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Sloika Raises $2 Million to Fuel the Growth of the Ethereum Photo NFT Market

In the developing NFT scene, photography is becoming more popular, and Sloika wants to give it a specific room to flourish.

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#nft #photography #ethereum #photo #market #nfthours

Photography NFTs are becoming more well-known and in demand, with a growing number of well-known artists selling images for large sums and well-known NFT collectors making a determined effort to gather photos.

With a specialized platform, a new platform named Sloika seeks to enable even more photographers into the Ethereum NFT arena. In addition, it announced today that it had raised $2 million in a seed round headed by 1confirmation.

Ev Tchebotarev and Arseniy Ivanov, the founder and first employee, respectively, of the online photo-sharing platform 500px, co-founded Sloika. They’re now hoping to help photographers capture value in the NFT area after building their community to tens of millions of users.

Unlike OpenSea, similar to Amazon or eBay for non-ferrous metals, Sloika is completely dedicated to photographs. Photographers aren’t competing for attention with flashy profile picture collections or animated cryptoart compositions, and images in the curated drops are given a broader canvas on the Sloika website than you’d find on a standard NFT marketplace. Sloika’s platform also offers producers complete control over important aspects such as rights and royalties.

“Photography rights are unimportant to none of the platforms.” Every new series on Sloika comes with attached photography rights,”  Tchebotarev explained, “It’s the simple things. But, we want to go deep and start solving challenges for photographers, such as how do they market themselves?  What does their work mean to them?”

Whether it’s a photo, drawing, video file, or something else, an NFT works as a deed of ownership to a provably scarce digital property. According to data from DappRadar, the NFT industry exploded earlier this year and will continue to grow until 2021, with a record-breaking $10.67 billion in total trading volume in Q3.

In recent months, photography has gained traction in the NFT market. Justin Aversano is likely the most well-known photographer in the NFTs thus far, with Snoop Dogg and Gary Vaynerchuk among his collectors, with one piece selling for $1.1 million at a Christie’s auction in October.

Isaac “Drift” Wright, Cath Simard, and Dave Krugman are among the other noteworthy photographers in the NFT space. At the same time, prominent collectors like punk6529 and WhaleShark have recently increased their photo NFT purchases. Aversano is also a member of RAW DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on collecting photo NFTs, and has recently created Quantum Art, a photo-centric NFT platform.

This summer, Tchebotarev and Ivanov co-founded Sloika to hasten the emergence of picture NFTs and assist photographers in monetizing their work through the technology.

1confirmation General Partner Nick Tomaino, one of Coinbase’s original employees, noted in a blog post announcing the investment that Web 2 services like Facebook and Twitter suck up much of the value when photographers publish their work online. Photographers may now benefit from direct digital sales to collectors and have more control over their work and life. In addition, he stated, thanks to the advent of Web 3 and the concept of NFTs symbolizing ownership.

Sloika will launch a ‘killer app for NFTs’

Sloika’s $2 million seed round comprises SuperRare founder & CEO John Crain, Manifold founder and CEO Eric Diep, LogDNA co-founder Christopher Nguyen, and startup accelerator South Park Commons, in addition to 1confirmation. Sloika has also established a $20,000 monthly funding program to assist aspiring female photographers in producing their first NFTs.

Tchebotarev believes that the picture NFT area has a lot of potential, but that there’s still a lot of work to be done as new photographers navigate the space, including the need for some to be “more vulnerable” and disclose their personal tales, as Aversano has already done. Sloika’s co-founder believes that as a result, a significantly wider group of collectors will emerge.

“All we have to do now is be patient and keep presenting the story of those photographers,” Tchebotarev added. “I believe that a growing number of collectors will begin to regard photography as the ultimate killer app for NFTs.”

NFT

Could this trademark application indicate that PayPal is developing an NFT market? 

A trademark application for blockchain and cryptocurrency technology has been submitted by PayPal. Some claim that the file has something to do with Web3 and the metaverse, although it may be tied to an NFT marketplace.

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A recent trademark application by PayPal has been found, and it suggests the development of a service pertaining to several facets of blockchain technology. The file, which was made on October 18, makes a notable allusion to the potential introduction of a non-fungible token (NFT) market.

For its logo, PayPal submitted two trademark applications. The first one concerns “downloadable software” for cryptocurrency trading and storage. The second discusses cryptocurrency-related payment processing services.

Although users may currently buy cryptocurrencies on PayPal’s platform, this filing suggests that there may be more to come. The concept of assets is substantially broader in the filing’s terminology. Mike Kondoudis, a trademark lawyer licensed by the USPTO, claimed on Twitter that this filing relates to NFTs and the metaverse.

Although there is no proof to support this, it would not be shocking if it were true. The finance business would be adding its name to a lengthy list of businesses that are starting to make inroads into the Web3 and metaverse spaces.

PayPal is investing more in cryptocurrency.
Over the past two years, PayPal has intensified its focus on cryptocurrencies. First, the company made a huge announcement for the industry by saying that consumers would be able to purchase cryptocurrency on its platform.

However, it didn’t start enabling users to move those funds into wallets outside of the network until recently. It indicated that it would roll out additional crypto-related features in the latter part of last year. One of those additions might be an NFT marketplace.

It teamed up with Coinbase’s TRUST network more recently. This was viewed by many as an endorsement of the sector. The TRUST network upholds consumer security and privacy while adhering to the banking industry’s Travel Rule.

Increased Criticism of Payment Giant
Additionally, PayPal has been in the spotlight for all the incorrect reasons. The business has recently come under fire for a contentious policy that penalized users for disseminating false information. Later, it claimed that false information was released with the amended policy. Crypto aficionados, however, were eager to point to this as evidence of the value of decentralization.

PayPal established a blockchain and cryptocurrency advisory committee earlier this year. According to the company’s management, working with governments is essential to overcoming obstacles and seizing possibilities.

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NFT

Seba Bank, a cryptocurrency company, aims to store valuable NFTs

Seba Bank, a cryptocurrency company, has launched its first NFT service, a blue-chip NFT-specific institutional-grade, certified, and independently audited hot and cold storage custody product.

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The launch comes in response to requests from customers to keep their NFTs with the bank alongside other crypto assets, such as the already-approved Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cryptopunk, and Clone X NFTs. The bank stated that new collections would be added based on customer demand.

With its newest offering, Seba Bank seeks to entice investors who view NFTs as an asset class and crypto natives. Not your keys, not your bitcoin is a well-known phrase in the crypto sphere, and adherents of this maxim could object to having their Apes or Punks stored with a third-party custodian.

Urs Bernegger, co-head of markets and investment solutions at Seba Bank, however, highlights a growing group of NFT holders who are more at ease handing up their NFTs and private keys to a company.

They don’t want the key because they aren’t even aware of how to handle and store it. He claimed that they’re more concerned with damaging the key than giving it to a bank.

It’s a significant issue. Between 2.3 million and 3.7 million bitcoins, according to Chainalysis, are trapped in inaccessible wallets. Numerous accounts of people have lost millions owing to losing private keys, including Russian officials, students, and engineers. Families have also been prevented from accessing substantial quantities of money following sudden deaths in which wallet owners had not disclosed their private keys.

Bernegger asserts institutional custody can be advantageous for native crypto users as well. There has been an increase in businesses providing services that employ NFTs as collateral for conventional banking services like loans.

Seba Bank is thinking about implementing these features in the future. Based in the crypto-friendly Swiss town of Zug, the four-year-old bank already backs several investing, credit, lending, and staking options for cryptocurrencies and might extend them to NFTs.

“Instead of traveling to the market, for instance, we could create a club for collectors and assist them in finding other collectors. There are a few things we have in mind, but we laid the groundwork by storing NFTs securely at first, “explained he.

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The NFT album maker for Kings of Leon now includes a metaverse music venue

YellowHeart, a Web3 ticketing startup, is opening a metaverse music venue in an effort to transform how performers, teams, and event organizers distribute tickets and interact with fans.

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The facility, constructed on Spatial, will feature Grammy-nominated blues musician G.Love as its opening act later this year. Fans can communicate with one another, participate in meet-and-greets before and after performances, and use several screens to view what is happening in various areas of the stadium simultaneously.

They will soon be able to order meals and drinks before the event, which will also be available as digital things.

The idea of an online concert has so far primarily been popularized by big gaming companies. The most well-liked virtual competitions have occurred on sites like Fortnite and Roblox. Ariana Grande’s Fortnite concert in August 2021 received 78 million viewers. Next month, Decentraland will host its second Metaverse Music Festival. Over 100 musicians are on the lineup, including well-known performers like Ozzy Osbourne and Soulja Boy.

In addition to throwing an event, YellowHeart, which assisted Kings of Leon in releasing an NFT version of their most recent album, stated that it hoped to accomplish more. It was established in 2017 with the lofty goal of revolutionizing the music ticketing sector as a whole, which has historically been dominated by powerful reselling organizations and exclusive ticketing relationships. These alliances frequently impose limitations on what purchasers can and cannot do with their tickets. Trying to resell a ticket for a concert you can’t go to might be a headache.

YellowHeart believes these issues can be resolved by returning control to artists and fans via web3 technology. Additionally, it may provide advantages that cannot be programmed into conventional tickets.

“These range from complete albums to personalized vinyl records, exclusive merchandise, and immersive visual art. Web3 tickets also allow performers to update fans on new tour dates, music releases, giveaway possibilities, and much more, according to the business.

It has already collaborated with well-known figures, including Julian Lennon, Maroon 5, and MGM Resorts. Contrary to the non-NFT versions offered on Spotify, iTunes, and other platforms, those obtained through YellowHeart entailed particular customer benefits.

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