Are NFTs Finally Infiltrating the AAA Gaming Space? Meanwhile, Solana’s leading market, Magic Eden, is facing community backlash and the biggest name in coffee is launching its new NFT rewards program.
These are just a few of the top stories we compile and bring you beautiful bite-sized fashion every weekend.
This Week’s Non-Fungible Token News
Magic Eden’s royalty structure is up for debate
A proposed new royalty structure in Magic Eden, Solana’s largest NFT marketplace, has the SOL NFT community in heated debate. The new structure, titled ‘MetaShield’, is aimed at buyers of NFTs who avoid copyrights from creators when purchasing NFTs.
The tool allows creators to change copyright to watermarks, which can be removed once the collector pays the appropriate fee. Some users, however, claimed that copyright is not the problem, and that MagicEden is.
Epic Games Launcher supports the first NFT-based game
Very few major game developers and publishers have shown a willingness to engage with NFTs or blockchains in general. That’s not the case, however, with Epic Games last week. CEO Tim Sweeney has shown an open door for Epic Games to engage with the space, stating that any developer it engages with should be fair game. Sweeney’s sentiment thus far has been somewhat emblematic of the idea that if developers want to build around NFT, so be it, Epic won’t limit it.
From Sweeney’s mouth to the Epic Games Store last week, it seems, as the store now supports NFT-based ‘Blankos Block Party’, the first title of its kind to be supported on Epic Games Store.
Polygon (MATIC) will be the blockchain of choice for Starbucks' upcoming reward program with NFTs. For Polygon, it's another premier partner in a growing list of brands. | Source: MATIC-USD on TradingView.com
The latest from Yuga Labs from the NFT Rumor Mill
Are Bored Ape Yacht Club creators Yuga Labs planning their next release? A speculative report last week described “Mecha Apes,” an alleged upcoming release rumored to be Yuga’s latest spin-off project.
The project was reportedly aiming to hit the market before the end of the year, with a goal of raising $50 million. Yuga co-founder Garga quickly dismissed the report, simply tweeting “fake news” in a quote tweet referencing the story.
Doodles closes major fundraising round
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and long-time owner of ‘Doodle’ led the latest round of equity funding for the NFT project, sealing ‘Doodles’ with a $54 million round of funding that was led by the firm led by Ohanian Seven Seven Six. Ohanian isn’t quick to share his bullish sentiment on NFTs and it’s on display here, as Doodles’ rise secures a valuation of over $700 million. Many members of the NFT community were surprised to see the project rated so highly, especially given the past criticism surrounding Doodle’s quiet movement into the market.
The 10,000 ETH project currently has a floor around 8 ETH, a modest figure compared to the project’s 35 ETH high just three months ago.
NFTs as rewards: A look at Starbucks’ new partnership with Polygon
Starbucks is integrating a new rewards mechanism that uses NFTs, a project that’s been in the works for a while, but it looks like it’s finally finding some legs. We first heard about the show about 6 months ago from previous (and three-time) CEO Howard Schultz, and despite Schultz’s departure since the show’s announcement, it looks like new CEO Laxman Narasimhan will see the project through at its launch.
Last week, the next step in the launch of the NFT rewards program came to life as Starbucks announced its latest partnership with the Polygon blockchain. Starbucks calls the program “Odyssey,” and it’s expected to complement the current rewards program and also include an NFT marketplace.
What will this be like? There’s still a lot to discover, but as our Bitcoinist team explained in our in-depth report, users are expected to be able to earn digital assets, called “travel stamps,” and Starbucks CMO Brady Brewer stated that the company has a desire for the program to be “super easy and accessible”.
Featured image from Pexels, Charts from TradingView.com
The writer of this content is not associated or affiliated with any of the parties mentioned in this article. This is not financial advice. This op-ed represents the views of the author, and may not necessarily reflect the views of Bitcoinist. Bitcoinist is an advocate of creative and financial freedom alike.
