John Gilbert

Ornella Hernandez

In an era of artists recouping fractions of a cent on music streams and visual artists lacking any revenue share from the speculative secondary market — NFT royalties were bandied about as a trump card for artists vying to set up sustainable business models.



Now, with the move from <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/web3-watch-twitters-potential-crypto-wallet-and-a-royalty-optional-looksrare/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">X2Y2, Looks Rare and Magic Eden to make NFT royalties optional</a>, artists are once again playing defense.&nbsp;



Because the smart contracts underpinning NFT royalties lack legal enforcement mechanisms or any other outside accountability, it appears the technology is only as good as the platform’s commitment to uphold it.&nbsp;



And, with ImmutableX’s swift launch of a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/immutable-alex-connolly-on-protecting-nft-creator-royalties/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">community-managed NFT marketplace blacklist</a>, scores of skeptical artists and NFT collectors have been asking how the tech actually works — and if artist royalties can be saved.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What are NFT royalties?</h3>



NFT royalties are crypto payouts designed to proffer creators a cut of secondary sales of their digital collectibles. The percentage of sale designated for royalties is set by the creator at the time of minting — typically around 6%. Smart contract platforms where NFTs are minted are, in most cases, responsible for automating the payments.



The key to the success of revenue sharing lies in previous attempts to institute universal baselines for artist resale royalty rights. It explains why NFT royalties matter to the Web3 narrative and where the system currently falls short of its intended purpose.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Why artists need resale revenue</h3>



Artists have long struggled to find fair compensation. Artists such as Harvey Ball, famous for creating the yellow smiley face in 1963, was only paid $45 for his iconic image. The t-shirt company that used it later sold for $500,000,000 in 2000. And Robert Rauschenberg in 1958 sold his painting “Thaw” for $900. Just a few years later it changed hands for $85,000.



Once the intellectual property of both artists left the building, they lost all rights to downstream payments. That would not be the case if they had rights to royalty payments from secondary sales.&nbsp;



Resale royalty rights are the legal entitlement to a percentage of proceeds made from selling an original artwork. The right is either granted by the state or a contract between the artist and reseller. And in the US, save for California, artists can only access this right through individual contracts.



In 2013, The <a href="https://www.copyright.gov/docs/resaleroyalty/usco-resaleroyalty.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">United States Copyright Office reported</a> that visual artists are at a unique disadvantage compared to other creators when it comes to revenue generation.&nbsp;



Because the value of their art is derived from uniqueness, little money can be made from reproduction. The inherent nature of visual art excludes it from the type of royalty contracts between musicians, record labels and streaming platforms.



The music industry has its own set of challenges when it comes to fair compensation. The streaming model has cut artists out of a large share of royalties. Projects such as Blocktones have found creative ways to royalties into their music based NFTs.



Artists in the US have attempted to institute universal baselines for artist resale royalty rights through legislation, but each attempt has failed. And while some of these rights exist for Californians — and in some countries such as France — the requirements are easy to evade due to the lack of cross-border enforcement.



The ability to offer artists an easy system to collect royalties from NFT resales is what convinced many artists to enter the NFT market. Without royalties, the technology lacks an alternative to the artist’s monetization model.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">How NFT royalties work</h3>



The NFT royalty system can differ between blockchains, but with Ethereum, it is managed at the discretion of smart contract platforms.



With Rarible, for example, the artist can set the percentage of resale proceeds at the minting stage via a smart contract on the blockchain in question.&nbsp;At the time of purchase, the platform automatically executes the terms of the contract. Platforms differ in the specifics of payout schedules.



The terms do not represent a legal contract, though — typically in a bid to sidestep litigation.



Case in point: Per <a href="https://static.rarible.com/terms.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rarible’s terms of service</a>, creators must agree to grant the platform royalty-free rights to any content posted on the platform. So, even though the platform embeds the terms of royalties via smart contract, there is no legal obligation.



The legalese transfers the enforcement burden from civil authorities to code. But, because the automation still requires consent from the market maker, a series of thorny enforcement challenges have emerged.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Can you transfer royalties between marketplaces?</h3>



Royalty policies from other platforms do not automatically transfer.&nbsp;



OpenSea, for instance, only supports royalties on collections — not individual pieces. So, if an NFT with its own royalty policy is sold on Rarible, and then listed on OpenSea, the original artist would not see any revenue from the secondary sale. Additionally, OpenSea’s maximum royalty is 10% to Rarible’s 50%.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What are optional royalties?</h3>



NFT marketplaces such as LooksRare, Magic Eden and X2Y2 have all moved away from the NFT royalty model. Their new royalty-optional system lets NFT buyers decide to honor an artist’s royalty policy for purchases.&nbsp;



How? Well, even though royalties policies are immutable smart contracts, the Ethereum blockchain isn’t able to enforce stipulations on token transfers. Any enforcement of the smart contract is inherently voluntary. The platforms simply passed that option on to the buyers.&nbsp;



This means that for all existing and new NFT listings, royalty payments are discretionary. Some platforms including LooksRare have agreed to share 25% of protocol fees with creators in an effort to alleviate the effects to the artist revenue model.



NFT artists like Tyler Hobbs have started adding NFT marketplaces that evade royalties to a blacklist.&nbsp;



He added X2Y2 to the blacklist in his QQL collection following their decision to axe royalties. The move succeeded in blocking the collection from being listed, but platforms can develop workarounds. Some ecosystems such as ImmutableX are working on a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/immutable-alex-connolly-on-protecting-nft-creator-royalties/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">community-managed whitelist and blacklist</a> that would implement broad enforcement across the Ethereum NFT ecosystem.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Is there evidence that NFT royalties offer sustainable revenue to artists?</h3>



During the early days of NFT launches, many projects and individuals generated millions from royalties on the secondary market. Today, the secondary market is not providing the same.



Bearish market conditions combined with a growing number of platforms abandoning royalties have all contributed to declining revenue. A look at Yuga Labs’ royalty payouts illustrates this decline:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="523" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Yuga-Labs-Daily-Royalties-by-Collection-1-1024x523.jpg" alt="Yuga Labs Daily Royalties by Collection" class="wp-image-36934" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Yuga-Labs-Daily-Royalties-by-Collection-1-1024x523.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Yuga-Labs-Daily-Royalties-by-Collection-1-1024x523.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Yuga-Labs-Daily-Royalties-by-Collection-1-1024x523.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Yuga-Labs-Daily-Royalties-by-Collection-1-1024x523.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Yuga-Labs-Daily-Royalties-by-Collection-1-1024x523.jpg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Yuga-Labs-Daily-Royalties-by-Collection-1-1024x523.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Yuga-Labs-Daily-Royalties-by-Collection-1-1024x523.jpg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Yuga-Labs-Daily-Royalties-by-Collection-1-1024x523.jpg?w=50 50w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Yuga-Labs-Daily-Royalties-by-Collection-1-1024x523.jpg?w=1366 1366w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Yuga Labs Daily Royalties by Collection | Source: <a href="https://dune.com/beetle/yuga-vs-proof-ecosystem" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@beetle</a></figcaption></figure>



Many projects have shut down. But NFT collections such as <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/web3-watch-sec-probes-yuga-labs-degods-eliminates-nft-royalties/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DeGods have responded by removing royalties</a> outright.



DeGods launched a collection of 10,000 Solana NFTs in October 2021. The project adds utility beyond the resale market by giving DeGods and DeadGods NFT holders the ability to stake and earn utility tokens.&nbsp;



While large projects with outside revenue sources can afford royalties, individual artists cannot. To illustrate, the NFT collection Fidenza by Tyler Hobbs has made a total of 3,999 ETH in royalty revenue, according to <a href="https://www.flips.finance/Dashboard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flips.Finance</a>. The initial mint price was only .17 ETH, meaning royalty revenue exponentially outweighed mint proceeds.&nbsp;



Despite enforcement challenges, resale royalties have a major impact on an artist’s bottom line.&nbsp;



If an NFT transferred from OpenSea to LooksRare, the artists could still see royalties if the artist registered the collection. But as soon as LooksRare made royalty payments optional, the platform’s total volume rose dramatically, and royalty fees dropped close to 0.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="523" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LooksRare-Volume-Versus-Royalty-Fees-1-1024x523.jpg" alt="LooksRare Volume Versus Royalty Fees" class="wp-image-36933" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LooksRare-Volume-Versus-Royalty-Fees-1-1024x523.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LooksRare-Volume-Versus-Royalty-Fees-1-1024x523.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LooksRare-Volume-Versus-Royalty-Fees-1-1024x523.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LooksRare-Volume-Versus-Royalty-Fees-1-1024x523.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LooksRare-Volume-Versus-Royalty-Fees-1-1024x523.jpg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LooksRare-Volume-Versus-Royalty-Fees-1-1024x523.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LooksRare-Volume-Versus-Royalty-Fees-1-1024x523.jpg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LooksRare-Volume-Versus-Royalty-Fees-1-1024x523.jpg?w=50 50w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LooksRare-Volume-Versus-Royalty-Fees-1-1024x523.jpg?w=1366 1366w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>LooksRare Volume Versus Royalty Fees | Source: <a href="https://dune.com/nftanalyst/lr-royalties" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@nftanalyst</a></figcaption></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The economics driving NFT marketplaces to drop royalties</h3>



The incentive for marketplaces to drop NFT royalties is simple. It attracts traders who want greater profit margins on NFT resales.&nbsp;



&#8220;Right now, we’re seeing some marketplaces looking for an edge during the current NFT market downturn, and they’re turning to tactics like eliminating mandatory royalties,” MakersPlace CEO Craig Palmer said in a statement. “MakersPlace has always been a firm supporter of creators and while this ‘optional’ approach where the buyer decides whether or not to pay royalties may make sense to other marketplaces, it doesn’t fit with our vision for the space.”



In addition to MakersPlace, NFT marketplaces such as Rarible and OpenSea are continuing to enforce royalties.



In response to Magic Eden and LooksRare transitioning to optional NFT royalties, Twitter user NFTstatistics.eth explained the economics in action.&nbsp;



<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">Economics in action: If you think you are getting a competitive advantage by cutting royalties&#8230; you&#39;re actually just starting a race to the bottom. Everyone follows and we&#39;re back where we started, just now without royalties.&mdash; NFTstatistics.eth (@punk9059) <a href="https://twitter.com/punk9059/status/1585654054360739840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<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">This has happened on Solana (MagicEden is back to 90% share now that they&#39;ve cut royalties) and is happening on ETH w LooksRare cutting out royalties This is a particularly pronounced process in NFTs since the fees being cut don&#39;t actually go to the company doing the fee-cutting&mdash; NFTstatistics.eth (@punk9059) <a href="https://twitter.com/punk9059/status/1585654843284197377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



While there appears to be a race to the bottom, the network effects of a single platform&#8217;s decision to make royalties optional are limited to the degree of interoperability between NFT ecosystems.&nbsp;



Because Magic Eden supports both Solana- and Ethereum-based NFTs, the marketplace’s move to drop royalties incentivizes marketplaces in both blockchains to follow suit.&nbsp;



While the trend has grown across both blockchains, it has not yet triggered a similar pattern across NFT economies on the likes of Cardano.



Cardano NFT volume surpassed Solana’s for the month of October, with <a href="https://twitter.com/nftpowerranking/status/1587298873361342465?s=20&amp;t=bYjK7Xwb1eRfTNav3zS2ag" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">some speculating</a> demand for royalties as a large reason why. The theory: The artist-friendly setup attracted a new wave of artists and mints.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The future relationship between artists and NFTs</h3>



According to critics of optional royalties, this race to the bottom is a desperate attempt to keep users engaged. Yet, it robs Peter to pay Paul in the sense that benefits to traders come at the expense of the artist.



The royalty incentive only works when all major platforms agree to uphold them. If one breaks that disagreement, it’s not long before others follow.



The industry appears to be at a fork in the road. If it finds a way to enforce royalties at the protocol level — or even a legal level — then it may succeed where lawmakers failed.&nbsp;



But most proposal upgrades appear to have loopholes that would allow for similar problems to emerge.&nbsp;



The alternative is to find a different carrot. If NFTs succeed in implementing a sustainable business model without royalties, others may follow.



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How NFT Royalties Work – and Sometimes Don’t

<div id="highlights-block_63516e691fd01" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Rarible 2.0 includes an aggregated NFT marketplace and RARI token locking and rewards program</li>
 <li>The APE DAO is looking to delay its APE token-locking scheme pending a closer look at security</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



“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 <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/research/publications/q3-2022-cryptocurrency-report?utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=notification&amp;utm_campaign=Q3+2022+report" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> 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.&nbsp;



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



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Rarible gets an upgrade</h3>



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.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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.&nbsp;



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.&nbsp;



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.&nbsp;



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.&nbsp;



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.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">ApeCoin staking delays</h3>



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



A <a href="https://forum.apecoin.com/t/aip-draft-bug-bounty-program-for-aip-21/8792" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">proposal would allocate 1 million APE</a>, 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, <a href="https://docs.apestake.io/#/README" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">released a seven-part document</a> 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 <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/web3-watch-sec-probes-yuga-labs-degods-eliminates-nft-royalties/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SEC’s probe of BAYC progenitor Yuga Labs</a>.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Embed your NFTs in a tweet</h3>



Twitter Blue subscribers have had the option to link their Ethereum wallets to their account and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/twitter-integrates-nfts-with-new-profile-picture-feature/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">display their digital collectibles or avatars as their profile pictures</a> 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.&nbsp;



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 <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/meta-to-expand-nft-feature-to-select-facebook-instagram-users-this-week/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NFT display features on Instagram and Facebook</a>. Creators and businesses around the world are able to connect their digital wallets and share NFTs on both social media platforms since August. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Guinness’ ‘Cryptomania’</h3>



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.



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



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

<div id="highlights-block_6294c67c09a8e" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Prada and Cassius Hirst announce upcoming NFT drop</li>
 <li>Rarible co-founder talks building community within a bear market</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Netflix show &#8220;Love, Death &amp; Robots&#8221; puts on NFT scavenger hunt</h3>



Animated series &#8220;Love, Death &amp; Robots&#8221; went Web3 with its third season, which was released in conjunction with a digital scavenger hunt for nine QR codes tied to NFTs hidden across social media accounts, physical billboards and even within the show itself.



The NFTs (non-fungible tokens) represent artwork from each of the season’s nine episodes. Viewers who spot and scan a QR code can either mint the art as an NFT or right-click and save it. For now, only US fans can choose to mint them through a MetaMask wallet or Coinbase account, for which they must pay Ethereum gas fees. Only four QR codes have been <a href="https://lovedeathandart.com/collection" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unveiled</a> at the time of publication. 



Reportedly, neither Netflix nor the show producers make money from the NFT sales. 



<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">9 pieces of art. 9 codes. the hunt begins <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lovedeathandart?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#lovedeathandart</a> <a href="https://t.co/h4Ijk7RrGI">https://t.co/h4Ijk7RrGI</a> <a href="https://t.co/uM51UOBnUj">pic.twitter.com/uM51UOBnUj</a>&mdash; Love, Death + Robots (@lovedeathrobots) <a href="https://twitter.com/lovedeathrobots/status/1527726082069147648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Prada launches Timecapsule NFT Collection</h3>



Italian fashion brand Prada announced Monday a monthly NFT giveaway titled Timecapsule. The luxury goods company also opened a new community server on Discord called “Prada Crypted.”



Prada’s first Timecapsule collection dropped in December 2019, and it will continue with a 24-hour limited edition item reveal on the first Thursday of every month starting on June 2, 2022. 



On those days, NFT customers can acquire a one-off shirt designed in collaboration with artist Cassius Hirst, son of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Hirst" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Damien Hirst</a>. This collaboration follows the recent launch of the Cass x Prada’s Prada America&#8217;s Cup sneaker.



NFT owners can also gain access to VIP experiences as well as future drops. Prada Timecapsule NFTs are issued on the Ethereum blockchain and are powered by the Aura Blockchain Consortium, a members-only blockchain also backed by LVMH and Mercedes-Benz.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Elvis Presley enters Web3 via the metaverse</h3>



Warner Bros. Pictures biopic “Elvis” premiered last week at the Cannes Film Festival and with it a multi-metaverse Elvis on-chain NFT project. 



Elvis Presley Enterprises and Web3 studio Run it Wild partnered with companies including The Sandbox, Decentraland, Voxel Architects, DAPPCRAFT and Metakey to create a meeting place for Elvis fans in the metaverse.



The NFT project will launch 1:1 Elvis Genesis Key NFTs, based on a 1968 special that marked Elvis’ stage comeback. In addition to access to a members-only Discord, physical and virtual galleries, NFT exhibitions and pop-ups, holders will also get to vote for never-before-seen releases from the Elvis vault.



<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">We can’t wait to party with our Elvis avatars! <a href="https://t.co/lwpbXImOEk">https://t.co/lwpbXImOEk</a>&mdash; Elvis On-Chain (@elvisonchain) <a href="https://twitter.com/elvisonchain/status/1529565277226254336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">A Q&amp;A with NFT marketplace Rarible</h3>



Blockworks spoke to Rarible’s co-founder and chief strategy officer Alex Salnikov about the marketplace’s community and his views on talk of an NFT winter.



BW: How does the bear market affect the NFT market and the greater Web3 ecosystem?



Salnikov: Bear markets often present developers and start-ups with new opportunities for greater innovation. They are able to take a step back and assess what is truly needed to push the Web3 industry forward. During bear market times, maintaining a strong sense of community becomes extremely important to the success of NFT projects.



That’s why Rarible recently launched our own accelerator and grant program, <a href="https://join.accelerari.xyz/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AcceleRari</a>. Through this campaign, we will host nine Twitter Space pitch sessions in which selected NFT start-ups will be able to pitch their idea to our Rarible Protocol team. Of those projects, five will be chosen to receive support and resources from the protocol team, including engineering and technical development support to marketing and business development guidance. 



BW: What is the key to NFT projects and communities thriving in the long run?



Salnikov: With the explosive growth of the NFT industry over the last year, we’ve seen an extremely diverse range of NFT projects come to fruition, from PFP [profile pictures] to trading card or unlockable IRL [in real life] experience collections. In the long run, the NFT projects which continue to offer users a strong sense of utility or community engagement will thrive whereas collections which derive their value from price speculation or other projects’ popularity will begin to be weeded out. 



BW: How is Rarible building a strong community and infrastructure to back NFT collections?



Salnikov: Rarible Protocol is focusing its efforts on supporting the launch of custom, community marketplaces for various innovative NFT collections. We view custom community marketplaces as the Apple Store of NFT marketplaces, compared to an Amazon-esque NFT experience. These platforms are tailored specifically to the NFT collection and can be customized to suit needs and interests of the collection’s community.&nbsp;



Additionally, community marketplaces are vital for the industry’s decentralized future. Right now, most NFT trading happens on just a few sites, which is not exactly in line with the Web3 ethos of decentralization. For example, Rarible Protocol collaborated with the Degenerate Ape Academy &#8211; one of the leading PFP projects on Solana &#8211; and the V1 CryptoPunks community marketplaces.



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Web3 Watch: Netflix’s NFT Scavenger Hunt and Elvis’ Metaverse Strategy

Aaron Ahmadi

<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What is Rarible, and how can one invest in it? </h3>



Rarible is a non-fungible token, or NFT, marketplace built on Ethereum with ramps between multiple chains. It is part of the Rarible Protocol, a set of tools used to query, mint, list, buy or sell NFTs.



Want more like the Guide to Rarible? Scroll to the bottom for further reading and a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/category/education/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">list</a> of other Blockworks Investor&#8217;s Guides.





<h3 class="wp-block-heading">A quick primer on NFT marketplaces</h3>



Many NFT marketplaces exist, and while they all support the transfer of NFTs, each has its own primary purpose and audience. Some are focused on event admission, others on GameFi, and others still on music and streaming. Rarible is primarily an art/collectible NFT marketplace, though it supports most NFT styles, including 3D iterations.



For deeper reading on other applications of NFTs and their marketplaces, check out the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-music-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Investor’s Guide to Music NFTs</a>.





<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What is Rarible?</h3>



Founded in 2020 by <a href="https://twitter.com/insider0x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alex Salnikov</a>, the Rarible NFT marketplace is one of the most popular marketplaces in the crypto space. Boasting roughly $16 million in venture capital from firms like CoinFund and Coinbase Ventures, the platform has expanded since launch to a base of 1.6 million users.&nbsp;



It is part of an eponymous protocol that is DAO-governed and open-source and serves as a toolkit for developers and entrepreneurs to launch not only their own NFT collections but also custom storefronts. With Rarible Protocol’s governance token RARI, users can directly shape the evolution of the protocol and benefit from its success.





<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The case for Rarible</h3>



With the marketplace war in full effect and platforms like OpenSea under fire for centralized decisions, community-first platforms like Rarible make a compelling alternative.



However, though Rarible plans for complete decentralization in the future, the RARI governance token is still non-binding — the core team still has the final say over all decisions. That said, multiple structures have been put in place to balance power and reward users in the meantime.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Business model</h4>



To generate income, Rarible divides a 5% fee equally between the buyer and seller in each transaction. There are no other fees.



Previously, platform users were rewarded every Sunday with an airdrop of 75,000 RARI tokens — 50% divided among buyers based on their activity, and the other 50% divided among sellers in the same manner.



This airdrop distribution was intended to continue for roughly another 2 years, for a total run time of 4 years. However, RARI holders voted unanimously to end this weekly distribution on Jan. 16, 2022, due to the model&#8217;s failure to operate as an effective growth mechanism, as well as abuses by wash traders.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Tokenomic model</h4>



RARI total supply is capped at 25 million tokens. Ten percent of total supply has been airdropped to users. Thirty percent is currently owned by the Rarible team and their venture capital investors. The remaining 60% was intended to be distributed in the now-canceled weekly airdrop. Due to the semi-decentralized nature of its DAO (decentralized autonomous organization), RARI tokenomics are flexible and ever-evolving. What this means for token distribution is unclear, as the RARI team has only suggested “the DAO is shifting focus to allocating more funds to next-gen web3 projects building on Rarible Protocol and the long term growth of the space.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Use cases</h4>



As with all NFT marketplaces, the primary use case for the platform is the transfer and collection of non-fungible tokens. However, the Rarible Protocol aims to expand into all manner of NFT usage in the space and has bridged the Flow and Tezos blockchains to allow for greater interoperability.



With no minting fees, Rarible offers a low barrier to entry for creators and makes scaling one’s collection accessible to all. By using multiple token standards and smart contracts, including ERC-721 and ERC-1155, both private and public, nearly every kind of NFT is supported. Users can decide to mint true NFTs that are unable to be changed, or they can mint flexible NFTs which can use smart contracts to change values in the future, should new utility be needed.&nbsp;



By enabling independent developers to build projects freely with the open-source protocol, Rarible has buttressed itself against the lack of speed with which centralized organizations tend to operate. Development happens quickly, and further use cases are added frequently.&nbsp;



Currently, users can not only buy and sell, but also mint, store, display, send and use their NFTs (depending on the utility of each NFT, of course) directly from the platform.





<h3 class="wp-block-heading">How to invest in Rarible</h3>



In the past, investing in Rarible was as simple as using the platform. Because users were airdropped tokens, participating was enough to earn.&nbsp;



Now, however, the options for investors are more limited and traditional, at least for the time being.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Buy RARI</h4>



As usual, the primary way to invest in a project is by purchasing its token. You can buy RARI at any number of exchanges, including Coinbase (centralized) and Uniswap (decentralized).



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Use Rarible to collect or sell NFTs</h4>



Aside from venture capital funding (which the core team has not announced any further plans), buying RARI is the only way to invest in the project directly. While you no longer receive RARI for using the platform, you may wish to invest directly in NFTs. Buy others’ NFTs to start a collection, or mint your own and gather an audience, if your research helps you decide it is the right platform for your needs.





<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Final considerations</h3>



Purchasing RARI grants you access to the Rarible DAO community and the ability to influence the future of the project. Some choose to buy and hold the token, a few have created independent yield farming/liquidity provision protocols for the token (always be cautious with third-party pools), and others use them for governance.&nbsp;



Each investor must weigh their own goals and risk tolerance. Rarible is one of many NFT marketplaces, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Your goals and interests are the best guides.





<h3 class="has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">Further reading</h3>



<h4 class="has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">More on NFT marketplaces</h4>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/opensea-polygon-nft-sales-on-track-to-hit-2-2m-by-end-of-january/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea Polygon NFT Sales On Track to Hit 2.2M by End of January</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-plans-to-launch-nft-marketplace/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase Plans to Launch NFT Marketplace</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/new-nft-marketplaces-make-grab-for-openseas-lead/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New NFT Marketplaces Make Grab for OpenSea’s Lead</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-teams-with-mastercard-to-make-buying-nfts-easy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase Teams with Mastercard to Make Buying NFTs ‘Easy’</a>



<h4 class="has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">More on NFTs</h4>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/exclusive-why-one-investor-bought-an-nft-of-wikipedias-first-edit-for-750k/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Exclusive: Why One Investor Bought an NFT of Wikipedia&#8217;s First Edit for $750k</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-wallet-to-bring-nfts-to-your-browser-extension/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase Wallet to Bring NFTs to Your Browser Extension</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tiktoks-venture-into-nfts-the-hype-and-alleged-mess/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TikTok&#8217;s Venture into NFTs, the Hype and Alleged Mess</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/consensys-acquires-treums-team-nft-platform/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ConsenSys Acquires Treums Team NFT Platform</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/visa-partners-with-former-mlb-player-to-arm-nft-creators/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Visa Partners with Former MLB Player to Arm NFT Creators</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-incarcerated-silk-road-founders-nft-collection-and-the-dao-trying-to-save-him/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Incarcerated Silk Road Founder’s NFT Collection and the DAO Trying to Save Him</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/nexo-to-launch-nft-backed-lending-bitwise-debuts-an-nft-index-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nexo to Launch NFT-Backed Lending, Bitwise Debuts an NFT Index Fund</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/sothebys-reports-100m-in-nft-sales-attracts-younger-tech-savvy-collectors" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sotheby’s Reports $100m in NFT Sales, Attracts Younger Tech-Savvy Collectors</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/opensea-hits-3b-in-monthly-nft-volume/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea Hits $3B in Monthly NFT Volume</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/why-investors-are-paying-millions-for-virtual-land-in-the-metaverse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Why Investors are Paying Millions for Virtual Land in the Metaverse</a>





<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Get educated. Check out <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-music-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor&#8217;s Guide to Music NFTs</a>, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-avalanche-avax/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor&#8217;s Guide to Avalanche</a>, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-defi-2-0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor&#8217;s Guide to DeFi 2.0</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-yearn-finance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor&#8217;s Guide to the Yearn Finance</a>.</h3>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



The content of this webpage is not investment advice and does not constitute any offer or solicitation to offer or recommendation of any company, product or idea. It is for general educational purposes only and does not take into account your individual needs, investment objectives or specific financial circumstances.

The Investor’s Guide to Rarible

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_621cfe7a9bccb" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Seoul aims to become the first city to enter the metaverse, Mayor Oh Se-hoon said last November</li>
 <li>The country does not currently permit the use of NFTs or token issuance in gaming</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



South Korea will spend at least $186.7 million, or 223.7 billion Korean won, to create its metaverse ecosystem, according to a <a href="https://doc.msit.go.kr/SynapDocViewServer/viewer/doc.html?key=dcc6cbad6011442e8caf03550a0e7ea7&amp;convType=html&amp;convLocale=ko_KR&amp;contextPath=/SynapDocViewServer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a> from the country’s Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology. 



The investment is a part of South Korea’s “Digital New Deal” — a set of policies that aim to help build out emerging digital technologies such as the metaverse and artificial intelligence platforms.



“It is important to create a world-class metaverse ecosystem as the starting point to intensively foster a new hyper-connected industry,” Park Yungyu, the ministry’s head of communication and policy, said in a translated statement.



The government agency said the capital will go toward the metaverse in particular, which it hopes will become a platform enabling industries and businesses to thrive.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The metaverse has the potential to create 1.5 million jobs, and the country plans to produce over 40,000 professionals that specialize in the nascent space, the ministry <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/south-korea-could-take-over-the-metaverse-through-gaming-industry-players-say/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stated in January</a>. South Korea’s government, at the time, endeavored to make the country the fifth-largest metaverse market by 2026.



“I’m very much keen to believe that Korea is positioned to become one of the biggest metaverse players,” Alex Salnikov, co-founder at NFT marketplace Rarible, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/south-korea-could-take-over-the-metaverse-through-gaming-industry-players-say/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">previously told Blockworks</a>.



In an effort to push the country to the top of the global metaverse market, the Seoul Metropolitan Government <a href="https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/11/10/seoul-to-become-the-first-city-to-enter-the-metaverse-what-will-it-look-like" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> that it wanted to build “Metaverse Seoul” last November.



By 2023, Seoul aims to create a metaverse where citizens can deal with civil complaints and consultations — virtually. Using virtual reality headsets, citizens could visit a virtual city hall as avatars instead of having to go in real life.



Seoul aims to become the first city to enter the metaverse, the capital’s mayor, Oh Se-hoon, said last November.



“The &#8216;Metaverse Seoul&#8217; initiative announced last year, and the commitment by the South Korean government to lead the global metaverse race in five years, certainly puts the country at the forefront,” Noah Gaynor, co-founder of metaverse startup Parcel, said to Blockworks. “But based on what we&#8217;re seeing, and the decentralized nature of the open metaverse, no single country or organization will rule the metaverse. This is a truly global movement with no geographical boundaries.”



The metaverse, however, is commonly associated with cryptoassets such as NFTs (non-fungible tokens). South Korea currently prohibits the use of any NFTs or token issuance in its gaming — which may pose a threat to its ambitious metaverse plans.



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South Korea To Pour $187M Into ‘World-class Metaverse Ecosystem’

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_61d7689c0f2ca" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The total trading volume across 14 NFT marketplaces rose close to 23,000% year-over-year, from $85.7 million 2020 to $19.6 billion in 2021</li>
 <li>The total market cap of NFTs is about $31.4 billion, making up 1.53% of the current $2.05 trillion total market cap for cryptocurrency</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



OpenSea overall monthly NFTs sales may be down from September 2021 all-time highs, but its Polygon-based NFT sales hit a peak of about $2 million during December, and are starting off the new year strong, according to <a href="https://dune.xyz/queries/130838/257589" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> compiled by user niftytable on Dune Analytics.



As of Thursday, there were 426,565 non-fungible token (NFT) Polygon sales in January. If this number continues to grow at the same rate, there will be about 2.2 million Polygon NFT sales for the month of January, a 10% increase from the previous month and nearly 5,000% higher than six months ago.



Polygon’s <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/price/polygon#:~:text=The%20current%20price%20is%20%242.5787,circulating%20supply%20is%207%2C086%2C960%2C741.27%20MATIC." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MATIC</a> token spiked near all-time highs to $2.92 on Dec. 26, 2021, but was down 29.2% from that record level to $2.26 on Thursday.



In general, 2021 was an extremely strong year for NFTs. The total trading volume across 14 NFT marketplaces, including OpenSea, Rarible, Axie Infinity, SuperRare, NBA Topshot, rose from $85.7 million in 2020 to $19.6 billion in 2021, according to a <a href="https://www.1confirmation.com/2021-nft-annual-review?latest" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> by cryptocurrency-focused investment firm 1confirmation.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/1Rpkt33hLzN1mVWkVMoGvJvLyrNqMj_DAsBLrG_EEko-t72k2l7aKx_cNh6qvG0tLUHkir9bYv_rxvs_QOtOF74csrJ4zTdIzDStExlOWicZUPaVkbop4P2PktpoHpyjspmMYBcu" alt=""/><figcaption>Source: 1confirmation</figcaption></figure>



“NFTs had a breakout year in 2021 but the asset class is still small relative to cryptocurrency broadly,” the 1confirmation report noted.



The total market capitalization of NFTs is about $31.4 billion, making up 1.53% of the current <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$2.05 trillion</a> total market cap for cryptocurrency, according to data from 1confirmation and CoinMarketCap, respectively.&nbsp;



However, the investment firm said it thinks NFTs will ultimately be larger than cryptocurrencies by the end of this decade and steps taken by NFT creators in 2022 will contribute to that growth. “2021 was crazy in NFT land, and 2022 is shaping up to be crazier,” 1confirmation stated.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">OpenSea sailing ahead</h3>



OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace by trading volume, is showing no sign of slowing down in 2022. This week, the company announced a <a href="https://opensea.io/blog/announcementops/announcing-openseas-new-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$300 million Series C</a> funding round led by Paradigm and Coatue. The latest capital raise gives OpenSea a $13.3 billion post-money valuation.



<meta charset="utf-8">“In 2021, the world woke up to the potential of NFTs to unlock utility and economic empowerment across a vast set of industries, communities and creative categories,” Devin Finzer, CEO of OpenSea, told Blockworks. “Our vision is to be the destination for these new open digital economies to thrive. We’ll start this year by lowering the barriers to entry to the NFT space on OpenSea and investing in the ecosystem and the community that powers it,&#8221; Finzer added.



Today, OpenSea has over 1.26 million active users, 2 million collections and over 80 million NFTs. It offers cross-blockchain support across Ethereum, Polygon and Klatyn. OpenSea Polygon traders have increased to record levels from just 15 users in late June 2021 to over 846,433 users as of Thursday, niftytable’s <a href="https://dune.xyz/queries/130852/257620" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> on Dune Analytics showed.&nbsp;



Total OpenSea Ethereum traders have also hit new all-time highs — from 36,540 on the year-ago date to 942,721 as of Jan. 5, <a href="https://dune.xyz/queries/2877/5680" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> compiled by user rchen8 on Dune Analytics showed.&nbsp;



“We saw the NFT ecosystem explode last year, with OpenSea’s transaction volume increasing over 600x in 2021,” Finzer wrote in a blog <a href="https://opensea.io/blog/announcementops/announcing-openseas-new-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">post</a> on Tuesday. “But we’re just getting started,” he added.&nbsp;



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OpenSea Polygon NFT Sales On Track to Hit 2.2M by End of January

Sam Reynolds

<div id="highlights-block_61c30d4e26df3" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>On-chain data shows that Ubisoft has had less than $500 in volume on its gaming NFTs</li>
 <li>Ubisoft has faced immense backlash from its developers as it tries to push NFTs as a new companion for games — along with many of the world’s other larges studios</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Ubisoft’s much hyped in-game NFT system, which <a href="https://twitter.com/Blockworks_/status/1468286074220945410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched earlier this month</a> on the Tezos blockchain alongside Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, hasn’t caught the interest of gamers, according to on-chain data from trackers Objkt and Rarible.



A look at on-chain data via a Tezos block explorer shows that there has only been $435 (100tz) worth of volume on the platform. While Ubisoft Quartz has minted 3,000 of these NFTs so far, it has <a href="https://rarible.com/ubisoft-quartz/activity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sold fewer than 20</a> according to data from Rarible.



Of the 86 transfers of Ghost Recon themed NFTs between users, 49 of them involve transfers to the same account, and a further 24 involve transfers from that same account suggesting wash trading.



<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">There aren&#39;t a lot of sales on Rarible, but there have been lots of &quot;transfers,&quot; which appear to not require an actual sale, best I can tell. 86 transfers total. Fun fact: 49 of them involve transfers to the same account; 24 of them involves transfers FROM that same account&mdash; Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) <a href="https://twitter.com/stephentotilo/status/1473104369574891531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



These NFTs can only be sold between players of the specific Ghost Recon game and are only useable in said game. Thus, if the popularity of the game is effectively the market maker for the NFTs themselves. Breakpoint doesn’t appear to be the best reviewed entry of the Ghost Recon franchise, with <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/10/10/tom-clancys-ghost-recon-breakpoint-review" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mediocre review scores</a> from the gaming press.



EA Games and Square Enix have also expressed interest in developing in-game NFTs, with EA CEO Andrew Wilson calling NFT and &#8220;play-to-earn&#8221; games the &#8220;the future of our industry,&#8221; on a recent earnings call. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Do gamers want NFTs?</h3>



Ubisoft’s decision to push for in-game NFTs hasn’t been popular amongst its developers. The trade union representing the company’s Paris-based employees denounced the pivot to NFTs in a <a href="https://twitter.com/SolInfoJeuVideo/status/1470765908851310596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1470765914106826761%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurogamer.net%2Farticles%2F2021-12-16-french-trade-union-calls-ubisoft-nft-scheme-a-useless-costly-ecologically-mortifying-technology" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement published</a> earlier this week.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;Ubisoft has recently entered the blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) market. A decision that has been widely criticised by our players, bringing no improvements or benefits to our games,&#8221; the statement reads. </blockquote>



While Ubisoft continues to push ahead with its NFT integration plans, the company behind the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl has decided to cancel its NFT plans based on negative feedback it received from fans. 



<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"><a href="https://t.co/mffnmpiQiw">pic.twitter.com/mffnmpiQiw</a>&mdash; S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) <a href="https://twitter.com/stalker_thegame/status/1471620399997886472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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The company behind S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, a follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2006 sci-fi horror game S.T.A.L.K.E.R had said publicly that the rationale for minting NFTs was to have a new revenue source for funding the game, as it is an indie-studio without large pockets.



Still, it’s not quite clear if the market has made up its mind on NFTs or if anti-NFT voices are drowning out the rest on social media platforms.



A recent survey from insight agency Opinium showed that 58% of its surveyed 197 video game developers are now beginning to use blockchain technology, with 64% saying that blockchain technology will become prevalent in video gaming within the next two years, and 53% believing that NFTs would be more common by then too.



But this data is for developers and not gamers themselves, so until some comprehensive data from gamers comes along, on-chain data will be the best proxy on the actual interest for NFTs in games.



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