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What is NBA Top Shot? Here come the basketball NFT collectibles

What is NBA Top Shot: a guide to basketball NFTs

An NFT platform dedicated to memorable moments in basketball now exists on the Flow blockchain. Find out what NBA Top Shot is and how it works!

What is NBA Top Shot? In essence, it is a platform for fans of the most famous basketball league! Created from a collaboration between the blockchain company Flow, the Dapper Labs team and the National Basketball Association, NBA Top Shot offers videos of the most memorable moments of basketball in the form of NFTs. NBA Top Shot NFTs can be collected and used as playing cards. So, how do the challenges work? Where can you buy NBA NFTs? What are the differences with Sorare? We explain all this and much more in this guide to NBA Top Shot!

What is NBA Top Shot? The origins of the project

The NBA Top Shot project was launched in 2019 to allow fans and supporters to exclusively collect highlights of American basketball. The idea for Top Shot came from the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). The technical creation of the NFTs, on the other hand, was entrusted to Dapper Labs, a Web3 influencer. They registered the NFTs’ information and metadata on the Flow blockchain via smart contracts.

The reception of the project by fans was good right from the start, and NBA Top Shot continues to be very successful. This is partly due to the popularity and reliability of the NBA brand. Confidence in the project came from the positive values associated with the NBA, and many people bought an NFT from the Top Shot collection as their first one. A good portion of Web3 novices owe a lot to the NBA! The NBA Top Shot community has also expanded to include dozens of celebrities, including well-known faces from US basketball such as Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant. In 2021, the NFTs of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) league were also integrated.

Flow, the blockchain for NFTs

Flow is a Proof-of-Stake blockchain that aims to be the benchmark in the development of Web3 projects. Flow works to be highly scalable, fast and low cost. But its real strength is its user-friendliness for developers, who can create customised projects that are instantaneous and easy for users to use. Flow aims to support everything the Web3 world has to offer: NFTs, DAOs, play-to-earn games. Flow aims to engage the public, even those outside the crypto sector  by building the most innovative blockchain experiences. This vocation towards entertainment originates from a well-known incident in the NFT world, namely the congestion of the Ethereum network in 2017 due to the launch of the CryptoKitties collection. After this episode that demonstrated Ethereum’s weaknesses, the CryptoKitties team decided to found a blockchain suitable for hosting NFTs. Thus, the Dapper Labs startup was born, which in turn gave birth to the Flow blockchain. 

How NBA Top Shot, NFTs and challenges work

The NFTs on NBA Top Shot are called “Moments” because they depict various championship moments, such as on-court actions or memorable points. This is done through videos lasting only a few seconds. Each NFT video also features player statistics and codes indicating the rarity of the ‘Moment’. These non-fungible tokens are designed first and foremost as collectible items. However, you can “participate in challenges to earn new incredible Moments” or exclusive prizes such as match tickets. There are different types of challenges. In some, you get points based on the league performances of the players you want to play with. In others, it’s a matter of guessing which players will do certain things or obtain titles. For example “the player with the most points in the playoff game” or “the player who scores the most points in the … vs … game “. To start playing on NBA Top Shot, you first have to create an account by entering your personal data, confirming that you are at least 18 years old and having your residence in one of the countries where the project is active, including the US and the UK!

Where to buy NBA Top Shots and how much do they cost?

The value of NBA NFTs, like everything on the blockchain, varies over time and according to factors such as rarity. Tokens can be found as low as $2. However, the most expensive NBA Top Shots can go up to six figures. Since the launch of the first ‘Moments’, NBA Top Shot has generated more than $1 billion in sales. You can purchase individual NFTs or “Packs” containing a number of tokens. These “Packs” are often released in special editions (members on the platform will be notified of the drop 8 hours in advance). NBA Top Shot NFTs can be found directly on the platform’s marketplace or on secondary marketplaces such as OpenSea. For purchases you can use Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, DAI, USDC, Ether and also fiat currency (US dollar). Packs’ can also be purchased with FLOW, the native token of the blockchain.

Sorare vs NBA Top Shot: basketball on the blockchain

Basketball on the blockchain goes beyond NBA Top Shot! On the 7th of September 2022, Sorare, the well-known crypto fantasy football platform, announced that the NBA will be the next league to join the list. There are essentially two main differences between the platforms:

  1. The blockchain on which they are built: while Sorare relies on Ethereum, NBA Top Shot uses Flow;
  2. The topics of the NFTs: NBA Top Shot depicts significant moments in the form of videos, while Sorare displays the figurines of American basketball league players recorded on blockchain.

In general, NBA Top Shot can be said to be less of a play-to-earn and more of a collector-oriented platform than Sorare.

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NFTs in honour of Queen Elizabeth II

Here are the NFTs created in honour of Queen Elizabeth II

The Web3 celebrates Her Majesty’s life: discover QueenE DAO and all the NFT collections created in honour of Queen Elizabeth II

The news of Queen Elizabeth II‘s passing on Thursday the 8th of September 2022 is the focus of all newspapers and social networks. A short time ago, the British monarch had spoken out on the world of digital markets. She communicated through the words of the then Prince Charles that she would take steps to strengthen the UK’s digital financial plan. After the news of the sovereign’s death, a number of series of digital artwork were created to pay a sincere tribute to the Queen, who was also loved by the people of the Web3. Discover the main NFT collections dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II!

NFT collections dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II

A few hundred NFT collections dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II were created on various blockchains including Ethereum, Polygon and the Binance Smart Chain. Beyond non-fungible tokens, meme coins such as Queen Elizabeth Inu, QueenDoge and Rip Queen Elizabeth have also popped up.

So, why are all these NFT collections about Queen Elizabeth appearing? For some it may have just been a way to exploit the media buzz of one of the biggest news stories of 2022. However, for most digital artists it was a real tribute to the most famous and beloved monarch ever. Digital artists have indulged in depicting the Queen in different styles and ways, but these celebratory tokens are not necessarily so recent. Some had chosen to depict the Queen and transpose her art onto blockchain before. These collections are of course now back in the limelight. Among the latter is QueenE DAO which is inspired by the DAO NFT Nouns.

QueenE DAO, become a member of the ‘British Parliament’

The QueenE DAO collection is an NFT project that was released in July 2022. It follows in the footsteps of the famous NFT Nouns DAO project. A DAO, or Decentralised Autonomous Organisation, is a type of organisation that is managed by smart contracts and that has a decentralised structure. Nouns is a Web3 platform built on the Ethereum blockchain, with the goal of building a project that is fully managed by all users who own the project’s native NFTs. This is made possible by periodic voting in which only those who own at least one NFT can participate. At this point, Nouns is pretty much an exclusive club, where everyone can get to know and interact directly with all the users who are part of the project. Very few people own Nouns NFTs .Few of them are minted, at the rhythm of one per day for just over a year. Let’s see how it works! On Nouns.wtf, the platform where Nouns’ digital artwork can be purchased, an NFT is generated every day consisting of a few traits that are randomly combined. Users who want to obtain the NFT can ‘challenge’ each other to bid in Ether until the auction ends exactly twenty-four hours after the digital artwork has been created. All Ether collected by the DAO is stored in a ‘common’ wallet whose contents are constantly visible to all users.

The QueenE project mirrors the features and ideas of Nouns. Instead of avatars depicting sharks or unicorns, QueenE’s NFT digital artworks are portraits of Queen Elizabeth that retain the pixelated style. QueenE’s NFTs are composed of six features including the background, face, clothing, head accessory, jewellery and portrait frame. These traits, as is often the case in NFT collections, are classified by rarity. 85% of the traits are common, 10% are rare and 5% are super rare. The rarity of NFTs will be linked to the voting power within the DAO. Voting power will be exercised within the QueenE parliament divided, as in reality, into two chambers. The House of Commons, composed of those who own at least one common QueenE NFT, and the House of Lords whose seats are reserved for owners of rare, super rare or legendary QueenE NFTs. Commons NFTs secure one vote for each NFT owned, while rare, super rare or legendary NFTs secure two votes.

QueenE’s revamped ‘treasury’ is the UnCommonwealth Treasury. Just like Nouns DAO it is also managing the project’s funds in a transparent manner. The QueenE DAO, which had been ‘dormant’ until a few days ago, saw an increase in sales volumes on the occasion of the passing of the iconic monarch. Will the love of the people of Web3 for the late Queen Elizabeth II triumph? Surely the NFT collections created to celebrate the monarch will remain as indelible memories engraved on blockchain.

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LG and Hedera design an NFT marketplace compatible with smart TVs

Buy NFTs with Smart TVs thanks to LG and HBAR

In collaboration with the Hedera blockchain, LG launches the LG Art Lab. Display your digital artwork and buy NFTs with HBAR on your smart TV !

Would you like to display your favourite NFTs and show them to your friends in your living room? Thanks to a new initiative of the tech company LG, in collaboration with the Hedera blockchain, you can now display your digital artwork and buy new ones through your LG smart TV. All from the comfort of your sofa! LG Art Lab is the name of the collaboration project with Hedera. It is a real NFT marketplace, where you can buy NFTs with the HBAR token, which will be accessible directly from your TV. Find out how to buy NFTs with the HBAR crypto, and how to turn your home into a digital art gallery!

Exhibiting NFTs? LG and the digital art gallery!

LG Art Lab is an NFT platform announced on the 5th of September 2022, which will be launched by the end of 2022 on the Hedera blockchain. This is not the first time the two companies have come into contact. In fact, LG has been part of Hedera’s board of directors since 2020. The marketplace and its application should be available by the end of the year in the United States. It will allow users to buy, sell and display digital artwork. The special feature of this marketplace is that it will be easily accessible and compatible with LG smart TVs. It is the perfect medium to display your NFT collection, thanks to the exceptional resolution quality of the images. LG Art Lab will function like a classic NFT marketplace, such as OpenSea, with the difference that purchases will be made with the HBAR token. The section dedicated to buying NFTs is called Drops, where artist profiles and previews of new works coming soon will be available with a countdown so you won’t miss anything new.

To enable users to purchase NFTs with the HBAR token directly from their smart TV, LG is also launching the Wallypto crypto wallet. By connecting to the LG Art Lab platform, the wallet will allow users to view all NFTs they own, as well as their available HBAR token balance. The platform will initially only be available for the US market. As can easily be guessed from the platform’s name, art will be the major focus of the application. The first partnership has already been unveiled, the featured artist will be Barry X Ball!

The first collection on LG Art Lab by Barry X Ball

Barry X Ball is a contemporary sculptor and artist famous for his interpretations of classical sculpture and modernist art created with cutting-edge techniques such as 3D printing and scanning.

Barry X Ball will make his debut in the digital art world with his first NFTs in a collection entitled “Metal” right on the LG Art Lab platform. Thanks to the resolution of LG smart TVs, users will be able to view all the textures, details and materials (including precious metals and stones) used in the artist’s sculptures.

LG chooses Hedera’s green blockchain

Why did LG choose Hedera for its NFT marketplace? The Hedera blockchain, which is a product of the HBAR Foundation, describes itself as an enterprise blockchain that can process transactions very cheaply and quickly. But how are Hedera and its HBAR token so efficient and cheap? The answer to this question lies in the way transactions are recorded on the network. A new structure called Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) was designed by software engineer Leamon Baird, who founded the project in 2015. Thanks to this, Hedera is able to process up to 10 thousand transactions per second.

Hedera’s blockchain works via a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm, called hashgraph. In addition to providing speed and scalability to the network, it is geared towards environmental sustainability. The latter is a value that the HBAR Foundation and its Hedera blockchain have adopted since their inception in 2017. The development team has been and is still committed to ensuring the network’s carbon neutral status by purchasing quarterly carbon credits (carbon offsets). The amount of these credits has been determined by TerraPass, an independent emissions assessment company.

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‘In-chain’ NFTs? The Moonbirds collection offers an explanation

Moonbirds NFTs: What are on-chain and in-chain NFTs?

The future of the Moonbirds NFT collection is all about being on-chain. Let’s find out what the difference is between on-chain, in-chain and off-chain NFTs

PROOF, the Web3 startup that created the Moonbirds NFT collection, has just unveiled the project’s future plans. Among the planned features is making all its non-fungible tokens ‘in-chain’. You may have already heard about the difference between on-chain and off-chain NFTs. But what exactly is meant by ‘in-chain’? 

All the records in the Moonbirds collection

The NFTs of the Moonbirds collection were released in April 2022 and within 48 hours of launch, all 10,000 NFTs were sold out. Moonbirds is a PFP collection of images designed to be used as profile photos, depicting automatically generated, pixelated avatars of owls. According to CryptoSlam, Moonbirds ranks 10th in total sales of collections, PROOF’s NFTs have generated sales of over $590 million! Thanks to these impressive numbers and the support it has received from the industry, this collection has earned blue chip status for some. Moonbirds also stands out from other collections because it introduced the staking of NFTs, called ‘nesting’.

At the end of August 2022, PROOF (coordinated by Venture Capital investor Kevin Rose) offered an explanation for the future. The creation and storage of NFT projects, including Moonbirds spin-off collections, will be managed in-chain. To understand what in-chain NFTs are, let us first look at the difference between on-chain and off-chain NFTs.

On-chain and off-chain NFTs, what is the difference?

The parameter for recognising whether a non-fungible token is on-chain and an off-chain concerns its storage. We know that the ownership and uniqueness of NFTs is guaranteed by the blockchain, but where are NFTs stored? An NFT is composed of:

●     An ID: a unique identification code that distinguishes tokens from one another and is registered via smart contracts on blockchain;

●     Metadata: as digital content. Each NFT consists of a set of metadata that configures its appearance, such as shapes, colours, names, sizes, the type of hat, the plumage or expression of the owls (in the case of Moonbirds) but also information such as maximum supply.

The non-fungible token ID is always stored on blockchain, and functions as a certificate of authenticity and uniqueness of an NFT. However, metadata is often stored elsewhere, i.e. off-chain. Storing metadata off-chain is the most popular option used by creators of NFT collections, who rely on external, centralised or decentralised hosting services and servers. In contrast, storing an NFT on-chain means that the entire token – including metadata – exists on a blockchain.

Is on-chain storage better than off-chain storage?

On-chain storage may be preferable because all aspects of the token are directly manageable and verifiable by the owners. However, it is a very expensive route due to the size of the data that has to be recorded on the blockchain. JPEG images for instance contain a lot of data, and collections often consist of hundreds or thousands of images all different from each other. Most NFT projects, including CryptoPunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club, have chosen to store their content off-chain.

As anticipated, off-chain hosting and archiving services can be either centralised or decentralised. With centralised hosting providers, there is a risk (although unlikely) that they could shut down at any time, jeopardising the existence of the stored NFTs. All that would remain for the owner would be the ID on the blockchain. Decentralised storage is managed by systems such as IPFS. When a file is stored on IPFS, it receives a unique hash of the content that links it to the entire network. Although NFTs on IPFS are not technically stored on the blockchain, no one can lose or hack files on IPFS as no one can shut down the cloud. This is because it is managed in a decentralised manner by thousands of nodes.

Moonbirds: what are in-chain NFTs?

In contrast to this, PROOF has a plan to make its NFTs ‘in-chain’. By this term, PROOF implies that not only the data storage will be on-chain, but also the creation itself: ‘to make sure that it is fully decentralised and visible for generations to come’. The metadata will therefore be created by the same smart contract that attests to the existence and certifies the authenticity of the token. In other words, the code that creates the digital artwork will be on the blockchain. Harri Thomas of PROOF explained that with this procedure, the graphic representation of each Moonbirds NFT “will be built by the smart contract itself from art layers, which will also be stored on the blockchain”.

PROOF and Moonbirds’ roadmap also includes the establishment of a DAO and a governance token. The launch of a spinoff collection called ‘Moonbirds Mythics’, which will comprise 20,000 NFTs and will be launched in early 2023. The new collection will not follow the pixel art aesthetic, the images will be drawn with a technique that mimics the freehand style. These new designs will be made possible thanks to newly obtained funding. In fact, PROOF has just raised $50 million in a Series A funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z.

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Young Monday: Muse’s NFT album, Cardano’s Vasil update, Sorare and the NBA

Muse’s NFT album, Cardano’s Vasil update, Sorare and the NBA

Muse’s NFT album ‘Will Of The People’, Cardano’s Vasil update and how Sorare’s NBA cards work

Music and sport take the spotlight again in this edition of Young Monday! Muse smashes the competition with their NFT album ‘Will Of The People’. Cardano confirms that the Vasil update will take place on the 22nd of September 2022, and Sorare becomes the platform for fantasy basketball by announcing a partnership with the NBA. Find out how to play Sorare NBA in this article!

Muse’s NFT album Will of the people tops the world charts!

Muse are breaking records with their new NFT album: Will of the people. One week after its release date at the end of August, Muse sold 51,500 copies of the album. This is more than the sum of all sales of other albums in the UK top 10. Of these 50,000 copies, 1,000 were sold as NFTs. The sales of NFT albums took place on Serenade, an application for the sale of non-fungible tokens that relies on Ethereum’s Layer 2 blockchain, Polygon. The available NFT copies sold out within 25 minutes. What happened is a real record as far as the world of Web3 music is concerned. But what is meant exactly by musical NFTs?

NFTs are a technology that is now beginning to express their full potential in the world of music, which is why musical NFTs are spreading. This type of non-fungible token can take different forms. They can be associated with songs, concert tickets or much more. In the case of ‘Will Of The People’, the British artists decided to sell an NFT package including all tracks of the new album in a high-quality audio format called FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec). This audio format was chosen because the files undergo less compression, only about 50 percent, and consequently provide the listener with higher sound quality.

The NFTs of Muse’s album, however, are not only audio files but also pictures. They are also limited edition covers autographed by the band. But how can you buy Muse’s album NFTs? Although the NFTs sold out in a very short time, it is still possible to buy them on secondary markets! The collection is in fact available on OpenSea. However, the price is much higher than it was at the time of release. The first 1,000 purchasers only paid $20. Now, the current price is about 0.17 ETH or almost 300$. Has the time come to say goodbye to the idea of music collecting to which we are accustomed? Instead of huge libraries full of vinyls and CDs, a crypto wallet might be enough in the future!

Time for Cardano to upgrade: 22 September hard fork!

Following the example of Ethereum, with which it shares one of its founders Charles Hoskinson, the Cardano blockchain is ready to make the long-awaited Vasil update! The release date has been set for the 22nd of September 2022. The update is the cornerstone of the fourth phase of Cardano’s life cycle called Basho, dedicated to scalability. For now, there are five phases in the roadmap, all named after artists, writers and intellectuals. Byron, Shelley, Goguen have all been successfully executed. Now only Basho and Voltaire are missing.

The Vasil update aims to increase the speed and cost-effectiveness of transactions on the network so as to increase the number of users interacting with the blockchain and the number of developers ready to create new ecosystems. It is precisely because of the latter goal that Vasil will also update the Plutus programming language. The Cardano team expects a network increasingly populated by NFT collections, metaverses and play-to-earn games.

Playing with NBA champions on Sorare

September marks the start of a new season for fantasy football. Have you already prepared your squad? What better time to talk about the unique and inimitable crypto fantasy football platform Sorare. The game that is based on player’s cards will no longer just be a crypto fantasy football, but will soon also become a fantasy basketball platform too!

On Wednesday, the 7th of September 2022, the Ethereum platform announced on Twitter a partnership with the world’s most famous basketball league: the NBA. Basketball fans, it’s your time to shine! Challenge your friends by creating an unbeatable team. But how does Sorare NBA work? For now, information is still scarce. However, according to rumours, the Sorare variant will be the equivalent of the football version. Sorare is a play-to-earn NFT game on the Ethereum blockchain in which users must create a football team through NFT cards and compete against each other for prizes. Soon you will be able to become the general manager of an NBA franchise, field the cards of your champions and win your first NBA ring. If you don’t want to arrive unprepared, check out this guide to learn how to play Sorare and secure an advantage over your opponents!

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Cardano: Vasil hard fork coming on the 22nd of September

Cardano: Vasil update arrives on the 22nd of September

The Cardano Foundation developers have announced the date for the hard fork: the Vasil update arrives on the 22nd of September 2022!

For major crypto projects, this September 2022 is the month to look to the future and get up to speed. The event on everyone’s mind is definitely Ethereum’s The Merge. However, Cardano and its crypto ADA (developed by one of Ethereum’s own founders, Charles Hoskinson) are ready to begin the Vasil update. The main goal of the update, or hard fork, is to increase the speed and scalability of Cardano‘s blockchain and make it generally more powerful and cheaper. These improvements are aimed at facilitating the development of decentralised applications (DApps), especially in the area of Decentralised Finance (DeFi), and increasing the possibilities of use cases for ADA. Let’s discover what is new with the Vasil update, coming at the end of September!

Cardano’s Vasil update arrives on the 22nd of September 2022

After some problems on the testnet that were solved efficiently and quickly by the Cardano team, the date for the hard fork of the ADA crypto blockchain has finally been announced. The Vasil update will take place on the 22nd of September 2022. Cardano is a blockchain created in 2015 and based on the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. This allows it to be highly scalable, meaning it can handle a large number of transactions per second. On the other hand, a hard fork is an update of a protocol in which very radical changes are implemented to the point of making it incompatible with previous versions.

But where does the Vasil update coming on the 22nd of September 2022 fit on Cardano’s roadmap? The Cardano roadmap is divided into five macro-phases, each of which has a main objective. At the moment, we are in the phase called Basho which wants to improve the scalability of the network as its primary objective. In other words, increasing the number of users who use it every day without worsening performance or making it more expensive. The Vasil hard fork will happen automatically: users with ADA crypto or using DeFi DApps on Cardano’s blockchain should not even notice it. Vasil will in fact be implemented using Cardano’s hard-fork combinator (HFC), an innovative technology that enables protocol transitions and updates without interrupting the smooth operation of the network.

Why is the update named as such? The name Vasil was chosen to pay homage to Vasil St. Dabov a Bulgarian developer who was the Chief Blockchain Advisor of a software research and development company named Quanterall before his passing in December 2021. Vasil St. Dabov was a very active member of the crypto community and an ambassador for Cardano. The date of the update is also symbolic, as the 22nd September coincides with the day on which Bulgaria, St. Dabov’s birthplace, celebrates its independence from the Ottoman Empire.

What changes will be implemented for Cardano users and developers?

Vasil will provide some key functionalities to enable the launch of further projects on Cardano. At the same time, it will offer an upgrade path (with increased speed, transactional capability and more powerful scripts) to existing DApps. Specifically, Vasil will modify the transaction validation and transmission system with a mechanism called Diffusion Pipelineing. With this mechanism, blocks will be added to the network when they are created and not only when they are complete. This optimises the timing of block validation and enables Cardano’s blockchain to not only guarantee faster transactions, but also to increase its security by making possible attacks much more complex.

However, the update was also designed with the developers in mind, i.e. those involved in creating decentralised applications on the network.

With Vasil, the programming language with which smart contracts are written on Cardano’s blockchain called Plutus will also be updated. The hard fork will give rise to Plutus V2, which will enable developers to develop more efficient and cost-effective DApps (from a transaction perspective).

To date, Cardano ranks 29th among all the blockchains in terms of volumes traded on its platforms, of which there are currently only twelve. The current total blockchain value (TVL) is around $80 million. We will see if the Vasil update, due on 22 September 2022 will help Cardano’s network make its way into the big world of DeFi and increase the use cases of crypto ADA.

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5 interesting facts about The Merge, the update that will change crypto forever

The Merge: 5 things you didn't know about the Ethereum update

The update that will change Ethereum and crypto forever is coming. Find out 5 things you didn’t know about The Merge!

‘The Merge’ refers to the set of updates that will lead the Ethereum blockchain to change its consensus mechanism from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. In the crypto world, this has been the talk of the town for months. The Ethereum update is so important that ‘The Merge’ has become a commonly used term to indicate the final activation of the update and more generally the passage to the 2.0 version of Ethereum.

So, what will change with Ethereum 2.0? Transactions will be faster, cheaper and more green. The network will be more decentralised and secure, which will make the Ethereum blockchain more scalable and energy efficient. However, The Merge will not only impact Vitalik Buterin‘s blockchain, the upgrade will also change the crypto world forever. Ethereum is the blockchain on which the main Decentralised Finance protocols are built and in which the world of NFTs is developed. To learn more about the more technical aspects of The Merge, we refer you to Academy’s article on Ethereum 2.0. However, read on to discover 5 things you didn’t know about The Merge!

1.   Why is the Ethereum update called The Merge?

This Ethereum update is called ‘The Merge’ because it consists of the merging of two chains into one. With the update, Ethereum’s Beacon Chain and mainnet will be merged together. The former is the Proof-of-Stake network that has been active since 2020 and used as a ‘Consensus’ layer, but not yet for processing transactions. The mainnet, on the other hand, is the only ‘Execution’ layer of the blockchain on which miners will work until The Merge. With the completion of the upgrade, these two chains will be merged together to improve the performance of Ethereum.

2.   Why is the release date of The Merge changing?

The final phase and activation of the update was planned for September 2022. For a long time no official date for the release of The Merge was communicated. In the past months, the date has been postponed more than once. Even when September was identified as a possible date, the Ethereum developers only hinted at a broad activation period, namely between the 10th and the 20th of September. On the 6th September, Vitalik Buterin narrowed it down to between the 13th and 15th of the month. But why is the exact release date of The Merge not known? Ethereum’s developers did not schedule the update based on the calendar, and thus on a time parameter, but by referring to the Total Terminal Difficulty (TTD). The TTD is the value reached at which the Proof-of-Stake update will be released. It can be understood as similar to the score obtained in order to pass a level in a video game. The Merge will only be completed when the TTD of the value 58750000000000000 is reached. The TTD is the parameter that indicates the level of difficulty that miners have to face to validate the last block in Ethereum’s Proof-of-Work. This value depends on many factors and it is therefore not possible to establish with certainty when the network will reach that value. This is why the date of The Merge is constantly changing.

3.   Beyond Buterin, here is the team of The Merge

Among the thousands of programmers who keep the Ethereum protocol going, you may not know that 119 experts are working on The Merge. Together with this group, some prominent personalities from the crypto world have also joined. From the Ethereum Foundation, researchers Danny Ryan and Justin Drake have contributed directly to The Merge project. The former has been working on The Merge since 2017 (fun fact: The Merge and the move to PoS had already been suggested in 2015, shortly after the birth of Ethereum), in relation to issues such as scalability, sustainability and security. Drake, on the other hand, had a coordination and public relations role.

Vitalik Buterin, of course, also contributed to The Merge update as the mastermind behind the new understanding of Ethereum and as a populariser with the general public. We can credit Buterin for the design philosophy of the new consensus mechanism. Another key figure is Tim Beiko who heads the team of developers. Beiko became the main spokesperson on social media for the development team and managed the many steps necessary for The Merge. Among all the people working on The Merge, we should also mention Mikhail Kalinin of ConsenSys, a software development company that collaborates with Ethereum. They established the details of the Beacon Chain and, according to Beiko, Kalinin is one of those who ‘literally built and steered the ship’. Kalinin called his experience at Ethereum ‘an example of true diversification and decentralisation of work on a research and development project’.

4.   Will there be a new Ethereum 2.0 coin?

As the completion of The Merge approaches, many have wondered whether Ethereum 2.0, the new version of the Proof-of-Stake blockchain, will have a new coin. And again, what will happen to the existing ETHs in our wallets? To answer this question, you have to consider the two possible scenarios following the activation of the update. After The Merge there could be a hard fork of the blockchain in which Ethereum would split into two different chains, one with the consensus mechanism it has always had (PoW) and another that relies instead on staking to validate transactions. In this case, a new coin would be created accordingly, which is currently referred to as ‘ETHPOW’. The chain with the PoS consensus mechanism will retain Ether (ETH) as its native coin, and the PoW chain will instead continue mining ETHPOW. The PoW chain will only remain in existence as long as miners continue to use and support it.

Should a new cryptocurrency actually be created, it will be distributed via airdrop in a 1:1 ratio. Basically your ETH holdings will not change because of this. To prepare for The Merge on Young Platform, read the dedicated announcement.

5.   Sustainable NFTs in the spotlight

Among the 5 things you might not know about The Merge is the green revolution in the NFT world. Let’s consider that most non-fungible tokens are built on Ethereum. Following The Merge, there will be a drastic reduction in the environmental impact of NFT production and transactions. This is because the consensus mechanism that enables Ethereum activity will no longer rely on the computing power of the miners but on the mechanism of staking. In other words, all the electricity used to power the mining hardware will no longer be needed. All blockchain-related activities will be more energy sustainable. 

One of the main criticisms levelled at NFTs concerns the energy required for their ‘minting’, i.e. the process by which digital assets are created. Concerns about the pollution produced by non-fungible tokens have intensified, especially in the current context of an environmental and energy crisis. With greener NFTs, the sector could attract new enthusiasts and experience a creative rally. Creators and new projects will be able to indulge in creating art on the blockchain, no longer intimidated by the environmental footprint.

 

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Roblox: what is it and how does its metaverse work?

What is the Roblox metaverse and how does it work?

Find out what Roblox, the metaverse with the most active users in the world, is and how it really works!

Do you know what Roblox is and how it works? It is a centralised Metaverse that, unlike The Sandbox or Decentraland, is not based on blockchain. Roblox is a platform that contains over 40 million free games but also a virtual world in which to interact with other gamers. On Roblox, users have a lot of expressive space and can create their own games and experiences. But let’s see what Roblox is and how it works.

What is Roblox? Birth of the metaverse and relation to gaming

To best clarify what Roblox is and how this metaverse works, we must start at the beginning of its history. This virtual world was created by David Baszucki and Eric Cassel, two Californian guys with a passion for computers. The two computer wizards started their entrepreneurial career by creating a small company called Knowledge Revolution. Knowledge Revolution’s embryonic product was called Interactive Physics, a platform that used two-dimensional models to study virtual physics. In 2004, after Knowledge Revolution was sold to MSC Software Corporation for $20 million, Roblox was born. 

Over time, the company has expanded and evolved to become an institution in the gaming world, especially for younger people, as there is no minimum age to join the platform. In 2020, the Roblox metaverse achieved an incredible popularity that allowed it to go public. To date, its market capitalisation is around $25 million. But how many people are there in this virtual world? Active users during 2022 were more than 50 million, and earlier this year, the Roblox metaverse managed to break the record for the number of simultaneously connected gamers on one platform, 9.3 million on 4 February 2023.

Now, however, we need to point out that its metaverse is different from decentralised metaverses such as The Sandbox or Decentraland. It is in fact a completely centralised and managed platform, similar to a classic video game. Roblox also does not use blockchain technology and does not guarantee digital ownership of virtual worlds and objects through NFTs or tokens. Although this platform is not related to the Web3 universe, it is nevertheless one of the realities that is contributing to the development and spread of the Metaverse in popular culture. 

Join the Roblox metaverse and create your own virtual world!

In the Roblox metaverse you can really play anything! Among the 40 million games available, there is plenty of choice. You can become a professional puppy breeder by playing the popular game Adopt Me! You can fight against your friends in a DragonBall-inspired fighting game called DBZ Final Stand and you can sculpt your avatar’s physique in the gyms of the virtual world of Training Simulator. The first Roblox game was Rocket Arena, which was released on the platform in January 2006 and is still available in its first version, which is now called ‘Classic Rocket Arena’. 

As anticipated, this is not only a platform on which to play different video games for free, but also an ecosystem that allows users to create their own 3D worlds. Thanks to Roblox Studio, a programme that uses the company’s proprietary graphics engine and the Lua Script programming language, users can express their creativity and share their creations with the other inhabitants of the Metaverse.

Having understood what Roblox is, the only question remains: how does it really work? Using the platform and playing the games on it is totally free. The only paid items within the Roblox metaverse are the skins and the infinite number of virtual objects with which to customise avatars and environments. These ‘digital goods’ can be created and sold by anyone; the exchange takes place thanks to the game’s currency called Robux. The in-game currency works like the more classic coins of traditional video games, so it has no real value outside the game and can be purchased from the store through fiat currency payments.

The most exciting concerts on Roblox

Roblox is one of the virtual worlds with the most concerts, so much so that it was chosen by MTV as the location for its award ceremony dedicated to the Metaverse. The TV channel included the “Best Metaverse Performance” award in the “Video Music Awards 2022” (VMA) in August 2022. The VMAs were also broadcast, on Monday 29 August 2022, in Roblox’s MTV world ‘The VMA Experience’. 

Among the most exciting events in this Metaverse, Justin Bieber, Twenty One Pilots and Charli XCX in 2021, all three nominated for the MTV ‘Best Metaverse Performance’ award. The most important concert of 2023 was, so far, the one organised to celebrate the Super Bowl, the final of the world’s most important American football championship, the NFL. Instead of Rihanna, who performed at half-time of the game that was played, real world, in Glendale, Arizona; taking the virtual stage at Roblox was Saweetie, a rapper who is very famous in the States. The event took place from 10 to 12 February, inside ‘Warner Music Group’s Rhythm City’, the virtual world owned by the record label, and was also an opportunity to promote the official NFL (National Football League) game, Super NFL Tycoon available to users of the metaverse from 4 February. 

Some famous brands that have chosen Roblox

Attentive brands that tend to ride new trends are becoming more and more inclined to use new technologies in order to promote their products to new generations. Gucci and Nike, for example, know what Roblox is and how its metaverse works! Gucci debuted there in October 2021 with its dedicated world called Gucci Town. It is a lush and colourful mansion that offers those who visit it the opportunity to earn GG gems, create collectible clothes and accessories, and purchase limited edition virtual items. A virtual Gucci handbag sold for around $4,000 in the Roblox metaverse. 

Another example of brands that have chosen this virtual world? Nike, with the virtual city Nikeland! Nike‘s objective is to test new prototypes of shoes and clothing, to capture the tastes and preferences of young users in order to develop increasingly popular products. Kellog’s, Tommy Hilfiger, Givenchy and many other iconic brands have also found a home on Roblox!
Now that you know what Roblox is and how its metaverse works, find out how to get into it! You’ll be able to play more than 40 million games, interact with many famous users and brands, and attend concerts like never before!

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FIFA and Algorand, the NFTs of the World Cup

Algorand and FIFA: NFTs for the World Cup

FIFA launches an NFT collection on Algorand dedicated to the World Cup with the FIFA+ Collect platform!

The world of football is one of the environments in which Web3 technologies are becoming more established, both in terms of investment and public response. It started with Socios’ fan tokens, then Sorare‘s NFT fantasy football. Now, we are presented with a platform that will be birthed from a collaboration between FIFA and Algorand: FIFA+. The collaboration was already announced in May 2022. Silvio Micali’s blockchain is becoming to all intents and purposes a technical partner of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Algorand will not only appear with its logo but will also actively contribute to the expansion of the largest global football federation into Web3. Let’s find out how the FIFA+ platform will work and what will the NFTs of the World Cup look like?

FIFA+ Collect, the most iconic moments of the World Cup in NFT

The memorable moments of the World Cup will soon become NFTs. The last penalty kicked by Fabio Grosso at the 2006 World Cup? Kylian Mbappe’s stunning goal from outside the box that sealed France’s 2018 victory? A clip from the notorious Brazil – Germany match in 2014? FIFA is planning to record iconic footage from World Cup history and keep it forever on the blockchain via a dedicated NFT platform in collaboration with Algorand. The NFT platform is called FIFA+ Collect and is part of the broader FIFA+ project. Fans around the world will be able to buy their favourite goal, assist or chant from the men’s and women’s World Cups of the past! And perhaps also of the near future: the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will be held in November this year. The ownership and uniqueness of the World Cup NFTs will be guaranteed by Algorand’s blockchain. The FIFA+ Collect initiative closely resembles the one undertaken by the NBA, the American basketball league, with the NBA Top Shot project on the Ethereum blockchain

Details on the FIFA and Algorand World Cup NFTs have not yet been released. Teasers of the collections are expected to be released during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. FIFA+, however, will not only be an NFT platform, but a space where a huge amount of different content can be displayed. Including live football matches, news, games and NFTs. Algorand continues to develop very interesting projects, especially in the world of content. Silvio Micali‘s blockchain also acquired the digital music sharing service Napster earlier this year, and has partnered with LimeWire, launching an NFT marketplace focused on music.

Changing the way of experiencing sport

The launch of the FIFA+ platform opens a broader discourse on the role of fans within the entertainment world of the future. Statements from the person who conceived the collection of official FIFA World Cup NFTs relate to this very topic: “Fandom is changing and football fans around the world are approaching the game in new and exciting ways,” said Romy Gai, FIFA’s Chief Business Officer. “FIFA collectibles will be available to all football fans, everyone will be able to own a part of the FIFA World Cup,” Gai stressed. The slogan of Socios, the platform on the Chiliz blockchain to buy fan tokens of sports teams or clubs that is also a sponsor of UEFA is ‘Be more than a fan‘. This sums up well the idea that Web3 platforms are developing for the enjoyment of sports events. Fans will no longer play the role of a passive spectator, but will be a protagonist in the choices of the teams and to a small extent also the owner of the club. Thanks to the concept of digital ownership, not only fandom, but also the world of sports collecting is changing, especially thanks to tokens and NFTs. In the future, you will be able to be the rightful owner of Maradona’s goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals, from which the nickname ‘The hand of god’ originated (unless perhaps you are an England fan). Also, thanks to fan tokens, you can play your part in defining the destiny of your favourite team by actively participating in transfer market decisions!

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Young Monday: Vitalik Buterin’s first book, OpenSea and MATIC, Hermès in the Web3

Vitalik Buterin’s new book, Hermés and Web3, Opensea and Polygon

OpenSea also opens its marketplace on Polygon, Hermès joins the Web3 fashion companies and Vitalik Buterin announces the release of his first book!

September has arrived and in the world of Web3, it’s time for good resolutions as well as breaking news. As usual, in this edition of Young Monday, we give you a debrief of the three newest crypto stories of the week! Hermès is laying the foundations for its entry into the world of NFT fashion by patenting an ad hoc brand for Web3 initiatives. Speaking of NFTs, the OpenSea marketplace has also started accepting Polygon’s native MATIC blockchain token for payments thanks to the new Seaport protocol. Last but not least, Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, announces the release date of his first book about Proof-of-Stake!

Vitalik Buterin’s book coming at the end of September!

The month of September 2022 is destined to go down in the annals of crypto history, and this time Ethereum is taking centre stage! The stars of the month will certainly be The Merge event as well as Vitalik Buterin. According to the countdown to the event, the transition to Ethereum 2.0 should take place on the afternoon of Tuesday the 13th September 2022. The news doesn’t stop there though. Vitalik Buterin announced the release date of his first book: ‘Proof of Stake: Essays on the Making of Ethereum and the Future of the Internet’. The book will be released on the 27th of September 2022 in both physical and digital versions.

Ethereum’s founder stated on Twitter that the book collects some of his writings produced over the past ten years. As can be deduced from the title, one of the main topics the book touches on is the Proof-Of-Stake consensus mechanism, which is now ready to be implemented on the Ethereum blockchain. Vitalik Buterin’s first book will go beyond simply  presenting technical notions. Within the essays, there will also be room for reflections on the future possibilities of new technologies as well as the impact of blockchain technology on social, economic and political changes. So, where is Vitalik Buterin’s new book available for sale? As far as digital copying is concerned, the process is very curious and innovative! Simply go to this link and donate any amount in Ether to receive an NFT that will turn into a digital copy of the book signed by Vitalik Buterin on the day of release. For  Proof-Of-Stake physical copies, however, the purchase will be done in the traditional way, you can already pre-order the book on Amazon at a price of around 18€. All proceeds from the sales of the book will be donated to Gitcoin, a crowdfunding platform for budding Web3 projects.

Hermès prepares to launch its fashion NFTs

Would you like to own an iconic Birkin or a beautiful Hermès belt in the metaverse? Maybe in the future it will soon be possible. Hermès has joined the big list of fashion brands in the NFT world! On Friday the 26th of August 2022, the French brand filed a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (UPTSO). The application relates specifically to software for the management of digital assets and collectibles. It includes the main blockchain-related technologies: NFT, crypto and the metaverse. This request comes in the wake of the lawsuit filed by Hermès against the NFT collection called MetaBirkins, as well as its creator Mason Rothschild. The NFT collection features a series of bags that closely resemble the shape of the French brand’s iconic product. The lawsuit points to the misappropriation of the Birkin name, which Mason Rothschild allegedly used to promote his NFT fashion collection. The fashion world is certainly one of the worlds most in tune with Web3. Will we be treated to seeing Hermès at Metaverse Fashion Week 2023?

Buying NFTs on OpenSea using MATIC? It’s now possible!

OpenSea is the number one NFT marketplace created for Ethereum by volume in the entire world of Web3. It has also long since integrated other blockchains into its DApp. On OpenSea, it is possible to use the Polygon, Solana and Klaytn networks. However, in order to purchase NFTs created on Polygon, it was until recently not possible to use its native MATIC token. It was therefore necessary to own Ethereum on Polygon’s blockchain. These Ethereums are actually wrapped Ethereum, and are represented as WETH. Wrapped tokens are crypto tokens anchored to the value of another asset. These tokens are qualified as wrapped because the original asset is placed in a wrapper, i.e. a kind of digital safe, which allows the wrapped token to be created on another blockchain. Since the end of August, it has been possible to list and buy NFTs directly in MATIC! This integration was made possible thanks to Seaport, an open-source protocol, which was also implemented on Polygon’s blockchain after being launched on Ethereum in June 2022 .

The new protocol chosen by OpenSea introduces further changes. With the previous protocol, the minimum price at which one could sell or buy a non-fungible token was five dollars. Whereas, thanks to Seaport, this threshold has now dropped to one dollar! Also soon to be integrated is the Dutch auction buying mechanism, in which the price of the NFT instead of increasing, decreases proportionally over time. The latest upgrade concerns the wallets with which you can buy digital assets on OpenSea: you will soon be able to buy NFTs and automatically send them to other wallets. Very useful if you want to surprise someone with a gift!