Web3 Watch: Rarible Revamps Marketplace, ApeCoin DAO Adds Bug Bounty

“What is an NFT?” is the Internet’s most Googled NFT question.

It is searched an average of 948,000 times each month around the world, CoinGecko research has revealed. The second-most-searched NFT question is: “How do you create an NFT?” — Googled an average of 287,000 times per month. 

Despite its search popularity, the NFT market took a heavy hit in Q3. CoinGecko reported a 77% fall in total trading volume from Q2 to Q3 across the top five NFT marketplaces — OpenSea, Magic Eden, LooksRare, X2Y2 and CryptoPunks.

Another NFT marketplace, Rarible, is revamping its own offerings by launching a version 2 and integrating sustainable token incentives to boost its trading volume. 

Those are among the notable stories that caught the eyes of the Web3 Watch crew.

Rarible gets an upgrade

NFT marketplace and protocol Rarible has updated its ecosystem to introduce Rarible 2, an aggregated marketplace that pulls Ethereum listings from OpenSea, LooksRare, X2Y2 and Sudoswap.  

The goal of aggregated NFT listings, according to the company, is to create a one-stop-shop for NFT collectors to find the best prices. 

Rarible.com users can also now add multiple NFTs to their carts and purchase various Ethereum ERC-721 NFTs in a single transaction.

Additionally, the Rarible community — made up of RARI governance token holders and RARI DAO members — recently voted in favor of implementing a RARI locking feature as part of the Rarible 2 update. 

Locking is the process of sending RARI to a token-locking contract in exchange for rewards. Token holders who lock up their RARI may receive more voting power in the protocol and get “veRARI” in return.

“Ve” stands for “vote-escrowed.” Rarible claims it is the first NFT company to integrate a vote-escrowed model (ve-model) approved by the RARI DAO. 

Users who lock at least 100 RARI will have the ability to vote on Rarible’s weekly featured RARI rewards collections, govern the Rarible Protocol through the RARI Foundation, and benefit from 0% trading fees on items listed on Rarible. 

The RARI DAO also approved a rewards program for traders. Rarible.com users who buy NFTs can receive RARI based on the royalties users pay for an item, also known as royalties cash back. Those who make an NFT listing from the weekly featured RARI rewards collection will be eligible to receive RARI.

Those who bought more than three NFTs from Rarible.com from July 1 to Sept. 30 may be eligible to receive 100 RARI via a retroactive airdrop.

ApeCoin staking delays

The ApeCoin DAO is considering whether to push back the launch of NFT and ApeCoin (APE) staking to allow for a bug bounty program. 

A proposal would allocate 1 million APE, or $4.5 million, to potential bounties that will last two to four weeks. The idea was put forward by ApeCoin DAO special council member Maaria Bajwa on the project’s governance forum.

Staking is tentatively scheduled to go live on Oct. 31, however, if this proposal passes, the launch may be delayed yet again.

Horizen Labs, the company leading the development of ApeCoin DAO’s staking system, released a seven-part document this week that outlines the plan.

The document laid out the four staking pools that will be live when APE staking begins. There is a general ApeCoin pool in which anyone holding APE can stake. The total staking allocation for the ApeCoin pool is 30,000,000 ApeCoin.

No NFTs are required, but there is a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) pool for BAYC holders where collectors can stake up to 10,094 APE per Bored Ape they own. Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) holders will have their own pool and be able to stake up to 2,042 APE per owned Mutant.

There will also be a paired pool for those who want to stake a Bored Ape Kennel Club NFT (BAKC). Because a BAKC cannot stake ApeCoin alone, it must be combined with a Bored or Mutant Ape.

Horizen Labs also warns users who stake their Ape NFTs, any APE earned will live in the NFT, so if they sell an NFT with APE in it, they will lose their earned APE.

“Think of your BAYC or MAYC like a box that holds your ApeCoin,” Horizen Labs wrote. “If you sell the box, the new owner gets the box plus all of its contents. So, if you’re about to sell your BAYC or MAYC, WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU UNCOMMIT YOUR NFT PRIOR TO THE SALE.”

No word on whether the staking delay is related to the SEC’s probe of BAYC progenitor Yuga Labs.

Embed your NFTs in a tweet

Twitter Blue subscribers have had the option to link their Ethereum wallets to their account and display their digital collectibles or avatars as their profile pictures since the beginning of the year. 

Now another pilot will allow select NFT marketplaces to test out the Tweet Tiles feature, a tweet format that allows users to display their NFTs directly within tweets, alongside title and creator metadata.

OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden, Dapper Labs and GuardianLink’s Jump.trade marketplaces are the first five with the ability to embed NFTs. If the pilot proves successful, it could be rolled out to all Twitter users and NFT collectors. 

Originally, Tweet Tiles was tested with publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and The Guardian, so any tweeted links or images appeared more visually appealing and mobile-browser friendly.

Twitter’s move follows Meta’s rollout of NFT display features on Instagram and Facebook. Creators and businesses around the world are able to connect their digital wallets and share NFTs on both social media platforms since August. 

Guinness’ ‘Cryptomania’

The 2023 edition of Guinness World Records included a record for CryptoPunks as the most expensive NFT collectible after entrepreneur Deepak Thapliya acquired CryptoPunk #5822 for 8,000 ether, or $23.7 million, in February this year.

Manchester City’s token, launched in 2021, was recorded as the most valuable fan token, and filed under its own fan tokens category in the book.

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