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It’s Saturday, which means we get to bring you the week’s most enlivening and exciting news from the NFT world. Strap in, she moves fast.
QuickNode Acquires Icy.tools
Blockchain dApp development platform QuickNode this week announced that it has acquired NFT analytics platform Icy.tools, a first for the company.
The acquisition’s details are still vague, but it seems that QuickNode plans to incorporate its GraphQL API while keeping Icy.tools completely independent. Icy.tools is one of a growing number of NFT tools that allows users to discover, track, and analyze trending NFTs across a variety of blockchains, including Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon.
QuickNode stated that the acquisition was an example of its determination to reach the peak of NFT-integrated dApp development.
To better serve our NFT customers, QuickNode has acquired https://t.co/Py89tkCGEC (@icy_tools), the leading NFT analytics platform with a newly launched NFT API for developers. pic.twitter.com/qgVhIdhVl2
— QuickNode @Activate x Wormhole Miami (@QuickNode) May 12, 2022
The Chainsmokers Reward Loyalty With Royalties
Fans of American electronic music duo The Chainsmokers have discovered that they are getting more than they bargain for when they buy a copy of the group’s latest album, So Far So Good – a share in the profits. The first 5,000 buyers will receive an NFT that entitles them to a share in the streaming royalties, with metrics like concert attendance, song streams, and Discord engagement ensuring that the rewards go to loyal fans.
The NFTs will also include other benefits, like access to a members-only area of The Chainsmokers’ Discord channel and opportunities to meet the artists. However, it’s unlikely that any of the lucky recipients will become millionaires overnight. The Chainsmokers will share only 1% of the album’s revenues with the 5,000 NFT holders, implying that each NFT holder will receive only 0.0002% of the total royalties. And if anyone has ever seen how much the average artist gets from Spotify, that’s a whole lotta nothin’ of a whole lotta nothin’.
This is a first ever. We’re giving our fans a piece of So Far So Good, for FREE, tonight on @join_royal
If you score a token, you’ll earn a small percentage of streaming royalties from our new album, get a shot at VIP tix and other cool stuff. https://t.co/UjeOaAOved pic.twitter.com/dBV5E67AWA
— THE CHAINSMOKERS (@TheChainsmokers) May 17, 2022
The Sandbox Partners With RLTY
The Sandbox this week announced that it has teamed up with RLTY, a Metaverse event planning specialist (yes, there is already a ‘specialist’ in that field, apparently), to simplify event planning in Web 3 land. Thanks to the partnership, The Sandbox users will be able to use RLTY’s no-code event architecture to create metaverse events with just a few clicks, giving The Sandbox event planners more time to focus on the more essential elements of a virtual conference, for example making them less cringe and not look like its taking place on a Minecraft server.
This collaboration supports The Sandbox’s stated goal of expanding its social features to encourage more virtual parties and events by making it a more pleasant and hassle-free experience for all concerned.
RLTY has recently acquired a 6×6 plot of voxelated real-estate on which it will hold a series of events to demonstrate the potential of its software. RLTY will also work with other artists to organize festivals, concerts, fashion displays, and conferences.
🤝 It’s our pleasure to welcome @RLTY_Live to #TheSandbox – who will be providing the tools to allow anyone to launch their very own #metaverse events! 🌐
Discover more 👇https://t.co/4xHzpT352I
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) May 16, 2022
Robinhood Gives Users Full Custody of Crypto and NFTs
Everyone’s favorite Dogecoin peddlers Robinhood this week released a standalone wallet that gives customers full control over their cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The company has crypto behemoths like MetaMask and Coinbase in its sights with the introduction of its new app, which will store a bunch of cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and stocks.
The Robinhood wallet will also be able to connect users to decentralized exchanges, earn yield on other platforms, and access a “variety” of crypto assets on other exchanges.
The Robinhood wallet will be fee free, which is just as well considering how much it raked in in 2020, with the company employing a similar strategy to the one it uses for stock trading to offset network fees. Third-party liquidity providers will compete for customers’ transactions behind the scenes.
The launch of the crypto wallet is the latest move in Robinhood’s drive to jumpstart its business. Robinhood’s revenues have fallen by 43% from a year ago, and its shares have dropped by more than 70% since its IPO.
Trade and swap crypto with no network fees. A web3 wallet from us. Get early access: https://t.co/qonXj80BEB pic.twitter.com/qLjByPA4ty
— Robinhood (@RobinhoodApp) May 17, 2022
