On Feb. 6, the United States Department of the Treasury released a report under the headline “Study of the facilitation of money laundering and terror finance through the trade in works of art.” In fact, only a tiny fraction of the 40-page document is dedicated to the “Emerging Digital Art Market,” by which the department understands the market for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. Still, even a brief mention of the emerging NFT space in this context can have major implications for the tone of the nascent regulatory debate with regard to the asset class. What the report said The overall …

The team behind one of the top memecoin projects Shiba Inu (SHIB) is rolling out tokenized real estate dubbed “Shiba Lands” as part of its upcoming metaverse project. Shiba’s upcoming metaverse is yet to receive a name, with the team referring to it as the “Shiberse,” and stating that the official title will be revealed later this month. The launch date for the tokenized land sales and auctions is also set to be announced soon and hodlers of the LEASH token (which is available via Shiba Swap) will be granted first access to the land sale events. After the first …

A new era in the world of crypto-inspired merch is here. The Cointelegraph Store is live and ready to outfit you with swag you can’t find anywhere else. Check out what we’ve been up to here. We specialize in one thing: products created exclusively for the crypto-converted. The HODLer. The nonfungible token (NFT) collector. The miner. Those on the rocket, and those already on the moon. We’ve created an ever-expanding catalog of unique apparel, accessories and collections for the passionate crypto and blockchain fan. Check out some of our latest offerings: Genesis Block Collection: The “Genesis Block Collection” remembers a …

The Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) supporting Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s legal plight has concluded its raise, generating a whooping 17,422 Ether (ETH) worth roughly $53.7 million. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the AssangeDAO intends to use the fund to bid on a one-of-one NFT from a drop called “Censored” by digital artist Pak in collaboration with Assange. The proceeds of the sale will go towards Assange’s defense fund and additional awareness campaigns as he fights extradition to the U.S. this month. Assange has been languishing in a U.K. jail for the past three years, with U.S. prosecutors seeking to try …

Ownership is one of the most critical aspects of nonfungible tokens (NFT). They are a representation of the evolution of execution and ownership of art, content, music, in-game assets, etc., since they are digital assets with distinctive identities that are verifiable on a blockchain network. However, they have also created a new dimension of discussion about the interaction and grey area around copyright, intellectual property (IP) and trademark laws. In a recent highly publicized fiasco in the cryptoverse, crypto decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) Spice DAO was mocked for believing that the ownership of a copy of the unpublished manuscript of …

Today's Nifty News rounds up NFT projects centered around the Winter Olympics, which began Friday in Beijing, China. The following are initiatives taken by the International Olympic Committee, or IOC, The British Olympic Association, and an independent artist leading up the 2022 games. IOC celebrates Olympic history Since June 2021, the IOC has collaborated with nWayPlay, an NFT marketplace and blockchain game studio that is a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, to launch the Olympic Heritage Collection of Olympic NFT Pins. Essentially digital versions of the physical collectible and tradeable Olympic pins, these NFTs celebrate the past Olympic Games by depicting …

The “solid gold cube” crypto promo that surfaced in New York this week has turned out to be hollow on the inside, with onlookers online lampooning the stunt as an appropriate critique of the extravagant promises of crypto and blockchain tech. On Feb. 2, Artnet reported that a 24-carat 410 pound gold cube worth $11.7 million had been placed in Central Park surrounded by a “heavy security detail” as part of a promo for German artist Niclas Castello’s crypto project dubbed Castello Coin (CAST). New in NYC: A cube made from $11.7 million worth of solid gold is sitting in …

A collaborative NFT project from belagued Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and pseudonymous digital artist Pak is set to drop next week. Assange has been confined in a London prison since April 2019 after his asylum status in the Ecuadorian embassy of London was terminated. The following month he was indicted on 17 counts of espionage in the Eastern District Court of Virginia relating to classified documents he published on Wikileaks. His legal team is currently fighting an extradition case which could see him face the charges in the United States and spend the rest of his life behind bars. The …

In a Discord post published on Wednesday, Matt Hall, the core developer at Larva Labs, the entity behind the popular CryptoPunks V2 and, initially, CryptoPunks V1 nonfungible tokens (NFT) collections, announced he would be "taking appropriate steps" in the following days regarding the alleged copyright infringement of "both the art and the CryptoPunks name" of the CryptoPunks V1 collection. Normally, this would amount to submitting a takedown notice under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, or DMCA, to the platform responsible for hosting the content for auction. Matt Hall discussing CryptoPunks V1 vs. V2 | Source: Larva Labs official Discord In …

Reddit is testing out NFT profile pictures on its platform, with the news coming just a week or so after Twitter implemented a similar feature. The popular social media platform had around 430 million monthly users in 2021, and is reportedly working on an NFT profile picture implementation that will enable users to set their profile picture to any non-fungible token with an attached image. In an Interview with Techcrunch on January 27 , Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt stated that: “We’re always exploring ways to provide value for users and communities on Reddit. At the moment we’re testing the ability …

Though the likes of Bored Apes and Pudgy Penguins take the headlines, and the potential for decentralized finance (DeFi) and play-to-earn gaming is undeniably grand and exciting, the marketing potential for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) deserves equal attention. It boils down to this: With NFTs, virtually anything can be gamified to promote desired marketing outcomes. Gamification — defined by Gabe Zichermann, author of The Gamification Revolution, as a “process of using game thinking and game dynamics to engage audiences and solve problems” — is not new to sales and marketing. What is new are the mechanisms by which you can engage …

Solana-based augmented reality and NFT platform Dropp GG is developing geographical-based NFT minting and “mixed reality events” tied to the Metaverse. The firm was founded in early 2021 and is progressively rolling out several initiatives over this year including partnered NFT drops, geo-minting events, virtual land plots with AR support, and a metaverse platform that maps to the physical world. Dropp recently closed an $8 million funding round that was backed by top crypto and NFT firms such as Animoca Brands, Alameda Research DeFiance Capital and Three Arrows Capital. The funding will go towards IP accumulation, partnerships and metaverse/AR tech …