• El fabricante electrónico anunció que se ha asociado con Theta en un proyecto SRD NFT
• Los NFT se alojarán en ThetaDrop

El fabricante japonés de productos electrónicos de consumo Sony se asoció con Theta Labs, creador de la red de transmisión de video descentralizada Theta, para lanzar dos colecciones de NFT 3D, diseñadas exclusivamente para su visualización en su pantalla de realidad espacial, SRD.

El SRD de Sony es la pantalla del gigante electrónico que permite a los usuarios ver objetos en 3D sin las gafas o todo el complejo equipo asociado con las experiencias ‘habituales’ en la realidad virtual.

Su funcionamiento es tal que sigue el movimiento de los ojos y modifica la pantalla percibida por el usuario a medida que mueve/inclina la cabeza. Este dispositivo similar a una tableta permite a los usuarios obtener la sensación de un objeto 3D sólido, que es la tecnología que se explotará con los NFT en proceso: se podrán visualizar y manipular a través de los SRD.

La tecnología subyacente emplea realidad mixta para mejorar la sensación de los NFT, lo que permite a los usuarios percibir estos valiosos coleccionables en una experiencia que casi pueden tocar.

Una de las colecciones sería una edición limitada denominada ‘The Tiki Guy’, una máscara 3D Tiki. Solo habrá diez de estos, pero ese incluso más jugoso para los titulares de Tiki Guy NFT con una dirección de envío en los EE. UU., ¡ya que también obtendrán un dispositivo SRD gratis!

Más allá del espacio industrial, hacia el mundo virtual

El lanzamiento de NFT en el SRD ampliará la utilidad de estos dispositivos. Desde que la tecnología se introdujo por primera vez en 2020, a menudo se ha anunciado como una herramienta industrial para diseñadores, ingenieros y creadores de arte. Sin embargo, con la evolución de las NFT, estos dispositivos inmersivos están preparados para romper los límites del espacio industrial hacia el mundo virtual.

El vicepresidente de desarrollo comercial de Sony, Nick Colsey, cree que las NFT proporcionarán la demostración perfecta del potencial de la tecnología SRD, especialmente en el metaverso y en la mejora de la experiencia de los poseedores/coleccionistas de NFT.

Mejor, pero todavía estamos en aguas caras

Por $5.000 cada uno, el entusiasta promedio probablemente no tendrá precio. Sin embargo, las implicaciones de precio van más allá de eso.

Dado que obtendremos NFT en 3D, y mucho menos el hecho de que solo se podrán mostrar en SRD, los titulares estarían restringidos en la utilidad que obtienen de sus tokens. Por ejemplo, no podrán hacer alarde de ellos en sus perfiles de redes sociales u otras plataformas de medios como pantallas. Theta lo hace lo suficientemente bien como para que haya una versión 2D de los NFT, pero el problema es que tendrán un coste adicional. Además, las limitaciones de interoperabilidad significan que los titulares de NFT no podrán migrar sus tokens a través de plataformas virtuales.

Desde una perspectiva más amplia, al permitir que el metaverso aloje a los usuarios sin necesidad de un hardware demasiado oneroso, el SRD de Sony ha abierto una puerta de entrada para resolver un desafío complicado que ha plagado estos espacios virtuales una y otra vez. La tecnología permite la interacción de los mundos físico y virtual, como lo ha intentado la empresa emergente de realidad aumentada Anima.

ComputeCoin ha anunciado que la empresa ha obtenido 6,2 millones de dólares en fondos estratégicos, liderados por Aves Air.

La red proporciona una infraestructura descentralizada para Web3. Esto es interesante porque a pesar de que la descentralización es uno de los aspectos centrales de Web3, la realidad es que muchas aplicaciones Web3 todavía se implementan en la infraestructura Web 2.0. Esto crea puntos centrales de falla, además de ser contrario a uno de los mantras de Web3. AWS es un ejemplo de una de esas empresas que impulsa una gran parte de la red Web3.

Con ComputeCoin, que recién se reunió en 2018, con el objetivo de «hacer que la potencia informática y de almacenamiento global y distribuida esté ampliamente disponible para que todos los desarrolladores de Web3 la usen fácilmente», nos sentamos con el Dr. Max Li, cofundador y director ejecutivo de ComputeCoin, para obtener algunas respuestas a las preguntas que teníamos.

CoinText.com (CT): la gente suele citar la descentralización como una de las principales ventajas del metaverso y las criptomonedas en general. Pero dado que gran parte de la infraestructura de Web3 se crea a través de proveedores centralizados (p. ej., AWS), ¿Web3 es realmente mucho más centralizado de lo que la gente cree?

Dr. Max Li (ML) : ¡Definitivamente! Muchos DAO administran sus comunidades en Discord, mientras que OpenSea aloja fotos NFT en GCP (una plataforma centralizada que se complace en cumplir con las eliminaciones de DMCA). Nuestro sitio web se basa en Webflow, ¿y adivina dónde está alojado Webflow? ¡AWS!

CT: ¿Qué problemas pueden surgir de que gran parte de este ecosistema dependa de medios centralizados?

ML: Básicamente, el problema principal es que los proveedores de nube heredados enfrentan limitaciones significativas:

• Capacidades informáticas (cobertura y latencia): Hemos estado leyendo que VR, AR y XR son parte de los nuevos estándares Web3. La mayoría de la gente no entiende que estas experiencias requieren requisitos computacionales continuos de una magnitud sin precedentes en la historia humana. Los proveedores heredados no ofrecen suficiente potencia; simplemente son incapaces de satisfacer estas demandas. Los problemas de latencia y cobertura seguirán arruinando la experiencia de simultaneidad e inmersión que es fundamental para la próxima generación de Internet. Por ejemplo, la latencia de la red puede hacer que los jugadores de realidad virtual experimenten mareos, lo que obviamente va en contra del objetivo principal de la realidad virtual: evocar una sensación de inmersión total y verosimilitud.

• Precio: para los usuarios, el acceso a una potencia informática y de almacenamiento de alta calidad, baja latencia y enriquecida sigue siendo demasiado caro. Esto afecta drásticamente la escalabilidad de las aplicaciones web3. Los precios tendrán que bajar para maximizar las perspectivas de las aplicaciones Web3 y del metaverso en el mercado.

CONNECTICUT:   Hemos visto con el éxito de BSC en el pasado que a veces las personas están felices de sacrificar la descentralización por la facilidad de uso, la eficiencia y las tarifas bajas. ¿Crees que esto podría ser una tendencia en el futuro?

ML: Los usuarios siempre considerarán la facilidad de uso como una prioridad. Sin embargo, el espacio criptográfico siempre está innovando más formas de hacer que las cosas sean más fáciles y eficientes de usar de la manera más descentralizada.

Por ejemplo, existe un debate sobre cuán descentralizadas serán las L2 en ETH, pero la innovación de ZKP y otros estándares de privacidad atraerán más atención a estas cadenas. Es por eso que hay más TVL bloqueado en la Capa 2 que BSC.

Además, los proyectos con grandes ecosistemas, como Solana, Avalanche, etc., estarán conectados por puentes entre cadenas (es decir, interoperabilidad), lo que permite a los usuarios, mineros y/o activos moverse libremente entre estos proyectos para facilitar la descentralización sin comprometer la facilidad de uso.

CT: ¿Cuáles son los principales beneficios que ofrece Computecoin al usuario promedio de Web3?

ML: Computecoin tiene como objetivo proporcionar todos los servicios que ofrece AWS, pero de manera descentralizada con bajo coste, baja latencia y, en general, un rendimiento superior.

Así como Expedia ofrece una solución de reserva integral que elimina pasos, simplifica el proceso de reserva y garantiza un viaje tranquilo para los clientes, Computecoin brinda una solución integral que aplana la curva de aprendizaje que enfrentan los desarrolladores de Web3 cuando se trata de utilizando nubes descentralizadas, como Filecoin y Dfinity. Por lo tanto, Computecoin simplificará el proceso de desarrollo e implementación y garantizará una transición fluida a Web3.

CT: ¿Cuáles son sus predicciones para el crecimiento de Computecoin a largo plazo? ¿Cuál es el tamaño potencial del mercado aquí?

ML: Nuestra visión es hacer por Web3 lo que los proveedores de nube centralizada hicieron por Web2. Computecoin tiene como objetivo proporcionar todos los servicios que ofrece AWS, pero de manera descentralizada, dirigido a las pymes (pequeñas y medianas empresas).

Se estimó que el mercado mundial de la computación en la nube valdría USD 368,970 millones en 2021, con una tasa de crecimiento anual compuesta (CAGR) del 15,7 por ciento pronosticada de 2022 a 2030, según un informe de Grand View Research. A finales de 2020, el 35 % de las pymes han gastado entre 600 000 y 1 200 000 dólares en servicios de nube pública, según un informe de Statista publicado en 2022.

Estimamos que hay un mercado de cinco mil millones de dólares para Computecoin en la computación en la nube.

CT: ¿Muchas empresas han tratado de llenar este vacío en el pasado? ¿Qué distingue a Computecoin?

ML: Los desarrolladores de Web3 que desean implementar y ejecutar sus dApps de Web3 en otras infraestructuras en este espacio, como Filecoin y Dfinity, enfrentan una curva de aprendizaje pronunciada. Esto da como resultado un punto crítico clave para la industria actual: las aplicaciones Web3 aún se implementan y ejecutan en la infraestructura Web2.

Por el contrario, Computecoin (CCN) es una infraestructura de nube descentralizada que potencia los servicios de metaverso y Web3 para todo uso con API compatibles con Web2 y herramientas para desarrolladores. No hay una curva de aprendizaje que los desarrolladores deban superar antes de poder aprovechar al máximo las nubes descentralizadas subyacentes de CCN. Por lo tanto, Computecoin permitirá la transición fluida de los desarrolladores a Web3/metaverso.

CT: En medio de todos los obstáculos macroeconómicos y la tendencia a la baja del criptomercado, ¿cree que el capital minorista seguirá saliendo de los activos de riesgo y de alta volatilidad? ¿Es esto una preocupación para usted?

ML: Tal vez a corto plazo, pero veo esto como una oportunidad en el tiempo. La «fiebre criptográfica» se calmará, pero creo que todos podemos estar de acuerdo en que las tecnologías (blockchain, AI, edge computing, IoT, VR/AR, etc.) llegaron para quedarse. Entonces, lo que probablemente signifique este mercado bajista es que el capital y los tenedores de fichas se volverán más cautelosos e inteligentes, lo cual es una buena noticia para nosotros.

¿Por qué? Porque estamos aquí trabajando en la infraestructura informática de la Web 3.0 y el metaverso. No estamos aquí para sacar provecho de una tendencia. Las innovaciones que hacen única a Computecoin son el producto del arduo trabajo de decenas de investigadores en laboratorios universitarios. Vemos que los inversores y el mercado se vuelven más selectivos como una ventaja y una motivación para que trabajemos más duro. Los inversores más exigentes y un mercado más sobrio significarían que tendríamos menos competencia. Mientras tanto, tendríamos más tiempo para cultivar y seguir mejorando nuestro proyecto sin preocuparnos demasiado por «mantenernos al día» con la industria.

• Los usuarios seleccionados de Coinbase accederán a Ethereum dApps y NFT a través de la aplicación Coinbase
• El intercambio de cifrado también se alejó temporalmente de los planes para triplicar el personal tras una pérdida de $420 millones en el primer trimestre.

La plataforma de comercio e intercambio de criptomonedas Coinbase ha anunciado la introducción de la funcionalidad Web3. Se permitirá que una pequeña cantidad de usuarios acceda a productos en el ecosistema Ethereum, incluidas aplicaciones descentralizadas como SushiSwap y tokens no fungibles en mercados como OpenSea y el recién lanzado Coinbase NFT.

Según el anuncio oficial publicado el lunes, la introducción de Web3 permitirá a los usuarios explorar un nuevo conjunto de oportunidades directamente desde la aplicación Coinbase con la nueva billetera y navegador dApp. Las capacidades son administradas por tecnología de computación de múltiples partes (MPC), un protocolo de seguridad criptográfico que facilita billeteras dedicadas a la cadena.

En particular, la billetera dApp sería cocustodia, lo que significa que tanto Coinbase como el usuario almacenan la clave privada de la billetera, por lo tanto, existe algún elemento de autocustodia. El director de gestión de productos de Coinbase, Rishi Dean, explicó que este enfoque se tomó para garantizar que haya una opción de recuperación en caso de que se pierda el acceso.

«Esto significa que si pierde el acceso a su dispositivo, la clave de su billetera dApp aún está segura y Coinbase puede ayudarlo a recuperarse a través de nuestro soporte en vivo», dijo.

Sin embargo, incluso con planes para permitir que el consumidor disfrute de la descentralización con actividades como intercambio, préstamo y préstamos, solo unos pocos se beneficiarán inicialmente, ya que el servicio actualmente está limitado a unos pocos usuarios de Android que residen en los EE. UU.

El lanzamiento está previsto para el próximo lunes.

Coinbase frena ambiciosos planes de contratación

Las condiciones recientes del mercado han resultado desastrosas para las entidades criptográficas en todos los sectores, incluidos los intercambios. Coinbase es uno de los que sienten el calor y ahora se está reajustando al nuevo clima. La directora de operaciones del intercambio, Emilie Choi, indicó en una actualización de la política de contratación que la empresa está dejando de lado los planes para triplicar el personal como se comunicó para este año.

«De cara a este año, planeamos triplicar el tamaño de la empresa. Dadas las condiciones actuales del mercado, creemos que es prudente reducir la contratación y reevaluar nuestras necesidades de personal en comparación con nuestros objetivos comerciales de mayor prioridad», un extracto de una carta enviada previamente a los empleados leen. «El crecimiento de la plantilla es una entrada clave para nuestro modelo financiero, y esta es una acción importante para garantizar que gestionamos nuestro negocio en los escenarios que planeamos, específicamente el Ebitda ajustado potencial que pretendemos gestionar».

Choi vinculó la decisión a las condiciones actuales del mercado y la necesidad de centrarse en los objetivos comerciales prioritarios. Con el cambio de plan, dijo que la compañía ahora tiene la intención de garantizar que las contrataciones recientes estén bien asentadas para garantizar el éxito.

El informe financiero del primer trimestre de Coinbase, publicado la semana pasada, mostró que el intercambio registró una pérdida neta de USD 430 millones en el primer trimestre de este año.

Chingari, the world’s fastest-growing on-chain social app has launched the first-ever video-NFT marketplace called Creator Cuts. The marketplace adds to Chingari’s commitment to fostering and proliferating the creator economy.

Speaking at the launch of the NFT marketplace, Mr Sumit Ghosh, who is the Co-founder & CEO of Chingari and GARI token said:

“At Chingari, empowering and enabling creators to engage effectively and intrinsically with their community has been the cornerstone of our success since our inception. We believe in the immense potential of the Creator Economy and are wholly committed to its growth and democratisation across the spectrum. Towards this, we are always innovating and creating unique programs and propositions which lie at the cross-section of popular culture, ecosystem growth and our business priorities. The introduction of Creator Cuts is one such unique initiative which empowers the creators as well as the community to not only form deeper connections but also grow together in the truest sense of the term.”

Creator Cuts is the first ever video-NFT (V NFT) marketplace and it will allow marquee videos from Chingari’s top creators to be minted as video NFTs.

How Creator Cuts will work

Besides empowering creators with a unique financial and community engagement opportunity, Creator Cuts will also enable the community to connect with their favourite creators by owning a piece of their exclusive art while also being able to derive some monetary benefits.

Buyers of the video NFTs will earn 10% of the daily income in the GARI token that the creator receives. That means the revenue generated by the videos is shared between the creators and the buyers of the NFTs.

Creators on the Chingari app can mint their videos and sell them on the Creator Cuts to increase their revenue. A unique price is assigned to each video depending on the activity of its creator on the Chinagri app.

The minted video NFTs can be bought by anyone; either a Chinagri use or non-user.

Revuto, a famous Croatian-based startup revolutionizing digital subscriptions, is launching a lifelong digital subscription to Spotify and Netflix services through the Revulution NFT.

As of July 11, 10,000 interested users will have the opportunity of buying a limited edition NFT on Revuto’s official website.

Commenting on the new innovation, the CEO and co-founder of Revuto, Vedran Vukman, said:

“Based on the feedback we received from our 350,000 active and verified users, we have decided to give the community exactly what they have asked for – a solution that guarantees a stable subscription fee that they can share with their friends or family members in a simple and straightforward way. Moreover, in case they are not using the service, the users can simply get their money back or even profit from selling the NFTs. We wish to enable everyone to efficiently manage their subscriptions and, eventually, to make the digital subscription market fairer and more equitable.”

How the Revulution NFT works

Once a person buys a Revulution NFT, Revuto in cooperation with Railsr (former Railsbank), a top-tier banking provider that powers the likes of Crypro.com, will allow the person to pay for their Netflix or Spotify subscriptions. In a nutshell, the Revulution NFT will be held as a digital debit card.

Besides being used to pay for subscriptions, the Revulution NFT allows holders to trade it on the crypto exchanges thus opening up a completely new secondary market. However, once a user sells their Revulution NFT, Revuto will deactivate any Spotify and Netflix digital debit card and provide a new one for the new user.

The co-founder of Revuto, Josipa Majić, also added by saying:

“Our Revulution NFT for Netflix or Spotify is just the start, and also an introduction to the subscription NFTs that people will be able to use to pay for any subscription in the world, for however long they want. Also, by using this particular innovation, the users will get discounts when selecting their subscriptions, coupled with the possibility of either gifting or selling them to other users. With such a unique approach, Revuto is introducing something completely new to the world of subscriptions, something that will enable the creation of an entirely new market of prepaid unused subscriptions. I am immensely proud of the team behind this project, and we are all looking forward to everything that is coming in the future. We are confident the market and existing user base will once again react positively to what we have done.”

Revulution NFTs will be available on Revuto website at a price of USD 349.

Revuto, a famous Croatian-based startup revolutionizing digital subscriptions, is launching a lifelong digital subscription to Spotify and Netflix services through the Revulution NFT.

As of July 11, 10,000 interested users will have the opportunity of buying a limited edition NFT on Revuto’s official website.

Commenting on the new innovation, the CEO and co-founder of Revuto, Vedran Vukman, said:

“Based on the feedback we received from our 350,000 active and verified users, we have decided to give the community exactly what they have asked for – a solution that guarantees a stable subscription fee that they can share with their friends or family members in a simple and straightforward way. Moreover, in case they are not using the service, the users can simply get their money back or even profit from selling the NFTs. We wish to enable everyone to efficiently manage their subscriptions and, eventually, to make the digital subscription market fairer and more equitable.”

How the Revulution NFT works

Once a person buys a Revulution NFT, Revuto in cooperation with Railsr (former Railsbank), a top-tier banking provider that powers the likes of Crypro.com, will allow the person to pay for their Netflix or Spotify subscriptions. In a nutshell, the Revulution NFT will be held as a digital debit card.

Besides being used to pay for subscriptions, the Revulution NFT allows holders to trade it on the crypto exchanges thus opening up a completely new secondary market. However, once a user sells their Revulution NFT, Revuto will deactivate any Spotify and Netflix digital debit card and provide a new one for the new user.

The co-founder of Revuto, Josipa Majić, also added by saying:

“Our Revulution NFT for Netflix or Spotify is just the start, and also an introduction to the subscription NFTs that people will be able to use to pay for any subscription in the world, for however long they want. Also, by using this particular innovation, the users will get discounts when selecting their subscriptions, coupled with the possibility of either gifting or selling them to other users. With such a unique approach, Revuto is introducing something completely new to the world of subscriptions, something that will enable the creation of an entirely new market of prepaid unused subscriptions. I am immensely proud of the team behind this project, and we are all looking forward to everything that is coming in the future. We are confident the market and existing user base will once again react positively to what we have done.”

Revulution NFTs will be available on Revuto website at a price of USD 349.

• Getty Images’ NFTs will be minted on the Ethereum sidechain Palm blockchain
• LimeWire recently partnered with UMG to allow artists signed to the entertainment giant to release NFTs in an upcoming marketplace

British-American visual media firm Getty Images has completed an agreement with digital collectables company Candy Digital to release its first non-fungible tokens (NFTs). According to an official announcement published on Tuesday, the NFTs would be minted on Palm blockchain, an Ethereum sidechain.

Getty Images intends to draw material for its NFTs from its collection having more than 465 million images, including 135 million previously unseen analogue archival works. Sales of the tokens would happen on Candy Digital’s marketplace, with the firm also tasked with developing the said NFTs. The goal is to establish a diverse pool of digital collectables in the long run.

“Through this partnership, Getty Images and Candy Digital will collaborate and develop a diverse portfolio of NFT products and collections derived from Getty Images’ extensive library of more than 465 million images,” the official release read.

Getty Images CEO Craig Peters said the new offering allows the stock images provider to dive into a new market to breach a new customer base. Candy Digital’s Scott Lawin noted that the NFTs would enable his company to grow its reach beyond sporting into culture and history. 

“This partnership represents an exciting step forward in Candy’s evolution as we expand and diversify beyond sports and establish Candy as a leader in the worlds of digital entertainment, culture, and art.”

Getty Images said there’ll be more than 30 million digital collectables minted annually.

LimeWire locks in UMG

Elsewhere, LimeWire – which recently rebooted as an NFT marketplace – has reached an agreement with iconic entertainment giant Universal Music Group (UMG) to allow the artists launch their digital collectables on the platform. 

Per the official announcement, the partnership will allow all artists signed to Universal Music Group and its labels, including Def Jam Recordings, Capitol Records, and Motown Records, to share items including backstage content, audio-visual material, bonus tracks, uncut demos and other art-worthy content with fans.

The partnership indicates the changing landscape around music and music sharing. With some huge names, including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, and The Rolling Stones, the interaction between artists and their fans is already shifting with time. 

• The electronic manufacturer announced it has linked up with Theta in an SRD NFTs project
• The NFTs will be hosted on ThetaDrop

Japanese consumer electronic products manufacturer Sony has partnered with Theta Labs, creator of the decentralised video streaming network Theta to launch two collections of 3D NFTs, exclusively designed for display on its Spatial Reality Display, SRD. 

Sony’s SRD is the electronic giant’s display that allows users to view objects in 3D without the glasses or all the complicated gear associated with the ‘usual’ experiences in virtual reality. 

Its operation is such that it tracks the movement of the eyes and tweaks the display perceived by the user as they move/ tilt their head. This tablet-like device enables users to gain the sensation of a solid 3D object, which is the tech to be exploited with the NFTs in the pipeline – they would be displayable and ‘manipulatable’ via the SRDs.

The underlying technology employs mixed reality to enhance the feel of the NFTs, allowing users to perceive these valuable collectibles in an experience they can almost touch.

One of the collections would be a limited edition dubbed ‘The Tiki Guy,’ a 3D Tiki mask. There’ll be only ten of these, but it even gets juicier for the holders of Tiki Guy NFTs with a US shipping address, as they’ll also gain a free SRD device!

Beyond the industrial space, into the virtual world

The launch of NFTs on the SRD will extend the utility of these devices. Since the tech was first introduced in 2020, it has often been advertised as an industrial tool for designers, engineers, and art creators. However, with the evolution of NFTs, these immersive devices are set to break the bounds of the industrial space into the virtual world.

 The VP of business development at Sony, Nick Colsey, believes NFTs will provide just the perfect demonstration of the potential of SRD technology, especially in the metaverse and in enhancing the experience of NFT holders/ collectors.

Better, but we’re still in the pricy waters

For $5,000 apiece, the average enthusiast will likely be priced out. However, the price implications go beyond just that!

Given that we will be getting NFTs in 3D, let alone the fact that they will only be displayable on SRDs, holders would be restricted in the utility they derive from their tokens. For instance, they won’t be able to flaunt them on their social media profiles or other media platforms such as screens. Theta does well enough in that there’s a 2D version of the NFTs, but the catch is they’ll come at an extra cost. Also, the interoperability limitations mean that NFT holders will be curtailed from migrating their tokens across virtual platforms.

On the bigger perspective, by enabling the metaverse to host users without necessitating overly burdensome hardware, Sony’s SRD has opened a gateway to solving a complicated challenge that has time and again plagued these virtual spaces. The tech allows the interaction of the physical and virtual worlds, as has been attempted by augmented reality start-up Anima.

RCRDSHP is a nascent digital collectables platform, based on the Flow blockchain, with a bit of a twist. Aiming to bring artist and fan closer together through the medium of blockchain, it’s a concept firmly rooted in the metaverse, and the new world. The platform is gamified and provides some interesting options for fans and artist alike, which I’ll dig into below.

Like their fellow Flow users, NBA TopShot, the platform at the moment centres around pack drops rather than auctions, something which helps with accessibility. What’s cool is that this accessability is a repeated point of emphasis for the platform, who have made it clear they aren’t interested in the headline-grabbing NFT sales which have begun to occur in the music industry, such as the Weeknd recently selling an NFT for $490,000. Nor do they want you speculating in their token (ye…a crypto founder encouraging you not to pump his token – that’s a new one). Furthermore, they don’t even have a cryptocurrency background – they come from music. 

In a press release yesterday, they revealed novel NFT staking mechanics, whereby fans can stake artist NFTs, earning yield for themselves while the artist also benefits from the exposure. Naturally, I wanted to find out more about this, as well as other aspects of the business. 

I interviewed RCRDSHP Founder & CEO, Obie Fernandez, to get his thoughts.

CoinText: Do you intend to expand beyond the EDM genre?

Obie Fernandez: Yes, absolutely. We are actively searching for key hires that can help us connect with artists and fans from other genres, such as hip hop, latin, and indie rock.

CT: Would you consider offering auctions or fixed-price content like some competitors?

OF: Creators will definitely be selling fixed-price collectibles directly to fans on RCRDSHP soon, and as that happens then big pack drops will become special events rather than a weekly thing. Auctions are not a priority at the moment.

 

CT: Why did you choose Flow?

OF: The developer experience with Cadence is fantastic, but mostly we really liked Roham and Mickey and the rest of the Dapper team, and their emphasis on bringing NFT technology to millions of people around the world, no prior crypto experience or wallets needed. Also didn’t hurt that the earliest versions of RCRDSHP were heavily influenced by NBA Top Shot.

 

CT: I notice in your press release that you lament the expensive music NFT sales, for example the $490,000 Weeknd song that sold recently, as being inaccessible to the regular fan. You pledge “a constant supply of affordable collectibles”, but how do you intend to ensure this? What if a very popular artist wants to sell an NFT for higher, how would this work?

OF: We think that very popular artists are doing cash grabs at the moment simply because they can, so why not? It’s not sustainable and has no significant or long-term positive impact on the fundamental dysfunctions of the music industry. That said, if an artist on RCRDSHP wants to try selling something for a million dollars, we’re not going to try to stop them. It’d have to be pretty amazing though. Our player base is very picky, and hard to impress.

CT: Can you elaborate on how the staking system allows players to earn yield on behalf of their favorite artists?

OF: If you want to support your favorite artist, all you have to do is showcase their artist card–giving it special prominence in your public collection–and then “stake” it, essentially locking it (and its bound SOUND token) for a month at a time in favor of that artist. The daily stakeholder reward calculation is distributed proportionally based on the amount of SOUND token staked per artist. There are a limited number of slots in a showcase, so if a player wants to increase the number of coins staked in favor of a particular artist then they have to “mass” that artist’s artist card, basically folding in other collectibles by that artist in order to make cards with higher and higher coin values. We keep track of how much each fan has generated for each artist and rank them on a leaderboard in order to spur competition and bragging rights over who is the biggest patron of their favorite artists.

 

CT: What would you say is the biggest pulling power that RCRDSHP boasts in trying to attract artists over competing platforms?

OF: There’s many factors. Me and most of my team all come from music, not crypto or wall street, so that’s appealing–we know how to speak an artist’s language, and we’re building RCRDSHP first and foremost for ourselves. Also let’s be blunt, distributing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unexpected revenue to our initial artist cohorts did wonders in terms of generating inbound interest because word gets around. Curious newcomers poke around and see that our roster is full of well-established and well-regarded artists and that tends to make closing the deal easy. Many other competing platforms are full of new and/or obscure artists, and as an established artist you don’t want to damage your brand by mixing with people “below your level.” Not the most democratic phenomenon, but it’s the reality.

 

CT: Can you elaborate how the burning of NFTs works, which you mention drives scarcity and generates revenue for the holder?

OF: If a RCRDSHP player doesn’t want a particular collectible that they own anymore, they can turn it into coins by burning it. In order to burn, you have to have a source of fire, like a lighter or book of matches, which themselves are NFT-backed collectibles that have a limited number of charges. Some sources of fire like our Genesis Set “Zippo Lighter” can be recharged, and others like the “Late Night Pizza” are only good for a couple of burns. Once you burn something it’s no longer in your collection. (And if you go to its URL you’ll see a little gravestone.)

Burning is an important dynamic in our economy. When a player burns a collectible, the coins bound to it are liberated and flow to their account. It can be considered a kind of punishment for the creator of the collectible since those coins are no longer available for staking. On the other hand, the greatest predictor of market price for these things is scarcity, so even a high burn rate still ends up having some potential benefit to the creator by making remaining mints harder to acquire.

CT: Do you intend to get the SOUND token listed on exchanges, and if so, what time frame are you working towards?

OF: Yes, major centralized and decentralized exchanges. Including those that serve US citizens. We’ll be making continuous announcements about listings over the next few months.

 

CT: When you say on the website for SOUND that it is not intended for speculation, either by players on the platform or the public, do you have a plan to try to enforce this or are you just hoping that speculators don’t trade it? If you are planning on getting listed on exchanges, do you fear speculation in the token is inevitable?

OF: No enforcement planned, no. The economy is designed so that the platform itself puts constant buy pressure on SOUND at one dollar, so we expect the token to gradually drift towards that level and stay there. There are much better options for speculation.

 

CT: Looking at the tokenomics for SOUND, I notice a hefty chunk – 30% – is allocated to the Treasury. Can you elaborate on what the purpose of this is?

OF: The treasury includes a sizable amount of tokens we’ve sold to private investors via SAFTs, and over time I’m sure we’ll sell more to raise funds for investment in additional projects similar to RCRDSHP. (Think RCRDSHP for Broadway or Standup Comedy, etc.) We’ll also be using some of that allocation to provide liquidity to the market.

 

CT: Similarly, could you please elaborate on the 25% allocation to stakeholder rewards? How do you expect to use this portion?

OF: Stakeholder rewards will be distributed daily, and fluctuate based on player activity levels. Those rewards are critical to our economic system, because they replenish our content partners with tokens that they can use to mint new NFT-backed collectibles. The more engagement and fan support, the greater an artist’s share of the reward pool, and the more collectibles they can mint and sell to drive revenues.

 

Last week, I wrote an article on ApeCoin, the new cryptocurrency launched to be “the primary token for all new products and services” from the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). I won’t go over previously covered ground, but to summarise it quickly, ApeCoin is an ERC-20 governance token; the thesis is that holders can vote on potential changes to Bored Ape Yacht Club, in addition to gaining access to exclusive events and merchandise, as well as use it for in-game currency.

After a bit of a volatile start (who would have guessed?) the coin has gone vertical, with a market cap of $3.7 billion at time of writing. BAYC have yet again proved that everything they touch turns to gold (although Bitcoin diehards may not like the choice of words in that expression).

$450 million raise

Yuga Labs, the creator behind BAYC, followed up the ApeCoin launch by this week announcing that they had raised $450 million funding – equating to a valuation of $4 billion. The plan is to build out its own metaverse, titled Otherside. They also recently bought the intellectual property rights to two of the biggest rival NFTs: Cryptopunks and Meebits. As Cardi B would say, they’re making money moves.

By all accounts, BAYC are building a juggernaut here. What has separated these cartoon apes from the thousands of run-of-the-mill NFT projects is the focus on community. If you own an Ape, you don’t merely hold a piece of art. The NFT serves as a ticket to events (including exclusive Miami Yacht parties plastered all over social media), merchandise, airdrops, social gatherings and countless other perks. Exclusivity and scarcity breed demand when marketed correctly – like Kanye West releasing only a certain number of his Yeezy shoes, to use a real-world example. And when you leverage the power of celebrities to advertise it (Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Serena Williams, Steph Curry to name just a few), the sky really is the limit.

Consolidation of Wealth

But it all makes me a little uncomfortable, for a couple of reasons.

In the airdrop of the tokens last week, each holder of a Bored Ape received 10,094 ApeCoin tokens. At current prices, that equates to mouth-watering $134,000 simply appearing in holders’ wallets, without having to do anything. And, recall that there are only 10,000 of these Apes and the floor price is currently 103 ETH, or $313,000. So, this is a small collection of already-very-very-rich people getting much, much richer.  

Floor price of BAYC since inception, data via OpenSea

But what’s the point of Web 3.0? Is it not a decentralised platform, accessible to all? Are we not hoping for a more democratic, transparent and accessible environment? And yet here we are, with an enormous consolidation of wealth at the top.

Take a look at some of the names involved in the $450 million fund raise:

• Coinbase
• FTX
• Andressen Horowitz
• Animoca Brands
• MoonPay

Not exactly small timers – and not exactly cash-starved individuals or entities either. It continues what is a worrying trend in crypto – the rich getting richer, while ordinary investors often get caught holding the bag.

Unequal Distribution

I’m not saying this will happen, but let’s imagine the scenario where ApeCoin plummets – which in the world of newly released alt coins, is absolutely normal. Who holds the bag? First, let’s look at the tokenomics:

Token distribution of ApeCoin

As I pointed out in last week’s article, it’s a hefty chunk of tokens locked up already – with only 52% remaining after Yuga Labs, BAYC founders, the first BAYC owners and those working on the DAO’s launch take their cut. If it was a less reputable name, I would be very very hesitant to get involved, looking at those tokenomics. That’s a large concentration that could be dumped on the market at any time, and a very centralised distribution of wealth.

If we plummet 70% from the $3.7 billion market cap, let’s say, it’s not those above parties that will hold the bag. They will still be massively in the black, making off like bandits. Unfortunately, it will be those late to the party – those who bought in following the hype this week. Remember, a 70% drop requires a 333% rise to make your investment back – the “bagholder’s equation” (patent for that expression is pending).

Bagholders

With the celebrity clout, marketing strength and already buoyant ecosystem behind BAYC, the launch of this token was an absolute no-brainer for the parties capturing that 52% cut above. And it’s similar for the venture capital funds and angel investors involved in the fund-raising round.

They will have their exit points marked, their profit-taking targets. Meanwhile, everyday investors, caught up in the hype via celebrity endorsements, screenshots of 100X returns from early purchasers and the typical crypto FOMO are the ones who end up footing the bill when it’s all over – the VC funds will have already gone home.

Wider Issue

To be clear, I am not specifically talking about Bored Ape Yacht Club; they are merely the latest example. The token could go to $100 billion for all I care, and maybe everybody makes money – if so, happy days (although having never owned a cent but written multiple articles about them in their first week on the market, I would definitely be concerned for my mental health in such a scenario).

What I am referring to is the market-wide rise of VC funds in general in the crypto space, and the power they are yielding in what has become an increasingly uneven playing field – ironically, the exact opposite of what crypto strived to achieve. They have early access to purchase these coins and there is an informational asymmetry, as well as often less friction and fees.

These nascent alt coins are a playground for founders, VC funds and early investors, and “regular” investors need to be very careful when getting involved, because they are swallowing a lot more risk than the former parties. Sometimes these are malicious – the typical “rug pull” involves a founder wiping all the liquidity or dumping a large whale holding on investors – but some are just projects that simply never succeed, yet the founders and early VC funds still make serious bank.

Centralisation

So while Web 3.0 promised us all pure decentralisation and the absence of centralised entities, that’s not what we are getting here with BAYC, and the wider space in general. Yuga Labs yields significant governance power with their 15% cut, while the top holders continue to bank unfathomable wealth from the airdrops of these new projects and the ever-rising floor price. Just look at the blockchain they are operating on – Ethereum – which necessitates hundreds of dollars worth of gas fees – totally impractical for the average investor.  

Yuga Labs do seem to care about the crypto community more than most, just to be clear in my opinion (they could have been a lot more self-serving with the IP rights for CryptoPunks, for example), but my general stance holds on the risks inherent in these business models, and the implications for Web 3.0.

I believe these governance tokens will continue to be issued by NFT collections, and I suspect many will go to zero – maliciously via rug pulls, or “naturally” fail with the founders banking returns regardless. And the bagholders will not be the VC funds, founders or insiders.

Decentralisation, while seductive and attractive in theory, is proving harder to implement as the natural genetics of capitalism continue to distribute the wealth inequitably. I still think decentralisation is too critical a component, and, more importantly, too many people in the community care about it .Therefore I am still optimistic these are growing pains and will be ironed out with time.

But the emergence of powerful behemoths such as Yuga Labs and the VC funds behind it do remind me of the dangers of the space. And for retail investors foaming at the mouth while FOMO eats away at you, please be careful.