ETF BTC Approval, Gordon Goner, Playember, Crypto Pump, Unsainted (who), plus chance to win Emberlist

This newsletter is proudly sponsored by Eryndor

Drawing inspiration from 00's comic arts, combining techniques such as ink and contextualizing the lore in the Kanazawa steampunk universe. Eryndor is a handcrafted NFT collection with +5 million combinations. Mint and hold to earn tokens, wrap it with upgrade items to create new traits | by @KanazawaLabs

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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:

SEC approves 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Coinbase partners up with Yellow Card to bring USDC in Africa.

FOX corp collaborates with Polygon Labs to create a blockchain-based media platformb “Verify”.

Apple removes Binance, KuCoin and other offshore cryptocurrency exchanges from the Indian app store.

🔮 NFT EVENTS & DROPS 🔮

So many mints, so little time. Don't worry Mani's got you covered.

1. Most hyped SOL mint of the year "Crypto Undeads" launching their collection on 16th Jan.

2. Web3 game "Nifty Island" open beta goes live on 17th Jan.

3. "Azuki" is going to discuss about their upcoming anime anthology series on the garden discord stage on 17th Jan at 17:00 PT.

4. Virtual Social Platform "Swagga" is hosting a new year party on 16th Jan at 20:00 JST. Few web3 leaders from japan are attending as speakers!

5. PFP collection "Nakamigos" teases Crypto trading cards...more info on 17th Jan.

6. "Ninja Alerts" minting a PFP collection on BTC (ordinals) on 16th Jan. NFT alerts & Ordinals portfolio tracking, unlimited access to pro features.

🪙 CRYPTO DIGEST 🪙

Taking a look into Bitcoin's market cycles, recent price action has offered a clear nod to historical rhythms. Last week's rally brought BTC tantalizingly close to the 'Zone Structure's upper boundary, reaching within 2% of the crucial $49,920 level. This move aligns with expectations set by previous cycles, where such approaches to the upper band have often signalled an imminent retest of lower levels.

The midpoint of the 'Zone Structure', positioned at approximately $34,450. Historically, after it has gravitated towards the upper band, price typically returns to this median level—a staging ground for the next leg of its bullish journey as the market prepares for the halving event.

ETH/BTC recently showcased a remarkable recovery. After momentarily deviating below the critical cycle low of 0.049, ETH/BTC rebounded with a vigorous 17% rally to close the week.

This impressive surge, however, is now confronting the next obstacle: the macro downtrend that has been in place since September 2022. Despite the upward momentum, this entrenched resistance level poses a stern test to Ethereum's continued ascendancy in its pairing with Bitcoin. Ethereum's ability to break out of this downtrend could signal a broader altcoin rally. Conversely, failure to breach this may lead to cautious market sentiment, potentially affecting the performance of other alts in relation to BTC.

The labor market's apparent vitality masks underlying vulnerabilities, with a growing dependency on part-time work clouding true employment health. Concurrently, fluctuating treasury yields hint at an uncertain economic outlook, with deflationary trends now a central concern. Such trends, if unchecked, could impede consumer spending and hinder corporate growth.

Amidst these economic signals, the Federal Reserve's contemplation of interest rate cuts emerges as a critical juncture. These cuts, designed to stimulate economic activity, must be timely and proportionate to ward off the threat of recession without further unsettling a fragile market.

🚀 DEGEN HIGHLIGHTS (DYOR/NFA) 🚀

Notable Degen Mints

This is the segment where I will be keeping you all updated on the most notable releases throughout the upcoming week!

Dropouts 
Key Details
This should be a cook. It's unique art with inscriptions sub 100K meaning these are very sought after and they're worth a lot more than regular Ordinal NFTs (significantly rarer). They will be launching on Magic Eden so keep your eyes peeled for the mint time.

Mint Price: 0.003 BTC
Mint Date: 17th January
Mint Supply: 1,295
Mint Time: TBA

Now, I will group both of these projects together as they are both definitely worth minting and there's no reason why you should be missing out on this (if you have access). Also, the projects below are fairly similar as they are both incubated by Seedify (which is a green flag), it suits the current Game-Fi meta and I have heard a lot of great things about BloodLoop's gameplay (from beta-testers) which is always a positive sign especially when it comes to WEB3 gaming.

Storm Warfare
Mint Price: FREE
Mint Date: 22nd January
Mint Supply: 1,000
Mint Time: TBA

BloodLoop: Hero-Shooter
Mint Price: FREE
Mint Date: 22nd January
Mint Supply: 1,088
Mint Time: TBA

Storm Warfare and BloodLoop are the hottest NFT mints that's currently on everyone's radar and this will definitely be worth a decent amount on secondary once it's live. The WL FCFS wave will be very difficult without a minting bot so I would recommend either investing into one (if you're experienced) or asking a friend to help you.

🕵️ UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: PLAYEMBER, PRODUCT & NARRATIVE.

Deep diving Playember is refreshing compared to most of the gaming projects out there in the space, this team seems to be taking things very seriously. Their presence at NearKorea panels and expos, every gaming/crypto event world wide, social media, app stores, and their own Podcast EMBR talk. This team is literally everywhere, building multiple games and competing in the insane attention economy of gaming, and that of Web3.

People feel this project came out of the blue, but they were tweeting about their 1.3 million downloads proudly in Feb 2023. Listening to their early podcasts and spaces you can tell they knew what they wanted, where the space was headed, and how to get there. Fast forward almost a full year later, they now have 120 million downloads. "Focus on vision, and then product once product is ready" they believed this, spoke it, and followed through.

Focused on infrastructure and tooling, mobile web3 games, a creator economy as well as game distribution and publishing, this is beyond what we are seeing right now in "web3" gaming. This is a more foundation of gaming play, with multiple games released and released under their umbrella.

Money raised, and some very well known partners like Nickelodeon and Animoca brands, games launched, players found and retained I started asking myself, what are they even doing here? This is where Emby comes in, a cute IP creation that is meant to brand Playember and create a better emotional connection with the platform and games. While most gaming projects launching are hype/token based, this one is now IP/Infrastructure based.

They are launching 2750 Emby nfts that will be a freemint, and they are quick to inform everyone that you will need an Emby to get the most out of their growing ecosystem. But what does that even mean?

In my opinion I see an IP character that is in fact adorable and quite nostalgic, as if the animated flame on a candle this little guy is memorable and fun. But how does it tie into their ecosystem? Possibly token allocation, possibly early access to all projects they launch as they make it clear one of their objectives is to build out games for various IPs, and assist Web2 games transition to web3 tech. I think we at least know that gaming companies have had a hard time using their characters as nfts because of stigmas around 3d art, gaming characters hyper realism which does not translate to pfps well and the fact that usually they launch the nft before the game which makes it hard to attach your identity to your nft and represent yourself with it proudly.

Listening to them speak about coming into and building in the space they are intelligent about their approach and very well researched in the ways of this market and its participants. The founders Hugo and Jon are a great mix, with one having an insane background in mobile ad networks and working for leading game studios as a publisher, as well as the other being a veteran game developer having published over 20 games.

This seems like the perfect storm; cute IP, existing games in app stores, funding and partnerships, hype, product, tools and experience to publish games for other studios and brands, and a stacked team building their own new games that are web3 forward.

So what could go wrong? technically we have seen similar plays from Zenga, for example, with Sugartown. Cute IP, gaming experience and publishing as well as a stacked team of community leaders pushing it forward. Is that project doing well? Yes, but is it as powerful as the speculation based gaming projects in the space? No.

Do people really not want a game? Does the excitement fade when they see it? Does the unknown hold a higher value than the obvious? This is where I land at the end of my research. My opinion is that this team is Web3 focused, while the larger studios entering the space offering a similar model are NOT.

I heard once that the Web3 division of any web2 company does exactly that, dividing the company. Its strategy can never succeed unless it's all in, or all out.

This is why I think Playember will succeed, their entire business model is Web3, they in fact do not have and are not building towards a "web2" division.

Convicted founders normally lead to a convicted community of holders. This coupled with the team's existing ability to market their brand, attract partners and deliver tangible gaming experiences will propel Playember. Also it's a free mint, and if we have learned anything we have learned to NEVER FADE FREE MINTS. Especially those with an existing model of generating revenue that is already established and proven, as well as VC funding.

🎉 COMPETITION TIME 🎉

Now the chance to win Emberlist FCFS

Send your answers, twitter username and Eth address to [email protected].

3 Winners will be drawn in 48 hours, and notified by email.

1) How many Emby NFTs are they launching with?

2) What is the mint price?

3) How many downloads did Playember have in Feb. 2023

Must be following Alphabot and Seven for a chance of winning.

🔦 ARTIST IN FOCUS: UNSAINTED 🔦

The past few weeks the whole NFT space has been in a frenzy over new hyped collection Crypto Undeads which mints on Solana today. So far there hasn't been any previews for the art but after some digging I've managed to find the artist for the project so I wanted to spotlight his work as he seems to be getting no mention.

I feel like there will be a wave of artists coming through Solana over the coming months.

Unsainted has been cooking up on Solana for over a year now and has a strong pixel style to his work, focused on characters that provoke emotion and storytelling his 1/1's have been selling for awhile now. His latest piece just sold for 31.51 sol this week so it appears the hype is starting to build around his work. One to keep an eye on this year as the Solana movement continues to grow.

Buy his 1/1's here https://exchange.art/series/unsainted/nfts

Follow: www.twitter.com/0xEni66ma

📜 FOR THE CULTURE 📜

Gordon Goner : Changing NFTs forever

Wylie Aronow, popularly known as Gordon Goner, is the co-founder of Yuga Labs, a ground-breaking force in the NFT space. Aronow, who was crucial in founding the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), has shaped the NFT scene and established the bar for numerous projects that have drawn inspiration.

His rise from a high school dropout to the top of Yuga Labs, a Web3 startup, is a sign of a career defined by taking chances and choosing unusual routes.

The value of Bored Ape art transcends mere aesthetics; it functions as a digital identity, an emblem of a vibrant and engaged community. Beyond visual appeal, the community's creativity has blossomed, with Ape holders leveraging their IP to spawn diverse products ranging from food to clothing and much more.

Yuga Labs continued to be a strong advocate of decentralization and ownership while remaining committed to Web3 principles. Initiatives such as exclusive festivals, events, merch drops, and decentralized intellectual property rights for Bored Apes, Punks, and Meebits showcased Yuga's commitment to empowering the NFT community.

Gordon's departure from Yuga Labs due to health problems added a poignant chapter to this narrative. Diagnosed with congestive heart failure, Aronow acknowledged the toll of his relentless work ethic and emphasized the importance of balance in one's life. Despite the challenges, his influence endures, leaving an indelible mark on the NFT space

As the Bored Ape Yacht Club continues to be the most recognized NFT collection globally, Yuga Labs is the Web 3 startup with the fastest rate of growth. The Bored Ape Yacht Club and Gordon Goner's legacy resonate throughout NFT, permanently influencing the course of this revolutionary space. It remains to be seen if the inspirational leader Gordon Goner will return and write a new chapter in this incredible journey.