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NFT Highlights of 2023 – The Finest and Worst of a Whirlwind Yr

ETHHERO January 26, 2024 17 min read


January 2023: Hacks, Sweeps and Dookey Sprint

2023 began off with a bang with massively common battle royale recreation PUBG announcing a partnership with web3 gaming platform Banger Video games.

It was an enormous month for giant model adoption, with BMW, Square Enix and the Tribeca Film Festival experimenting with web3.

In an indication of issues to come back, a number of gaming-focused collections kicked off 2023 with a bang. Axie Infinity pushed their accessories update, Treeverse held their pre-alpha launch, Neopets netted $4mil in funding, and Yuga Labs launched the wildly common Dookey Dash.

NFT collectibles had an explosive begin to the yr. Artwork Blocks minted their Friendship Bracelets, one collector swept the DeGods ground for $1mil, PROOF launched Grails: Season III, Mocaverse began making waves, Sweet Digital raised $38mil, and Doodles acquired Golden Wolf alongside asserting Doodles 2 on Flow.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. @NFT_God and PROOF Collective co-founder Kevin Rose had been hit by main hacks, Porsche had a rocky NFT launch, ApeFest severed its ties with NFT.NYC, Nifty Gateway’s founders departed the project, NFT Examine closed its doors, and Yuga Labs co-founder Wylie Aronow stepped down amid well being considerations.

February 2023: Ordinals, Controversy and Market Warfare

Amidst Dookey Sprint rising to prominence and the discharge of Worldwide Webb’s MOBA, the OpenSea-Blur war dominated the headlines – the plucky challenger’s $BLUR token picking up speed with the back-and-forth between the two marketplaces raging throughout the month.

Manufacturers continued to experiment with web3 know-how, as Shopify launched tokengated commerce, Amazon invested $20mil into Superplastic, Sorare signed a $4.3bil deal with the English Premier League, Reddit launched free Super Bowl snoos, Rihanna utilised NFTs to share her streaming royalties, Spotify debuted tokengated playlists, Wizards of the Coast backtracked on license changes that prevented spinoff NFTs, and free-to-mint Starbucks NFTs hit a $2,000 floor price.

February was busy for Yuga Labs, as alongside Dookey Sprint, they needed to clarify the rights of Bored Ape holders, landed in hot water over the unique Bored Ape Kennel Membership emblem, and settled their lawsuit with the developer behind the copycat RR/BAYC assortment.

Following their January debut, Bitcoin Ordinals picked up pace, with their reputation spilling over into Litecoin. Different improvements made their mark in February, as Uniswap allowed NFT purchases utilizing any ETH-based token, the debut of Porsche’s NFT assortment sparked debate on NFT refunds, and Immutable launched their Immutable Passport answer.

This was additionally the month of Cool Cats’ rebrand, a @ZachXBT tip-off serving to the FBI seize $260,000 of NFTs, and World of Ladies’s inaugural Artfest – but in addition noticed the conclusion of Hermes lawsuit in opposition to Metabirkins, Coinbase roll back support for creator drops.

March 2023: Unity, Keys and Bridges

Yuga Labs continued to rule the headlines in March, with the controversial release of Ordinals assortment TwelveFold, a Wisconsin-based vineyard releasing BAYC-emblazoned NFT wine, Dookey Sprint winner Mongraal promoting his Golden Key reward for 1,000 ETH, the holding of The Summoning, the announcement of Legends of the Mara, the “Second Trip” for Yuga Labs’ metaverse Otherside – which noticed over 7,000 participants – and news of a collaboration between Yuga Labs and Gucci.

Blur hit the headlines as soon as once more, as amid a rise in phishing scams piggybacking off their success, whales dumped NFTs to capitalise on the upcoming $BLUR token airdrop.

Mainstream manufacturers continued to discover web3. NFT-backed TV present Krapopolis was renewed for a third season (regardless of being yet-to-air), Lamborghini launched their ultimate 60th anniversary NFT, rumours swirled of an Amazon-backed NFT marketplace, Nike launched bodily RTFKT Air Force 1 sneakers, Starbucks Odyssey debuted their first NFT stamps, the Pokémon Firm marketed a C-suite web3 role, Avenged Sevenfold built-in their Deathbats NFT assortment with Ticketmaster, and Sony filed a patent for cross-platform NFT trading.

After Animoca Manufacturers waded into the discussion on creator royalties – and launched a members-only club in LA – a Buterin-associated NFT collection raked in hundreds of thousands as Ethereum launched a new token standard, Immutable and Polygon joined forces, Magic Eden launched an Ordinals marketplace as choose DeGods bridged to Bitcoin, Christie’s sold a Fidenza for $440,000, and Sotherby’s kicked-off a brand new NFT-themed auction event.

On the much less optimistic facet, Meta u-turned on NFT features for Instagram and Fb, the UK authorities backtracked on proposals to subject their very own NFTs, a US decide accredited using an airdropped NFT to serve court docket papers, Doodles founder @poopie turned heads by claiming the gathering is “not an NFT project” following the discharge of their DoodleMap, and a CryptoPunk was ceaselessly lost to the void.

April 2023: Staking, Phygitals and Utility

April kicked-off with information that common cryptocurrency staking platform Lido would incorporate NFT into their unstaking process.

On the model entrance, April additionally noticed Google Cloud open up their web3 Startup Program, Sq. Enix companion with web3 game launcher Elixir and drop a Last Fantasy VII NFT collection, confectioners Wrigley file a patent for the ‘Juicyverse’, Jack Daniels dip their toes into NFTs, FIFA launch an NFT-powered AI football game, Reddit drop their 3rd generation of NFT snoos, Adidas ramp up their metaverse plans, the tokenisation of TikTok videos, The Smurfs hit web3, Donald Trump’s second NFT drop, and Hugo Boss, Nike and Wrangler all discover phygital merchandise.

Web3 natives didn’t stand nonetheless. Yuga Labs launched their first Gucci pendants and eventually triumphed in their lawsuit in opposition to Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cohen. Of their ongoing battle with Blur, OpenSea launched OpenSea Pro, which rapidly picked up steam. The Proof Collective introduced new initiatives for Moonbirds holders, together with exclusive artwork and their Talons reward system.

The month additionally noticed Ember Sword run their inaugural alpha playtest, Fact Labs make a controversial statement on creator royalties, Mad Lads trick the bots with a $250,000 fake mint, and one unfortunate collector place a 100 ETH bid on a free NFT – which was swiftly accepted.

Could 2023: Apps, Chains and Reveals

Could heralded the beginning of Pudgy Penguin’s rise to prominence. They signed with iconic Hollywood expertise company WME, and launched their inaugural line of physical toys in shops worldwide, promoting $500,000 of stock inside simply 48 hours on Amazon alone.

Mainstream publicity continued to develop. The CEO of luxurious conglomerate LVMH was revealed as an avid NFT collector, Cryptoys revealed a line of Star Wars, Barbie and Fast & Furious phygitals, Renault launched phygital footwear, Ubisoft introduced Assassins Creed collectibles to Polygon – and helped Reddit cross 10 million avatar holders with an exclusive release, STEPN enabled NFT trading on Apple gadgets, Doctor Who and Top Gear entered The Sandbox, Components 1 experimented with NFT tickets, Sony launched a web3 incubator in Japan, and the Epic Video games Retailer added 20 web3 titles.

On native shores, Sui’s launch kicked up a storm, Dapper Labs gave a choose few entry to their Top Shots app, Bitcoin Ordinals gained the help of Binance NFT and OKX, Bitcoin Frogs dominated the trading landscape, and Blur launched NFT lending platform Blend – which noticed over $100mil in NFT-backed loans in simply 11 days. Milady Maker saw huge traction on Mix, with a shoutout from Elon Musk serving to costs rise ever greater.

Yuga remained within the highlight with the mixed reaction to their HV-MTL reveal, a present to holders for the 2nd anniversary of Meebits, and the appointment of ex-Riot Video games & Epic Video games Mike Seavers as their new CTO. Elsewhere, Axie Infinity debuted on Apple’s App Store, Moonbirds collaborated with Spotify, Magic Eden launched $SOL rewards, Doodles launched their Pharrell Pack, and Ledger unveiled a controversial new seed phrase recovery feature.

In different information, two basketball giants captured consideration, as LeBron James was spotted sporting Nike RTFKT sneakers, while on the flipside Shaquille O’Neal obtained a class-action criticism over his involvement within the Astrals NFT venture.

June 2023: Mints, Backlash and Ground Costs Dives

As summer season started, Azuki kicked into gear by launching their Elementals collection – although not without controversy.

Model adoption rode on, as Mercedes-Benz created their debut NFT collection, Louis Vuitton dropped at 5-figure NFT trunk, Puma went head-to-head with Nike, Warner Bros crafted a Superman web3 movie experience, GameStop tabled a proposal to subject firm shares as NFTs, Sotheby’s bought ‘The Goose’ for $6.3mil, Nike’s .SWOOSH collaborated with Fortnite – however without using NFT tech, and Binance collaborated with Cristiano Ronaldo on an NFT assortment.

Inside web3, FEWOCiOUS had a busy month, unveiling his FEWOS collection and collaborating with Adidas on an exclusive release. Doodles joined forces with US retailer CAMP on a retail entertainment experience, Oracle Pink Bull Racing introduced digital fan experiences to Sui, Illuvium raised $10mil, Blankos Block Get together noticed game assets available through Amazon’s Prime Gaming service, and Kraken’s NFT market noticed its official launch as LooksRare appeared to compete by internet hosting a CryptoPunk raffle.

As one Punk was given away, one other Punk left Ethereum’s shores for a house in Bitcoin. They weren’t the one blue-chip to star, as Yuga had an up-and-down month. Their HV-MTL Forge recreation moved in the direction of its Season 1 launch, and a BAYC holder signed a groundbreaking movie contract – however floor prices dove as holders appeared to capitalise on the upcoming $BLUR airdrop.

In the meantime, NFT Examine topped its rebirth by launching an NFT tracking tool for X (previously Twitter), Solely Up’s explosive debut put Goblintown in the limelight, the Proof Collective unveiled plans for an IRL community hub in LA, Zora rose to prominence, NFL Rivals shot previous 1 million downloads, Gods Unchained debuted on the Epic Video games Retailer, Pixel Penguins creator did the unthinkable, and @ZachXBT turned to the neighborhood in his hour of need.

July 2023: Opepen, Ice Cream and Gaming

Opepen was the secret in July, as an act of kindness from Jack Butcher drove his newest assortment to new heights.

Taking a look at model adoption, Warner Music Group partnered with Polygon, Dior launched phygital sneakers, Wimbledon created Andy Murray NFTs, Starbucks Odyssey worked with former MLB star Micah Johnson, 7-Eleven distributed free Slurpee NFTs on Polygon, Puma returned with even more phygital sneakers, Warner Bros introduced The Flash to the blockchain, Louis Vuitton and Pharrell collaborated on an NFT, Gucci and Lacoste adopted in LV’s footsteps, Snoop Dogg lent his Bored Ape to create Walmart ice cream, and Google Play made a web3-positive change to its retailer tips.

Talking of Bored Apes, in optimistic information, Yuga Labs’ HV-MTL recreation went live – however on the flipside, many Bored Apes were sold-off, driving the ground worth to new lows. BAYC wasn’t the one assortment to battle, as Azuki fell from 17 ETH to 6 ETH after their Elementals mint, with founder @ZAGABOND fleeing X within the fallout. Moreover, The Gutter Cat Gang fell sufferer to a two-pronged attack, and Ether held one of many most disastrous mints of the year.

As blue-chips fell, web3 gaming started its rise. Epic Video games continued to onboard more web3 games to its retailer, The Sandbox introduced that user-generated content was lastly across the nook, Futureverse closed a whopping $54mil Series A, Cool Cats announced a trio of games anticipated to reach in 2024 – alongside showing in Reddit’s Gen4 avatar drop – and Axie Infinity launched dynamic NFTs as father or mother firm Sky Mavis introduced CyberKongz to Ronin.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom nonetheless. DeGods launched a cryptic website hinting at their strides in IP licensing, Moonbirds started to disclose their 20,000-piece Oddities collection, Ethereum Layer-2 Linea held a profitable alpha, and AI-driven market Jungle secured $16mil in funding.

August 2023: Royalties, Crocs and Kevin Returns

Creator royalties took an enormous hit in August, as OpenSea took the choice to roll back on their royalty enforcement software – a transfer which attracted considerable community backlash, and affirmations from rivals that they wouldn’t follow the same path.

Starbucks continued their web3 journey with a brand new 5,000-piece collection, Components 1 experimented with circuit-based NFT rewards as Williams Racing put select PFPs on their rear wings, Etihad Airways and Manchester United launched web3 loyalty applications, Coca-Cola introduced us their Masterpiece NFT collection, McDonalds introduced shake-lover Grimace to the blockchain, Adidas labored with BAPE on all-new phygitals, Snoop Dogg’s Bored Ape made its sneaker debut, and Zynga introduced their first web3 recreation Sugertown to the fore.

Talking of web3 video games, Yuga Labs acquired Roar Studios to work on Otherside, Animoca dropped three new games alongside revealing Wreck League, Mojo Melee partnered with Amazon Prime Gaming, Bandai Namco introduced a web3 “virtual pet adventure”, WAGMI Video games struck a partnership with OpenSea, Sky Mavis enabled Greenlight on their Mavis Hub and dropped their Project T playtest.

On the collectibles entrance, Pudgy Penguins launched another batch of toys alongside the launch of an in-house clothing line, a glitch led to Jack Butcher issuing refunds on his Infinity Checks assortment, ‘Kevin’ made an infamous return, Sotherby’s was on the receiving finish of a lawsuit from BAYC holders, and Recur shut down regardless of elevating $50mil. DeGods began the month off robust with a trio of surprises, however rapidly nosedived amid their rocky DeGods III’s reveal, the lukewarm reaction to its launch, and the stepping down of co-founder Finn.

Blue chips didn’t all undergo. Doodles hailed a new partnership with Crocs, PROOF went dwell with Grails IV, and Azuki labored with NFL star Patrick Mahomes on a collectibles release – with the gathering additionally being on the centre of a trading bot situation that gifted one shrewd dealer 800 ETH in revenue.

September 2023: Penguins, Punks and Legends of the Mara

September noticed Pudgy Penguins meteoric rise proceed, as they flipped each DeGods and Azuki amid chaotic market situations, and noticed their toys debut on Walmart’s shelves throughout the US.

Yuga Labs trajectory continued to swing wildly, as amongst hiring an ex-Nike VP of Apparel and Lifestyle, a BAPE x BAYC collaboration, a HV-MTL hunt event, and the announcement of Legends of the Mara’s impending open beta, pleasure led to disappointment with LoTM’s underwhelming launch and a block on trading Legends of the Mara property on marketplaces corresponding to OpenSea, Blur and LooksRare.

Elsewhere, Lufthansa launched an NFT-based loyalty scheme, MoonPay unveiled MoonPay Ventures, Adidas created an NFT residency program, PSG partnered with Crypto.com for a free NFT release, Casio dropped free G-SHOCK NFTs, Honda labored with Animoca to release NFTs at F1’s Japanese Grand Prix, whisky giants Glenfiddich launched a partnership with BlockBar, Justin Bieber adopted Rihanna’s footsteps with a royalty-sharing NFT drop, and Google dropped its long-standing ban on advertising NFT games.

The month additionally noticed Vitalik Buterin’s X account be hacked, ensuing within the lack of the first publicly-claimed CryptoPunk. This was adopted up by the U.S. SEC declaring the Stoner Cats NFT assortment a security, with main marketplaces halting trading of the property. Controversy wasn’t over nonetheless, as Milady Maker noticed a rogue developer siphon $1mil from the venture, and Nakamigos Cloaks was met with cynicism from the neighborhood at giant.

By all of the mud, there have been some positives. Cool Cats revealed their balloon for Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, Moonbirds ready for a journey into space, Aavegotchi unveiled their Game Center, Blankos Block Get together introduced their swap to mobile-first development, My Pet Hooligan launched on Epic Video games, Zynga distributed free NFTs that rapidly hit $1mil in quantity, and Pixels started its march to the highest of web3 gaming by asserting a switch to Ronin.

October 2023: Monopoly, Lattes and 6,000 Days

After months of debate, the Open Metaverse Alliance for Web3 (OMA3) – led by a number of prime trade leaders – established a working group alongside Magic Eden, Yuga Labs and others to create a community-developed answer for defending creator royalties.

Yuga saved themselves busy, partnering with Avant Arte to convey CryptoPunks into the actual world. Talking of improvements, Phantom launched their “one-tap” NFT creation feature, OpenSea Studio hit the blockchain, World of Ladies launched their very own official Monopoly board game, y00ts transitioned to Ethereum, and a $5mil liquid fund drove Bitcoin Ordinals buying and selling ever greater.

On mainstream model adoption, Steve Aoki partnered with STEPN for an NFT sneaker raffle, Marvel and Funko introduced Iron Man to VeVe, Starbucks dropped a Pumpkin Spice Latte open edition, MoMA launched their Postcards NFT project, PayPal unveiled a royalty-friendly marketplace patent, Sotherby’s announced a partnership with Ledger, and Nike launched a brand new line of RTFKT phygital sneakers.

In gaming, Immutable revealed a strategic partnership with AWS, Shrapnel builders Neon Machine announced a $20mil raise, Deadfellaz and MetaMask celebrated Halloween in Decentraland, Peter Molyneux’s ‘Legacy’ noticed its long-awaited release, and Animoca launched the formally licensed ‘Formula E: High Voltage’ web3 recreation.

Away from gaming, Boss Beauties acquired BFF, Bybit’s Head of Partnerships came to the defence of NFTs, a CrypToadz bought for 1,000x its estimated price, and Beeple hit the 6,000-day mark in his quest to create one piece of artwork each single day.

November 2023: Drama, Offers and Blast

After preventing to develop into the #1 NFT market, the builders of Blur got down to create the following huge blockchain with the release of Blast, an Ethereum Layer-2, in November.

Main manufacturers continued to experiment with web3. Adidas labored with Bugatti on phygital football boots, Crossmint tokenized AC Milan’s San Siro stadium, NFT platform Authentick partnered with TikTok and Shopify, Dairy Queen struck a bizarre deal with Weirdo Ghost Gang, Nike launched yet more RTFKT sneakers, and Louis Vuitton revealed a €6,000 phygital trunk for his or her current web3 neighborhood.

Inside web3, Cool Cats acquired a top-draw hire, Yuga Labs introduced an upcoming royalty-compliant marketplace with Magic Eden, the Decentraland Music Festival took centre stage, Taproot Wizards raised $7.5mil to empower Bitcoin and Ordinals, Pudgy Penguins equipped for Art Basel Miami Beach, CoinGecko acquired web3 knowledge intelligence firm Zash, and Bioniq unveiled the “world’s quickest” Bitcoin Ordinals market.

Web3 gaming ramped up additional, as Animoca partnered with Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovation Lab (with the gaming big additionally partnering with Immutable), and each Illuvium and Phantom Galaxies hit the Epic Video games Retailer – while on the flipside, Shrapnel discovered itself mired in C-suite drama.

December 2023: Safety, Innovation and Contemporary Crowns

As Pudgy Penguins continued their unprecedented rise with the reveal of Pudgy World and an look on Kai Cenat’s livestream, the headlines had been dominated by the information that Blur had captured 80% of all NFT trading volume, and a sequence of main safety breaches as Ledger’s Connect Kit Library was compromised, resulting in a renewed give attention to eliminating blind signing.

Gods Unchained had a tumultuous month. After driving excessive following an Amazon Prime Gaming partnership, the web3 TCG was removed from the Epic Games Store following an AO score from the ESRB – solely to return the following week.

While we’re discussing web3 gaming, Animoca raised over $11mil to help its Mocaverse ambitions, Valeria Video games secured IP deals with distinguished BAYC, CryptoPunks and Azuki holders, and. Axie Infinity introduced their Stage 2 evolutions – on prime of asserting their 2024 Creator Awards – as Ronin approached 1 million daily active users due to Pixels. The Sandbox shifted their market from Ethereum to Polygon, Nifty Island unveiled their upcoming Play-to-Airdrop beta phase, and Ubisoft’s free Warlord NFTs gathered over $4.5mil of buying and selling quantity in 48 hours.

Elsewhere, Megadeth dropped a 5,000-piece NFT assortment, Michael Jackson’s first studio track hit the blockchain, Reebok united with Futureverse, Funko introduced Disney’s Mickey & Friends into the phygital recreation, Donald Trump held his third NFT drop, Starbucks rewarded their prime Odyssey holders with trips to Costa Rica alongside asserting an NFT loyalty initiative in Korea, Minecraft gave the inexperienced mild to an integration with ChatGPT chief Sam Altman’s Worldcoin project, FIFA supplied a web3 technique to earn tickets to the 2026 World Cup Last, and Bored Apes made their way to Roblox due to Common Music Group’s all-BAYC ‘Kingship’ band.

December additionally noticed Rainbow emerge to problem MetaMask’s pockets dominance, Yuga Labs unveil a much-needed CryptoPunks wrapper, an upcoming $150,000 NFT treasure hunt, and Cool Cats increase into specialty coffee, as we wrapped up a jam-packed yr by discussing 2023’s top 10 NFT sales, and revealing our picks for the top 5 web3 games of the year.

—————–

Phew! There we now have it, our rundown of probably the most memorable moments in NFTs in 2023.

As we shut in on 5,000 articles and counting, we’re striding into 2024 as motivated as ever to convey you the newest information on the trade we love. Be part of us right here at NFT Plazas, and comply with our socials under, for each day protection of all issues NFTs as we embark on what’s certain to be an exhilarating yr forward.

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