- Magic Eden is launching a $1M fund to support NFT creators on Polygon through its NFT Creator Spotlight program.
- Web3 platform Metaverse ZTX $13M in funding. With a base of 20M monthly active web2 users, they aim to become the largest Web3 virtual universe.
- OpenAI has acquired Global Illumination, creator of Biomes, the MMORPG Minecraft clone, but the value of the deal was not disclosed.
📣 Projects News / Updates
- Azuki has announced a collaboration with NFL star Patrick Mahomes for an upcoming auction of an Azuki-style Mahomes 1/1 card. It can be won for free by Azuki holders participating in a raffle. In addition, all Azuki holders will be able to take possession of the physical Scorching Sidearm Pass card in the coming week.
- Zynga, known for games like Farmville and Words With Friends, is launching its first Web3 game, Sugartown and the NFT Oras collection that will offer access to games and rewards.
- Yuga Labs reacts to OpenSea's announcement and announces that they will block all new NFT transactions on OpenSea until February 2024. There is speculation that Yuga Labs may create its own platform to prioritize creators' rights.
- Wreck League, which is set to launch on September 14, promises a 50% revenue share for Mech holders who sell non-NFT copies in the in-game store.
- Stephen Teglas resigns as CEO of Cool Cats. Cool Cats founder Clon takes over the position and will have an expanded leadership role.
- CyberConnect and Animoca Brands are collaborating to build a decentralized social layer, providing interoperable user experiences in the NFT Mocaverse ecosystem.
⚖️ Legal
Breaking News! A US district judge rejects copyright for art generated by artificial intelligence, ruling in favor of human creativity, setting a precedent for artificial intelligence and intellectual property rights.
In a recent ruling, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell upheld the U.S. Copyright Office's position that works of art generated entirely by artificial intelligence do not qualify for copyright protection. This ruling comes amid growing concerns about the potential for generative AI to replace human artists and writers.
After more than 100 days of the Hollywood writers' strike, concerns have grown about the possibility of AI taking over the screenwriting role. However, intellectual property law has consistently held that copyright is only granted to works created by humans.
Judge Howell's decision came in response to Stephen Thaler's challenge to the government's refusal to register AI-generated works. Thaler, CEO of neural network firm Imagination Engines, argued that AI should be recognized as an author when it meets authorship criteria. Accordingly, ownership of the work should revert to the owner of the machine.
Judge Howell disagreed, pointing out that human authorship is a fundamental requirement of copyright law. She cited earlier cases, such as Burrow-Giles Lithographic Company v. Sarony, which held that protection can only extend to the original intellectual conceptions of human authors. Another case showed that a photograph taken by a monkey cannot be copyrighted because animals do not qualify for protection.
The Copyright Office reaffirmed in March that most works generated by artificial intelligence are not copyrightable, but AI-assisted material can be protected in certain cases. An AI-assisted work may be eligible for copyright if a human has "selected or arranged" it in a sufficiently creative way.
This ruling changes the discussion about AI and copyright. However, AI-generated art may not be copyrightable, but it puts the focus on human creativity in the field of intellectual property. Fair enough.
⚙️ NFTility
In the crypto and NFT markets, volatility can take us from WAGMI to NGMI with breathtaking speed. But one thing it can't take away: the seed of culture planted with the first transaction and germinating as we discover and understand every feature of blockchain technology.
One promoter of culture is 6529 who, together with the seize.io team, created The Memes. The utility of this collection is, in fact, in being a movement to cultivate the characteristics necessary for the development of a free metaverse - decentralization and sovereignty propagated through communities, block by block.
The Memes are a series of "cards" created in collaboration with artists selected by the team, and whose art is CC0. Because each collection is limited, tokens are distributed through a well-established process before each release.
In contemporary culture, the meme is defined as a unit of cultural information distributed through imitation. It can take the form of an idea, phrase, behavior, or even style of dress.
For many of us, the current crypto/NFT portfolio doesn't make us smile. But with "short and long passes" we will succeed; because we have one more mission: 'even if we don't have the ball, we hit the goal'.
Until next time, first of all, don't forget why you're still here.
📚 Dictionary
- SBT, Soulbound Token - We're talking about non-transferable, "soulbound" NFTs; once you've mint/borrowed one, it will always be tied to your wallet and identity. They cannot be sold or transferred to another person/wallet. It could be diplomas, medical records, ID, etc. But it could also be used in a negative sense. Maybe issued by an authoritarian state that can put a label on you that can destroy your reputation. The name was invented after the game World of Warcraft and became mainstream after it was brought to life by Vitelik Buterin
- Sats/Satoshis - Each Bitcoin is divided into 100,000,000 units called satoshis (or sats). Admit it, you weren't sure there were 100 million sats in a Bitcoin. We all happened to think it was 1 million. 10 at the most!
💸 Sale of the week
We changed the pace a little. What's with all the CryptoPunks?
So we have this Autoglyphs #490 sold for 158 ETH ~ $287,846.
You may be wondering what Autoglyphs is. Well, think of Autoglyphs as a revolutionary generative art project on the Ethereum blockchain. A pioneer of sorts for generative art collections on the blockchain as early as 2019, it was created by Larva Labs and developed by the creators of CryptoPunks (Ahaaa, so still CryptoPunks related..).
In technical terms 🤓, Autoglyphs uses an optimized algorithm encapsulated in an ERC-721 interface that has the ability to generate a multitude of distinctive artwork. Simple as that...
Find us:
Creative Tim
Metaventis
