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Young Monday: Telegram and Reddit’s NFTs, MTV and Beijing in the Metaverse

Young Monday: Telegram and Reddit's NFT, Beijing’s metaverse

What is happening with Telegram and Reddit’s NFTs? Beijing and MTV interact with the metaverse

September is just around the corner and the last Young Monday of August cannot fail to talk about this summer’s hottest topics: NFTs and the metaverse. As far as NFTs are concerned, Reddit has started distributing its avatar collectibles on Polygon‘s blockchain, while Telegram is planning to turn usernames and channels on the platform into NFT domains. Speaking of the metaverse, the MTV Video Music Awards are adding a new category, ‘Best Metaverse Performance’, and the city of Beijing is signing a two-year plan to enter the metaverse.

Reddit starts distributing its NFTs on Polygon and Telegram plans its entry into the industry with TON

Reddit’s NFTs take centre stage again for this edition of Young Monday. On Thursday the 25th of August 2022, the airdrop of Reddit avatar collectibles began. These NFTs had already been created by users on a dedicated page of the social network and will be fully managed by the Vault portfolio also developed by Reddit. The four available collections were ‘The Singularity‘, ‘Aww Friends‘, ‘Drip Squad‘ and ‘Meme Team‘. The NFTs are on the Polygon blockchain and it is already possible to trade them on OpenSea. We knew for a while that Reddit chose Polygon for its NFTs, but we can now finally enjoy the new Avatars designed by independent artists on the most popular NFT marketplace! CEO Pavel Durov also plans to answer the call in a slightly different way for Telegram NFTs, by collaborating instead with the TON ecosystem. The TON blockchain was initially designed by Telegram. However, in June 2020 following some legal disputes, it broke away from the social network, becoming a separate entity called The Open Network. Telegram’s idea, proposed by CEO Pavel Durov, involves the migration of all usernames and channels to the NFT market.

The aim of the initiative, which will be made possible by the concept of digital ownership, is similar to that of ENS domains on Ethereum. ENS is a protocol for the creation and management of decentralised domains. Thanks to ENS, any individual can purchase one or more domains on the Ethereum blockchain. These domains also serve as wallets for cryptos and NFTs. The Open Network has already developed an initiative almost identical to ENS’s called Ton DNS, which has so far sold very well. But how will this technology work in relation to the Telegram social network? Each username or channel will be an NFT, whose ownership will be immutably registered on the blockchain. Furthermore, there will be the possibility to put them up for sale on a secondary market. The messaging platform with more than 700 million users expects unbridled competition for the most sought-after Telegram user-names!

MTV introduces an award for the best performance in the Metaverse

The second hot news topic in this edition of Young Monday is all about musical performances in the metaverse. This summer, we finally got back to enjoying live events and concerts, and it was awesome. However, interest in virtual events has not waned at all. MTV has picked up on the trend of many famous artists performing in the metaverse and created an ad hoc award within its Video Music Awards 2022: the ‘Best Metaverse Performance‘ award. This award is in addition to the more traditional accolades of ‘Video of the Year’, ‘Artist of the Year’ and ‘Song of the Year’ and will be in place from this year! There are six artists competing in this category: Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Twenty One Pilots, Charlie XCX, BTS and Blackpink.

But the news doesn’t end there. In addition to awarding prizes, the TV programme has embarked on its first experience in the metaverse. The Paramount Media Networks-owned company recreated the VMA experience on Roblox. The VMA Experience comprised three games through which players could accumulate tokens that will grant voting power during the VMA event scheduled for tonight. Although Roblox is not a Web3 game, and it does not use blockchain technology or cryptocurrencies, the process is certainly reminiscent of the DAO mechanism. We will see who will prevail tonight and win the first ‘Best Metaverse performance’ in history!

Beijing: a plan to enter the metaverse

Our last (but not least) news item is that Beijing intends to enter the metaverse. China’s Web3 declarations always make the crypto sector’s ears perk up. We all remember the May 2021 ban on cryptocurrencies. This time, however, the news seems favourable, at least as far as technology is concerned, as the Chinese government has announced a plan for the city of Beijing to enter the metaverse. The plan will last two years, from 2022 until 2024, and is aimed at increasing the development and innovation of metaverse technology.The plan calls for all districts of the city to build a city-wide technology infrastructure and to promote its use in various fields, including education and tourism. This is not the first time China has shown interest in this type of technology; in 2021, it was the city of Shanghai that planned investments in the metaverse. However, China has already shown in the past that these policies are often aimed at large Tech companies, and not at individual users. Moreover, the concept of decentralisation does not seem to fit into the government’s idea of Web3. Financial instruments such as the digital yuan, a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies), i.e. a digital currency controlled by the country’s central bank, and government control of the NFT market do not actually incentivise decentralisation and do not embody the core values and principles of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

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What are Azuki? Everything you need to know about the most famous anime-NFTs!

Azuki: discover the best NFT Anime PFPs!

What are the best Anime NFTs on OpenSea? The Azuki! Discover the history of the most popular PFP anime on the Web3!

The most iconic collections in the NFT world are referred to as blue chips, precious pearls that tower above the peaks of the market. Bored Ape Yacht Club and Crypto Punks are certainly part of this exclusive club, but if we scroll through the OpenSea rankings we find plenty of would-be members. Among them is a prominent collection of anime PFP NFTs.

The Azuki collection is based on Ethereum and has 10,000 pieces inspired by anime aesthetics. PFP is an acronym that stands for “profile picture” and it is used to describe NFTs that are designed to be used as such.

What really distinguishes Azuki from other projects is its history and roadmap. The project first appeared on social networks : particularly in January 2022 on Twitter. It quickly won the hearts of fans online and offline. However, in May 2022, the founder, known on Twitter by the handle Zagabond.eth, made a statement that generated controversy and debate. Find out more about the compelling story of Azuki NFTs!

What are Azuki NFTs: anime PFPs that conquered the market

Like most PFP NFTs, Azuki are the result of a random selection of traits. These traits were drawn according to a particular mix of styles. On the one hand, there is the clear inspiration from the anime-style RPG The World Ends with You. On the other hand, especially when it comes to outfits, the NFTs are reminiscent of the style of the famous skateboarding magazine Thrasher Magazine. The Web3 company behind the development of Azuki NFT is Chiru Labs, a Los Angeles-based collective of developers and artists. The collection of 10,000 Avatars was launched on the 12th of January 2022, according to the Dutch Auction method: a type of NFT sale where a starting price is set as well as a time period after which the price of the NFT decreases. The Azuki started with a price of 1 ETH per NFT, and it was supposed to decrease by 0.05 ETH every 20 minutes. Thanks to the hype generated by the collection in the days before the launch, this did not end up happening and the collection was sold out within 3 minutes. The final price per Azuki avatar was therefore 1 ETH. Chiru Labs also aims to expand outside the world of Web3 and the Azuki brand could embrace various sectors, both online and in the real world.

The Mindmap and the real-world usefulness of Azuki NFTs

The Azuki NFT collection already shared its roadmap before launch, which helped to ensure the project’s immediate trust from the part of the NFT world. The roadmap, called Mindmap by the team, shows the goals that the anime PFP project aims to achieve by working closely with the community. There are no clear timelines outlining the brand’s evolution process, but there are macro-areas on which the developers and artists are working to make the experience for users in The Garden special. The Garden is the exclusive club dedicated to those who own at least one Azuki NFT. Highlights of the Azuki journey will include immersive 3D experiences, exclusive streetwear collections, physical and virtual art exhibitions and a token named BEAN. Azuki is also looking to create its own unique metaverse, in which interactive multimedia experiences and games will be available.

Chiru Labs’ main intention, however, is to create a bridge between the virtual world of Azuki and the real world. Azuki’s event at the NFT week in New York is certainly an example of this. Through various art installations, the team created a Japanese-style scenario where it was possible to listen to live music, taste different foods and even get a tattoo! In terms of the creation of physical-digital products, the Azuki team has already offered a glimpse of what seems to be its intent with the ‘Twin Tigers Jackets‘ and the ‘Golden Skateboard Shrine‘. The first physical-digital product of the Azuki anime NFTs was launched in May 2022 and consisted of NFTs depicting Japanese-style silk jackets. These NFTs were distributed to Azuki PFP holders, with whom they could redeem physical jackets as of the 19th of July. Members of The Garden chose or to ‘burn’ it and receive the Japanese silk jackets, which are expected to be shipped by December 2022. For those who did not request the physical jacket and therefore still hold the token, the team promises an unknown future utility as of yet. The second initiative was launched in October 2022. This time, instead of jackets, the NFTs represented skateboards. The collection was dubbed ‘Proof-of-Skate‘ by the NFT Azuki Anime team. There were only 9 NFT skateboards available and they too will be redeemable for physical skateboards in the future. The Golden Skateboard Shrines were auctioned off, their selling price ranged from a low of 200 ETH, about $260,000 to a high of 309 ETH, about $400,000. .

The controversial Zagabond issue

The story of Azuki NFT collection has nevertheless also seen some dark moments, when it was thought that the project might be abandoned. In May 2022, shortly after reaching new all-time highs and establishing itself as a true blue chip, it emerged that Zagabond (a member of the core team and innovation lab Chiru Labs) was the owner of three previous NFT projects that were abandoned. The NFT collections in question are: Tendies, CryptoZunks and CryptoPhunks. Following the release of the news, the floor price – the minimum price at which an anime PFP can be purchased – which was of around 30 ETH, dropped by half which fuelled further distrust in the collection. The debate on Twitter was very heated, Zagabond apologised and tried to explain that the abandonment was intended to leave the decision-making power completely to the community and that there were no fixed rules for NFT creators forcing him to continue the projects he had previously created. 

Despite general community scepticism about Zagabond’s past, the Azuki brand continues to work and build, and it remains in OpenSea‘s top 20 list in terms of both volume and floor price. In addition, it is the sixth largest project by total volume in the history of the NFT marketplace, with more than 250,000 ETH traded.

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From Defi Kingdoms to Ragnarock: how Avalanche’s subnets enhance crypto gaming

Avalanche revolutionises crypto gaming with subnets

DeFi Kingdoms and Crabada are already using their respective subnets. See how crypto gaming on Avalanche attempts to solve the scalability problem

Avalanche, Polygon and Solana are fighting for hegemony in the crypto gaming industry. Let’s see where Emin Gün Sirer‘s blockchain stands.

Avalanche is an open source Proof-of-Stake blockchain that enables the development of decentralised applications. The goal that Avalanche has set itself since its inception is to solve the blockchain trilemma. Lately, much of the work of the Ava Labs team, the Web3 company that started the network, has been aimed at improving one of the three sides of the trilemma: scalability. This increase will be crucial for developing the infrastructure needed for one of the sectors that Avalanche is focusing on the most, crypto gaming! DeFi Kingdoms and Crabada have already moved onto their respective DFK Chain and Swimmer Network subnets, and other big names such as Ascenders and Ragnarock are in the process of doing so. Find out how the subnets intend to revolutionise crypto gaming!

What are subnets and how do they contribute to network scalability?

So, what exactly are Avalanche subnets? Are they Layer 2 blockchains like Polygon or Rollups like Arbitrum or Optimism? Actually, subnets are a way to use different sets of validators in order to create new subversions of the main blockchain. Each subnet is located within the main Avalanche network, but in addition to its own set of validators it has its own currency and security system.

Subnets allow video games and other decentralised applications to take advantage of Avalanche’s existing infrastructure by easily creating their own blockchain environment, tailored to the needs of their users. But why is this important for the crypto gaming industry? To achieve lasting success, Web3 games must achieve a fluid user experience that we see in traditional games today. This fluidity can be achieved through two elements that are non-negotiable:

  • High scalability
  • Low gas fees

Scalability is the ability of a blockchain to handle high network use without compromising the user experience. It is a fundamental requirement for a game that wants to establish itself on a large scale. Gas fees, on the other hand, are the ‘fees’ a user has to pay for transactions to be processed. Low gas fees make it possible to carry out the frequent interactions that a Web3 video game requires almost free of charge. For example, an average transaction on DeFi Kingdom costs about 0.005 JEWEL, and one JEWEL is worth about $0.2. So it usually costs a thousandth of a dollar to interact with the DFK Chain.

Which crypto games are migrating to subnets?

There are currently two games already active on Avalanche’s subnet: DeFi Kingdoms on the DFK chain and Crabada on the Swimmer Network. Together, DFK and Swimmer process about half of the transactions that take place on the Avalanche network. DeFi Kingdoms is a play-to-earn RPG video game originally released on Harmony. Crabada on the other hand is one of the first games to be created on Avalanche and was the first to move onto its Swimmer Network subnet. Crabada features two main game modes: active battle mode and inactive mode (mining battle and looting). As the name suggests, active battle allows players to pit their Crabs – cute hermit crabs – against each other or against AI-controlled enemies to earn in-game rewards. Two other games, however, are set to use their respective subnets. Both are part of the list of the best play-to-earn games on Avalanche and are Ascenders and Ragnarock.

Ascenders is a sci-fi RPG that will be launched directly on its own subnet, a trial version of which is already available. Ragnarok, on the other hand, is a browser-based role-playing game in which players interact with an open-world environment. Although initially launched on Ethereum, the game aims to expand to Avalanche’s subnets in the future. In this mad scramble to conquer the crypto gaming sector, each protocol is thinking of different solutions, but all have the same goal: to increase the scalability of networks to be competitive with off-chain games. Will the subnets manage to prevail or will they be defeated by Layer 2s or even the mighty Solana?

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Young Monday: Google invests in the world of crypto, Gordon Ramsay on The Sandbox and Dogechain

Young Monday: Google, Gordon Ramsay and Dogechain

Google invests more than 1.5 billion in the world of crypto, Hell’s Kitchen and Gordon Ramsey enter The Sandbox metaverse and Dogechain makes an appearance

Google is the leading company when it comes to investments in the world of crypto! Thanks to its parent company Alphabet, it has invested some 1.5 billion USD in Web3 projects from September 2021 to June 2022. Speaking of The Sandbox, after having ended their collaboration with Paris Hilton last week, now it is Gordon Ramsey’s turn. If you ever wondered how many restaurants Gordon Ramsey has, he will soon have one more, but in The Sandbox metaverse! Finally, what is Dogechain? A network on Polygon Edge created in honour of the Web3’s most famous doggo!

Google’s investments in the crypto world

Google is the leading investor in the Web3 sector. According to a report published on the 17th of August 2022 by Blockdata, Alphabet, Google’s holding company, has invested USD 1.5 billion in the world of blockchain. The investments focused on four Web3 companies. The companies are custody provider Fireblocks, NFT company Dapper Labs, a scalability solution for Bitcoin called Voltage, and venture capital firm Digital Currency Group. If you don’t recognise these companies, don’t worry, among the brands they have invested in are some names that will sound familiar. For example Dapper Labs is the platform that has spawned successful projects such as CryptoKitties or NBA Top Shot. While the venture capital firm Digital Currency Group has financed famous realities within the Web3 such as The Graph, Decentraland, Brave and Etherscan. Beyond Google, other companies are also continuously increasing their investments in the crypto sector. Among the big names, which rank right behind the US giant, are other iconic brands such as Samsung, Paypal and Microsoft.

Gordon Ramsay is the first Chef in The Sandbox metaverse

If you want to learn how to make Gordon Ramsay’s Beef Wellington, forget about YouTube videos, you can do it in the metaverse of The Sandbox! Hell’s Kitchen and TV chef king Gordon Ramsay have teamed up with ITV’s The Sandbox. The goal?  To open the first digital restaurant in history. It will not, however, be ‘just’ a digital restaurant. A special LAND based on Hell’s Kitchen, will be built by the metaverse’s development team. There will be not only avatars of chef Gordon Ramsey, but also other virtual tools for those who want to build culinary experiences in the spirit of Web3. Gordon Ramsay said, “There is nothing more exciting for me than to venture into new territory, whether it’s creating an iconic dish, a new restaurant concept, a new show, and now a virtual experience in The Sandbox,” the chef continued, “I have been fascinated by The Sandbox and its offering in the metaverse. I couldn’t think of a better platform to convey the great energy that characterises my Hell’s Kitchen brand.” To answer the question in the introduction, how many restaurants has Gordon Ramsay actually opened in his career? Twenty-six if you count the in on The Sandbox too. Who knows, maybe he will be able to earn Michelin stars in Web3 as well.

Dogechain, what is it and how does it work?

There has been a lot of talk lately about the new blockchain platform that allows users to use their Dogecoin on DeFi platforms and to buy NFTs. This platform is called Dogechain, but what is it and how exactly does it work? Many thought that Dogechain was a Layer 2 built on Doge’s blockchain. Wrong! It is not a Layer 2, but a simple network built on Polygon Edge. Polygon Edge is a Polygon framework that can be used to build Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks. In addition, it should be specified that this is not an ‘official’ Dogecoin product: the team has tweeted about it, declaring itself to be completely uninvolved in the project.

To use the blockchain, you simply have to move your WDOGE onto the network via a Bridge, and in doing so you will receive WDOGE Wrapped Dogecoins in return. Thanks to these tokens it will be possible to interact with DeFi applications, NFT marketplaces, and perhaps some games in the future. In the first days since its inception, the blockchain recorded a very high amount of transactions, around 500,000. The platform’s main DEX, DogeSwap, has exchanged almost 20 million dollars worth. Beware though! Roc Zacharias, co-founder of one of the most widely used DEXs on Polygon, QuickSwap, who collaborated on the Dogechain project, expressly stated to be very careful when interacting with the network. He called it a wild ‘place’ where risks are always around the corner! The tokens that have been launched on Dogechain already number more than 600 and the names are practically all memes, e.g. DogeEat Doge and Doge Shrek. We will see if Dogechain will have the strength to establish itself, and be recognised by the Doge team, or if it will remain merely the realm of meme coins.

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Imperium Empires, the new crypto game on Avalanche

Imperium Empires: the new crypto game on Avalanche

Imperium Empires is a new play-to-earn crypto game developed on the Avalanche blockchain. Find out how to join this metaverse!

If you’re interested in the world of play-to-earn games, you can’t miss the new crypto game coming to the Avalanche ecosystem. Avalanche is one of the blockchains where play-to-earn games are becoming more established. After Crabada, Ascenders and Ragnarock, here comes Imperium Empires. Want to join  the Imperium Empires metaverse? Find out how!

Enter the space metaverse of Imperium Empires!

Imperium Empires is a play-to-earn MMO real-time strategy (RTS) game developed on the Avalanche blockchain. The video game is set in a vast cosmic metaverse, populated by fleets of futuristic spaceships (in the form of NFTs) with which players can conquer territories and build their own empire. Guild systems and governance are key to mastering the core game mechanics and truly immersing yourself in the metaverse, Imperium Empires in fact encourages users to team up with each other and thus to share rewards. This mode of interaction has been named by the Imperium Empires as team-to-earn, a reinterpretation of the concept of play-to-earn. Within the crypto game of Imperium Empires, various game combinations coexist. It will be possible to play in single player and PvE (player vs. environment) modes, in which the player will try his hand at mining minerals from asteroids and exploring the Mmtaverse. But there will also be room for PVP (player vs player) game dynamics, in which each player will be able to become a commander in exciting guild battles and earn big loot at the expense of the other players.

NFTs and the tokenomics of Imperium Empires

The sale of the NFT ships, which are indispensable for entering the Imperium Empires metaverse, began in February 2022 and it was only possible to buy them with the IME token, which is also the crypto game’s governance token. During the two sales rounds, it was possible to purchase five different types of spacecraft: Galaxy Scootie, Strekzans, Augear and Aurostar. Each of the four spaceships has different characteristics, and the price and quantity of ships available also varied depending on the category. There are four main characteristics of spaceships: health, speed, rotational speed and cargo capacity. In addition to having different scores for these four characteristics, the NFTs in Imperium Empires are classified by different degrees of rarity. Rarity is related to the number of NFTs available. For example, the Galaxy Scootie spacecrafts, which are common, have 15,000 copies. Meanwhile Aurostar spacecrafts, which have a supreme rarity rating, have only 150 copies. But how do you buy Imperium Empires NFTs?  As soon as the first sale phase was over, it was possible for users to sell and buy NFTs on the secondary marketplace, using the EMI token. To avoid one of the main problems of this type of game, namely the loss of value of NFTs as new ones are issued, the ships can be destroyed during battles against other players.

But how does the play-to-earn model work in Imperium Empires? Its tokenomics involves two tokens that exist within Imperium Empires. The first one is the IME token, which is intended to manage governance mechanisms and to purchase NFTs useful for gameplay. IME can also be sold on Avalanche’s main DEXs, e.g. Trader Joe or Pangolin. To obtain the IME token in Imperium Empires, it is necessary to loot other ships or win seasonal tournaments. The second token is called IMC and, unlike IME, it has no value outside the  metaverse. IMC can be used to repair spaceships or to build a guild, you can receive this token by selling minerals extracted from asteroids.

When will Imperium Empires be released?

In the near future, it will be possible to try out this new crypto game coming soon to Avalanche! The launch of the Alpha, multiplayer version, in which you can engage in guild battles against other players, is set for August 2022.

To date, only the Apollo expansion is available, a web version of the game that aims to test whether the game’s economy was sustainable. Players were able to start obtaining rewards from their NFT spaceships by using their own fleets of spaceships to mine minerals, perform stakeouts and trade the mined resources in the metaverse.

The Alpha version will not be the final one, but it will be very close. The release date for the full version of Imperium Empires has not yet been announced, but there is talk of the last quarter of 2022. In conjunction with the release of the final game, it will be possible to participate in the long-awaited ranked tournaments. In these tournaments, players will be able to compete for rewards with the EMI token. It is almost time, however, to leave the testing lab! We are eager and curious to be able to hurtle through the galaxies of the Imperium Empires Metaverse!

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Young Monday: Paris Hilton, The Merge and NFT news for Instagram

The Merge, The Sandbox and Paris Hilton, NFTs on Instagram

Paris Hilton enters The Sandbox’s metaverse, Instagram’s NFTs soon available in more than 100 countries, and The Merge on the Goerli testnet is a hit!

For August, we present you the hottest Young Monday of the year! So much for Crypto Winter. Whether you’re chilling at the beach, firing up the barbecue or hiking in the mountains, a question might suddenly come to your mind: what on earth happened to Paris Hilton? In the real world she is a DJ (and has a dog called Ether Reum), but it’s in the virtual world that she is at her best. Until yesterday, her Paris World could only be found on Roblox, an MMO video game developed and published in 2006. However, it will soon also be possible to join her in the metaverse of The Sandbox. On Thursday, the 9th of August 2022, the heiress made the announcement on her Twitter profile! The anticipation for The Merge grows day by day, this week the last test on the Goerli network was completed and everything went according to plan! Mark Zuckerberg announces that his NFTs will be available in more than 100 countries, but what will Instagram’s NFTs look like and where can you buy them?

Paris Hilton moves into the metaverse of The Sandbox

Paris Hilton has long topped the list of celebrities exploring the world of NFTs and the metaverse. The heiress has chosen The Sandbox’s metaverse as her next virtual home. The Sandbox is one of the most popular metaverses, is built on Ethereum‘s blockchain and allows users to create customised environments and gaming experiences. In July 2022, the metaverse announced the arrival of Alpha Season 3, which will introduce some new features such as customisable avatars. After news of the new features spread, The Sandbox saw an increase in active users of over 90 per cent. The team will build a villa in The Sandbox metaverse identical to the one the showgirl owns in Malibu. Paris Hilton will not need an architect! This is not Hilton’s first experience in the virtual world; back in 2015, she had already promoted the construction of her virtual world, Paris World on Roblox, an MMO (online multiplayer) video game that does not use blockchain technology!

However, Paris Hilton is not the only celebrity to have partnered with The Sandbox. In fact, the metaverse is already populated by celebrities such as Snoop Dogg and Gordon Ramsey. In connection with this trend, the American consumer protection organisation Truth in Advertising (TINA) alerted seventeen celebrities for promoting NFTs without proper warnings. These names include Gwyneth Paltrow, Floyd Mayweather, Tom Brady as well as the star of this Young Monday, Paris Hilton. The advice the organisation gives to celebrities is to clearly disclose any material connection to the NFT companies they are promoting. There is no denying that celebrity interest in NFTs has accelerated the adoption of these assets. However, one must not forget to shop consciously.

New details about NFTs on Instagram revealed. How and where can we buy them?

Mark Zuckerberg announced on the 4th August 2022 that NFTs on Instagram will soon be available in more than 100 countries. The feature that allows people to link their crypto wallets to Instagram has already been available to a limited number of US residents since May 2022. But how can NFTs be purchased on Instagram and with which cryptos?

The wallets that will be able to interact with the social network are Metamask, Trust Wallet, Rainbow, and Dapper, while the supported blockchains will initially be Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow. NFTs will then be able to be purchased with the native assets of these chains, i.e. in ETH, MATIC, and FLOW. It is not yet clear, however, whether the process of buying and selling NFTs on Instagram will take place directly on the social network or whether one will be redirected to NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea or LooksRare.

Posts containing NFTs will be distinguishable from classic posts thanks to a shimmering effect, and the content creator will also be tagged within the non-fungible photo or video. According to Meta – formerly Facebook and the current owner of Instagram – the initiative is aimed primarily at supporting content creators. In fact, artists will have the opportunity to earn money from their art, which is already possible thanks to Web3 technologies, also on Instagram. If you are a fan of NFT you will soon be scrolling through Instagram all day looking for the latest trends!

The final test for The Merge was a success. The countdown begins!

The Merge is definitely the topic of the year in the crypto world. The update will give birth to Ethereum 2.0, a version in which the consensus mechanism will be changed from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. According to the developers, The Merge will allow Ethereum to reduce its environmental impact and greatly limit inflation. The latest news from Young Monday is that from Wednesday, the 10th of August 2022,  the last phase of testing on the Goerli network was successfully concluded. This is a testnet, they are almost identical copies of the main blockchain and are used for testing. The testing period began some time ago with the launch of a new dedicated testnet, called Beacon Chain, which started phase 0. Phase 1, on the other hand, began last June when testing started on the classic ETH testnet. The first was Ropsten, then Sepolia and finally Goerli itself, which concluded this phase a few days ago. Everything is therefore ready for The Merge, which should officially take place on the 19th of September 2022.

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The 5 best tweets of Chris Dixon, voice of Web3

Web3: Chris Dixon's 5 best tweets

Why is Web3 decisive and what are its advantages? Discover Chris Dixon’s 5 best tweets about Web3!

Chris Dixon is one of the most influential figures in the Web3 industry and a partner in a16z, a Venture Capital fund active in the crypto world and founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. Dixon is known for his commitment as a Web3 popularizer. For years, he has been proposing interpretations and points of view on the evolution of the Internet, also through interesting threads on Twitter. His Twitter profile, cdixon.eth has almost 900,000 followers and is a reference point for enthusiasts in the field. Let’s take a look at Chris Dixon’s 5 best tweets on Web3!

1.   Why is Web3 important?

Presenting Dixon’s best tweets about the Web3, one can only start with ‘Why Web3 matters‘. In this tweet, in order to define the importance of Web3, Dixon begins by presenting the difference between centralised and decentralised companies and the tendency of Web2 companies to create benefits for users only during their first phase of life. After this phase, in Dixon’s view, users become just a ‘greedy source of data’. The main criticism in the tweet relates to the attitude of traditional companies, which according to Chris Dixon discourages innovation. Web3 platforms on the other hand, being totally owned by the users who use them, are not subject to this problem. Users are incentivised and work together with the platforms with the aim of expanding and growing the project of which they are an active part. The tools used to make this happen are tokens, both fungible tokens and NFTs. Chris Dixon firmly believes that it is necessary to redistribute the power and value on the web to users.

This tweet, written in 2021, has become an important testimony in the history of Web3. It is precisely this post that accurately defined the phases of the Internet, allowing, among other things, the interpretation and understanding of what Gavin Wood meant when he first coined the term Web3.

2.   The strengths of Web3: dApps and NFTs

The second tweet is also about the transition from Web2 to Web3. Blockchain, according to Dixon, in this historical period is the equivalent in terms of innovation of mobile applications in the period from 2009 to 2012. Chris Dixon defines dapps on the blockchain as the IT frontier of the millennium. He goes on to say that the strength of dapps is that they can be modified, programmed and improved by third-party actors because they are open source and permissionless. Dixon brings up as an example of dapp’s potential, the DeFi summer of 2020, the period in which the first wave of decentralised applications broke out and which saw the birth of Uniswap and Compound. Creating inclusive, fair and transparent financial services is indeed possible thanks to dApps. Dixon is positive about NFTs, describing them as an opportunity that can offer content creators and developers better economic conditions than what Web2 platforms used to offer. In conclusion, the tweet asks what trends will dominate the immediate future. Web3 social networks, DAOs or metaverses?

3.   Making a start-up by watching a series

This tweet refers to the series ‘Winning Time – The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty’ produced by HBO. The series tells the story of the rise of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA team starting with the takeover of historic owner Jerry Buss, who through his entrepreneurial skills transforms the team into an unbeatable dream team. More than the prowess of NBA players Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Chris Dixon seems interested in the entrepreneurial component of the TV series. He calls it a great show about start-ups.

4.   Chris Dixon joins the Board of Directors of OpenSea

The tweet announcing the entry of the Web3 popularizer to the board of the world’s most famous and used NFT marketplace could not fail to be part of this selection! The announcement took place right on Twitter, specifically on the profile of OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer.

Opensea’s decision to welcome Dixon is not too surprising, the latter being one of the most famous and respected Web3 disseminators and a venture investor with a lot of experience in the field. Among the projects he has been involved in as a financier and advisor are Uniswap, Avalanche and many others. Through the tweet, he said he was thrilled to be able to join the board of a giant like OpenSea, and that he was very happy to be able to continue working closely with David Finzer. In fact, the two met in 2021, when the fund in which Chris Dixon is a partner, a16z, decided to invest in OpenSea, and since then they have been working closely together, constantly comparing notes.

5.   The controversy with Minecraft: don’t clip the wings of developers

We end Chris Dixon’s list of the top 5 tweets on Web3 with a bang! The entrepreneur commented on the decision of the famous game Minecraft, developed by Microsoft-owned Mojan, to avoid any kind of NFT integration within the game. Dixon stated, in a polemical tone, that apparently Web2 companies can change the rules for developers at any time. Later, in response to his first tweet, he again poked fun at Microsoft, pointing out the inaccuracy of a sentence within the document containing the announcement.

The phrase in question ‘an NFT is a unique, unchangeable digital token that is part of a blockchain and is often purchased with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin’ is indeed inaccurate. NFTs are not typical of networks such as Bitcoin’s, but are instead usually created on blockchains that allow dapp development, such as Ethereum, Solana and Avalanche.

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The Graph’s plan for full decentralisation of information on blockchain

The Graph: crypto towards full decentralisation

The Graph announces the abandonment of centralised hosting services, and prepares to decentralise all its operations

The Graph is one of the most innovative and interesting protocols of the entire Web3 world and is used for indexing blockchain data. The Graph is nicknamed ‘the Google of the blockchain’ because it actually performs more or less the same task as the search engine does for the traditional Web, i.e. it indexes the data on the blockchain, making the process of extracting it easier and faster. In this way, it allows Dapps to find the data they need very quickly. The protocol is officially abandoning its centralised hosting service and moving entirely to The Graph’s decentralised network. 

The current situation of The Graph

The Graph’s ecosystem revolves around the relationship between the developers of subgraphs and those who use the data. The former describe how the data is organised, the latter are for example app developers, who are willing to pay to query the data contained in the subgraphs. This data is, for example, the transaction information written within the blockchain as transaction data.  Initially, a centralised hosting service, run by Edge & Node, the team behind The Graph, was created to make The Graph’s network work. To date, this hosting service hosts more than 24,000 subgraphs that will gradually be transferred to the decentralised mainnet. The move to the decentralised mainnet is taking place gradually. The first subgraph was launched on this net in the first quarter of 2021, and as of the 30th of June 2022, the number of active subgraphs was 392.

The complete migration to the mainnet and its phases

The migration of all functionalities to the main net of The Graph is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023. At that point, the centralised hosting service will be completely disabled and it will only be possible to access the data on the subgraphs in a decentralised manner. But let us see through which steps this will take place specifically:

  1. During the first phase, which already started at the beginning of the third quarter of 2022, the development of new subgraphs on the centralised hosting service ceased. It is still possible to update the remaining subgraphs on the hosting service but not to build new ones. We are currently in this phase;
  2. In the second phase, all updates to the subgraphs are to be made via Subgraph Studio, an isolated and secure development environment created specifically for testing subgraphs. Once tested, they are to be published on the decentralised network. It will then no longer be possible to update subgraphs on the centralised host service;
  3. In the third and final phase, the subgraphs located on the centralised hosting service will be completely removed. This should take place by the first quarter of 2023 and will be taken care of by the engineers and developers of The Graph’s official team.

The decentralisation of the entire infrastructure will allow those using the service offered by The Graph’s ecosystem to build fully decentralised dapps.

Collaboration with Silicon Kruger and Good Work foundation

One of The Graph’s latest projects was developed through a collaboration with Silicon Kruger, an innovation centre set up to facilitate access to the Web3 for developing countries on the African continent. Silicon Kruger and The Graph have developed the first indexer for African dapps called Index Africa. The indexer aggregates dapp data and retains a portion of the rewards generated by its node, which are then allocated to a funding programme for students in rural Africa. This is made possible by Index Africa’s non-profit partner, the Good Work Foundation, a South African organisation that has been providing access to education for young African students since 2005.

Will developers be able to complete the migration in the allotted time? And will The Graph’s network attract applications that aspire to be fully decentralised? Follow us so you don’t miss the next updates!

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Crypto football: Barça and Socios, stadium tickets with BTC and the NFT football market

Football and crypto: Barcelona and Socios, Crawley Town, Oxford City

Football NFTs, Barça and Socios, and tickets can be bought in BTC. Football and cryptocurrencies are getting closer and closer!

The world of football is one of the sectors in which Web3 technologies are becoming more established. One of the main reasons for this is certainly the strong following, and consequently the high visibility, that blockchain companies can achieve through sports-themed initiatives and collaborations. Fan tokens, sponsorships, Sorare’s NFT fantasy football. In short, the Web3 is interested in football! Is this attraction mutual? Let’s see it in the article!

NFT football market. The Crawley Town F.C. and WAGMI United affair

Would you like to be able to pick transfer targets for your favourite team? For Crawley Town fans, it was possible! On the 15th June 2022, supporters of the team, which plays in the English fourth division, were able to vote for a new player to be bought and included in the squad. The vote took place on WAGMI United‘s Discord channel, and was restricted to all NFT owners of the brand. The player who was chosen was Jayden Davis, a 20-year-old midfielder who joined the team on a free transfer deal.

But what is WAGMI United? The term WAGMI stands for “We’re all gonna make it” and is a very famous motto in the crypto world. WAGMI United is an American Web3 brand that aims to revolutionise the way fans interact with their favourite team. The company bought the small English team in April for a price of $20 million, with Gary Vaynerchuk and the president of the NBA team Philadelphia 76, Darly Moery, among the most prominent investors. WAGMI United calls itself ‘the internet team’ and aims to build a new kind of fan base that crosses geographical boundaries. Among the group’s partners is none other than Adidas, which has taken charge of designing and producing the club’s shirts. The famous brand’s slogan: ‘Impossible is nothing’ seems to be shared by the young company, the ultimate goal is indeed more than ambitious. To take Crawley Town to the Premier League!

Barcelona studios sells 24.5% stake to Socios

Barcelona wants to join the Web3 scene and win more and more fans around the world. The Spanish club announced on Monday the 1st of August 2022 the sale of a 24.5 per cent stake in Barça Studios to Socios.com for $100 million. Barça studios is the division of the football club responsible for creating multimedia content for supporters. It will therefore be Socios from now on that will take care of the development of the brand’s Web3 initiatives, thanks to the support of the blockchain Chillz. The partnership between the two brands, however, is not really new. In fact, the collaboration had already begun in February 2020 for the launch of the $BAR Fan Token on Socios.com. Since then, over $39 million worth of fan tokens have been sold. What will the Web3 projects of FC Barcelona and Socios mainly focus on? Obviously NFTs and maybe even a metaverse. Socios and Chillz are establishing themselves as one of the most interesting realities in the ‘football and cryptocurrency’ scene also through illustrious brand ambassadors such as Del Piero and Lionel Messi.

Buy match tickets in BTC through the Lightning Network

Oxford City Football Club, a team from England’s sixth division, recently partnered with CoinCorner, a company specialising in Bitcoin payments using the Lightning Network. The Lightning Network is a decentralised network of nodes that allows a very high number of transactions to be sent instantaneously.This network is parallel to the Bitcoin blockchain, performs some transactions on the blockchain and some off-chain, and was created to solve the scalability problems of the network. If you want to learn more about it, have a look at our Academy article! The Oxford City initiative is not only about tickets. Within the RAW Charging Stadium (the club’s home ground), it will also be possible to buy food and drinks in BTC! The Bitcoin logo will also appear on the players’ shirts as a sponsor, alongside CoinCorner. Justin Merritt, the British club’s sports director, says the initiative aims to increase the education and adoption of Bitcoin in the UK.The popularity of cryptocurrencies in the UK has increased dramatically: a third of Britons are interested in the subject, and around 3.3 million citizens own BTC. So the answer to the question posed at the beginning of the article is yes! The football industry loves crypto!

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Is the United States a model for mass adoption?

Criptocurrencies: 3 use cases in the United States

Is the US the closest country to crypto adoption? Here are 3 use cases of cryptocurrencies!

According to trading industry data collector and processor Forex Suggest, the US is the second best prepared country for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. The parameters they used for the research was the number of crypto ATM facilities in proportion to the size of the population and the number of blockchain start-ups per 100,000 people. Mass adoption, however, goes beyond this. For cryptocurrencies to become truly mainstream, there must be supporting infrastructures in place, both technological and, above all, regulatory.

In this regard, a legislative decree recently passed will allow Californian political candidates to accept donations in cryptocurrencies. The city of Miami, whose mayor, Francis Suarez, has never hidden his passion for Bitcoin, continues with its pro-Web3 initiatives. Miami will unveil an NFT collection produced by a partnership between Mastercard, TIME and Salesforce in December 2022. Is the US a model for mass adoption? Let’s look at 3 use cases of cryptocurrencies in the US!

The country with the most ATMs in the world

Leaving aside the state of Hong Kong, which due to its very limited geographical extension and particular political nature can be considered a borderline case in the research, the US is the most crypto-friendly, mainstream adoption-oriented state. In fact, the country has about 10 crypto ATMs for every 100,000 inhabitants, one for every 271 km. 88% of existing crypto ATMs are located on American territory. As for the number of start-ups, the US scores around 0.6 for every 100,000 inhabitants. 

California approves cryptocurrency donations for election campaigns 

On 21st July 2022 the State of California announced that it will allow candidates for state and local political office to receive donations in cryptocurrency. The previous legislation, which banned political promoters from raising or receiving funds via blockchain, is thus permanently repealed. The law had been promoted during the bear market of 2018, more precisely in November. However, the donations recipients will be obliged to immediately convert the amount of crypto received into fiat currency. The legislation also states that the political candidate is obliged to work with a registered exchange to handle the transaction. The exchange must have confirmed the identity of the donor through KYC (Know Your Customer) practices by verifying name, address, occupation and employer.

Some might frown upon the compulsory instant conversion into fiat currency. However, when we consider that only four years ago California was so strongly against the practice that it was made illegal, this is certainly a step forward. Political funding using cryptocurrencies is one of the most interesting use cases in the US.

Miami teams up with Mastercard, TIME and Salesforce for an NFT collection

In terms of city initiatives, the United States also proves to be the most virtuous country when it comes to mass adoption. The city of Miami recently announced a Web3 project to experience the city at 360° with the support of major brands Mastercard, TIME and Salesforce. The project specifically entails the creation of 5,000 NFTs designed by 56 local artists. The number 56 was not chosen randomly, it actually represents Miami’s size in square miles.

The NFT holders will have access to the Priceless Miami Mastercard programme, which includes exclusive art experiences and events in the city such as gourmet dinners, private visits to museums, stays in luxurious resorts or spas and much more. The NFT minting process and secondary market will be all managed by Salesforce – a software, automation services and digital marketing analytics company founded in 2000. Third player in this partnership is the publishing giant TIME, which has been active in the Web3 world since March 2021 and has been a major player in the industry ever since, with its own NFT community called TIMEPieces. You might remember its iconic cover depicting Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum‘s founder. In August 2021, the city of Florida had already launched Miami Coin, a token intended as a sustainable funding tool for projects that support the city’s most disadvantaged communities.
With these initiatives taken at both state and local level, the US seems to really want to become a model for mass adoption. So, is the adoption of cryptocurrencies overseas closer than we think? These 3 use cases of cryptocurrencies in the US seem to confirm that this is indeed the case.