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<\/p>\nOne of the co-founders of nonfungible token (NFT) project doodles says it is going to pivot away from being an \u201cNFT project\u201d to becoming a \u201cleading media franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a March 18 post on the project\u2019s Discord, one of the doodle\u2019s founders, Jordan Castro \u2014 who goes by the pseudonym \u201cpoopie\u201d online \u2014 said it wanted to move away from financial speculators. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to go from a startup to a leading media franchise. We are no longer an \u2018NFT project,\u2019\u201d said Castro. <\/p>\n
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Doodles was launched in October 2021 and has grown to reach a $704 million valuation according to a September 2022 funding round. The collection also boasts iconic musician Pharrell Williams as its chief brand officer.<\/p>\n
Going forward, Castro said doodles will focus on its \u201cmost loyal collectors\u201d and it won\u2019t spend resources \u201cappeasing those with financial motivations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many on Twitter took issue with the apparent shift in focus and pointed to other perceived problems with the project such as its recent lack of communication and a March 16 NFT sock drop.<\/p>\n
Some were, however, supportive of the move with NFT startup founder, Daniel Tenner tweeting \u201cthe quicker we get rid of the term \u2018NFT project\u2019 the better,\u201d adding such projects \u201care all startups\/businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Castro later tweeted a response to the criticism and doubled down on its new focus but said it \u201cwill continue to use NFT tech as the connective tissue between everything we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added the aim was to \u201cevolve beyond vicious speculative cycles\u201d by \u201cbringing in intrinsically motivated users,\u201d solving real problems and releasing products with a market fit.<\/p>\n
The parent company of famed porno magazine Playboy has disclosed significant losses on the Ether (ETH) holdings it earned from an NFT collection it launched in late 2021.<\/p>\n
In a filing on March 18, PLBY Group said it took an impairment loss of $4.9 million in 2022 as crypto prices took a significant downturn over the year from the all-time highs seen the year before.<\/p>\n
Playboy launched its Rabbitars NFTs in October 2021, just before the crypto market reached its peak. Since that time Ether\u2019s price has dropped around 60% in line with the broader market decline.<\/p>\n
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As of Dec. 31, 2022, the value of Playboy\u2019s crypto holdings sits at $327,000.<\/p>\n
In the filing, it explained it counts the impairment losses as unrecoverable, even if the fair value of its digital asset holdings rises after recording the losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe market price of one Ethereum in our principal market ranged from $964 – $3,813 during [2022],\u201d the firm wrote. \u201cBut the carrying value of each Ethereum we held at the end of the reporting period reflects the lowest price of one Ethereum quoted on the active exchange at any time since its receipt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPositive swings in the market price of Ethereum are not reflected in the carrying value of our digital assets and impact earnings only when the Ethereum is sold at a gain,\u201d it explained.<\/p>\n
NFT conglomerate Yuga Labs has once again made millions on a new NFT collection it minted in the next step of its \u201cDookey Dash\u201d web game.<\/p>\n
On March 15 those who minted a \u201cSewer Pass\u201d NFT which was originally needed to play Dookey Dash were invited to \u201cThe Summoning\u201d to burn their passes in order to mint an NFT from a new collection titled HV-MTL, or Heavy Metal.<\/p>\n
The new collection features 30,000 NFTs that resemble robotic-like cubes which will later reveal a \u201cMech\u201d according to the collection\u2019s OpenSea description.<\/p>\n
The collection has rocketed on the secondary market since it dropped. OpenSea data shows the current floor price sitting at 2.3 ETH, around $4,000 and total trading volume has hit over 6,050 ETH, an equivalent of around $10.3 million.<\/p>\n
With Yuga\u2019s creator earnings set to 5%, the project has already earned the firm over $500,000.<\/p>\n
Those who minted the collection early reported issues with the output of the process but Yuga identified and fixed the problem within a few hours by updating the collection.<\/p>\n
Some early minters of the new NFTs reported issues with so-called \u201ccompanion traits\u201d not appearing on their HV-MTL initially, but Yuga Labs identified the issue and updated the collection.<\/p>\n
The NFT marketplace arm of crypto exchange Coinbase has put out a new \u201cCreator Hub\u201d that provides a slew of tools for NFT creators to launch and market a collection.<\/p>\n
Coinbase NFT tweeted the announcement on March 16 touting the hub as a \u201cone-stop shop\u201d and provided an overview of the new toys available to creators.<\/p>\n
The capabilities of the tool can apparently launch an NFT collection in three steps, track sales on Discord and embed an NFT collection on a website.<\/p>\n
Other features included the ability to create gated experiences only for NFT holders along with tools relating to the analysis of holder wallets.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s apparently the first time in a while that Coinbase NFT has released a significant update to its platform.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlad to see that you’re still alive and kicking, one user wrote responding to the announcement. \u201cFor a moment, we thought you were dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
NFT creator tools are evidently all the rage as software-as-a-service giant Salesforce also announced a platform called Salesforce Web3 to help companies sustainably create, manage, and deploy NFTs.<\/p>\n
Without saying exactly why, Formfunction \u2014 a Solana-native NFT marketplace \u2014 said it’s going to shut up shop by the end of March after being in operation for just over a year. Its shuttering does come, however, as the price of Solana (SOL) and NFT trading volumes have taken a dive over the same period.<\/p>\n