Sorare’s Ethereum NFT-based fantasy soccer platform has become one of the most popular blockchain-based games, with a $4.3 billion valuation. This summer, the company hopes to apply that technique to a whole new sport: baseball.

Sorare said it had signed agreements with Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association to develop a new baseball fantasy sports game based on the American league. It’s Sorare’s first additional sport, following the introduction of its original soccer game in 2019.

The MLB game will also sell and buy digital trading cards of professional players, represented as Ethereum-based NFT artifacts. Users can enter their NFT player cards into fantasy lineups and get points based on how well the pros perform in real-world MLB games.

“Many people, including myself, have never played fantasy sports before,” Sorare COO Ryan Spoon said. “It’s a very rhythmic, math-driven, and stats-driven sport, with many roles and players, scouting and prospects, and stars against call-ups. It’ll be a lot of fun.”

Spoon also mentioned baseball’s lengthy history of trading cards and collectibles, which Sorare hopes to perpetuate in the digital realm.

Along with Sorare, sports collectibles have been a significant component of the NFT market boom. NBA Top Shot and Tom Brady’s Autograph platform are two of the most well-known examples. An NFT is a blockchain-backed digital item receipt that may be used to represent artwork, collectibles, profile images, and unique video game items.

Major League Baseball has an existing NFT partnership with Candy Digital, a majority-owned startup by Fanatics Sportswear. Although Topps was acquired by Fanatics earlier this year and is now under the same banner as Candy, the company has launched digital MLB trade cards.

Sorare’s MLB card artwork is still being finalized, but Spoon says it will keep the approach of current soccer NFTs—with visible stats and edition numbers—while reflecting the spirit of baseball. Every MLB player will have the same total number of NFT cards available in various rarity levels; however, the exact quantity has yet to be determined.

The current soccer game is a free-to-play experience that includes a starter pack of player cards that are not tradeable NFTs, albeit the NFT cards are more useful for those wanting to win fantasy leagues and earn incentives. The MLB experience is also described as a free-to-play game that does not necessitate the purchase of NFTs.

Unlike Sorare’s soccer game, which includes relationships with roughly 250 teams from other foreign leagues, the baseball game will focus solely on Major League Baseball and its 30 teams.

Sorare claims that its soccer game now has 1.8 million monthly users and generated $325 million in NFT trade volume in 2021. In addition, the company claims that it will double that amount this year. Sorare was valued at $4.3 billion in September after a $680 million Series B fundraising round, as previously announced.

Following a March deal with Major League Soccer, which brought the American league and its teams to Sorare’s platform, the MLB partnership is the latest move in the firm’s American push. Sorare’s head of business development, Michael Meltzer, said that the company hoped to announce two US league collaborations in the coming months.

Sorare will be able to target a primarily American audience by launching a Major League Baseball game, although in a sport with global talent and followers outside of North America.

“We now have a worldwide reach, both in terms of users and partners and our players,” Spoon said. “We believe we can translate a lot of the software platform’s background into a way that makes a lot of sense to baseball.”

Though Ethereum produces some of the most popular NFTs, at least a dozen other blockchains also produce the digital collectibles, including Terra, which has attracted collectors due to its lower gas prices.

Following the demise of Terra’s stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and its sister token LUNA, NFT (non-fungible token) projects based on Terra have experienced a significant increase in trading as astute traders seek to profit from price disparities.

According to data aggregator Flipside Crypto, the daily volume of NFT trading on major Terra marketplaces Random Earth, Knowhere, and Luart is at its highest level since March 1. Terra’s daily NFT volume was 3.1 million UST ($2.1 million) on May 11, up from 384,769 UST the day before.

On May 11, Random Earth and Knowhere saw their biggest trading volume days. Random Earth’s volume soared to 438,665 LUNA ($485,263) after never exceeding 11,000 LUNA before, while Knowhere’s volume hit 6,005 LUNA at the time of publication.

Galactic Punks, Hell Cats, Derby Stars, and Luna Bulls are among the most popular Terra NFT collections. The fast repricing of NFTs, particularly on Random Earth, was noted by Twitter user @RyanBethencourt, who wondered if their worth would hold if Terra were to “sink into a death spiral.”

Users of OnePlanet, another Terra NFT marketplace, turned to Discord to complain about transaction delays, claiming that the digital assets did not appear in their wallets immediately after the transaction was completed.

Those who didn’t delist their NFTs in time were told that Discord moderators will look into it.

A look at cryptography Investor sentiment was divided on Twitter. “All nfts on terra are now as useless as the luna token,” said user @PostmanNay.

@c4chaos, another user, urged sympathy for individuals who may have lost their life savings.

NFT Terra collection PolyEgg asked Twitter followers which blockchain they should transfer to because “continuing to mint on Terra is not a good idea.” While Solana was a popular choice, “LUNAtics,” or experienced LUNA investors, continue to buy Terra NFTs.

Voyage in Paradise (“ViP/ the Project”),  the world’s first global top DJ and artist-enhanced “listen-to-earn” project, announces a new Top 100 DJs official partner today, Rave Republic. Co-developed by Catheon Gaming (“CG”) and King Pillar Limited (“KPL”), ViP partners with top DJs and musicians to bring audiences an all-encompassing music experience on the blockchain.ViP invites top artists from around the world to be a part of the ecosystem, and Rave Republic (2021 DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs) is the latest addition to the list. Formed by Matthias and Stas in 2014, Rave Republic’s debut release ‘Far Away’ in 2015 went straight to the No.1 spot on the iTunes Dance Chart. 2022 marks their 8th year in the music space, the fourth time Top 100 DJs listed duo has gone from obscurity to playing at some of the biggest clubs and events, as well as producing global chart-topping tracks. Rave Republic also actively collaborates on new songs and releases music on W&W’s record label – Rave Culture, among many other top-tier labels.

The project itself is conceptualized by Catheon Gaming, the fastest-growing integrated blockchain gaming, and entertainment company, and the music industry leader and festival IP owner, King Pillar Limited, to create a whole new way to enjoy music and entertainment. The project aims to integrate blockchain technology into the music community by elevating real-world entertainment with the virtual and decentralized world of Web3. 

ViP’s concept centers on a “listen-to-earn” model, metaverse concert venues, NFT album release service, music incubator, and a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). The aim is to foster an authentic, symbiotic relationship with listeners and musicians. Listeners will be rewarded for listening to curated music, artists will be able to co-create an engagement ecosystem with their fans, and producers and artists will be able to release their music in the form of NFTs on the blockchain. Additionally, NFT holders will be entitled to access rights to related tracks and albums,  and music-related perks and giveaways.

The project itself is conceptualized by Catheon Gaming, the fastest-growing integrated blockchain gaming, and entertainment company, and the music industry leader and festival IP owner, King Pillar Limited, to create a whole new way to enjoy music and entertainment. The project aims to integrate blockchain technology into the music community by elevating real-world entertainment with the virtual and decentralized world of Web3. 

ViP’s concept centers on a “listen-to-earn” model, metaverse concert venues, NFT album release service, music incubator, and a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). The aim is to foster an authentic, symbiotic relationship with listeners and musicians. Listeners will be rewarded for listening to curated music, artists will be able to co-create an engagement ecosystem with their fans, and producers and artists will be able to release their music in the form of NFTs on the blockchain. Additionally, NFT holders will be entitled to access rights to related tracks and albums,  and music-related perks and giveaways.

The Rave Republic, official partner of Voyage in Paradise & 2021 DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs, commented: “We are very excited to be a part of Voyage in Paradise, in developing this one-of-a-kind experience for our fans and all music lovers. Empowered by the project’s revolutionary features on the blockchain, the barrier between artists and fans in the traditional music consumption model will be greatly reduced and unlock possibilities for new avenues to enjoy entertainment. We look forward to taking the project to new heights and cultivating a community of entertainment and music lovers in the Web3 era”.

William Wu, Founder of Catheon Gaming, said: “We are delighted to have KPL as a partner on this exciting new venture, who will play a significant role in presenting us with the opportunity to tap into their vast network of connections. The goal of the project is twofold, to deliver an immersive entertainment experience on the blockchain but also to develop a more efficient model of distribution, whereby the artists and producers will be incentivized to provide the audience with maximum entertainment value.”

J.C. Chao, Founder & CEO at King Pillar Limited, commented: “This is the first step for Voyage in Paradise to revolutionize the music industry with blockchain technology. We are thankful to Catheon Gaming for providing invaluable advice and expertise in elevating the project to the next level. KPL will continue working with our partners with the same goal of building a sustainable music ecosystem, which will look to disrupt the current music and entertainment profit model, and ultimately give back power to the community and entertainers.” 

About Voyage in Paradise    

Co-developed by Catheon Gaming and King Pillar Limited, Voyage in Paradise is the first “listen-to-earn” music ecosystem enhanced by top global artists and DJs.  The project aims to foster an authentic symbiotic relationship with listeners and musicians by integrating GameFi, metaverse concert venues, NFT album release service, and a music incubator in a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).

For more information, please visit: https://voyageip.io/

About Catheon Gaming

Catheon Gaming is the fastest-growing integrated blockchain gaming and entertainment company globally. The company’s flagship franchise, SolChicks, entered the market following successful fundraising from various venture capital investors, institutions, and launchpad partners. The company brings technical, gaming, and marketing expertise together with deep roots in the blockchain industry. The company’s strategy is to partner with leading game developers and IP-holders to incubate and launch “best-in-class” blockchain games and bring them to the widest possible audience.

For more information, please visit: https://catheongaming.com/

For media inquiries, please contact: media@catheongaming.com 

King Pilliar Limited (KPL) is a leading pioneer multi-entertainment group with a die-hard love of music, spot-on execution with trustworthy localization, and global networks to create unique entertainment experiences that fuse western and eastern culture to its fans in the greater region of China. KPL offers full-service event solutions including world-class festival event production, cultural and tourism planning, creative event promotion, localized ticketing channels, event operation, and international IP collaborations, and also holds the exclusive Asia licenses for Groove Cruise Asia and We Are Electric China.

For more information, please visit: www.kingpillarlimited.com