Shalini Nagarajan

French luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton launched a limited edition NFT collection, with each piece in the “Treasure Trunk” collection priced at €39,000 ($41,693). The collection offers select customers an exclusive opportunity to unlock forthcoming products and experiences.



Louis Vuitton&#8217;s NFT launch, called &#8220;Via,&#8221; aims to offer an exclusive gateway to unique products and experiences unavailable to anyone else, according to a <a href="https://press.louisvuitton.com/corporate/louis-vuitton-embraces-the-legacy-of-its-future-through-via-a-first-of-its-kind-trunk/?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a> released on Tuesday.



In the world of branded NFT projects, it&#8217;s now a popular trend to make hard-to-get and pricey NFTs the ultimate keys to unlock a bunch of cool stuff and unique experiences, both in the real world and online.



Starting June 8, customers in the US, Canada, France, UK, Germany, Japan, and Australia can join a waitlist on a dedicated website to purchase the Louis Vuitton trunks through the Via project.&nbsp;



After connecting their crypto wallets and providing personal details, selected registrants will have the opportunity to explore Via on a private webpage from June 14. From June 16, they can purchase their Via Treasure Trunk using crypto or fiat currency. Participants will soon after receive a specially crafted physical replica of their trunk.



These trunks, available for over 160 years, can be quite pricey, costing tens of thousands of dollars.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Louis-Vuitton-Web3-nft.jpg?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="Louis Vuitton Web3 NFT" class="wp-image-58168" width="840" height="472" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Louis-Vuitton-Web3-nft.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Louis-Vuitton-Web3-nft.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Louis-Vuitton-Web3-nft.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Louis-Vuitton-Web3-nft.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Louis-Vuitton-Web3-nft.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Louis-Vuitton-Web3-nft.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Louis-Vuitton-Web3-nft.jpg?w=464 464w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Louis-Vuitton-Web3-nft.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Louis-Vuitton-Web3-nft.jpg?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: Louis Vuitton</figcaption></figure></div>


Louis Vuitton has some strict rules in place to prohibit holders from selling or transferring the Via trunks. Holders can&#8217;t sell or give it to someone else, unlike many other exclusive communities.&nbsp;



They’re calling it a &#8220;soul-bound collectible&#8221; as it uses non-transferrable NFTs — often called <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/what-is-decentralized-identity">soulbound tokens</a> —&nbsp;to encourage loyalty and prevent quick reselling. Also, once you buy a Treasure Trunk, you can&#8217;t return it, except in EU countries where, by law, you can change your mind within 14 days of ordering.



Louis Vuitton&#8217;s latest NFT project is a big change from its previous one, called <a href="https://twitter.com/Blockworks_/status/1598316526720806912" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Louis The Game</a>, which aimed to educate players about the brand&#8217;s history through interactive gameplay.



Last year, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault suggested that using technologies like NFTs with high-value items <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bernard-arnault-owns-nfts">could be beneficial</a> for the brand. He said he recognized the positive impact of well-executed applications of the metaverse and NFTs, and indicated that the brand&#8217;s focus is on maintaining exclusivity and value in their NFT offerings.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Louis Vuitton Selling $41K NFTs That Can’t Be Resold

Luxury fashion house Hermes International won a US lawsuit against digital artist Mason Rothschild, with the jury ruling that his 100 “MetaBirkins” NFTs are not art.



But Rothschild and his legal team are already planning to appeal the decision, his publicist Kenneth Loo told Vogue Business.



On the third day of deliberation, the nine-person jury found Rothschild liable for trademark infringement, trademark dilution and cybsersquatting after hearing testimony from live witnesses including the defendant.



A <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23602050/verdict-form-hermes-wins-in-metabirkins-nft-trademark-case-no-1st-amendment-for-mason-rothschild-verdict-form-here.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">verdict</a> reached on Wednesday saw Hermes awarded $133,000 in total damages, and declared Rothschild’s NFTs do not count as protected speech under the First Amendment.&nbsp;



The case marked one of the first intellectual-property trials over NFTs and raised questions about whether creation can be protected in the tokenized digital art world.



It was also the first to legally discuss the relationship between digital art and the reproduction of physical fashion, <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/hermes-wins-case-against-metabirkins-over-digital-nfts-rothschild-to-appeal" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to Vogue Business.



Commercial litigator Emily Poler said the jury must have concluded that Rothschild’s argument, which claimed the MetaBirkins NFTs represented artistic expression, was not credible. Instead, they saw Rothschild attempting to capitalize on the Hermes brand.&nbsp;



“There is still room for artwork to be protected by the First Amendment, but this (according to the jury) isn’t it, she told Blockworks. “That’s not to say there aren’t other NFT projects out there that would be protected.”



In closing arguments on Feb. 6, Mason Rothschild’s lawyer said his client could have charged more for the MetaBirkins, per <a href="https://twitter.com/innercitypress/status/1622646486725951491" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Inner City Press</a>. More than $1.1 million in MetaBirkin NFTs were <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/hermes-metabirkin-nft-lawsuit-begins-with-blow-for-creator" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sold</a> shortly after their launch in Dec. 2021. Hermes sent a cease and desist shortly after and sued Rothschild in January.



“It was an artistic experiment. He wanted to see what kind of value people would ascribe to these two-dimensional pictures,” the lawyer said. 



“It is unlikely that people who would pay thousands of dollars on bags would be confused these <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MetaBirkins?src=hashtag_click" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">#MetaBirkins </a>were from Hermes. He has a Constitutional right to create his MetaBirkins art work, and to make money from, as long as he doesn&#8217;t mislead people.”



Rothschild <a href="https://twitter.com/MasonRothschild/status/1623367118493257730" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">slammed</a> the verdict on Twitter, suggesting that Hermes does not care about art or artists, yet “feel they have the right to choose what art IS and who IS an artist.”



Blockworks has reached out for confirmation on their plans to appeal.



“What happened today was wrong. What happened today will continue to happen if we don’t continue to fight. This is far from over,” he said.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

(These) NFTs Are Not Art: Judge Sides With Fashion Giant Hermès in MetaBirkins Case

An NFT creator is battling French fashion giant Hermès over a set of MetaBirkin digital collectibles inspired by its famously expensive bags.



Courts have been tasked with deciding whether MetaBirkins’ issuer, Mason Rothschild, has infringed on Hermès copyright.&nbsp;



To support their case, Rothschild had enlisted art critic Blake Gopnik, famous for penning Andy Warhol’s biography. Gopnik’s testimony supported the argument that the MetaBirkins NFTs represent free artistic expression, according to a <a href="https://www.thefashionlaw.com/ahead-of-metabirkins-trial-hermes-rothschild-spar-over-admissible-evidence/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> from The Fashion Law.&nbsp;



But <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/who-mason-rothschild-all-nft-creator-hermes-files-lawsuit-trademark-infringement" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rothschild</a> won’t be allowed to present the testimony in court after all. Judge Jed S. Rakoff made the ruling on the first day of the trademark trial, a move that could ruin Rothschild’s chances of comparing his work to Warhol’s art, Bloomberg Law <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/andy-warhol-art-expert-excluded-from-hermes-metabirkin-nft-trial" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.



Rakoff reportedly permitted Hermès’ bid to exclude the expert testimony without providing much detail.



Hermès sued Rothschild one year ago, <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/luxury/hermes-sues-nft-creator-over-metabirkin-sales/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">alleging</a> his MetaBirkin NFTs violate its trademark rights by depicting them in colorful fur and advertising them. The luxury retailer has claimed Rothschild offered the NFTs at a Dec. 2021 Art Basel fair in Miami in a “get rich quick” scheme without seeking permission. 



OpenSea had delisted MetaBirkins by Jan. 2022, shortly after Hermès sent Rothschild a cease and desist, with the collection <a href="https://snobette.com/2021/12/metabirkins-nft-removed-opensea-following-hermes-cease-and-desist/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly</a> seeing $1.1 million in trade volume. The NFTs, of which there are 100, are still listed on LooksRare. They’ve generated 15.5 ETH ($24,350 at current prices) in sales volume via the platform, with 83 different owners.



Rothschild&#8217;s utilization of the Birkin brand is said to have misled consumers into believing the product is endorsed and sold by Hermès. The case is significant as it could shed light on how traditional trademark law could be applied to NFTs.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">MetaBirkins 95 just sold for 3.5 Ether (≈$10,500.00) on <a href="https://twitter.com/looksrareNFT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LooksRareNFT</a>! <a href="https://t.co/IMCwx77CnZ">pic.twitter.com/IMCwx77CnZ</a>&mdash; MetaBirkins (@MetaBirkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/MetaBirkins/status/1492683849335128064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">MetaBirkin NFTs have sold as recently as November, often for as much as real Birkin bags</figcaption></figure>



In the week before the trial, Hermès moved to inspire the court to exclude some of Rothschild’s proposed exhibits, including Gopnik’s testimony.



Hermès’ counsel further argued that Gopnik shouldn’t be allowed to testify because his opinions aren’t based on reliable data or methodology “to support his mere ipse dixit assertions,” and that his opinions “do nothing more than repeat Rothschild’s account of his own statements and actions.”



In his pre-trial testimony, Gopnik reportedly opined that Rothschild’s MetaBirkin NFTs fell under the same concept pioneered by Warhol called “Business Art.”&nbsp;



Despite granting Hermès request, the judge reportedly criticized the luxury brand’s attorneys for explaining how NFTs work in a complex manner, saying that the jury was left baffled.&nbsp;



Gopnik would have been the only person who could produce analytical comparisons of Warhol and Rothschild’s art.



Updated Feb. 2, 2023 at 4:38 am ET: Added sales context.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Hermès ‘MetaBirkin’ NFT Lawsuit Begins With Blow For Creator

Peter Johnson

Colleen Sullivan

This is Part Two of a three-part series of predictions for 2023 created by members of the Brevan Howard Digital team. In Part One they explored the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/web3-gaming-2023">gaming industry</a>, while Part Three (tomorrow) is devoted to infrastructure, regulation, and trading.



The general rule with brands is that they’re cool until they aren’t. We see this time and time again; the next generation comes up, there’s a cultural shift, and the brand no longer represents the interests of that generation.



So how have brands like Tiffany &amp; Co (founded in 1837), Louis Vuitton (founded in 1854), and Gucci (founded in 1921) stayed “cool” for such a long time and survived 100+ years of cultural shifts?



We think it’s because brands like these know that if they want to get to the next 100 years, the biggest risk they face is taking no risk.



Iconic brands aren&#8217;t afraid to experiment, innovate, and meet the next generation wherever they are. We spoke about games in yesterday&#8217;s predictions and brands understand that games are the third “place” (after home and school) for many Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids… and that these kids are their most important customers in the coming decades.



House of Gucci knows its biggest competitor isn’t Prada – it’s <a href="https://twitter.com/ballmatthew/status/1570573739083046912?s=20&amp;t=IjEz2grDXAs9qwuuRWrYOQ">House of Fortnite</a>, where the younger generation spent ~$20bn from 2018 through 2021 on cosmetic skins and emotes that they don’t own and which have no utility.



In many respects, brand collabs with web2 games were the training wheels that are now coming off as brands enter web3. Currently, Gucci is selling $5 digital purses to Gen Alpha in Roblox: But in the future, as those kids age and their purchasing power increases, Gucci will be selling them $5k web3 based “digital twins.”&nbsp;



The depth of what top-tier brands are doing in web3 is remarkable; leading brands have generated more than <a href="https://dune.com/kingjames23/nft-project-possible-data-to-use">$260m</a> in NFT sales and $2.8b in secondary sales volumes.&nbsp;



Of course, these NFT revenues pale in comparison with top brands’ “traditional revenues” (in 2021, Gucci: $11.07 billion, Nike: $44.5 billion, and Adidas: $22.6 billion). However, these brands understand at a fundamental level that sometimes the path to sustainable products and revenues means building culture, community, and stories first.



We firmly believe that meaningful revenues will follow because web3 offers “net new” forms of commerce / monetization thanks to crypto rails. This may take many different forms, including sales of NFT digital goods; direct to avatar commerce; NFTs linked to loyalty programs and experiences; and “digital twins” / “phygitals”, all of which may also generate royalties from secondary sales.



Importantly, web3 offers brands the ability to embed more value in digital and physical products and create direct consumer connections. We believe we&#8217;ll look back at these predictions in a few years and find it strange that there was ever a time when luxury / lifestyle goods weren’t paired with NFTs.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Brands bring millions of new users to web3 and generate &gt;$500mm from NFTs</h3>



Following in the footsteps of early successful innovators such as Reddit and Nike (&gt;$185mm in digital collectible <a href="https://dune.com/kingjames23/nft-project-possible-data-to-use">revenue</a> and launch of web3 platform, Dot Swoosh), many large brands will offer digital collectibles/items (aka NFTs) to their customers, onboarding millions of non-crypto native consumers into web3.



Consumers are already spending billions of dollars a year on digital goods, including ~$2bn / year in digital goods from Roblox and ~$5bn / year from Fortnite (and these purchases are for goods that are only owned on the Roblox or Fortnite platform and servers).



Web3 provides the platform for consumers to truly own their digital goods and for a wide swath of brands to enter the digital goods space. Just as 2010 was the year of every company building a “social media strategy,” 2023 will be the year that every brand — starting with luxury and streetwear — develops a “web3 digital goods strategy”.



Such a strategy is a must for any brand that seeks to meet the next generation of customers where they are, such as kids aged 12-17, who are already <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/robux-kids-virtual-currency-metaverse-cryptocurrency-11669929636?mod=hp_lead_pos5">spending</a> an average of $92 / month on digital goods.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Polygon&#8217;s NFT Volumes Catch Up to its Business Development</h3>



Polygon has been a crypto bright spot in 2022, announcing partnerships with massive brands like Starbucks, Nike, Disney, Reddit, the NFL, and Meta. More than 5mm Reddit Collectible Avatars across 4.25mm unique wallets have been <a href="https://dune.com/polygon_analytics/reddit-collectible-avatars">minted</a> on Polygon generating about $11.85mm in secondary sales.



That said, over the last 30 days, Polygon&#8217;s NFT volumes, ~$7.3mm, are less than 1/10th of Solana&#8217;s, ~$80.8mm (as of December 13, 2022). We expect volumes on both chains to grow, but the growth on Polygon to be more dramatic, increasing to over $50mm / month in 2023.



Many of Polygon&#8217;s announced brand partnerships have yet to launch and we expect to see Polygon&#8217;s NFT volumes increase as / when those web3 experiences come to life.



Polygon’s <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2022/11/new-creators-tools-facebook-and-instagram/">partnership</a> with Meta alone has the potential to introduce Instagram’s 2bn+ <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/">MAUs</a> to Polygon when its creator digital collectibles program launches in 2023.



We also expect Polygon Edge / Supernets to gain traction in 2023 and draw in more partners (as well as the potential launch of Polygon zkEVM).



Finally, we’re banking on Ryan Wyatt, CEO of Polygon Studios and former Global Head of Gaming at YouTube, to continue bringing prominent partners to Polygon in 2023, especially from an area he knows better than most — web2 gaming.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Apple battles to protect its 30% fee on digital sales…and potentially launches an internal NFT marketplace</h3>



This is a prediction that we *really* hope doesn’t come true. But what if Apple’s recent overtures on NFTs — including its most recent move to increase the cap on app store purchases from $999 to $10k and rumored opening up of the app store to third party developers in the EU due to competition regulations that come into effect in 2024&nbsp; — are just the McGuffin towards the launch of an internal, closed garden NFT marketplace?



Apple could mandate that any NFT created or residing within any Apple mobile app experience would not be transferable outside of its walled garden and that secondary trading of these items must occur through its internal marketplace, where Apple would take its 30% fee.



Some might say this is good for non-crypto native adoption of NFTs because folks could easily get exposure to multitudes of NFTs through the simple click of a button in-game / in-experience. This is a view that we strongly disagree with because closed-network, high-fee environments are the antithesis of web3.



Some believe that a potential mitigant to Apple’s fee monopoly might be when the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit renders a decision on Epic Games v. Apple. While we expect that Apple will lose its appeal, this case likely ends up in the Supreme Court, resulting in a key issue — the ability for developers to “outlink” to alternative, cheaper forms of payment for digital goods purchases (e.g., via a browser) — taking many, many years to ultimately settle.



Of course, Apple could voluntarily capitulate on allowing “outlinking” sooner due to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney’s relentless social media attacks and/or regulatory pressure, which would in theory be a good development for NFTs. However, it’s not a stretch to imagine that Apple will argue “outlinking” applies to all digital goods except NFTs because NFTs are more “dangerous” than regular, run-of-the-mill digital goods.



Expect Apple to assert that NFT consumers are in even greater need of Apple protecting them from a “breach in the wall” by bad actors who may inject malware and commit fraud. There’s no doubt in our minds that Apple’s 30% fee ultimately goes away one way or another, but, unfortunately, there is equally no doubt in our minds that Apple will go down swinging as hard as it can and taking as much revenue as possible along the way.



We predict that in 2023, Apple’s battle to protect its 30% fee will only intensify, which may result in the launch of a walled garden marketplace for NFTs. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiSHuaw6Q4">#Nineteen Eighty-NFT&nbsp;</a>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">OpenSea’s market share falls below 25%</h3>



OpenSea’s market share has been hovering in the 40-50% range through the last six months after maintaining 75%+ for most of the bull run (Q2 2021 to Q2 2022). As additional exchanges have emerged, many have started to take market share with differentiated user experiences for specific use cases (e.g., Blur for professional trading experience, Sudoswap for AMM-style floor trading, Niftyswap for ERC-1155s, Rarible for white-label marketplaces, etc.).



Another cohort of competitors that will take market share is vertical-specific exchanges that meet the needs of a certain category, such as music, digital fashion/entangled products, fan collectibles, gaming assets, brand engagement, generative art, and more.



Royalty enforcement will also play a critical role in determining where volume accrues, and OpenSea will continue to face difficult tradeoffs between attracting trading volume and protecting artists/creators.



Additional research and reporting by Drew Van der Werff, Alex Matthews, and Ross Trachtman



The commentary contained in this document represents the personal views of its authors and does not constitute the formal view of Brevan Howard. It does not constitute investment research and should not be viewed as independent from the trading interests of the Brevan Howard funds. The views expressed in the document are not intended to be and should not be viewed as investment advice. This document&nbsp; does not constitute an invitation, recommendation, solicitation or offer to subscribe for or purchase any securities, investments, products or services, or any investment fund managed by Brevan Howard or any of their affiliates. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the opinions are expressed as at the date published and are subject to change. The authors and Brevan Howard may have taken positions in the assets and companies discussed in the commentary.&nbsp; No obligation is undertaken to update any information, data or material contained herein.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

What to Expect for NFTs and Digital Goods in 2023

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_624a7d6770f1b" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Berlin-based payments provider Lunu will facilitate digital payments and help the fashion brand buoy volatile prices</li>
 <li>The brand joins a growing list of luxury fashion lines adopting crypto, including watchmaker Hublot and Italian streetwear brand Philipp Plein</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Luxury fashion brand Off-White has begun accepting cryptocurrency payments across its flagship stores in Paris, Milan and London, <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/want-to-spend-your-crypto-on-fashion-off-white-now-accepts-it" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vogue Business</a> reported Thursday.



Off-White, which generated an estimated <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/luxury/the-plan-for-off-white-after-virgil-abloh/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$7 billion in revenue</a> last year, said it will now take bitcoin, ether, binance coin, XRP, tether and Circle&#8217;s USDC in exchange for clothing and apparel.



The brand, founded by the late <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2022/04/the-grammys-called-virgil-abloh-a-hip-hop-fashion-designer.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Virgil Abloh</a>, joins a growing list of luxury fashion brands adopting crypto, including watchmaker Hublot and Italian streetwear line Philipp Plein. The acceptance of digital assets is another sign of the growing appetite among major brands supported by increasingly sophisticated payment infrastructure.



Off-White will reportedly use Berlin-based payments provider Lunu to facilitate digital payments and help the fashion brand buoy volatile prices via a crypto-to-currency point-of-sales arbitrage system. The Lunu System combines a terminal and widget with a processing service that conducts &#8220;instant auctions.&#8221;



That system, based on a pool of independent arbitrageurs, assigns the market price for the crypto-to-fiat exchange, while systems oracles monitor and verify the transactions in third-party blockchains, according to <a href="https://lunu.io/company/why-now" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lunu&#8217;s website</a>. 



“This is another important step in the growth of the brand that looks towards the future, including Web 3.0 technologies, understanding the needs and desires of its ever-evolving customer base,” according to a company statement as cited in the report.



The majority of Off-White&#8217;s consumer base consists mainly of Gen Y or &#8220;<a href="https://440industries.com/off-white-history-case-study-know-the-brand/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Millennials</a>&#8221; — those born between 1981 and 1996. They also happen to be one of the crypto industry&#8217;s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2021/11/11/cryptos-super-user-young-men-43-of-us-males-aged-18-to-29-have-bought-the-currency/?sh=4cffdd2c349a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">largest adopters</a>.



The company, which was incorporated in Milan in 2012, is majority-owned by <a href="https://www.lvmh.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton</a> after it acquired a 60% stake in the label last year. The brand&#8217;s parent company, New Guards Group, was purchased by luxury marketplace Farfetch for $675 million in August 2019.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.