M6 Labs NFT Weekly

Gm Anon! The market is still ranging, and metrics across the ecosystem appear stable, builders are busy creating, and ecosystems continue to expand. Let's dive in!

Project Updates

• A new team of owners now leads the formerly popular NFT project, Lazy Lions.

• Holders of Pudgy Penguin and Lil Pudgy tokens can submit their NFTs for IP licensing to potentially secure individual brand deals.

• NiftyKit, a no-code NFT solution, is integrating with the Coinbase Base Blockchain, aiming to transform NFT creation.

• Amid ongoing legal disputes involving Binance, Ronaldo participated in a football match with holders of his NFT collection at a Binance-sponsored training event.

• Sotheby's marks the first individual poem sale with Bitcoin Ordinals Inscription.

• Taproot Wizards has delayed the 'Quantum Cats' sale for the second time following a turbulent debut. Sale was then delayed again till Feb 5th. 

• NFT marketplace Magic Eden introduces a multi-chain wallet.

• Apeiron (APRS) has partnered with Talon Esports, where Talon will provide gaming and esports advice, insights, guidance, and co-host tournaments to expand Apeiron's reach.

• Immutable launches an early access mode for its Polygon-powered zkEVM mainnet.

• Amazon is developing a film based on the $3B Bitfinex hack, exploring the psychology of a crypto hustler linked to the Bitfinex breach.

• Forgotten Playland secures $7M in funding from Merit Circle, Spartan, and other investors.

• The P2E mobile strategy game, Heroes of Mavia, plans to launch its token on February 6th, with the game's release on iOS and Android scheduled for January 31st. 

• Dtravel is tokenizing vacation rental bookings on the Polygon PoS blockchain with its v3 smart contract upgrade.

• Binance casts doubt on an NFT game that raised $115M during its minting process.

• A billionaire biohacker enters the world of NFTs with the Drip Solana airdrop.

• Gaming platform SkyArk Chronicles announces the completion of a $15M funding round.

• OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer remains open to acquisition rumors.

Blue Chip and Market Overview

Azukis and Pudgy Penguins have emerged as dominant players in January's trading volume. Their continuous project updates and ecosystem growth have proven fruitful, causing both collections to surpass BAYC. 

• Notably, there has been a decline in volume for BAYC, Gods Unchained, and Milady Maker. It is highly likely that in this bull market, we will witness significant changes in the top collections. 

• Collections led by strong teams with well-defined goals and successful execution are expected to rise to prominence.

Azuki Updates

Marking its 2nd anniversary, is preparing for an exciting year ahead with updates in three primary categories: Anime, Physical, and Gaming. 

• They have unveiled collaborations with notable figures and agencies in the anime industry, an expanding range of physical products to strengthen the connection with their intellectual property, and the imminent launch of a hyper-casual mobile game featuring BEANZ. 

• In addition, Azuki is introducing a tiered collector status system consisting of four levels: Esteemed, Grand, Legend, and The Order. 

• This system will determine your level of engagement within the Azuki ecosystem, offering opportunities and access to future drops based on the emblems you earn in your collection. The year 2024 holds great promise for Azuki and BEANZ holders.

Moving on to other NFT metrics

While Blur maintains its position as the leading marketplace, it is important to note that it still exhibits a significant presence in wash trading statistics. 

• Wash trading refers to the practice of artificially inflating trading volumes by buying and selling the same assets to create a false impression of market activity.

• In the context of Blur, this means that despite its prominence, there are instances where trading volumes may not necessarily reflect genuine market demand or transactions. 

Projects such as Motodex, Sweat Economy, Pixels, Playember, and Farmers World are achieving remarkable success in terms of user engagement within the realm of crypto games. Particularly, Motodex has witnessed a substantial surge in its player base.

• One of the predominant challenges in the crypto gaming industry has been the integration of effective tokenomics with a captivating and enjoyable gaming experience for users. 

• Traditional gamers have often been skeptical about crypto games, expressing concerns that the introduction of monetary aspects may negatively impact the gaming experience. However, it has been hypothesized that finding the right balance between these elements has yet to be achieved. 

• It would not come as a surprise if, during this cycle, crypto games emerge that successfully address these concerns and pave the way for a new direction in the world of crypto gaming.

Wax Casino has emerged as a prominent player in the crypto gambling scene within the past week. In contrast, the success of Doge Casino appears to have been fleeting, as the protocol has dropped out of the top five rankings.

After experiencing a decline in Ordinals inscriptions in October of the previous year, inscriptions have been on a remarkable upward trajectory ever since. 

• Despite occasional pullbacks, this trend shows no signs of slowing down, as the total number of inscriptions continues to increase significantly.

During May and December of 2023, Ordinals experienced some of its highest daily fee periods. 

• While fees may have subsided since then, data suggests that fees generated from Ordinals transactions still play a crucial role in the broader BTC ecosystem.

Highlight recently published an article that provided some intriguing insights.

• A review of blockchain royalties in the NFT market reveals a significant decline in effective royalty rates for Ethereum NFTs over the past two years, with the average rate now at 0.8%, down 84% from about 5% two years ago. 

• This decline resulted in artists and creators missing out on approximately $37M in payouts in December 2023 compared to 2021 rates. 

• While some platforms like LooksRare, X2Y2, and Sudoswap contributed to these rate decreases by removing royalty enforcement, OpenSea and Blur remain influential. 

• OpenSea plans to stop enforcing royalties on all collections by February 29, 2024. The impact of these changes varies by project type, with PFP projects experiencing the most significant decline, while art projects maintain relatively higher effective royalty rates, indicating a desire among collectors to support individual artists. 

• The report suggests that there is an opportunity to reinforce positive-sum ecosystem behaviors and increase the effective royalty rates for artists in the NFT market.

Degen Corner

• Ronin (RON) - Ronin’s end to 2023 and beginning of 2024 has been nothing short of impressive. At the end of October 2023, RON was trading at $0.49. However, since then, RON has gone on a bull run that has seen it surge into 2024. By the end of December 2023, it had gone past the $2 mark, ending the year on a high. RON continued its bullish momentum in 2024 and is currently trading at $2.80 and could very well cross the $3 mark again. 

• Magic (MAGIC) - MAGIC is the utility token that connects gaming communities in the Treasure Metaverse. The Treasure Metaverse is a decentralized NFT ecosystem on Arbitrum, a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum. According to crypto analyst World of Charts, Altcoins ranked between 150 and 300 in market value and have considerable potential for growth, at the forefront is MAGIC, which is on the verge of a breakout. MAGIC had dropped to $0.41 on the 19th of October but has since recovered, rising to $1.21. World of Charts predicts a potential increase of 65%, which would see MAGIC cross $2. 

• Check your Rune allocation if you held RSIC by visiting https://ordiscan.com/ To do so, input your BC address and click on the "Rune Tab."

Immutable zkEVM, an Ethereum layer-2 network powered by Polygon's zkEVM technology, has launched its mainnet in early access, allowing approved developers to start building on the chain. 

• The network aims to open access to all builders in 2024. In the meantime, the zkEVM testnet is available for experimentation and testing. 

• The network's unique features include gas-free functionality, product integrations, smart contract templates, and a secure gaming environment. 

• Games like Guild of Guardians, Shardbound, and MetalCore are set to launch on Immutable zkEVM in the first half of 2024. 

• Immutable's IMX token has become a valuable gaming token with significant market cap growth.

Serum City, a city-building game featuring NFT assets from various collections, has been released. 

• To access the game, you'll need an access pass, which is currently available to holders of specific NFT projects. 

• Owners of NFTs from Mutant Hounds, Mutant Cartel Oath, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Mutant Ape Yacht Club can claim a pass for free, with regular Ethereum gas fees applying. The game utilizes Ethereum NFTs and employs ApeCoin as its in-game currency, focusing on Mutant Ape characters. 

• While it's not an official Yuga Labs project, Faraway, one of the co-developers, is collaborating with Yuga Labs on its own game initiatives.

Solana gaming platform MixMob is gearing up to release its MXM governance token and has plans for an airdrop to reward early supporters. 

• MixMob intends to distribute 63M MXM tokens through an airdrop, which will be extended to those who purchased MixBot NFTs and participated in the game's incentivized beta testing. 

• Notably, MixMob's recent MixBots NFT sale achieved tremendous success, generating over $2.25M in revenue. 

• Following the token generation event, MixMob will introduce a new in-game season for Racer1, their initial game, which will be connected to an additional airdrop.

Parallel, a popular NFT card-battler game named GG's 2023 Game of the Year, is teasing an open beta launch in the near future. 

• Currently in a closed beta test with gradual player access, Parallel is preparing for the open beta by ensuring a consistent and fair game experience. 

• The latest update introduces new cards and content, including two Ethereum NFT cards and a premium battle pass. 

• Despite not making significant in-game changes, the update enhances the overall experience. Parallel is known for its NFT-based cards and items, with NFTs minted on Ethereum and the scaling network Base.

Smart money NFT collectors according to Nansen have been moving into the following collections over the last seven days. 

• Sugartown Oras, BeraTone and Emby stand out this week. 

OKX is expanding its support for various blockchain token standards, including Atomicals (ARC-20), Stamps (SRC-20), Runes, and Dogecoin's Doginals (DRC-20). 

• The platform plans to introduce a marketplace in the near future to facilitate transactions involving these tokens. OKX is set to integrate the SRC-20 standard for Bitcoin token viewing and transfers on February 5, followed by the integration of ARC-20, DRC-20, and Runes standards later in February. 

• Currently, OKX Wallet's inscription tool supports minting on 23 different networks, including Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche-C, and Arbitrum One, among others.

• OKX's Chief Innovation Officer, Jason Lau, emphasized that inscriptions are purely Web3 products and will endure as long as the underlying blockchain exists. Lau views inscriptions as a new canvas for Web3 creators, offering flexibility and permanence. 

• He highlighted the importance of selecting the appropriate blockchain for different NFT projects based on factors like block space and demand, emphasizing the need to store art and data immutably on-chain. 

Yuga Labs is launching "Dookey Dash Unclogged," a sewer racing game that will be free to play and available on mobile devices and PC in February. 

• Players race through sewers, dodging obstacles and earning points. 

• The game will feature new characters, vehicles, leaderboards, in-game stores, tournaments, and prizes. 

• NFT holders from BAYC, MAYC, BAKC, and HV-MTL collections can expect token benefits. 

My Neighbor Alice's alpha season 4 is live, offering players a chance to join the community quest and craft items for staking ALICE tokens. 

• My Neighbor Alice is a multiplayer blockchain-based farming and building game with features like fishing, crafting, and trading. It also has a companion app, Alice's Wardrobe, for avatar customization and an in-game marketplace using the ALICE token. 

• This season, launched in December 2023, brings improved graphics, and interactive gameplay elements. 

• The game will continue after the quest ends, allowing NFT ownership. Players can stake items for passive ALICE token rewards, with an option to recover collateral by burning items.

Xai, a gaming network built on Ethereum's Arbitrum scaling solution, continues to build momentum in the crypto gaming sphere. 

• They launched the XAI token and partnered with Laguna Games to bring popular titles like Crypto Unicorns to the platform.

• Ex Populus , affiliated with Xai Foundation, is developing "Final Form," a card-battler game integrated with NFTs set to launch around April. 

• Another game called "LAMOverse," an online action game, will follow.

• Ex Populus aims to become the Web3 equivalent of gaming giants like Valve and Epic Games by promoting NFT ownership and crypto-driven economies to traditional gamers.

• Xai has achieved significant milestones, including a $30M Sentry Node sale and a $150M XAI token airdrop. 

• As more games join the platform, Xai's future looks promising in the crypto gaming landscape.

Learn about the first inscription protocol on Metis, Nuvo, with the following thread.

Notable investors have raised concerns about certain web3 gaming projects. In the case of AOFverse, Dingaling sold all his AOFverse NFTs at a significant loss due to disappointment with the newly announced $AFG token details, which caused a sharp drop in floor prices. For a more detailed overview, check out the thread below.

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