M6 Labs NFT Weekly

GM, Anon! What an eventful week it has been! Farcaster experienced a surge in activity, and the introduction of the new standard ERC-404 is making significant changes. As for BTC, it seems to have resumed its upward trajectory, ATHs incoming? Let’s dive in!

Project Updates

• NFTPerp, a DEX specializing in perpetual futures for NFTs, concluded its Grants funding round, with support from the Arbitrum Foundation. The specific amount raised in the funding round has not been disclosed.

• Saltwater Games, a web3 gaming enterprise, secured $5.50M in a Seed funding round. Deus X Capital and Fourth Revolution Capital (4RC) participated in the investment.

• Binance list RON.

• Floor V2 is LIVE with 15 ETH Sweeps

• Sudoswap is now live on Base

• Art Blocks acquired the Sansa marketplace.

• Mastercard's new UEFA Champions League game offers cardholders the chance to win tickets using NFT passes.

• 'Doom' expands its range by running on Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and even gut bacteria.

• A judge dismisses Ryder Ripps' counterclaims against Yuga Labs and orders him and Jeremy Cahen to pay nearly $9M in compensation to the digital collectible company.

• Pudgy Penguins partners with Magic Eden as their preferred marketplace.

• GameStop tribute meme coin on Solana experiences a 52% plunge amidst GME crash.

• Vitalik Buterin stated: "Bad gamefi is using financial speculation as a substitute for fun. Blockchain games need to be fun as games" - approx quote I've said many times

Blue Chip and Market Overview

Over the last seven days, there have been some notable developments in trading volume. Nobody has surged to the top of the charts, with DeGods following closely in second place. Meanwhile, BAYC continues to linger towards the lower end of the list.

Art collections within the NFT market have experienced predominantly negative volumes over the past seven days. This segment of the market attracts traders with a specific interest in niche artwork, and it tends to be highly speculative, even more so than traditional NFTs. During the last bull run, art collections in this market sector witnessed significant surges in prices, reaching incredible highs. It will be intriguing to observe whether a similar trend occurs once again.

Exciting developments in the gaming NFT ecosystem involve the sustained interest in Pixelmon and Pixels. There's speculation about whether either of these projects will claim the top spot in the coming weeks.

Following the recent sale of Quantum Cats, the collection has surged to the top position in terms of volume, experiencing a remarkable 3x increase in mint price. Similarly, Bitcoin Puppets have exhibited strong performance, with their floor price steadily rising.

Degen Corner

• Blur (BLUR) - Blur was one of the stars of the crypto market in 2023, reaching astronomical highs. It continued this trend in 2024 as well, registering impressive gains despite the unlocking of 50M BLUR tokens. The token is trading at $0.61, up nearly 40% over the past 30 days.

• Immutable (IMX) - IMX is another token that has maintained an upward trajectory in 2023 and 2024. This comes as no surprise as the blockchain gaming specialist is known for its innovation. The company recently announced the launch of its Immutable zkEVM mainnet. IMX has been fairly bullish over the past 30 days, registering an increase of over 16%, and is currently trading at $2.28.

• Ronin (RON) - Ronin has given followers and investors plenty to cheer about in recent weeks. Following the news of the RON token’s Binance listing, Ronin has announced a new collaboration with Japan-based GMonsters and mobile game publisher MIXI, bringing titles from the Fight League franchise to Ronin. No doubt, the price of RON reflects this positive sentiment and has registered an increase of 5% over the past 24 hours, with the token currently trading at $2.66.

• Heroes of Mavia (MAVIA) - Heroes of Mavia recently airdropped its MAVIA token to over 100K players, with the token spiking by 36% soon after its debut. The token surged to $4.04 before correcting and dropping to its current price of $3.53. Over a million users downloaded the game since its release last week, with the token’s marker cap crossing $100M.

• Echoes Beyond is a celestial strategy game that promises players the thrill of cosmic conquests and riches beyond the stars. The game offers play-to-earn opportunities, from daily GALA token rewards to the creation and trading of NFTs like Ships and Blueprints. 

• Champions Rise has transformed to a menu-driven interface, refining gameplay and introducing fresh features. The Grand Emporium allows players to mint select in-game artifacts as NFTs. Champions Rise is now collaborating with four other web3 titles, offering free access to explore its dynamic universe and partake in battles.

• Synergy Odyssey is a web3 game that combines agriculture, fortress construction, and dungeon escapades. Its mainnet debut is on February 22nd and it's generating a lot of excitement in the gaming sphere due to its innovative gameplay mechanics and strategic land distribution.

• EmberVerse is a web3 entertainment project that recently launched its Ember collection NFTs. With over 1,100 ETH in trading volume within a week, it's clear that the project is gaining popularity. As EmberVerse expands and refines its offerings, it's becoming a strong contender in shaping the future of web3 gaming. 

• Animoca Brands has launched Anichess, a modernized variant of chess infused with Web3 technology and fantasy-based strategic elements. Developed in collaboration with Hashcode Studio, Anichess offers a "player-versus-environment" version and allows players to collect digital collectibles called "Orbs of Power" on the Polygon proof-of-stake chain. Anichess introduces exotic game mechanics to address cheating concerns, while offering free NFTs and Polygon token airdrops. With intuitive gameplay suitable for all levels of players and Chess.com's involvement, Anichess aims to be a child-friendly yet engaging chess variant.

Bazooka Tango, the game studio behind Shardbound, is launching a limited 10-day playtest of its upcoming NFT card-based strategy game titled "Ascent to the Shards" starting February 21.

• A total of 2,000 players will receive exclusive access on a first-come, first-served basis, with signups available on the Shardbound website.

• Shardbound is being developed on Immutable zkEVM, an Ethereum scaling network, and aims to leverage blockchain technology to enhance gameplay and provide players with unique experiences.

• Immutable Games is collaborating with Bazooka Tango to adapt the 2017 turn-based tactical collectible card game Shardbound into a blockchain game, revitalizing the game's potential and attracting a broader audience.

Farcaster has seen a dramatic increase in user activity lately. Let’s dive in and see how you can benefit from getting involved. 

• Farcaster is a decentralized protocol that operates on-chain without any centralized servers. On the other hand, Warpcast is a client that uses the Farcaster protocol. 

• People often confuse Warpcast for Farcaster. Warpcast is like Twitter and was the first app to use the Farcaster protocol. 

• It is essential to note that Warpcast depends on centralized servers which can cause occasional downtimes. 

• However, these downtimes do not affect the underlying Farcaster protocol.

• In the Farcaster realm, users have complete control over their data and messages, ensuring that they cannot be censored. 

• Developers can also innovate freely on top of the protocol, without any restrictions. Unlike traditional social media platforms, Farcaster operates reliably without being dependent on centralized entities or experiencing downtime.

• Farcaster messages are divided into five different categories. 'Casts' represent user-generated messages that are similar to tweets or Reddit posts. 

• When you 'post' something in Warpcast, you're essentially creating a 'Cast' message. Reacting to a 'Cast' means sending a reaction message to the protocol.

• Traditional social platforms allow users to post content for free, without any limitations. 

• However, Farcaster has a unique approach where users need to rent storage units to send additional messages to the protocol. 

• The main objective behind this approach is to prevent spamming and avoid state expansion within the protocol.

Lastly, the $DEGEN Airdrop

• Farcaster's recent increase in activity can be partly attributed to the DEGEN airdrop, which is an initiative by the Degen community within Farcaster and is based on the Base chain. 

• The airdrop started in January and has resulted in substantial price growth. The economic model includes allocations for community, liquidity mining, project development, and other activities.

• DEGEN tokens have become increasingly popular within the Farcaster community. Users actively participate in DEGEN airdrops by completing specific activities like posting 'Casts' and earning points that can be converted to DEGEN tokens. To be eligible for the airdrop, users must have a Farcaster account.

• Users are encouraged to interact on Farcaster for potential future airdrops. 

ERC-404 is a novel token standard developed by the Pandora team, aiming to bridge the gap between fungible tokens and NFTs. 

• It creatively combines elements from ERC-20 and ERC-721 standards, allowing for native fractionalization and liquidity within NFT projects. 

• Pandora, the first project adopting ERC-404, offers PANDORA tokens and associated Replicant NFTs, where each token purchase or sale triggers minting or burning of the corresponding NFT. Replicants come in varying rarities, and their values have surged since launch. 

• While ERC-404 presents exciting possibilities, it's still experimental and unaudited, so caution is advised. 

• Watch for more collections and platforms adopting this standard, but be mindful of potential risks and vulnerabilities. 

• Read the thread below for a deeper dive.

Here is another useful thread on the potential of this technology

Sky Mavis, the creator of Axie Infinity, has partnered with GMonsters and MIXI to bring games from MIXI's Fight League franchise to the Ronin blockchain. 

• GMonsters plans to launch three Fight League games on Ronin, with the first being Fight League Survivor. 

• MIXI, known for Monster Strike, will provide support for the game development process. Ronin, initially launched for Axie Infinity, has been expanding to include third-party games like Pixels and The Machines Arena. 

Solana Labs has officially launched its GameShift toolkit, aimed at simplifying the integration of Solana blockchain functionality into game development. 

• The toolkit includes a Tensor integration for in-game NFT marketplaces, allowing developers to save time and complexity. 

• Game developers can now create custom-branded marketplaces and support other existing Solana NFT collections, while players can trade NFTs using USDC stablecoin within the game. 

• GameShift also supports SOL wallets, NFT integration, credit card payments for crypto assets, and asset lending functionality. Notably, Solana already hosts playable video games that allow users to earn crypto rewards while playing.

The Epic Games Store introduced "Shrapnel" a first-person shooter crypto game set in a dystopian world. 

• Developed by Neon Machine, the game aims to stand out with community involvement and extensive customization options. 

• With experienced developers and $37.5M in funding, including investment from Polychain Capital, "Shrapnel" targets a blockbuster-quality gaming experience. 

• Its launch on the Epic Games Store, boasting a PC user base of over 230M gamers, marks a significant milestone for the blockchain gaming industry.

• Check it out here. 

A new crypto-AR game called "Solana Hunger Games" has created a buzz in the crypto community, with over 100K followers on X and its website crashing due to high traffic. Developed by GG.zip and backed by Delphi Digital's crypto VC arm, the game is a mobile augmented reality scavenger hunt inspired by Hunger Games.

• Players can choose to be Hunters or Sponsors and compete for "G" tokens by exploring the Host city and finding AR GBoxes. 

• The game set to launch in spring, and promises to blend AR with crypto to create an immersive experience. 

• Sponsors can bet on players and acquire "Player cards" to support their favorites. 

• While currently invite-only, codes are being shared for eager players to join in the excitement.

Forge is a GameFi platform founded by Dennis Fong, Kun Gao, and George Ng, rewarding gamers for their achievements and ongoing play, poised to capitalize on the growing trend of GameFi in 2024. 

• Follow this useful guide to prepare for a potential airdrop.

Magic Eden introduced a cross-chain rewards program, offering users "Diamonds" as points for trading NFTs. 

• These Diamonds are linked to a new multi-chain wallet and come with the promise of a forthcoming NFT token from a collaboration with a Non-Fungible DAO. 

• While the specific use of Diamonds remains undisclosed, Magic Eden hints that they could be redeemable in some way. 

• The program particularly rewards "Solana OGs" with a retroactive drop, open until March 3. 

• Diamonds are earned through various activities on the marketplace, including buying, listing, and placing collection offers.

•  Larger transactions and listings closer to the collection's floor price yield more Diamonds. Additionally, certain trending collections offer a 50% Diamond bonus, while users can boost their Diamonds further with a Loyalty score based on exclusive activity on Magic Eden.

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