Metaversal is a Bankless newsletter for weekly level-ups on NFTs, virtual worlds, and more!

Dear Bankless Nation,

Twitter just rebranded to X. 

And with no warning the leadership of X just took the @X account on X from the original, long-time @X account holder.

That OG @X user got kicked to another username, with their only proposed recompense being some new X merch and an offer to visit X headquarters. 

Pretty lame, right.

Meanwhile, crypto social projects like Farcaster are busy adding support for ENS usernames, which are totally owned by their holders and can never be forcibly commandeered by anyone. 

It’s not everyday mainstream corporate fumbles make the case for alternative crypto solutions so clearly, but this @X account silliness is certainly one of those times for ENS and the crypto social scene.

For now, though, that’s enough X’ing around. It’s roundup time. Let’s get you caught up on recent NFT intrigues, then as always have a great weekend everyone ✌️

-WMP

🙏 Sponsor: Uniswap Labs — Better Prices, More Listings: NFTs on Uniswap✨

📊 The big picture

Over the past week, the floor-based market cap of the NFT space surged from 7.45 million ETH to 8.69 million ETH for a 16.65% gain 📈 

🔝 7D top collections by volume

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📰 General news

• Argent introduced Unframed, an NFT marketplace on Starknet.

• Ethscriptions welcomed a V2 marketplace system.

• OpenSea Pro just unveiled bulk instant sales. 

• Reservoir now supports minting via API. 

• Zora now offers a 2GB file size limit.

🏆 Digital collectibles

• Beeple is on the hunt for his first CryptoPunk. 

• Cool Cats were featured in the Gen4 Series Reddit Collectibles drop.

• CyberKongz just held its Genkai mint on Ronin’s Mavis Marketplace.

• Yuga Labs announced Made by Apes, a Bored Ape licensing registry. 

🎨 Cryptoart & music

• Highlight launched its open generative art platform and kicked off its genesis mint, Sum, an ETH data portrait work by Duane King. 

• Sotheby’s Gen Art Program launched Themes and Variations, the “first and only” NFT collection by legendary generative artist Vera Molnár in collaboration with Martin Grasser.   

🎮 Decentralized gaming

• Axie Infinity launched Origins Season 5 gameplay. 

• Kamigotchi, an onchain idle pet RPG, is on the verge of announcing a release date.

• Shahruz introduced DEADWEIGHT, a 7-day onchain PVP game experiment. 

🌐 Virtual worlds

• Decentraland introduced AI NPCs. 

• Voxels has a new secondary listing of 30 connected plots in Origin City.

🪙 NFTfi

• Ronin announced free RON swaps on the Katana DEX. 

🎆 Mint spotlight: Anamorphic Generations

One of my favorite NFT projects is Zien, a fine art platform that helps artists drop Expanded NFTs that can be redeemed for physical works through the Zien protocol. The platform’s latest collaboration is with artist Maxim Zhestkov, who’s releasing Anamorphic Generations, a project divided into two parts. One of those parts is a 72-hour open edition drop starting next week on Tuesday, August 1st. The edition includes three artwork options, Convergence, Refraction, and Intersection, each priced at 0.04 ETH, and all can be redeemed for a hand-finished giclee print for an additional $200 cost.

🙇 New insightful reads to level up your web3 knowledge!

1. Alexander Atallah on an NFT-gated software license concept 🪪

2. Onion on the Autoglyphs smart contract 🔲

3. Botfrens on improving Nounish bots 🤖

4. Sound on direct-to-fans music 🔊

5. mint.fun on its !fun plans 🎊

✨ My NFT tool of the week: Pocket Universe

Today I’m highlighting Pocket Universe, a free browser extension designed to serve as a guardian against potentially malicious transactions before you sign off on them. The project also lets users opt-in to a free insurance system that offers up to 2,000 USDC in reimbursements in case you do end up signing a bad transaction. The extension + the insurance can offer additional security layers for your crypto defenses if you’re looking for a little extra peace of mind while you’re transacting.

😜 Nouns DAO’s not the only one with their eyes on an Alien ‘Punk…

Action steps

• 🆕 Read A World of Controversy for Worldcoin, David’s Takeaways from EthCC, and 8 Degen Investment Plays in Bankless

• 🙇 Catch up on my other NFT write-ups from this week: 

  • 💠 Axie Infinity’s AXP Evolution

  • 🎨 Gen Art Summer

Author Bio

William M. Peaster is the creator of Metaversal — a Bankless newsletter focused on the emergence of NFTs in the cryptoeconomy. He’s also a senior writer for the main Bankless newsletter.

A Bankless Citizen ⚑ turned $264 into $6,077 last year. A 22x ROI 🚀 in a bear market!

Level up

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Not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.

Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here.