Yuga Ripps Ryder
CoinBASED. Sneaker Supremacy. And Yuga Labs’ Legal Victory.
👋🏽 Hello everyone, gm gm, WELCOME BACK to another edition of the Overpriced JPEGs newsletter, where we’re catching you up on the world of web3, NFTs, and the metaverse.
Before we dive in, a quick heads up for OPJ and Yuga Labs NFT holders in town for Consensus - We’ve got a small handful of seats left for Carly’s fireside chat with new Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre tomorrow. Snag your tickets via tokenproof at OPJtour.com today!
🏋🏽 CoinBASED
Coinbase is moving its offense onto the field, suing the SEC in what Bankless is calling a total Chad move, and we are all here for it
What’s it about? In their own words:
Coinbase has filed a narrow action in federal court to compel the SEC to do one simple thing: respond yes or no to Coinbase’s pending rulemaking petition that asks the SEC to provide overdue guidance for the crypto industry.
Translation, for the non-lawyers in the room: Coinbase is calling out the government for making confusing, contradictory statements on crypto and bringing a bevy of enforcement actions, all the while ignoring the petition Coinbase filed 8 months ago seeking formal regulatory clarity
The suit is a boss chess move, because whichever way the SEC rules on the petition, it gives Coinbase legal standing to challenge the decision in court and formally make the case for administrative rulemaking
All eyes are on this case as crypto entities increasingly set their sights offshore amidst the regulatory uncertainty:
Coinbase has not been shy about its willingness to relocate or do ‘whatever is necessary’ in lieu of regulatory clarity and recently received a license to operate in Bermuda
Gemini announced plans to open a crypto derivatives platform overseas and has already signaled big plans for overseas growth, including a pre-registration in Ontario and building an engineering hub in India
Crypto proponents looking to get behind the cause can join Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong in supporting Crypto 435, a grassroots advocacy campaign by minting the group’s free Stand with Crypto commemorative NFT
If you’re new here, we welcome you to join 140,434 bright + avid readers by subscribing here:
👟 The Battle for Sneaker Supremacy
Nike, Adidas, and Puma are the top 3 shoe brands in the US with combined 2022 revenues of $80B and they’ve kicked off their foot race for web3 supremacy
We’ve broken down the latest moves from each of these brands, along with the artists and influencers in their court:
Nike’s taking a two-prong approach: 1) Finally opening up RTFKT forging with limited, made-to-order physical sneaks designed by Takashi Murakami; and 2) Onboarding the normies with the first digital collection from .Swoosh. Napkin math here says 320k .swoosh members buying $19.82 pairs = a healthy new revenue stream. They also released this mind-bending AR promo in Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s most highly foot-trafficked cities
Gas Up: Frank DeGods says Checks over Strips
Adidas is also pairing digital and physicals with its Indigo Herz Drop: 7 pieces available for adiClub (loyalty program) members, and 2 limited edition collab products from BAYC, gmoney, and PUNKS Comic available exclusively to ALTS holders via the new token-gated CONFIRMED app powered by tokenproof. Whew.
Gas Up: Farokh declared himself a ‘big fan of Adidas’ approach’ while showing off some sneak peeks of a top secret Fewocious x Adidas collab
PUMA’s doubling down on its 10ktf partnership, dropping 2,000 mint passes for Grailed PUMA Sliptreams physicals that are linked via NFT Chip to an NFT; It’s a dicey strategy in a market of flippers since the NFT can’t be sold without physicals, which aren’t shipping until next year. Time will tell.
Gas Up: As one of the newer PFPs in the 10ktf ecosystem, Deadfellaz and Betty seem to be repping Team PUMA
🥇 R.I.P(P.) Ryder
Yuga Labs celebrated its 2 year anniversary with a milestone 1M ETH in trading volume and a massive victory in its trademark infringement case against Ryder Ripps + Pauly0x
Wait, we know what you’re thinking - two lawsuits in one newsletter, I’m here for the memes + Overpriced JPEGs - don’t worry, we got that too. But these suits are the first of its kind and will set important legal precedents for years to come.
So what happened?
A Cali judge ruled in favor of Yuga’s pretrial motion for summary judgment accusing Ryder of cybersquatting and confusing potential buyers with their BAYC knockoff NFTs; Defendants argued ‘artistic intent,’ but the judge wasn’t buying it, granting Yuga injunctive relief and damages of an as-yet-undetermined amount [their claim for $200,000 in ‘excessive’ damages was shot down]
This is a terrific writeup if you’re looking to get more detail without all the legalese and a quick thread from an IP attorney if bite-sized is more your thing
We’re viewing this largely as a win for web3, not inclusive of Ryder and Pauly, both of whom seem to have tucked their tails between their legs and moved on from Ape trolling to shilling shitcoins anyway …
OPJ and Yuga Labs NFT holders, join us for our a live fireside chat in Austin this Friday with new Yuga CEO Daniel Alegre! Snag your seats below 👇🏾
$MASK: Some savvy twitter users discovered this placeholder page for $MASK on Coin Market Cap and it’s reignited speculation that a MM token is coming
California legislator looks to improve legal protections for DAOs with new bill
In a bid to ramp up mainstream adoption, Visa’s hiring experienced engineers savvy with public blockchains and stablecoins
NFT lending platform NFTfi introduced a loyalty program with non-transferable reward points for users; May 15 is both the cutoff for OG status and the start of Season 1
Chinese city of Changshu will pay its government staff, including teachers, doctors and journalists in the country’s central bank digital currency
MetaMask is now among the top Ethereum stakers following the Shapella upgrade; addresses connected to MM have staked 62k ETH worth $110+M
Zimibabwe’s Central Bank is introducing a gold-backed digital currency to help reduce demand for the US dollar
Bitcoin whales are making wallet moves after years of inactivity and it’s spooking CT
🌐 web3 + NFTs
Solana’s Mad Lads went viral this week, leapfrogging to the top of daily volume charts
The untold story of ‘serial entrepreneur’ Alex Xu, aka Zagabond
NFT Worlds is rebranding to a more “web2-friendly name” and implementing a contract migration; returning the collection to 9.5% enforced royalties
An Ape holder is seeking legal help for IP protection after discovering someone else is selling products featuring his Ape
Expressions is a new NFT marketplace launching on May 1 with an emphasis on diversity; launch partners for “Origins & Ancestries” include 12 Caribbean artists
3AC’s liquidator published the list of NFTs being auctioned off by Sotheby’s and there’s some legit rare grails in the mix
Bitcoin Ordinal inscribers kicked off the week with nearly 250,000 inscriptions, and Corporate Trash has us wondering - are they still a thing?
Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit implementing mandatory KYC requirements on May 8
NFT portfolio tracker Floor expands support to include Solana NFTs
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📈 Brands + Biz
The 1st installment of Lexus’ ‘Stay Ahead’ campaign for the hybrid Lexus RX was launched in January and they just dropped part 2, a choose-your-own-adventure video ending in a chance to win one of 5 rare Lexus NFT Hoverboards
Founder of Marvel Studios opened pre-auction deposits for his first 1/1 collection, Ekos Genesis, starting at 10 ETH
Resy founder kicks off a new NFT restaurant loyalty program, Blackbird, at two NY restaurants; rewards unlock perks like complimentary apps + priority rez bookings
Google expands its support for web3 builders with ‘Google for Startups Cloud Program’; pre-seed to Series A startups are eligible for $200k cloud credits, tech and other support
Snapchat parent co Snap reveals plans to launch AR mirrors that let shoppers try clothes on virtually; will appear first in select Nike stores and Men’s Wearhouse
Snap also has plans for an AR vending machine partnership with Coca-Cola
An appellate judge affirmed a lower court’s ruling that 3rd party developers are allowed to skirt Apple’s 30% commission fee by steering users to cheaper buying options outside the apps, which could have positive implications for web3 + NFTs
🤖 AI + Metaverse
Grimes grants permission to all creators to use her voice in AI generated songs, but she’ll get a 50% royalty cut on any profits enforceable via smart contracts
Humane, an AI firm founded by ex-Apple employees, introduced its long-awaited demo for a wearable device, but people are struggling to figure out how it’s any better than an iPhone
Binance introduces Sensei, an AI-powered crypto assistant and educator trained on 1k+ articles and courses
OpenAI ups its privacy controls; now allows ChaGPT users to turn off chat history and go incognito
Republican National Committee released an entirely AI-generated attack ad upon President Biden’s re-election announcement
As if they don’t already have their hands full with crypto, govt. regulators are coming after AI too
TikTok is developing an AI-generated PFP feature and The Verge has the sneak peeks
Avenged Sevenfold’s Matt Sanders (aka M. Shadows) makes his second appearance on the pod to talk about the band’s recent decision to token-gate early ticket sales for their most die-hard fans. Matt sheds light on what it’s like working with Ticketmaster and the core problems with web2 ticketing. This is a good one, folks.
Carly and Gavin welcome PROOF’s akaStevey to the pod for our weekly recap! They’ve got takes on Franklin’s NFT retirement, the latest crypto hack targeting OG accounts, and Gavin’s new AI podcast. Plus Stevey shares all the latest from PROOF. Catch up here!
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Got something to share with our readers? Leave a comment below or connect with me @hawaiianft (Sparkitysparkz) on Twitter or @jacy (Sparkz) on Bluesky 🤙🏾