MERGE WEEK - THE BIGGEST EVENT IN WEB3..... + NEW UPCOMING ALPHA 👀
Jam packed issue to stick your teeth into!
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Scoops of the Week 🍦
🍦Starbucks Release Details Of Their Blockchain Loyalty Program
🍦ETH Merge Week
🍦New upcoming Project Alpha
🍦NEAR Foundation Reveals $100M Fund
🍦Tyga Lawsuit Following NFT Breach of Contract
🍦Kingship Find A list Producer
🍦Pumping Parrots WTF!
Starbucks Release Details of Their Blockchain Loyalty Program
Coffee Giants Starbucks revealed their loyalty program and NFT Community known as “Starbucks Odyssey” on Monday
If you wish to digest the reveal over a cup of dark blended roast feel free but if you don’t have the time, we are happy to inform you that we have, and the highlights are as follows:
The Program Starbucks Odyssey will primarily launch in the U.S
Odyssey members will be able to take part in games and challenges
Starbucks rewards members can log in using their credentials
Collectible NFT rewards can be obtained from completing challenges
The more NFTS collected by a user, the more points they gain
Points unlock experiences such as exclusive events or for example trips to Starbucks farms in Costa Rica
The Starbucks NFT Marketplace allows users to buy, sell and generally trade their collectible NFTs
Proceeds from collectible NFTs will go towards the Starbucks partner program
No Crypto or Crypto Wallet will be required
Lot’s to digest.. maybe a Venti Americano should have been suggested.
🍦$100M VC Fund for Web3 Entertainment
The NEAR Foundation has unveiled a $100M VC Fund in partnership with Caerus Ventures (The firm behind the $ NEAR blockchain protocol) is targeting Web3 culture and Entertainment.
As we predict, the entertainment industry, specifically Music, Gaming & Film (things people love) is ripe for disruption through NFT technology.
It looks like a new force is coming to attack as the Caerus Ventures executive Nathan Pillai, has gone on record saying Caerus aims to catalyze innovation in Web3, focusing on sport, music, film, fashion, and art.
Keep your eyes peeled on this one, this won’t be the last heavy artillery looking to incorporate Web3 in the entertainment industry.
Tyga Lawsuit Following NFT Breach of Contract
Another Celebrity project suffering issues, well this time it’s going legal.
Rapper Tyga is facing a $500,000 lawsuit for breaching a contract involving a NFT Project.
Kreation Technologies had allegedly agreed with the Rapper to put out three sets of NFTs with Tyga agreeing to help "facilitate the design, creation, production, marketing, sale, and distribution of NFTs in exchange for the use and incorporation of TYGA's name, image, likeness, music, and artwork."
Well, when it came to launch, Tyga is being accused of not holding up his end of the deal by not posting about the project on Instagram or Twitter and then canceling media interviews and social media appearances.
We don’t know many further details on this one but when the lawyers get involved it tends to make it nasty!
Producer chosen for Kingship
ICYMI KINGSHIP is the first supergroup signed to a major record label comprised of 3 rare Bored apes & a rare Mutant ape.
Our Bull Thesis a few weeks ago was as follows:
Bored Apes turned into a Music supergroup
Talented, established & well-connected team
Medium collection size
Music / Entertainment is an industry we are bullish on
Being minted & bought by influential NFT collectors / blue chip holders.
Now for the story, the project has signed legendary producer Hit-boy and James Fauntleroy to produce the project’s music. The pair have previously produced music for Eminem, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Beyonce, and more, to produce the project’s music.
This is a massive step for the project, our bull meter is going off the charts with this one, we saw the signs and it’s great to see the project heading in the right direction.
Pumping Parrots WTF!
This free mint launched on the 10th of September and has made no secret what its plan is…. profit, profit and profit.
There is no subtlety with it, the description on Opensea literally outlines the plan in an almost Ponzi Scheme fashion:
“The rules are simple: Flip your NFT at 2X
If you buy at 0.1, sell at 0.2 If you buy at 0.3, sell at 0.6
If everybody sticks to the plan, we all profit!”
The Parrots have certainly pumped, from a free mint they rose to a top floor of 0.9 ETH before leveling off now at 0.25 ETH however some individual sales have reached over 1 ETH.
As you can imagine, the method to raise the floor price has not gone down too well with communities and we highlight some of their views below!
Scoop’s Weekly Winner 🏆
Sometimes it doesn’t have to be an individual project that takes home the trophy.
This week’s weekly winner is going to something that should not be slept on and if you are sleeping on it, then wake up and fast!
Solana, you are this week’s winner
It was revealed in the last week that mints involving Solana Projects have surged to an all-time high of 312k this week compared to just 39k the week before.
Yes, this may have something to do with Y00ts and the general momentum building for the Degods Ecosystem however it is slightly more than that.
The price of $SOL has increased impressively over the last week…….16.88%!
REKT SECTION 😡
We are using this section this week to highlight what we deem to be disrespect.
In this world, having thick skin is a must ability to take ‘Banter’ however, some boundaries may have been crossed this week!
In case you were hiding under a rock, Queen Elizabeth II passed away on the 8th of September and since her passing, there are a number of people out there trying to make a quick buck on the news.
Since Thursday, more than 40 new Queen-related meme tokens, and hundreds of NFTs have flooded the market.
New tokens launched on decentralized exchanges include names (some offensive) such as Queen Elizabeth Inu, Save the Queen, Queen, QueenDoge, and London Bridge is Down.
We here at Scoop aren’t too impressed with this one!
State of the Market ⚡️
We won’t drag this out for long, but things are still shakey in the NFT market, overall market sentiment has picked up very slightly but we still remain in Cold Zone, volume remains low & the NFT blue-chip index over the past 30 days has trended downwards. That being said, every week we continue to see large capital by VC firms being deployed into the Web3 & NFT industry week on week, as well as global conglomerates adopting the technology.
Crypto has seen an uptick over the last 7 days with ETH rising 7% and Bitcoin 10%, all eyes are on the Merge and what it means for the space. Let’s dive in below!
The Merge is Coming: This Week.
Google - Ethereum Merge Tracker ⏱
Before we get started, we know this is a significant event because Google has added an Ethereum Merge countdown timer to their site. The ‘search’ tech giants can’t help but get a piece of the action. If that isn’t a salute to the recognition of Web3 & Ethereum.. We don’t know what is.
What is the Merge?
The Merge is one of the most significant events in the history of Ethereum and possibly crypto.
What is happening?
In just a few days.. the Mainnet of Vitalik’s Brainchild Ethereum will merge with the Beacon chain proof-of-stake system. The draws a line in the sand for Proof of work and marks full transition to proof of stake. This will make Ethereum 99% more energy efficient and set the stage for easier upgrades & scaling in the future.
Still, sound like Jargon?
Ok..Currently, the Ethereum network is secured by computers running specific software, AKA (Miners), they use their time & computer power to secure the network & ‘Prove’ they have capital at risk by providing energy. However, Miners are very energy intensive.
Following the Merge the network will be validated by ‘Proof of stake’, essentially where validators now put capital up in the form of $ETH, ‘Staking’. They then have a duty to check the blockchain is valid & sometimes create & propagating new blocks.
Let's consider an analogy.
Imagine Ethereum is a spaceship that isn't quite ready for an interstellar voyage. With the Beacon Chain, the community has built a new engine and a hardened hull. After significant testing, it's almost time to hot-swap the new engine for the old mid-flight. This will merge the new, more efficient engine into the existing ship, ready to put in some serious lightyears and take on the universe. - Credit Ethereum Foundation
What does it mean for you?
As a regular NFT trader, you don’t need to worry about lifting a finger. Leave all that to the big brains… Please don’t be fooled by scams convincing you to do anything such as sign certain transactions, transfer private keys, or log in to any suspicious websites. These may come in the form of emails, discord messages, Twitter messages, or links.
Firstly it's the foundation that most of your beloved NFTs live on. So it’s good to know.
Prepares Ethereum network for future scalability (growth & adoption)
ETH will use a lot less energy -$ETH becomes ESG compliant
ESG compliance makes $ETH a more attractive investment for Big money
Increase scarcity - Less issuance of $ETH - Perhaps one day.. ‘Deflationary’
Staking - Takes ETH of the market - Reduces available ETH on the market.
Staking provides a yield for those who stake - Attractive for investors looking for a passive income.
Our take:
As you can see there are individually a number of bullish catalysts for $ETH, but when you marry them all up collectively it creates for Raging Bull Supernova. Ready for scaling, more energy efficient, less ETH issued, more scarce & rewards for staking (locked up off the market ETH). To put it bluntly, it’s big and it’s very exciting.
Given the significance of the event, we hope for a smooth process, but there is no question that what is about to take place is complex, with lots of moving parts, so expect some turbulence and a few tweaks that need to take place.
We do expect a price pullback for $ETH following the Merge, a typical buy the rumor sell the news sitch. But one thing is for sure in the medium to long term, It’s very bullish.
Where we would blow our $ETH
Listed below are some solid picks we believe to be undervalued.
Mutant Ape Yacht Club - Current Floor Price - 12.86 ETH - Bullish on Yuga
Clone X - Current Floor Price - 5.7 ETH - RTFKT
Otherdeed - Current Floor Price - 1.64 ETH - Again Yuga
Potatoz by Memeland - Current Floor Price 1.35 ETH - Strong Culture - He who controls the meme controls the message.
ALPHA
Kuengs Premier + Yoga Petz - Pre launch
Kuengz is the Cofounder of Yoga Petz and Kuengz Premier NFT has been described as Yoga Petz version of ‘You the real MVP’ which was the parent NFT to Potatoz. (35ETH Floor all time high).
Minting sometime in September, It looks from the above tweet like there is a tonne of value to be had should you be lucky enough to mint a Kuengz Premier. Yoga Petz is a project that looks promising that integrates mental health & gamification, the it’s Voxel NFT 10k collection, that comes with a web3 social app that allows you to earn tokens to ‘Breath' & upgrade your Yoga Petz & fight the ‘Dark Forces’. They give us Tamagotchi & Pokemon Vibes. Check out the website here
Strong list of advisors Including 9GAG Memeland CEO
Newman Capital Advisor & Partner (Invested in Yuga Labs)
The website is very similar to Memeland - which Shows Memeland is well invested.
Disclaimer
The NFT Scoop newsletter or podcast is not financial advice, it is provided for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only.
NFT’s can be highly illiquid markets, causing sharp drops in prices due to changes in narratives and trends.
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