Nonfungible token collector Pransky was duped out of 97.67 Ether, worth $341,500, after the website of popular artist Banksy was hijacked to promote a fake NFT auction. However, almost all of the money has since been refunded. On Aug. 31, Pransky spotted a page on Banksy’s official website promoting an NFT auction on the popular marketplace, OpenSea. Despite voicing his misgiving as to the authenticity of the token, Pranksy opted to participate in the auction and increased the highest bid by 87 Ether ($304,500) to almost 100 ETH. It seems to be hosted on https://t.co/J8U3TmR3gE? So could be genuine, one …

Executives hailing from Singapore-based fund manager Three Arrows Capital (3AC) have launched a fund focused on collecting premium digital art in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFT). The fund, dubbed Starry Night Capital, was founded by Three Arrows Capital CEO Su Zhu, 3AC co-founder Kyle Davies, and pseudonymous NFT collector Vincent Van Dough. Van Dough announced the fund via a tweet on Tuesday, stating, “Our thesis is simple, we believe the best way to gain exposure to the cultural paradigm shift being ushered in by NFTs is owning the top pieces from the most desired sets.” Zhu shared the tweet, …

Visa’s splash into the NFT market was driven by an evaluation of the underlying technology and its ability to serve as a “promising medium for fan engagement,” according to a recent whitepaper published by the global payments giant. The Aug. 23 publication described nonfungible tokens as an important innovation during the pandemic, where strict shelter-in-place orders limited live sports, entertainment and music festivals. At the same time, NFTs are emerging at a time when fans are eager to join digital communities centered around their favorite artists or sports teams. Professional sports were hit especially hard by the pandemic, with an …

The return of Fame Lady Squad The Fame Lady Squad (FLS), a nonfungible token (NFT) avatar project purporting to have been created by an all-female team, is set to relaunch today with a new team after it was uncovered that three Russian men were behind the project earlier this month. SO EXCITING!! pic.twitter.com/V1LKgIU34c — Cadboros (@cadboros) August 23, 2021 The project’s NFTs depict cartoon female avatars, with the tokens having generated $1.9 million worth of total sales since launching on OpenSea Marketplace in mid-July. The FLS website previously listed three team members named Cindy, Kelda and Andrea who all had …

Everyone is wild about nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The first half of 2021 alone saw NFTs from Andy Warhol, NFTs of the code for the World Wide Web, the first-ever Tweet and, of course, the famous $69 million NFT sale of Beeple’s “Everydays.” Whether this explosive rise of NFTs is a flash in the pan or the future of art and beyond is a hot topic of conversation. An emerging theme from that conversation is whether NFTs have a copyright problem. Copyright is engaged throughout the NFT process, but there is nothing inherent in an NFT itself to ensure that copyright …

Trading volumes on peer-to-peer nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea have surged by over 12,000% in 2021. DappRadar data shows that the total incoming value to OpenSea’s smart contracts increased to $56.07 million on Wednesday compared to $73,556 on Jan. 1. Meanwhile, the marketplace’s user count increased from 315 to 14,520 in the same period — a 4,423% increase. A major portion of OpenSea’s trading volume spike happened after June. At the start of the month, the capital entering the marketplace’s smart contracts was just $3.6 million. But by Sunday, it had surged above $71.238 million. What’s more, on the previous …

Canadian public art exhibition organization Vancouver Biennale is preparing to unveil an art installation that combines physical and digital realities with blockchain technology. Located on the south side of the Cambie Street Bridge in Vancouver, the new Voxel Bridge installation is a blockchain-based augmented reality (AR) experience that can be viewed with iOS or Android devices. According to local enthusiasts, the installation is getting ready for the public launch this Tuesday and will run until spring 2023. The art object is a 1,800 square meter installation by New York-based artist Jessica Angel that explores how public spaces can be constructed …

Christie’s upscale building located in New York City’s Rockefeller Center, Midtown Manhattan. The organizers were exhibiting a 3D frame, which allows a hologram of oneself to be remotely projected elsewhere, and discussing how animated interactive collectible cards will change over time based on the real-life performance of the displayed athletes. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, Canadian artist Mad Dog Jones, head of global marketing at TikTok Nick Tran, co-creator of CryptoPunks Matt Hall, co-founder of Tezos Kathleen Breitman and president of TIME Keith Grossman — all movers and shakers in the art and tech space gathered (some of them virtually) …

A crypto user was able to net roughly $80,000 in less than a day after purchasing a CryptoPunk for less than a penny. According to blockchain records made available through Larva Labs, an unknown user purchased CryptoPunk number 3860 for 99 wei — worth next to nothing — earlier today after the artwork featuring a male character smoking a cigarette had sold for 30 Ether (ETH) on Thursday — roughly $69,369 at the time. The user was then able to resell the figure for 52 ETH, or $136,675 at the time of the sale. According to Float Capital's co-founder, Jonathan …

On Friday of last week, I got a press release from Grace at a music and public relations firm called 23, and Grace wanted to know if I was interested in running a feature on a series of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. I almost instinctively replied “I am not, as I am actually exhausted reading these pitches about the half-baked efforts of minor celebrities to get a fat payday thanks to rich cryptopreneurs with more Ether (ETH) than sense,” and then I’d usually rant, and rant, and move on. Except I’m not really that rude to well-intentioned PR people who …

The United Nations has selected blockchain platform Unique Network to run a nonfungible token (NFT) initiative in the effort to inspire others to take action against climate change. According to a Tuesday announcement, Unique will be the lead technology partner for a program from the UN’s Human Settlement Programme and International Association for the Advancement of Innovative Approaches to Global Challenges, which will mint young artists’ work as NFTs. The program, called Digital Art for Climate Action Empowerment, or DigitalArt4Climate, encourages creators to showcase artwork inspiring people to work toward finding better solutions for the environment. “The United Nations has …

Crypto-finance unicorn Amber Group has partnered with TR Lab to launch a new initiative to help creators access the booming nonfungible token (NFT) market, further highlighting the rapid uptake of digital collectibles in various industries. The CreatorFi initiative was unveiled Wednesday as a new platform to help NFT creators hit the market faster. This includes receiving infrastructure setup support, including minting, custody and platform penetration testing directly from Amber Group. CreatorFi leverages the expertise of Amber Group and TR Lab to provide users with customizable and end-to-end services for their NFT auctions. Related: Blockchain tech is holding NFTs back because …