Mercedes Speeds Into Web3
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Mercedes Speeds Into Web3
Mercedes-Benz is set to make its NFT debut with its new mint "Maschine." Read on to find out what they did right and what other brands can learn from the launch.
TylerD's Market Summary
GM!
Today's top news includes:
Mercedes launching web3 program + NFT drop
New BRC-721e protocol
Yuga teases alliances for LOTM
OSF announced as next RarePass artist
Crypto falls on interest rate hike talk
🚘 Mercedes To Launch NFT Ecosystem and 1st Project
Mercedes isn't going to let Porsche have all the web3 fun.
The leading automotive brand is not only launching its own NFT project, it has also launched an entire new web3 program called "Mercedes-Benz NXT".
NXT's vision - to bring Mercedes' 130-year history of building desirable physical collectibles to the digital realm.
First up will be their "Maschine" mint, in partnership with Fingerprints DAO and artist Harm van den Dorpel.
What is Maschine?
Here are the key details for the upcoming Maschine mint:
What: 1,000 generative art NFTs inspired by motion, velocity and perception
When: June 7 at 12 pm ET
How much? Dutch auction (with rebate)
Who: Mercedes NXT team with Fingerprints DAO and Harm van den Dorpel
Where: Fingerprint DAO's website
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this mint is the artist.
Harm van den Dorpel is a well-known artist and had tremendous success in the NFT generative art scene with his Mutant Garden Seeder project.
That project reached a floor of 20 ETH in September 2021 (peak generative art bull run) and still holds a 4.4 ETH floor.
For Maschine, Harm has for the first time created and trained a neural network "to identify and select generated outputs in line with his own artistic preferences."
This will also be his first project fully in 3D.
The generative outputs themselves will depict radial patterns inspired by the "wagon-wheel effect" where spoked wheels appear to rotate in ways contrasting with their speed and direction.
Why It Matters
Mercedes is making a major commitment to web3 and NFTs with the launch of their NXT, and it seems like they're in it for the long haul.
From their website:
"Enabled by the emergence of blockchain technologies, we believe digital art and collectibles will play an increasingly significant role in our online experience. The formation of Mercedes-Benz NXT marks a long-term commitment to building a dedicated presence within the Web3 community and to blockchain-based digital objects. "
They have also done a lot of things right so far pre-launch:
partnered with a well-respected and deeply-experienced team in Fingerprints DAO
chose an artist with success and a history of innovation
established an ecosystem mapping for their web3 program with a vision and framework
built a core team that is seemingly NFT native (rocking PFPs from Punks to mfers to Cryptoadz)
Those 4 bullets alone are a solid blueprint for any brand to follow when launching a project or program.
Mercedes clearly has big plans for its NXT web3 program beyond Maschine.
In the ecosystem portion of their website, they lay out plans for their overarching program roadmap. They intend to develop 3 types of projects, including:
Core collections: "Interrelated and coherent", these are planned and managed by their NXT team (0xNFT) and launched under the Mercedes-Benz brand (Maschine fits here)
Satellite projects: "One time and standalone," these are activities with smaller scope, likely in partnership (focused on fun and experimentation)
Peripheral projects: "Third party & independent," these are outside projects which sue the Mercedes-Benz trademarks outside of the NXT ecosystem (but might be supported via communication)
Overall it's clear that Maschine is set up to be a thoughtful project launch, and Mercedes and NXT have big plans beyond this drop.
Porsche 911 - you are on alert.
🟠 Bitcoin's Newest NFT Protocol "BRC-721e"
Transferring NFTs from ETH to inscribe on Bitcoin is about to get easier.
The team at Ordinals Market partnered with the Bitcoin Miladys team to develop the BRC-721e mechanism to effectively move an ETH project (set of NFTs) onto Bitcoin.
Here's how it works:
ETH NFT holders burn their tokens via BRC-721E, and the tokens are then inscribed onto satoshis on Bitcoin.
Upon inscription, they will appear on the Ordinals Marketplace with metadata.
Some of the key features touted by the founding team include:
Ability to migrate any ERC-721 to Bitcoin
Instant appearance on marketplaces
Inscriptions as low as 100 bytes (lower fees)
The protocol is already in use via the Bitcoin Miladys project, as 971 Bitcoin Miladys have already been burned and transferred from ETH to BTC.
Initial Reactions
Some negative feedback has surfaced, though, related to the storage of the metadata.
The metadata is not initially stored on-chain in this process, and onchain data storage is one of the primary benefits that BTC NFT maxis tout. This is similar to IPFS storage on ETH.
The team has addressed this criticism proactively, stating that they designed the protocol to adapt over time to find ways for on-chain storage.
So this protocol is a time saver and perhaps easier way to bridge to BTC for existing (and new) ETH NFT projects, but also goes against some of the BTC NFT ethos.
We will see how the market embraces this new protocol.
🚚 What else is happening in NFTs?
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
Trading volume was even at 12k ETH on Tuesday, as the NFT market mostly chopped
Yuga announced new details for Otherside Legends of the Mara featuring alliances, which will pool from other Yuga PFPs along with 3rd party PFPs
Opepen R003 from Batzdu saw 60 ETH in sweeps and 2 high end sales of 14 ETH (1/4) and 11.69 ETH (1/5), as its floor jumped almost 100% to 6.5 ETH
OnChainMonkeys delayed their OCM Dimensions BTC mint til June 15
OpenSea Pro debuted its ProBot (@0xProBot) handle to monitor notable sweeps
OSF was announced as the next SuperRare RarePass artist, with his release coming on June 6
LooksRare teased its Season One coming soon, with speculation tied to LOOKS new token rewards
🌎 Around Crypto and Web3
A few other Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
The crypto market fell on Tuesday after the Fed hinted at more interest rate hikes coming; BTC -3% to $27,120; ETH -2.3% to $1,870
Hong Kong's web3 industry leaders formed 2 new associations, the Hong Kong Licensed Virtual Assets Association (HKLVAA) and Web3 Harbour, as China deepens its investment in web3
La Liga Golazos added new challenges to be completed for rare Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo moments
Nansen announced 30% layoffs due to the "brutal" crypto market and scaling up too quickly
🚀 NFT Total Volume
BAYC (2,315 ETH, 45.35 ETH Floor)
Azuki (1,191 ETH, 15.4 ETH)
MAYC (1,102 ETH, 9.65 ETH)
Opepen (659 ETH, 0.89 ETH)
Pudgy Penguins (344 ETH; 0.92 ETH)
📈 NFT Floor Price Increase
Admit One (76%, 3 ETH Floor)
Checks - Originals (22%, 0.57 ETH)
Renga Black Box (16%, 1.18 ETH)
Renga (14%, 0.57 ETH)
Checks - Editions (11%, 0.78 ETH)
🗓 Upcoming NFT Mints and Reveals
There is a longer list of new drops today to close out the month, though none are particularly jumping out.
The main event of the day is likely the announcement from the 0n1 team. The 0n1 Force floor has jumped to 1.75 ETH, grinding up all month, in anticipation of this announcement. Expect some movement up or down in the wake of the news.
If you want more, see the full list of today's drops from Swizzy's daily mint monitor.
Shari 2 - PFP (10:00 a.m. ET); 0.0444 ETH
Memes by 6529 (11:00 a.m. ET); 0.06529 ETH
Metamorphoses (2:00 p.m. ET); Dutch auction
Exit Through the Gift Shop (TBD); 0.02 ETH
0n1 Force - Comeback Tour announcement (TBD)
Enjoy this write-up? Follow along with me on Twitter @tyler_did_it or reach out via email tyler.warner@luckytrader.com.
For all volume and floor price data, see Lucky Trader's Project Rankings page.
For all upcoming mints, see Lucky Trader's Project Schedule page.