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A Dapper Downer ๐Ÿ˜”

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A Dapper Downer ๐Ÿ˜”

Featuring A Tough NBA Public Relations Week, Dapper Labs Layoffs, Unique Sorare Competitions, New Marketplace Fees & More

Ghost
Nov 5, 2022
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A Dapper Downer ๐Ÿ˜”

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Good Morning, B&B Squad! Hope you had an excellent week, and cheers to the weekend!

It has been a rough week for the NBA public relations teamโ€ฆ Following up the Kyrie Irving suspension and Ime Udoka hiring saga early in the week was troubling news about former San Antonio Spurs lottery pick Josh Primo.

After being abruptly released by the team last week, news broke that Primo was being sued by the Spursโ€™ former clinical psychologist, who claims that Primo exposed himself on numerous occasions. In addition to troubling details regarding the teamโ€™s alleged handling of the incidents, this apparently isnโ€™t the only case โ€” with two other women also accusing Primo of similar acts. Ugly, ugly stuff.

On a happier note, here is a new Victor Wembanyama highlight to cheer things up. Remember, this man is 7โ€™4:

Twitter avatar for @NBA
NBA @NBA
Victor Wembanyama's handle ๐Ÿคฏ
9:20 PM โˆ™ Nov 4, 2022
20,081Likes2,007Retweets

Letโ€™s get into all the action from the past few days:


A Dapper Downer ๐Ÿ˜ข

We got some sad/concerning news out of Dapper Labs this week, with CEO Roham Gharegozlou announcing that the company was laying off 22% of staff via the Dapper newsroom blog.

โ€œAs part of a broader refocus of our strategy and reorganization of our teams to better serve our communities, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our team size by 22%โ€ฆ

These reductions are the last thing we want to do, but they are necessary for the long-term health of our business and communities. We know web3 and crypto is the future across a multitude of industries โ€“โ€“ with 1000x potential from here in terms of mainstream adoption and impact โ€“โ€“โ€“ but todayโ€™s macroeconomic environment means we arenโ€™t in full control of the timing.ย 

There isnโ€™t a take I can provide other than this is super unfortunate for everyone. I feel for those within the company who were blindsided by the news โ€” and in a small, close-knit community, itโ€™s even more difficult to see people you know or interact with experience it.

In terms of what it means for NBA Top Shotโ€ฆ

While it certainly isnโ€™t a bullish move, I do think this is more of a macro response for a large tech company then an indictment on how management is feeling about the product. And Dapper Labs is certainly not alone, with other major companies also experiencing layoffs in recent weeks.

BUTโ€ฆ With less employees comes (theoretically) less of an ability to ship products. And given the current sentiment on the platform, seeing this type of layoff certainly doesnโ€™t inspire confidence.

Speaking of (third-parties) shipping products, it looks like we could have a nifty trade portal for swapping moments and other FLOW NFTs coming this month, via Evaluate Market:

Twitter avatar for @EvaluateMarket
Evaluate Market @EvaluateMarket
Launching later this month ๐Ÿคซ
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10:56 PM โˆ™ Nov 3, 2022
157Likes34Retweets

So Scarce ๐Ÿ’Ž

Sorare NBA made some notable announcements on Friday, including the launch of competitions in the Unique (1/1) tier.

Managers will need at least three Uniques and (two Super Rares), so fielding a lineup is going to cost you a pretty penny.

Sorare is ramping up the Unique actions this weekend to get some supply ready for game-action, with several big stars getting the 1/1 treatment:

Twitter avatar for @TheFirstMint
TheFirstMint @TheFirstMint
15 new UNIQUE cards will be on auction this weekend on @SorareNBA๐Ÿ‘€ Including: ๐ŸงŠK.Durant ๐ŸงŠD.Mitchell ๐ŸงŠJ.Butler ๐ŸงŠD.Russell ๐ŸงŠC.Paul + more
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2:29 PM โˆ™ Nov 4, 2022
12Likes1Retweet

There havenโ€™t been many Uniques auctioned yet, so it will be extremely interesting to watch what the top-tier cards for stars like Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler go for this weekend. Here is the full list of Unique auction results as of Friday, via SorareData (prices in ETH, which is currently at $1,650 USD):

Honestly, after playing a few of the various rarity tier competitions over the last few weeks, the structure Sorare has built is great at giving managers options to play at whatever spending level they are comfortable, whether that is completely free (common), or the whales of the world (Unique).

A second announcement from the platform regarding marketplace fees was also released on Friday:

Twitter avatar for @TheFirstMint
TheFirstMint @TheFirstMint
Starting on November 7th, @SorareNBA and @SorareMLB will include a 5% market fee on the Marketplace There are currently no transaction fees on Football cards on the platform
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4:44 PM โˆ™ Nov 4, 2022

While there is no indication that this is coming (and pure speculation)โ€ฆ Maybe implementing marketplace fees is a step/factor in bringing some sort of ETH rewards? The consensus seems to be that US regulations for the MLB and NBA products restrict that, but to my knowledge weโ€™ve never gotten any clarification from Sorare.

So for now, we speculate!


Around The First Mint ๐Ÿ—ฃ

Twitter avatar for @SorareDataNBA
SorareDataNBA @SorareDataNBA
ICYMI: @andrewmlaird was joined by @LgDoucet to discuss the early days of Sorare NBA, and how it fits with NBA Top Shot in the basketball NFT landscape: Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kilโ€ฆ Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2Jl8lPโ€ฆ YouTube: youtu.be/owBQ8UWrSNY #SorareNBA #NBATopShot
youtu.beKiller Crossover: Sorare NBA & Top Shot (with Lg Doucet)Andrew Laird (@andrewmlaird) is joined by LG Doucet (@LgDoucet), the founder of The First Mint, to discuss the early days of Sorare NBA, including the fantas...
9:00 PM โˆ™ Nov 3, 2022
3Likes1Retweet

๐ŸŽง How Nike Plans to Double Revenue with NFTs

In December 2021, Nike shocked the web3 world when it purchased 2-year old design studio RTFKT. But upon closer inspection, the move makes total sense for both companies as consumers and sneakers hurtle towards the metaverse at an alarming speed. On today's show, we'll look at WHY Nike buys certain companies, and how RTFKT positioned itself to be one of them.

๐ŸŽง Why the Chicago Bulls are winning at NFTs (Feat. Luka Dukich)

๐ŸŽง Steph Curryโ€™s Multi-Billion Dollar Future in Crypto

Thanks for reading!

Followย Zachย on Twitter atย @GhostOfGregOden.๏ปฟ


**This is not financial advice. Nothing in this newsletter, podcast, or publication should be considered financial or trading advice of any kind. Please do your own thorough research and make your own trading decisions. This is not advice.โ€


About The First Mint

A web3 sports community. Podcasts. Newsletters. Events.

We cover: Sorare, NBA Top Shot, NFL All Day, UFC Strike, MLB Candy, and more!

Tweets and Newsletters are not endorsements.

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