⚓️ creator royalties discussion (again)
Discover more from Biv NFT ⚓
gm.
if you haven’t noticed, I’ve moved to writing about NFT news only two days per week…Tuesdays and Thursdays.
it’s not the lack of content; the NFT world is actually more *extra* than ever (though writing about people yelling in Twitter Spaces for the 100th time might get tiresome).
ultimately though, I’ve scaled back so I can focus more on writing my book, and if the NFT gods allow, also write for others (see more in the DELTA section of this newsletter).
ALPHA ⚓️
y00ts reveal
you probably thought I was going to write about the FTX acquisition, didn’t you?
well, despite the changes this is still an *NFT* newsletter, so no…I won’t be writing about Binance at all (until their NFTs start moving)…
instead, I’m going to write about something that has *probably* already been lost in the shuffle - the y00ts reveal.
I never got to give my opinion of their Friday launch. and my opinion? the art looks pretty similar to the one they “scrapped” a few weeks ago. but ultimately, I actually enjoy how they look; I think that as a standard PFP project, it works.
however, expectations can be a killer. it’s like that movie with a stacked cast you’ve been waiting months for…only to realize that the film is a letdown.
(I’m looking at you Don’t Look Up)
not only that, it seems that people are rather done playing the PFP shuffle. they are, for better or worse, sticking with the projects they’ve always used as their PFP during these dire times (myself included).
for these reasons, y00ts quietly started tanking…so the team has gone back to what they do best: social engineering.
Twitter Spaces feuds have now been doing the majority of the marketing for y00ts post-reveal, and what can I say…it’s working.
when it comes to building hype and conversation around their projects, no one does it better than Frank and Dust Labs.
BETA ⚓️
OpenSea and royalties are back in the news…
over the weekend, OpenSea dropped a bombshell…they too would be removing creator royalties from their platform.
it has drawn a lot of criticism from project founders…most notably GordonGoner aka Wylie Aronow, co-founder of Bored Apes.
royalties at their surface seem essential to the very idea of NFTs and digital art. however, as what tends to happen when there’s competition, it quickly becomes a race to the bottom.
first MagicEden, then X2Y2, then Blur…you can see why OpenSea thinks it’s also OK to remove creator royalties (while still keeping their platform percentage fee, mind you).
people always want to pay less…and removing royalties helps facilitate that. unfortunately, it does so at the expense of talent.
by making royalties “optional” on their platform all these marketplaces are *actually* doing is hurting the products they sell…and therefore hurting their business in the long-term.
congratulations OpenSea and others…you played yourself.
GAMMA ⚓️
Andrew Wang apology
Art Gobblers have tanked. currently, they sit at a 3.5 ETH price floor. and given the current market conditions, you’d imagine it only gets worse from here…
and now, Andrew Wang, who gained a lot of public ire as a promoter of the project, this week issued an apology surrounding his controversial Twitter account.
the vibes surrounding this project are (respectfully) deteriorating. it’s no one’s fault but it will be a hard hole to climb out of regardless (trust me, I know as an owner of a Cool Cat).
DELTA ⚓️
biv.xyz
I’ve been so busy plugging other artists and creators in the DELTA section, that I’ve forgotten to advocate for myself.
if you are ever interested in hiring a freelance writer, I am now open and available to do so. I want to try this thing out and see if I can get any traction…
be the first to commission me.