Hey, Here's what happened this week!
Oh Melania Trump, did you not know that all transactions on the blockchain are…well…on the blockchain?
Snoop Dogg’s impressive week
Snoop Dogg sells over $44M worth of NFTs in just 5 days
Snoop Dogg had an amazing week. If you are around my age, you would have loved his Super Bowl Half Time show (along with Dr. Dre, Eminem , Mary J. Blige & Kendrick Lamar – you can check it out here).
He also released his twentieth studio album to all streaming services.
And Snoop Dogg also announced that he would be releasing the album on the blockchain through a partnership with blockchain gaming platform Gala Games, via his “Stash Box” NFTs.
According to Gala Music, holders of Snoop Dogg’s Stash boxes can expect to receive “exclusive drops” such as films, comics, images, and unique concert attendance opportunities.
The platform also says that song NFTs will have “earning potential on the Gala Music network”.
“Owners of all 17 songs will receive massive real-life and digital rewards, including an exclusive concert + pre-party with Snoop, limited edition Death Row bling, and more,” adds Gala on its website.
I think this year will be the year of Music NFTs. While there are still valid questions about the actual ownership of anything real on the blockchain, artists will gain ownership and freedom to their work through selling NFTs.
Instead of signing a life-long exclusive contract with a label, even musicians with a small following can pre-sell their albums to their fan base as NFTs and the profits can be used to release and market the album to the general public.
Their devoted fans can then enjoy profit sharing, exclusive drops, exclusive access etc. – for supporting the artist before the artist became famous.
All you need is 1000 true fans to be a millionaire.
Melania Trump launches NFT. Sells to self.
This is a funny one.
One of the main benefits of the blockchain is that all of the data are stored, well, on the blockchain.
The blockchain is immutable and open for anyone to see.
Melania Trump, the wife of ex-president Donald Trump has recently launched an NFT collection on the Solana blockchain.
Nothing here would be spicy, except that the winning bid, came from the wallet that belongs to the entity that originally listed the project for sale.
This makes it seem like the demand for the NFT was not there and to save face, Melania (or someone working on the project) bought the NFT for a higher price.
While I was laughing at this at first, I think this shows how auctions are manipulated.
The blockchain is great because it’s open. But being anonymous, you don’t know who is bidding on the NFT, except…well…if you use the same wallet that listed the NFT in the first place 😅
What else you should know this week
I made a short video about this earlier. I am very bullish on real-estate NFTs, but it’s too early. A realtor created an NFT to sell a house in Florida. That house just sold. Listed for $650k, it sold for $653k. A very small increase, provided the buzz it generated.
The United Kingdom’s tax watchdog has seized three NFTs associated with a suspected tax evasion fraud in what is thought to be the first operation of its kind by a UK law enforcement agency. Officials at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) say they seized the NFTs during an investigation into a suspected VAT (value-added tax) fraud case worth £1.4 million (€1.6 million).
The largest bank in the United States, JPMorgan, has taken a massive step into the metaverse, opening a virtual lounge in the popular blockchain-based world Decentraland after it labeled the sector as a $1-trillion opportunity.
Visitors to the lounge, situated in Decentraland’s Metajuku Mall, are greeted by a roaming tiger and a digital portrait of Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan. If players walk upstairs, they can watch an executive’s presentation on the economics of cryptocurrency.
The New York Stock Exchange has filed an application to register the term “NYSE” for a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), taking a step closer to setting up an online trading place for cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
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