Dear Bankless Nation,

We’ve been tracking non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the underlying technology, and their adoption for almost two years. Though NFTs have been around since 2014—the first NFT to be minted was “Quantum” on the Namecoin blockchain—their prevalence didn’t come to fruition until 2017 when the ERC-721 standard was accepted and implemented by the Ethereum community. Since then, NFTs have arguably become more popular than cryptocurrency itself, leading many to speculate on whether or not the true value of blockchain technology lies in NFTs.

As the technology has expanded through creative use cases, artists and collectors of all stripes are considering how this technology can be used for the benefit of humanity beyond financial liberation. PUNK6529 is one such individual who has decided to use their extensive network, clout, and financial status to push for an open metaverse. kaf explores the 6529 phenomenon, and considers how PUNK6529’s initiative may impact blockchain ecosystems.

With regard to continued adoption, Kouros brings news of web2 brands entering web3 with the creation of a blockchain-driven social club. Animoca Brands and Planet Hollywood are expanding on the features NFTs provide in their own creative way.

Chippi makes the play to HODL to ZERO (however, be forewarned this is not financial advice); The Rug addresses the importance of emojis in this week’s mostly credible headline; DustyEye continues to wrangle the Legion of 444; and nonsense gives some background to what happened last week regarding the lack of a d’ART Drop, and the timeliness of this piece to be released following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Welcome to Decentralized Arts.

Contributors: BanklessDAO Writers Guild (Grendel, Kouros, Kaf, nonsensetwice, Frank America)

This is the official NFT newsletter of BanklessDAO. If you were a Premium Member of the Bankless Newsletter as of May 1st, 2021, you have been subscribed to this newsletter at launch. To unsubscribe, edit your settings here.

Curated NFT News

Animoca Brands & Planet Hollywood To Launch IRL Member-Only Club

Animoca Brands is teaming up with Planet Hollywood to create CLUB 3, through their joint venture Meta Hollywood.

CLUB 3 is a social club that leverages NFT technology for exclusive experiences and perks. It will be located on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, and will welcome its first guests in the second half of 2023. The club will consist of a cocktail lounge, restaurant, karaoke rooms, bars, and meeting rooms.

After Los Angeles, CLUB 3 intends to expand its reach around the globe with locations in New York, Miami, London, Hong Kong, Paris, and Tokyo.

A waitlist is now available at www.club3members.com. The one-time membership fees for a Social Membership and a Founding Membership are US$2,500 and US$7,500, respectively. Nonetheless, members can upgrade to a Global Membership for US$1,500

The Rug Weekly

Second Judge Rules the Shrug Emoji Nullifies Any Previous Emoji Advice

Brought to you by The Rug

The legal world is taking emojis seriously. The "rocket ship, stock image, money bags" three group emoji has been considered financial advice, but now a second judge has ruled that the shrug emoji legally nullifies any notion of emoji advice.

"Judge Jefferey Watkins of the New York Southern District court has ruled that appending the shrug emoji to a piece of financial advice will nullify said advice...This landmark decision is likely to set precedent for cartoon characters who give advice on Twitter, as well as other emoji-based legal cases."

Collect this animated legal ruling as an NFT on optimism.

PUNK6529: The Advocate of NFTs and Open Metaverse Society

by KAF

I recently tuned in to a captivating Bankless podcast episode where David and Ryan interviewed PUNK6529. During the interview, PUNK6529 shared insights into his journey and why he remains bullish on NFTs. He also discusses the benefits of using an NFT-backed pseudonym and the importance of crypto for maintaining human liberty. According to him, NFTs are more significant than DeFi and represent all digital non-fungible tokens in existence. If you're interested, you can purchase the podcast here. 

Who is PUNK6529?

PUNK6529 is a highly respected member of the cryptocurrency community and a prominent NFT collector. He has established his digital identity using a CryptoPunk NFT and has gained substantial attention on Twitter with over 440,000 followers. He is widely recognized as a thought leader in web3 and continues to have a significant impact on the community's growth.

The person behind the iconic JPEG has been involved in crypto since 2013, long before the emergence of his influential CryptoPunk persona. As a result, PUNK6529 has amassed a considerable collection of NFTs worth an estimated $20 million.

Despite his achievements, the pseudonymous influencer recognized a crucial issue: there is a limited window of opportunity to establish an open metaverse.

Why is an open metaverse so crucial? PUNK6529 believes that creating an open metaverse will allow society to maintain its sovereignty, as opposed to being controlled by a few individuals who own all of our data.

PUNK6529 is building 🛠

The implementation of licenses for NFTs can have a significant impact on the digital market. The initiative by Yuga Labs, owner of CryptoPunks, is an example of how creators can protect, and ensure they are properly compensated for, their work.

Yuga Labs @yugalabs

We’ve seen some confusion around the IP license and commercial rights we grant to our NFT holders, so we asked copyright and IP lawyer @jeremyg2k to help clear things up.

news.yuga.comReflections of an IP lawyer on BAYC’s revolutionary NFT licenseIP Lawyer Jeremy Goldman reflects on the revolutionary NFT license from Yuga Labs and BAYC....

12:00 AM ∙ Feb 1, 2023

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991Likes379Retweets

NFTs, as demonstrated by PUNK6529, can be used to build a strong personal brand and encourage collaboration across various branches of the digital space, united by a shared philosophy. The potential for collaboration among creators is significant and set to grow with the emergence of web3 technology.

Oncyber 6529 Metaverse

Open Metaverse (OM) is a decentralized metaverse that aims to bridge virtual and physical spaces, with the mission to provide a platform for daily use. OM aims to be community-driven, composable, interoperable, and scalable to compete with web2 metaverses. 

6529 Museum of Art

6529 Museum of Art boasts one of the world's largest and most valuable collections of NFTs across all major categories. The museum has a distinctive focus on generative art, showcasing an impressive collection of horizontally-oriented works that are truly awe-inspiring.

The museum is home to several iconic NFT pieces, including Summer.jpg, The Tulip, and Punk 6529, which are widely recognized and celebrated within their respective categories.

6529 Collections

PUNK6529's collections include his own works and collaborations with other artists and projects. The collections are

• The Memes Collection, which promotes the values of decentralization and the open metaverse with accessible items and large edition sizes.

• The 6529 Gradient Collection, consisting of 100 unique pieces, including grayscale gradients and a moving GIF.

• The Meme Lab, providing a space for artists to experiment and create NFTs in any way they like.

• The 6529 RAW Collection, a personal photography collection that focuses on landscapes and cityscapes and will be released under a Creative Commons 0 license upon sale.

• Reflections on Originality, Provenance, French Fries, a meme collection exploring the themes of originality and provenance.

• One Pepe Bill, a collaboration between Punk6529 and 6529er.

6529 Capital

6529 Capital is a company that assists conventional investors in investing in NFTs, using a native NFT approach that supports decentralization and NFT-native values. While their current funds have a conventional structure, they plan to move towards a decentralized, tokenized model in the future.

Their collecting team comprises some of the world's most respected NFT collectors. A complete list of the companies in their portfolio is available here. In addition, a top-notch administrative team handles financial, operational, investor relations, legal, and regulatory matters.

Education

At 6529, education is the top priority as they believe it is crucial to creating an open metaverse society built on decentralized, interoperable standards. Their mission is to share knowledge and empower individuals to make informed decisions on how they shape their lives and society. 

Along with Tweetstorms and Podcasts, they have plans to further accelerate education in multiple directions. They welcome collaboration with individuals involved in education, research, advocacy, or policy in cryptocurrency, digital rights, NFTs, web3, metaverse, or a related space. 

Why are NFTs inevitable?

PUNK6529 is a NFT influencer who's making waves in the community. He believes that NFTs create an open metaverse that enables society to maintain its sovereignty. His use of a CryptoPunk NFT to establish his digital identity and advocacy for NFT-backed pseudonyms is changing the way we think about privacy in web3. It is increasingly clear that Punk6529's defense of freedom of transaction is a crucial constitutional right that we must all fight for.

The collaboration possibilities that web3 offers through NFTs are immense, and PUNK6529's epic vision for the future is nothing short of remarkable. Despite the world not being bullish enough on NFTs, he knows that there is still a lot of value that can be derived from them. 

So, let's raise a glass to PUNK6529 and his impact on the community's growth!

D’Art Drops

By nonsense

Introducing weekly NFT art drops for the Bankless community, brought to you by Decentralized Arts.

Last week we presented and intended to drop the fourth and final installment of the DA collaboration with cryptoartis.eth, “Financial Apocalypse.” However, due to technical issues, the announcement never happened. To provide our esteemed artist with as much of an opportunity with this piece as their others, we will be dropping this piece this Friday.

An aptly named piece, “Financial Apocalypse” drops as one of the largest banks in the United States shuts down. With the current financial system coming under closer scrutiny as the open principles of cryptocurrency take greater hold, the “Too Big to Fail” initiative raised during the 2007-2008 impending financial collapse no longer carries the same weight it once did. Constituents are demanding greater accountability, and we’re seeing this play out with banks getting shut down rather than being bailed out.

A man stands at the edge of a world collapsing in financial ruin. Despite the perceived loss this collapse may suggest, the man is filled with hope; his future was not dependent on a predatory financial system but was built on the promise of financial liberty through cryptocurrency. As the old world falls away, the man sees the potential of a new world to be raised in its stead.

This piece will be made available during the BanklessDAO Community Call as part of the community NFT showcase. Head over to Rarible and add it to your favorites so you’re ready to collect it when it goes on sale. 75% of each sale will go to the artist, 10% will be returned to BanklessDAO, and 15% will be retained by Decentralized Arts.

Chippi Corner

By Perchy

THE LEGION OF 444 – Part 

Thanks for your Help!
by DustyEye

Dear BanklessDAO Readers,

during the week that has just ended, the first demons were delivered, suitably isolated in a plastic vial.

We want to thank all those who have decided to help us by accepting one or more demonic units. However stabilized, keeping vials safe is a huge responsibility.We take this opportunity to remind you that the essence of demons is indestructible. So, even if a vial were to break or open, don't feel guilty, sooner or later it would have happened anyway.

Let's start with the thanks. Thanks to:

• Grendel, friend and guide of the DustyEye group in the fjords of Web3

• Andrea Rossetti, professor at the Bicocca University investigates the limbo between the Legislature and AI

• Turinglabs and Hybridcode_, first technomediators in the demon extraction process and now also custodians

• L.Elrah, having given a face to entities has made her at the same time expert in handling them

• Marco Marinacci, architect and professor at the Milan Polytechnic, particularly inclined to research the Sacred in art.

• Blowjoe, to define him for his role in marketing is an understatement. There is the music, the writing, the fascination for the Reaper…

• Sara Scagliarini, journalist who on more than one occasion has offered media support to the DustyEye projects

• Leonardo Clerici Marinetti, nephew of that Filippo Tommaso, carries good blood in his body

… there are still sixteen left to be entrusted.

See you next week,

Dusty Eye

______________________

WEB: www.DustyEye.com
IG: @DustyEye_DE
TWITTER: @Dusty_Eye

Meme

A small joke contributed by The Rug.

PostScript & Acknowledgements

Decentralized Arts is written and produced by a small team of contributors who are passionate about art, both visual and written, and its growing place in crypto and NFTs. With each edition, we aim to bring you not only the most current and relevant news in the NFT space, but also explorations in what it means for our culture and societies for this market to continue to grow and expand. When everyone is an owner of art, we all gain a deeper appreciation for it.

If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please share it with someone who you think will appreciate the content. We also welcome suggestions via our feedback form.

With great appreciation for you, we thank you for reading and subscribing to Decentralized Arts.

Cordially,

Grendel, Kouros, Kaf, nonsensetwice, and Frank America