The Worst Month in Two Years ๐
Featuring the Top Shot bottom, VIP rewards, Sorare's New Influencers, and Memes of the week
Whatโs up everybody, its LG Doucet here.
Oh Canada, baby. In last weekโs edition, I expressed my disappointment that Team Canada lost their first match of the World Cup.
And now theyโve 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??
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 - todayโs 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).
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With the new evaluate.xyz, you can pair up with trading partners in just seconds and swap existing Moments (and other NFTs!).
Why this is awesome:
Integrates with Dapper Wallet and Metamask (and other ETH wallets!)๐ฆ
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I even made a video to show how easy it is.
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Top Shot continues to take a beating ๐ฅถ
A headline I feel Iโve written all too often (and wish I didnโt have to!)
The NBA TS bleeding continues, as prices for even the most popular assets continues to drop dramatically.
Accelerating this fall is the apparent loss of trust from the community, as several promises from the off-season have yet to be fulfilled.
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:
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 ๐
Now it wasnโt ALL bad on Dapper, especially for the VIPs, who were treated to a nifty little Christmas bonus:
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:
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:
Two months into the season, and supply issues still loom large.
Letโs hope we get closer to that net neutral promise before the All Star Break!
Sorare Making Moves (yet again!) ๐
A bright spot in the market has been Sorare.
Theyโre 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.
Although influencer marketing may be dead for most brands, it can still function quite well if youโve got a fully functional product (and mobile app) on top of an appetite to spend (I canโt imagine these guys were cheap!)
It also helps that Sorare NBA is maintaining hype by consistently shipping new features. This week alone theyโve 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 arenโt 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 Week๐
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!
Second, the best memes are still mainly about FTX, so hereโs my fave poking fun at how Sam Bankman-Fried is now playing dumb in the handling of his own company.
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.
Around The Metaverse๐
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 Unionโs $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 ๐
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.
Itโs simple to start. You sign up, get a FREE pack of โProspectโ 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:
Question For The People ๐ง
We asked:
You answered:
Latest at TFM๐๏ธ
๐ฎ The FLOW Airdrop That Never Happened
๐ง 12x Companies That Could Be Buyers or Sellers in NFT Sports
๐ง Crypto Is Just A Small Part of FIFAโs $7B Plan
๐ง Why Tom Bradyโs $200M NFT Project Is Struggling
๐ง How Nike Plans to Double Revenue with NFTs
๐ง Why the Chicago Bulls are winning at NFTs (Feat. Luka Dukich)
**This is not financial advice.ย 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
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We cover: Sorare, NBA Top Shot, NFL All Day, UFC Strike, MLB Candy, and more!
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