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The Worst Month in Two Years 📉

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The Worst Month in Two Years 📉

Featuring the Top Shot bottom, VIP rewards, Sorare's New Influencers, and Memes of the week

LG Doucet
Dec 3, 2022
2
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The Worst Month in Two Years 📉

thefirstmint.substack.com

What’s up everybody, its LG Doucet here.

Oh Canada, baby. In last week’s edition, I expressed my disappointment that Team Canada lost their first match of the World Cup.

And now they’ve gone 0-3, and are oot of the tournament. Even worse: they were literally one of only two teams to not even register a single point in the standings (the other was Qatar, the host nation!)

Sorry. At least we made it. And at least some our Canadian basketball players are balling out right now. Right Shaedon Sharpe??

Twitter avatar for @SportsCenter
SportsCenter @SportsCenter
SHAEDON SHARPE OMG 😱
4:51 AM ∙ Dec 1, 2022
3,271Likes354Retweets

Well, sort of.

It was a nice dunk, but Sharpe has not been very good lately (besides that game). He literally played 15 minutes in two separate games last week and registered zero points in each one.

Anyway - today’s newsletter is packed to the brim, including Top Shot woes, Sorare shipping, and a brand new section: Around The Metaverse.

But first, a word from our sponsor (and a word from a different sponsor later on).


Trade Your NFTs on Evaluate! 🤝

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  • Provides a fancy new way to look at your portfolio 💼

I even made a video to show how easy it is.

Try it today 🟢


Top Shot continues to take a beating 🥶

A headline I feel I’ve written all too often (and wish I didn’t have to!)

The NBA TS bleeding continues, as prices for even the most popular assets continues to drop dramatically.

Twitter avatar for @NestMaps
Nest Analytics Inc. @NestMaps
Less than a month later There are 2 4k rookie moments with a low ask over $100 Lamelo: $134 (-$85) Ant: $111 (-$69) Scottie: $98 (-$67) Cade: $88 (-$77) Maxey: $80 (-$67) Green: $65 (-$53) Mobley: $60 (-$55)
Twitter avatar for @NestMaps
Nest Analytics Inc. @NestMaps
There are 7 4k rookie moments with a low ask over $100 Lamelo: $219 Ant: $180 Cade: $165 Scottie: $165 Maxey: $147 Green: $128 Mobley: $115
8:11 PM ∙ Dec 1, 2022
30Likes2Retweets

Accelerating this fall is the apparent loss of trust from the community, as several promises from the off-season have yet to be fulfilled.

Twitter avatar for @jonboybeats
Jon Jackson @jonboybeats
Here's this week's #ShowMeTheData dive on Top Shot. Here's the summary... - Net Neutral in S4 is trending towards a lie - FCs seem aimless...today's is falsely propping up new moments. cmon now - Rare/Legos on a crash course to the "floor" when the goal was to "prop up ceiling"
Image
Image
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Image
6:47 PM ∙ Nov 30, 2022
113Likes13Retweets

And perhaps most bearish of all, the ultimate grail on the platform - LeBron James Cosmic - saw its first sale in almost 2 years, and for dramatically less than the ATH:

Twitter avatar for @topshotfund
TSF.eth | Space Cowboy @topshotfund
first on-market sale of an LBJ cosmic in almost 2 years. 88% lower than the previous sale of $208k in Feb of '21 https://t.co/UYvImA0T7d
Twitter avatar for @LiveTokenBot
LiveTokenBot @LiveTokenBot
LeBron James moment sold for $25,000 on Top Shot Dunk · 11/15/2019 · Cosmic · S1 · #20 / 49 LE Buyer: Burns Seller: andy8052 New floor: $499,999 https://t.co/rlOtrDa6ZK
10:16 PM ∙ Nov 29, 2022

To top it off, FLOW and Top Shot were even mentioned in a Decrypt article about how far markets fell last month.

For Top Shot, it was the worst month for secondary sales in two years.

However - its also worth mentioning that we are the proverbial bottom in the crypto market, and fear has nothing been stronger. There are stories like this across the board!

And lets keep in mind that $25,000 for a moment, although far less than the top, is still nothing to sneeze at.


The VIP Christmas Wish 🎁

Now it wasn’t ALL bad on Dapper, especially for the VIPs, who were treated to a nifty little Christmas bonus:

Twitter avatar for @evantan
ᴇᴠxɴ @evantan
Woahh @dapperlabs and @NBATopShot doing me a solid! Thank you so much! 😁🙏🏼
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1:39 AM ∙ Dec 2, 2022
165Likes21Retweets

Yes, $1000 big ones, to be spent in the marketplace and across other league properties like NFL Game Pass.

Top Shot also announced their roadmap (?) for Series 4, with a detailed blog post about which sets are due this season:

Twitter avatar for @NBATopShot
NBA Top Shot @NBATopShot
Basketball is full of stories and memories that define our fandom. At Top Shot, we work with the NBA to tell the story of every season through limited edition collectibles. Today, learn about the Sets that help capture each chapter in 2022-23. ➡️hoo.ps/nba-sets
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8:14 PM ∙ Nov 29, 2022
84Likes20Retweets

The final tally (not including WNBA):

  • 2x Legendary Sets

  • 5x Rare Sets (WHY)

  • 5x Common Sets

Seems pretty nimble. That is, until you read the fine print:

Twitter avatar for @NBATopShot
NBA Top Shot @NBATopShot
@Gunsmooth "The above Sets outline our conventional content plans for the 2022-23 regular season. Further details surrounding historical content, Leaderboard content, Playoffs content and Fandom content will be provided when, where and if necessary."
8:20 PM ∙ Nov 29, 2022

Two months into the season, and supply issues still loom large.

Let’s hope we get closer to that net neutral promise before the All Star Break!


Sorare Making Moves (yet again!) 🏆

A bright spot in the market has been Sorare.

They’re rolled out fantastic World Cup tournaments and continue to maintain 80,000+ weekly users on their NBA platform.

Last week, they partnered with popular gamer Brycent. And this week, they snagged popular sports personality Adam Lefkoe.

Twitter avatar for @AdamLefkoe
Adam Lefkoe @AdamLefkoe
Thrilled to announce that I'm officially a partner of @SorareNBA 🔥🏀 It's clear to me that Sorare is the future of Fantasy Sports 🚀 I can't wait to whoop y'all every week 😂 The game is honestly SUPER easy to learn...took me about 5 minutes. Here's how I'd explain Sorare:
3:57 PM ∙ Dec 2, 2022
136Likes20Retweets

Although influencer marketing may be dead for most brands, it can still function quite well if you’ve got a fully functional product (and mobile app) on top of an appetite to spend (I can’t imagine these guys were cheap!)

It also helps that Sorare NBA is maintaining hype by consistently shipping new features. This week alone they’ve released:

  • Pricing History on cards (at all touchpoints of secondary)

  • New Competition rules for rare/superare tournaments

  • New Competitions focused on no salary caps and underdog players

Although these aren’t exactly groundbreaking, I find the marketing execution to be top class.

Great influencers. Desired features. Fair rules. And rolling announcement out once a week to keep the fanbase engaged.

Very smart, especially in this market.


Memes of the Week💀

First, although its not really a meme, there is currently an ATM at Art Basel that takes your photo and places you on a visible leaderboard based on bank balance.

This stunt reeks of Banksy!

Twitter avatar for @OfficialJoelF
Joel Franco @OfficialJoelF
This is a real ATM at Art Basel that puts your bank account balance & photo on a leaderboard for all to see 👀
7:31 PM ∙ Dec 1, 2022
128,328Likes16,297Retweets

Second, the best memes are still mainly about FTX, so here’s my fave poking fun at how Sam Bankman-Fried is now playing dumb in the handling of his own company.

Twitter avatar for @whal3iam
whal3iam @whal3iam
@219_eth
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2:40 AM ∙ Dec 1, 2022
1,812Likes248Retweets

Third, not at all about crypto, but the trailer for a movie titled COCAINE BEAR came out this week, in which a grizzly eat a brick of coke.

Twitter avatar for @filmdaze
Film Daze @filmdaze
inside of you are two bears
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4:27 PM ∙ Dec 1, 2022
66,641Likes8,837Retweets

Around The Metaverse🌐

Notable highlights from the last seven days:

Sports
  • NFL ALL DAY relaunched Playbook (here is the EV+/- for this week).

  • Sorare topped the weekly charts, although their head of growth seemed unclear on sales figures.

  • Candy Digital laid off a large portion of its staff, following industry trends.

  • Rumble Kong League dropped some gameplay footage.

Web3
  • Apple blocked the Coinbase wallet app, refusing to allow NFT transfers

  • The European Union’s $500k metaverse party only had 6x attendees

  • Yuga Labs (Bored Apes) launched a new podcast, hosted by its founders

  • However, Coinbase paused plans for their Bored Apes film trilogy.

And now for another proud sponsor:


Join the Virtual Basketball Association 🏀

Calling all basketball lovers!

Introducing the Virtual Basketball Association (VBA)

The VBA is an on-chain basketball game where you start a franchise, build your roster with digital players and compete to win real cash rewards.

It’s simple to start. You sign up, get a FREE pack of “Prospect” players, and enter them into daily and weekly challenges to win prizes.

There are already over 1,200+ in the game - but only TFM readers get a shot at an additional $100 USDC just for playing in the month of December.

Check it out and get started here:

Twitter avatar for @TheFirstMint
TheFirstMint @TheFirstMint
🏀Calling all Basketball fans🏀 We're excited to partner with the VBA - Virtual Basketball Association 🤖 In the VBA, you can: • Start a franchise • Build your roster w/ digital players • Compete to win real cash rewards How to win $100👇
4:02 PM ∙ Dec 1, 2022
52Likes11Retweets

Question For The People 🧠

We asked:

Twitter avatar for @TheFirstMint
TheFirstMint @TheFirstMint
Burning Moments Should we keep doing it?
1:27 AM ∙ Dec 3, 2022
29Likes1Retweet

You answered:

Twitter avatar for @BentleyHammock
Bentley Hammock @BentleyHammock
@TheFirstMint I don’t really see how destroying something you paid for benefits the collector
6:56 AM ∙ Dec 3, 2022
Twitter avatar for @DodgyTeddy
DodgyTeddy @DodgyTeddy
@TheFirstMint Distribute all remaining packs to users who have completed a challenge this season. BUT they can only be used in burn challenges. Can’t be gifted/sold &packs must be opened. We all get random shit - comms, rare, legos & can complete the challenges related to the moments we pulled
1:52 AM ∙ Dec 3, 2022
Twitter avatar for @BentleyHammock
Bentley Hammock @BentleyHammock
@TheFirstMint I don’t really see how destroying something you paid for benefits the collector
6:56 AM ∙ Dec 3, 2022

Latest at TFM🎙️

📮 The FLOW Airdrop That Never Happened

🎧 12x Companies That Could Be Buyers or Sellers in NFT Sports

🎧 Crypto Is Just A Small Part of FIFA’s $7B Plan

🎧 Why Tom Brady’s $200M NFT Project Is Struggling

🎧 How Nike Plans to Double Revenue with NFTs

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


**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.”


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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The Worst Month in Two Years 📉

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