Metaversal is a Bankless newsletter for weekly level-ups on NFTs, virtual worlds, & collectibles

Dear Bankless Nation,

2022 is coming to a close, and the new year’s just around the corner now!

That said, I personally have lots of predictions for the NFT ecosystem in 2023. I think we will see things like:

1. The Big ABC (Art Blocks, BAYC, and CryptoPunks ecosystems) continue to dominate trading volume

2. The Polygon infra stack keep winning over big brands

3. The crossroads of AI advances + NFTs boom like never before

4. The Arbitrum and Optimism L2 NFT scenes enjoy big activity surges

5. A few more NFT project acquisitions by huge companies

6. Web3 social platforms gaining lots of new ground amid continued Twitter chaos

7. An uptick in projects exploring use cases around dynamic NFTs

8. More DeFi projects embracing NFTs in their operations, e.g. NFT credit scores

9. Big growth in the number people using creator-owned infra like Manifold and Zora

10. The arrival of the next breakthrough NFT game

To be sure, there are many more possibilities in play too! My main takeaway here is that there’s plenty to be excited about going into 2023, and I think in the new year we’ll see considerable growth in numerous areas of the NFT ecosystem. 

In the meantime, let’s zoom in and get you up to speed on the past week’s NFT headlines in our usual Friday recap. Thanks for reading everyone, have a great weekend ✌️

-WMP

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📣 General NFT News

• Async Art announced a system for creating dynamic and generative NFTs called Dynamic Blueprints. 

• Bankless released its 4th Bankless Collectible, Ultra Sound Money ft. Justin Drake.

• Bonfire, a no-code platform for NFT creators, opened to all creators:

Bonfire (is hiring!) @bonfire_tweets

🔥 The Bonfire is open to all! 🔥 Bonfire helps creators tell their story and create unique digital spaces for their community, on their own custom web3-enabled site. Turn on your sound & collect our first @viamirror subscriber NFT! bonfire.mirror.xyz/67apTq1N-M9IQy…

bonfire.mirror.xyzThe Bonfire is Open to All!Bonfire helps creators tell their story and create unique digital spaces for their community, on their own custom web3-enabled site….

5:41 PM ∙ Dec 15, 2022

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234Likes65Retweets

• Carly Reilly announced OPJ NFTs. 

• Lens Protocol is eyeing being able to support +50k transactions per second for its web3 social infra. 

• Sotheby’s is hosting its Natively Digital: Relics II auction event through Dec. 21st. 

🏆 Digital Collectibles

• Moonbirds introduced customizable backgrounds:

Moonbirds (🦉, 🥃) @moonbirds

Today, we’re thrilled to launch Moonbirds Backgrounds, a new way to customize your Moonbird (with a very special @XCOPYART collaboration) and share your passion for this community–and others. Now that Moonbirds are fully in-chain, it’s time to play! So let’s talk about it 🧵

6:31 PM ∙ Dec 15, 2022

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575Likes138Retweets

• OSF announced plans to curate a rektguy vault. 

🎨 Cryptoart

• Deca introduced Etch, a unique art and writing platform created in collaboration with artist Matt Kane:

Deca 🟥 🟩 ⬛ 🟪 @0xDecaArt

1/ They will know us by our words Words that start revolutions. Inspire generations. Make us human Now these words can be etched onchain. Introducing Etch, a powerful platform by Deca × @MattKaneArtist (Read on for the competition! Chance to win a GAZER & DOOR. Sound on! 🔊)

6:07 PM ∙ Dec 12, 2022

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949Likes616Retweets

• Ensemble, a platform where artists can sell artifacts from their creations, arrived. 

🎮 Decentralized Gaming

• Axie Infinity entered a partnership with esports organization Cloud9.

• Illuvium launched its Overworld beta this week:

Brycent 🚀 @brycent_

Illuvium’s private Overworld Beta goes LIVE today! This is the future of Web3 gaming! 💫

4:15 PM ∙ Dec 12, 2022

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554Likes72Retweets

💽 Music NFTs

• Daniel Allen and Reo Cragun released Criteria, a collaborative 8-track album, via Bonfire and Sound:

Reo Cragun @ReoCragun

Criteria x @soundxyz_ 💿 We’re proud to be using the Sound Protocol to power Criteria. 2500 Editions. 8 Songs. 8 Golden Eggs. But there’s more ⏬

9:44 PM ∙ Dec 14, 2022

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88Likes11Retweets

🌐 Virtual Worlds

• Decentraland published a guide on LAND rentals in its marketplace. 

• M○C△, a.k.a the Museum of Crypto Art, launched its interoperable metaverse spaces known as ROOMs:

MOCA – Museum of Crypto Art 🔜🕳🐇 @MuseumofCrypto

M○C△ ROOMs ARE LIVE 💖 ________________ ╱| ______________ ╱| | |⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜| | | |⬜🖼️⬜👽⬜| | | |⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜| | |╱ ￣ ￣￣👬🚶 ￣ |╱ ￣￣🕴👬￣￣￣ ( ＾◡＾)っ🎨 “ᴏᴍɢ, ᴅɪᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴇᴀʀ?” (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞ “ɪ ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ɪᴛꜱ ʀᴇᴀʟ” A THREAD 🧵

12:14 AM ∙ Dec 15, 2022

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184Likes61Retweets

💎 DeFi x NFTs

• NFTfi passed $300M USD worth of cumulative loan volume. 

• Tessera announced an $APE Vault for compounding ApeCoin staking yields. 

  • Tessera also kicked off an auction for Chromie Squiggle #6052 but activated refunds and will later restart the sale upon an initial misconfiguration

Action steps

• 🆕 Read The Biggest Crypto Moments of 2022 and 5 DeFi Metrics Surging Post-FTX in Bankless (newsletter)

• 🗣️ Watch the 2022’s Biggest Crypto Moments Livestream on Bankless (YouTube)

• 🌱 Watch episodes on Decentralized identity with Spruce and Digital identity with Phillip Sheldrake on Green Pill 

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

  • ✧ PartyBid evolved

  • ✧ 2022 NFT highlights

Author Bio

William M. Peaster is a professional writer and creator of Metaversal—a Bankless newsletter focused on the emergence of NFTs in the cryptoeconomy. He’s also recently been contributing content to Bankless, JPG, and beyond!

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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.