🔥 Hot Topics in WEB3 - Disney's NFT Innovation, Bitcoin's Seed Success, & Aoki's NFT Album

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👀 WHAT’S THE META.. 👀

GM, GA, or GN wherever you may be.

Want to stay ahead of the curve? Don't worry we got you. The market has been brewing, here's what's currently happening:

Disney comes back with “Digitial Pins” partnering with Dapper Labs and Flow to launch another digital collection.

Taproot Wizards announce a $7.5M seed round funding.

Iconic DJ Steve Aoki drops his 8th studio album with NFT trading cards.

Phantom Galaxies launches its ‘free-to-play’ mecha combat game on Epic Games.

Animoca becomes a node validator for the Chiliz Chain to support network stature in entertainment and sports.

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🔮 NFT EVENTS & DROPS 🔮

LooksRare the NFT Marketplace is launching a gamified NFT collection called "INFILTRATION" - Nov 23rd

Kevin The Adventurer Season Four ends Nov 24th

RTFKT Fortnite map will be available to play - Nov 21st

@poglin_official × @animocabrands collaboration announcement - 10 AM EST, Nov 21st

VOID RTFKT x Nike Dunk Genesis - Public Online Release 11am EST + 8pm EST, 20th Nov

Steve Aoki's new album HIROQUEST 2: Double Helix's "collector's bundle" will be available to purchase on the NFT platform Kolex - Nov 21st

@proof_xyz, @ExpandedArt, and the Foundation Herbert W Franke, are dropping ZENTRUM, a 222 edition historical work created by Franke in 1982. PROOF Collective holders who participate in the auction will receive an additional 5% discount on successful bids. Auction begins 9AM PST, Nov 21st

Grape coin twitter thread post event ends Nov 21st

AOFverse token private sale #3 ends 5:30PM IST, Nov 24th

Oosagi Mint
Mint Details: 5 PM PST, Nov - Presale Live

Graffiti project Graff loom
Mint Details: 1:30PM UTC, Nov 22nd

Shadow War Mint
Mint Details: 5 PM UTC, Nov 21st

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🪙 CRYPTO DIGEST 🪙

In the current economic climate, understanding Bitcoin's performance and broader economic trends is crucial. Bitcoin's strategic position, with key levels at $25k and $38k, suggests potential shifts in market trends. Historical patterns, like the 2019-2020 rally and retracement, highlight the importance of these levels. The broader economy oscillates between steady growth ('Goldilocks' scenario) and unnoticed recession ('Boiling the Frog'). Bitcoin's resilience, despite potential dips, reflects the need for careful risk management in investments. Diversifying portfolios across various asset classes, including safe havens and undervalued assets, remains a sound strategy. Despite the possibility of a recession, Bitcoin has proven its robustness as an investment, especially in volatile markets. Looking forward, the intersection of Bitcoin's critical moments and economic indicators offers a roadmap for careful yet proactive investment.

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🚀 DEGEN HIGHLIGHTS (DYOR/NFA) 🚀

Last week, there were not as many degen releases as usual however we do have a few drops worth noting.

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🕵️ UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: VALHALLA 🕵️

Exploding into the space, Valhalla set up "partnerships" with the hottest gaming teams in order to establish themselves as a project for true gamers. The hype of their partnerships along with announcements of the 14 Million dollar VC raise allowed them to take centre stage in the attention economy of web3.

In the early days of this community they used some very effective tactics, such as a WL application, cash prize gaming tournaments, and marketing the successes of Alex Lin the founder in Y Combinator and Entrepreneurial ventures. However what really cemented the communities presence was their unified fight to defend Alex Lin from the accusations and proof brought forward by Conde, founder of 1984. Accusations of irresponsible distribution of funds, unethical business practices and the ease of "rugging" the project if it was unsuccessful.

Although these were only allegations, with out of context screenshots as evidence from a man(conde) who later rugged his own project 1984. It nonetheless galvanized the space into attacking the Valhalla team, and thus galvanizing the Valhalla community to defend their team.

Even with this public spectacle taking place on the timeline Valhalla was able to command an impressive start with their presale, WL and Public sale being wildly successful. After this sale price discovery lead to strong climbs and dips in the nfts market value culminating after reveal with their announcement of the armory token airdrop to holders and the subsequent rise of the floor price to 1.5 eth while rarer pieces were easily selling above 20 eth.

The self proclaimed community of hardcore gamers was creating content, building subcommunities, and flourishing with products/use cases for their IP.

So what happened?

Fast forward about a year and it is a glaringly different Valhalla we see today. A small community of die-hards defending an absentee team. One that does not feel chasing the "attention economy" or "content trap" of social media their community is asking for is worth their time.

Although opinions about the responsibility of NFT projects to reward/engage/include their holders can vary in this small space from person to person. It is clear that the market participants are rejecting the current direction/leadership/approach of this once beloved team.

How can they fix things?
Do they even have to?
Is this just part of some accumulation phase?
Are they no longer an "nft" project ?

I do not want to single out any one project and will have good and bad highlights weekly hopefully encompassing the entire space over time. But I do want to allow us the information/clarity we need to find out what went right, and what went wrong in these projects I cover.

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🔦 ARTIST IN FOCUS: STAR IM 🔦

This week's artist to watch is an artist that has the timeline talking over the past few weeks. AI is the big talking topic of the moment and this artist has delivered a really strong generative AI art collection called "Anomaly A.I" that has both art collectors and degens hunting for rares. The artist is called Star Im, he is based in Brookyln, New York and part of the Godwits AI group and Abstract Art Labs.

Anomaly is an abstract collection of art made with A.I that has a range of different styles and colours. It was released initially as a free mint and has gone on to gain big traction with nearly 900 ETH volume already on secondary sales. What I love about the collection is the rares are decided by the public as Star Im has purposely structured the metadata so there are no obvious rares on paper, it's all decided by eye. As art should be. See some of the beautiful examples below put together by Ordinals AI 

Another notable feature of the collection is the edition is broken into a series of 10 which has led collectors to completing the whole set from 1-10. Some collectors believe this will be good for Phase 2 of the project which Star Im has said will start in mid December.

Check out the collection on opensea, you can spend ages scrolling through the different styles

Follow Star Im

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📜 FOR THE CULTURE 📜

Ryan Carson: Web3 Whirlwind

Ryan Carson, a name that resonated through the space of technology and entrepreneurship, began his journey in the online education sector as the CEO and co-founder of Treehouse.

Last year, Carson's narrative took an abrupt turn. His venture into the NFT space was derailed by a number of controversies and misunderstandings, particularly concerning the acquisition of rare Moonbirds and potential market manipulation. Alleged reports surfaced of Carson's substantial purchases of Moonbirds before his departure from Proof and Moonbirds, raising suspicions of potential insider knowledge used to acquire undervalued editions. This was addressed by Kevin Rose at the time. (The team had internal policies to prevent this but “…I can't control someone clicking a button to purchase...”)

Following this, the failed launch of the Flux Web3 fund stirred skepticism and FUD among investors and the public. Questions arose about Carson’s intentions in fundraising strategies, intensifying scrutiny over his actions. The controversy around Moonbirds, coupled with the backlash from the Flux event, left a mark on Carson's journey in the Web3 universe. Following the event, Ryan Carson decided to cancel the project and left the Web3 space.

In a surprising turn, Ryan Carson has resurfaced with an unexpected announcement—a forthcoming podcast titled "New Dork City." Promising a mix of humor and insights, this podcast aims to offer a 30-minute immersive experience into the realms of technology and life.

With Ryan Carson's return, the WEB3 community stands intrigued. Is it a welcome return or a risky move to step back into the spotlight?

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