Cristiano Ronaldo NFTs

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gm, we hope everyone had a good start to their week!

Here is the breakdown of today's newsletter:🏁 Hot Wheels NFT Collection👀 Ronaldo and Pharrel Get Into NFTs🎥 Video of the week on FTX collapse🤝 Matchday partners with Fifa

• Johnnie Walker is dropping special NFT whisky bottles in tandem with BlockBar. The bottles drop on Nov 22. (@JohnnieWalkerUS)

• Last year, Macy's included a small drop of some parade balloon NFTs. This year, they have made it possible to experience the parade fully in the metaverse. (M)

• Rapper Lil Durk got caught selling NFTs on Grand Theft Auto Online. (DX)

• Pharrel Williams digital art gallery (GODA) auctioned off a piece by celebrated abstract artist Hilma af Klint, though there has been some pushback regarding the inclusion of the art. (@TheGoda_io)

• Mattel will be debuting a new marketplace dedicated to their NFTs based on toys, rather than being tied to WAX blockchain subsidiaries. Their next Hotwheels Garage drop will be on the mentioned marketplace. (NG)

• Artist Refik Anadol’s new project is set at The Museum of Modern Art. Unsupervised takes data from scans of every piece in the museum to display an ever-changing blend of artistry. (AN)

• Okina Group gears up to launch an extension to their Steezy Gang project, an original art project backed by the likes of Wu-Tang Clan. (@HMN5_NFT)

• Taiyo Pilots celebrates the first anniversary of Taiyo Robotics, its parent project. The announced application for Pilotlist is live. (@TaiyoPilots)

• The Lily NFT recorded a 3000 SOL all-time highest sale and a 149K SOL volume during the first 24 hours after mint. (@Magiceden)

Hot Wheels On The Blockchain 🏁

Growing up, the majority of us played with Hot Wheels cars and Barbie dolls. The company behind both of these iconic children’s toys is Mattel. They are now venturing further into Web3 with the launch of their own marketplace, which is projected to be released sometime this week via Mattel Creations.

Mattel, being one of the most successful children’s toy producers in the business, has the ability to capitalize on nostalgia and Web3 gamification. They have already done this by introducing Hot Wheels in their Garage Series, which has quickly produced 3 successful launches thus far. And with this prior success, Mattel is inaugurating their new marketplace with the release of another Garage Series project, which will be released on December 15th. Previously, they utilized the WAX blockchain, but that configuration did not yield the most enjoyable experience. The new marketplace is built on the Flow blockchain, which is also home to NBA TopShot.

Integrations like these, which include IP that we’ve been familiar with for the majority of our lives ,show that Web3 is still in its infancy. While we do not know how this marketplace will perform, this opens the door for further gamification and Web2 symbiosis. Also, with us living through the heart of the bear market, it’s surprising to see that Mattel is releasing something new during such a dire time. Means they’ve been building. Vroom vroom, and WAGMI.

Two Celebrities Dive into NFT Distribution 👀

A soccer player and a producer walk into a bar… or actually into web3. Cristiano Ronaldo and Pharrell Williams are both creating a buzz in the world of NFTs this week. Celebrities largely have a strange relationship with NFTs, with many of them leveraging their social capital to sell digital assets without actually configuring any value into the assets. But maybe there's something more here

• Pharrell entered the space earlier this year… with GODA; Gallery of Digital Assets. Think of this as a platform for connecting traditional artists with the resources they’d need to distribute their work in a digital format to the digital world. So far the likes of Nina Chanel Abney, Todd James, and most recently Hilma af Klint have had successful launches with the aid of GODA.

• GODA is in some hot drama… because the biological family of Hilma af Klint does not agree with GODA selling her works as digital assets. But it turns out that the Foundation that oversees her legacy is totally cool with it. Basically, the family doesn’t like the idea that the art will be consumed in a way that the artist didn’t initially intend for it to be consumed in.

• Ronaldo & Binance are cashing in on their visibility… Ronaldo is currently under scrutiny by his team owners for comments that he made regarding their authority, and the overall state of his club, Manchester United. He knows what he’s worth, and wants to be free. He’s turned to the right technology to get that going, but it isn’t clear what utility his collectibles offer. Binance is distributing his work, and this comes shortly after all of the exchange scrutiny.

💡 The Drop The intention in the NFT space matters. As traders and collectors, you should be able to discern what purpose a particular project serves. That alone will not guarantee that the intended function will be achieved, nor does it mean that if the purpose is achieved that the project will subsequently be valuable. But discerning intent is a necessary step for collectors to separate meaningful creators from meaningless creators. GODA is an example of a space that wants to curate exceptional art for people who appreciate exceptional art. As such, its value proposition is high. Ronaldo on the other hand could be just cashing in on clout right now, and that possibility should factor into collectors' judgment.

Video Of The Week 🎥 : FTX Collapse

Matchday Partners With FIFA For World Cup ⚽️

Matchday is bringing more fun to football (soccer) fans on Solana by introducing a new way to build a squad of your favourite footballers. Matchday is a free-to-play fantasy-like project where all you need is a free pack of Matchday player cards to start.

Matchday has made a partnership with the football governing body, FIFA, and football's player union FIFA PRO to bring a handful of officially licensed football players to the Matchday games. At the time of writing, the FIFA World Cup challenge is live. “Bring your squad into the Matchday Challenge: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, challenge your friends, and win.”

In addition, they've also partnered with Magic Eden to mint Matchday Challenge Pass NFT on Solana - The Pass brings more perks as degens get one free pack and future access and channels in the Matchday discord.

Sponsored Content: There is no sponsored content in this newsletter.

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Disclaimer: The Drop DOES NOT provide financial advice. All content is for informational purposes only. The Drop is not a registered investment, legal, or tax advisor or a broker/dealer. Trading any crypto-related asset is extremely risky and could result in significant capital losses.

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