Reptilian Renegades Rug?

OpenSea Improvements, Hydra Launchpad's Apology, & More

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We finally made it to Friday! We hope everyone has an amazing and relaxing weekend.

What's Dropping ⚡️

  • The same news outlets that shared headlines like "NFTs are dead" just a week ago are now creating articles such as "What is an NFT and how can I buy my first one?" We always recommend keeping your head down and being wary of your news outlets. We've got you here at the drop on solid, positive news.

  • Controversy is stirring around artist Ryder Ripps and his Ape collection that he claims is not a derivative, though the images take firm influence from BAYC.

  • The free claim of Otherside land for BAYC and MAYC ends Sunday, May 22 at 11:59pm EST.

  • VeeCon has begun today and will go on until the 22. Fans and holders of Veefriends are traveling from all around the world for this community event that will surely make waves and records. Word is Gary has some incredible surprises lined up for visitors.

  • NFTs continue to be a propellant for good deeds and humanitarian efforts. MetaMoves is a one-of-a-kind NFT project that provides prosthetic limbs to those in need.

  • Upcoming and mysterious music NFTs from Blocktones are hinted at through cryptic video. The project aims to change the world's view on music ownership and rights, and the video invites those interested to decode a hidden message to enter their community.

  • A documentary-style short called "NFTs: Enter the Metaverse" will be premiering on May 21 on ABC. The show seems to have an informatory approach.

Reptilian Renegades Rug? 🦎

This past week, we touched on the new Solana projects that have been getting traffic during the cycle of slow Ethereum NFT market sentiment. In our newsletter from Tuesday, you might recall us mentioning the Reptilian Renegades (RR) project. We’re sad to say that RR was a rug. But it might’ve been saved, just in time.

Based on a post regarding the situation, the CEO of Hydra Launchpad, Prez Solana, was informed that RR was founded by Fuopist, the same person who rugged Balloonsville, which we reported on earlier this year. With swift action, Hydra was able to save what was left of RR. According to Hydra, the mint authority has already been retrieved from Fuopist and the secondary sale royalties that Hydra holds are still in tact. Proceeds from the RR project have been halted from being distributed to Fuopist. That’s the first step in the right direction.

Hydra Launchpad is committed to using its resources to restructure RR, and to help it come back from the FUD trenches. In rebuilding and restructuring RR, Hydra will create a more secure launchpad for projects to utilize in the future, while also ensuring that bad actors are filtered out. The RR community got lucky this time because there was a coalition that was looking out for them and called out the founder when they saw malicious intent. Most projects don’t get that luxury. Let’s see how RR makes it out of this negative event. The floor price has already fallen tremendously, compared to where it was before the FUD. Fuopist, NGMI. 

 OpenSea Beefs Up The Boat ⛵

OpenSea’s logo depicts a simple sailboat, one that is suspended in what is still an open and sometimes unpredictable new ocean. For all of the critiques it receives it nonetheless endeavors forward with no shortage of new members willing to brave cracked hulls and other infrastructural issues for the ability to find what is new and what is next. The latest improvements to the popular marketplace include automation that recognizes and eliminates collections that are copies of an original project. This reduces the number of users who will mistakenly purchase illegitimate digital goods; a mistake users make because of pirates on one hand but also because OpenSea has been slow to fortify the ship with basic defense instruments. The automation will scan OpenSea against verified collections, when it recognizes copies and advanced copies it will show the goods in question to a human who will make the final call. The automation is not designed to eliminate remixes, in fact, OpenSea is a fan of responsible remixes. 

Additionally, OpenSea has refined its account verification and collection badging system. The creator responsible for any collection with over 100ETH in trading volume will receive an invitation to have that collection verified. Verified users there forth can request for their collections that have over 100ETH in trading volume to be badged. This invitation process will be integrated within OpenSea itself so that will be nice for users. Users looking to verify will also have access to a human support team that will respond within seven days. Anne Willis issued an encouraging notice to the community, promising further refinement to OpenSea. 

Meme Drop 💧

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