Our weekly updates are put together by folks deep in the crypto scene, giving you a clear picture of what's happening without overwhelming you.
To Watch This Week
AIRDROPS + ALPHANov 23, 2023
Gaming
Formula E: High Voltage Beginner's Guide—Get Started in the Play-to-Earn Racer
Formula E: High Voltage is the first official game for the eco-friendly motorsport, and it’s bootstrapped with play-to-earn functionality. Therefore, winning is important. The more you win, the more tokens you earn. Launching the game can all be overwhelming—but we're here to make everything clear. Check out our full review, and then read below to get started and pick up a few tips. First things first: head over to the official site and click "connect wallet," then follow the on-screen instructi...
Nov 14, 2023
NFTs
Disney NFT Platform Revealed by Dapper Labs, With Star Wars and Pixar Included
Entertainment giant Disney will be the focus of an officially licensed NFT collectibles platform from NBA Top Shot maker Dapper Labs called Disney Pinnacle, the NFT startup announced Tuesday. Inspired by the physical pins that Disney sells at its theme parks and that fans collect and trade, Disney Pinnacle will offer pin-inspired digital collectibles that are minted as NFTs on the Flow blockchain—the same network as NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day. The platform will include digital pins based on Di...
Nov 7, 2023
NFTs
Rookie Sensation Victor Wembanyama Set to Make NBA Top Shot Debut
San Antonio Spurs rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama has already made waves in the NFT world with a six-figure sale via Sorare NBA last week, and now the 19-year-old hoops star is set to debut in NBA Top Shot this afternoon. Wembanyama is one of the fresh-faced NBA players featured in the Rookie Debut: Headliners Web pack dropping at 3pm ET Tuesday, along with Brandon Miller, Scoot Henderson, Amen Thompson, Ausar Thompson, and Chet Holmgren. Each pack includes five total NFT collectibles, each depi...
Oct 29, 2023
Games
Formula E: High Voltage Is a Fun Play-to-Earn Racer That Needs a Roadmap
Formula E: High Voltage puts a strategic twist on racing games, elevating the genre’s competitive nature with play-to-earn functionality. It’s a fun browser-based game with a unique vibe, though the lack of in-game direction and tutorials may slow your roll as you get started. You might be familiar with Formula 1 with stars like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, but Formula E is the eco-friendly spin on the sport, opting for electric batteries rather than 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged engines. In t...
Jun 11, 2023
Coins
Algorand and Flow Crash to All-Time Lows Following SEC Lawsuits
Although the SEC took official action against the world's two largest exchanges, it also chose to name a number of cryptocurrencies that it describes as unregistered securities, triggering a drop across many altcoins. Two of them—Algorand (ALGO) and Flow (FLOW)—fell to all-time lows over the weekend. Their inclusion in the SEC's actions has called their regulatory status into question, along with many of crypto’s leading altcoins, like Polygon (MATIC), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA), which have...
May 16, 2023
NFTs
Revving Up the NFT Market: Mattel Unveils Fast & Furious Collection
Now you can enter the world of the Fast and Furious—and it won’t cost you the pink slip to your car. Timed alongside the release of the latest installment of the Fast & Furious film franchise, iconic toy maker Mattel is set to launch the newest edition of its Hot Wheels NFT Garage Series based on the global blockbuster series on May 22. The Hot Wheels NFT Garage x Fast & Furious collection will reside on the Flow Blockchain and feature cars from the movies, including Dominic Toretto's 1970 Dodge...
May 5, 2023
NFTs
Star Wars Limited Edition 'Digital Toy' NFTs Land on Flow
Just in time to celebrate May 4 (“May the 'Fourth' be with you”), the so-called annual "Star Wars Day," NFT startup Cryptoys announced on Thursday the upcoming launch of digital collectibles based on the massively popular entertainment franchise. Dropping on May 24, the Star Wars NFT collection is the latest in Cryptoys pop culture “digital toys,” following its previous Masters of the Universe collections with toy brand Mattel. Like previous collections, Cryptoys says that the Star Wars NFTs wil...
Apr 28, 2023
NFTs
Adidas and Pharrell Release Digital Clothing for Doodles NFT Holders
Doodles is expanding from its Ethereum profile picture (PFP) origins to fully customizable avatars. Today's launch of the Doodles 2 Character Builder within The Stoodio app for NFT holders marks a big step forward—with help from Pharrell Williams and Adidas. Alongside the launch of the Character Builder, which lets Doodles NFT holders change their apparel and attributes for a full-body avatar, Doodles has announced an upcoming airdrop for a “Pharrell Pack.” The NFT pack includes digital apparel...
Mar 31, 2023
NFTs
How Doodles Plans to Scale From Genesis Box to Millions of NFT Avatars
Doodles 2, the larger-scale successor to the popular Ethereum NFT collection, takes its next step towards a broader launch today with the long-awaited opening of the Genesis Box: a tokenized bundle of digital wearable items first auctioned last June. Inside each Genesis Box are two pieces of digital apparel—which could include headwear, clothes, shoes, and accessories—along with a beta pass for the upcoming Doodles 2 platform. That will let holders customize full-body avatars featuring the same...
Feb 24, 2023
Long Reads
NBA Top Shot Lawsuit May Be Bad For Dapper—Could It Be Good for NFTs?
The multi-billion dollar NFT market has for years anxiously awaited the answer to a single question: Will the U.S. government classify non-fungible tokens as securities? A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday gave the first glimpse of an answer, ruling against one of the top companies in the NFT space: CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot maker Dapper Labs. Dapper sought to dismiss a lawsuit against the company over allegations that it violated securities laws in its offering of NBA Top Shot NFT...
Feb 24, 2023
Business
Dapper Labs CEO Confirms Another Round of Layoffs
Dapper Labs is laying off 20% of its full-time staff in a renewed bid to restructure the organization, according to a letter to staff sent Thursday by founder and CEO Roham Gharegozlou. “We are restructuring the Dapper Labs organization to improve our focus and efficiency, strengthening our position in the market and better serving our communities,” Gharegozlou wrote, adding that those who did not receive a notification were not impacted. It is the second notable round of layoffs. In November, D...
Feb 22, 2023
NFTs
NBA Top Shot NFTs Are 'Plausibly' Securities, Judge Rules in Dapper Labs Lawsuit
Are NBA Top Shot NFT moments unregistered securities? That’s what a lawsuit filed against Top Shot creator Dapper Labs in 2021 alleges—and the judge apparently agrees. United States District Court Judge Victor Marrero today denied Dapper’s request to dismiss the suit, writing that the NFTs offered on Dapper's platform indeed appear to satisfy the requirements of a security. In his ruling, Marrero used the Howey Test—referring to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case—and determined that the NBA Top...
Feb 16, 2023
NFTs
NBA Top Shot Will Let Users Buy NFTs via Apple, Android Mobile Apps
NBA Top Shot, the officially licensed basketball NFT platform that has generated more than $1 billion in sales to date, is headed to mobile with the launch of smartphone apps through Apple’s iOS App Store and Google’s Android Play Store. For NBA Top Shot users, the native apps aim to provide a smoother way to access and buy digital collectibles on the go. But for creator Dapper Labs, which developed the Flow blockchain and also runs platforms like NFL All Day and UFC Strike, it’s the first step...
Feb 10, 2023
NFTs
LeBron Just Broke the NBA Scoring Record—Now His NFTs Are Flying
LeBron James broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record on Tuesday, scoring his 38,388th point and surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 39-year-old mark in the process. Since then, LeBron hype is apparently fueling increased NFT sales on NBA Top Shot—including packs that could win buyers an NFT of the record-breaking shot. Dapper Labs tells Decrypt that sales of LeBron James NFTs have surged since Sunday, February 5, as the expected moment drew near. The platform registered nearly $234,000 worth of LeB...
Dec 19, 2022
Markets
Metaverse Tokens Flow, Apecoin Plummet Double-Digits Over The Week
It’s been a bearish past week, fueled by the hawkish Fed’s 50 basis point hike, wiping off nearly $62 billion from the cryptocurrency market, per data from Coingecko. Metaverse and NFT-related cryptocurrencies have been no exception. Cryptocurrencies powering the niche, including Flow (FLOW) and Apecoin (APE), have all posted significant double-digit losses over the past week. FLOW, the token powering Flow Blockchain, an NFT-centric blockchain network, has lost 22% of its value over the past wee...
Dec 15, 2022
Coins
Flow Hits New Low After NFT Trading Craters, Dapper Downsizes
Flow surged to prominence in early 2021 as NBA Top Shot led the charge for NFTs into the mainstream. But amid a significant decline in trading action on the platform and following recent layoffs from creator Dapper Labs, the blockchain’s native coin just set a new all-time low. Flow, the network’s eponymous native cryptocurrency, fell to $0.89 early this morning, marking a new low according to data tracked by CoinGecko. It has rebounded slightly to above $0.90, but Flow is still down 6% on the d...
Nov 2, 2022
NFTs
NBA Top Shot Just Had Its Worst Month Since 2020
NBA Top Shot surged to popularity at the start of 2021, as Dapper Labs’ digital collectibles platform helped bring NFTs into the mainstream. But the hype was short-lived, and sales momentum has gradually dwindled since. In October, the platform hit a nearly two-year low for monthly sales. According to data from NFT analytics platform CryptoSlam, NBA Top Shot generated just under $2.7 million worth of secondary market sales in October—down 43% from nearly $4.7 million in trades in September. It’s...
Oct 6, 2022
NFTs
Dapper Labs Sets Launch Date for LaLiga Golazos NFT Marketplace
Following the path of NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day, Dapper Labs’ previously announced NFT platform based on the LaLiga Spanish soccer league will launch in closed beta later this month. The marketplace, called LaLiga Golazos, will open up to select users on October 27 and drop its first pack on that date. Both Top Shot and All Day held months-long closed beta tests that gradually added more and more users before eventually opening to the wider public. Like those other sports offerings, LaLiga Go...
Sep 29, 2022
NFTs
Facebook, Instagram Users in US Can Now Share Ethereum, Flow and Polygon NFTs
Continuing its recent rollout, tech giant Meta announced today that its NFT collectables support is now available to all Facebook and Instagram users within the United States. Meta first began enabling NFT support on its platforms in May with Instagram, and then added Facebook support in June. In both cases, the firm started with a limited number of users, but has gradually expanded the pool over time. Now anyone in the U.S. can showcase their NFTs, joining users in some 100 other countries acro...
Sep 23, 2022
NFTs
NFL All Day NFT Sales Surge on Sundays During Football Games
Dapper Labs’ officially-licensed NFL All Day NFT collectibles platform opened up to the public last month, and in the first couple weeks of the NFL regular season, an interesting trend is showing in the sales data: users are buying a lot more of the Flow-based NFTs on Sundays, the day of the week when most of the real-world games are played. In the current crypto bear market, which has significantly impacted NFT prices and sales volume, NFL All Day’s surges are standing out. On both September 12...