Konami Digital Entertainment, the famed Japanese game developer and publisher, is the latest mainstream gaming company to embrace non-fungible tokens.
On June 20, Konami announced it will launch a centralized NFT marketplace on Avalanche, the 11th-largest smart contract network by total value locked (TVL).
Konami’s forthcoming NFT marketplace, Resella, will allow users to create, launch, and trade non-fungible tokens without using a web3 wallet. The marketplace will be deployed as an Avalanche subnet.
Resella is tailored for the Japanese market and will support transaction settlement using Japanese yen.
“Resella eliminates the necessity for users to open an external Web3 wallet, or engage in complex cryptocurrency transactions, thereby potentially lowering barriers to entry,” Konami said.
Konami aims to onboard mainstream companies and brands with an emphasis on gaming to the NFT sector with Resella. Konami said developers can create NFTs linked to gaming environments that unlock special in-game content or function as event tickets.
Konami Digital Entertainment is the company behind major gaming franchises including Metal Gear, Silent Hill, and Castlevania.
Konami’s entrance into the web3 sector could serve as a boon to Avalanche’s NFT ecosystem.
NFT sector struggles
Data fromDappRadarshows just two NFT collections driving sales in the past 24 hours, with Castle Crush NFTs pushing $440 worth of trades and OG Thor tokens accounting for only $25 worth of trades.
CoinGeckoestimatesthat Avalanche-based NFTs make up a $27.3 million market cap, paling in comparison to the $6.8 billion worth of non-fungibles on Ethereum.
However, many leading Ethereum collections have recently sufferedheavy drawdownsas Blur’s third season of incentives winds down. Four of the five largest collections by market cappostedlosses of between 24% and 33% over the past month, according to NFT Price Floor.
Avalanche’sAVAXtoken is up 3.58% in the past 24 hours, but tumbled 32% in the past month, according to The Defiant’scrypto price feeds.
APhone, a decentralized cloud-based smartphone, aims to take on the duopoly of Apple and Google with the launch of a web3-native app store.
Announced on June 19, the AppNest store will support both blockchain-based decentralized applications and web2 apps. APhone aims to undercut the fees of up to 30% that Apple and Google charge to developers by making AppNest “free and open.”
"Our goal is to democratize access to technology and provide a full Web3 mobile experience to users worldwide, irrespective of geographical or economic barriers,” said William Paul Peckham, APhone’s chief business officer.
APhone said the web3 apps supported by AppNest include MetaMask, Phantom, and Binance, alongside Web2 applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and ChatGPT.
The AppNest store is exclusively available via the APhone app.
AppNest’s launch follows increasing interest in web3 phones after the debut of Solana Mobile’s Sagaphone in June 2022, which quickly sold out in the United States and Europe.
Saga enjoyed a surge in popularity as memecoin issuers began airdropping tokens to owners of the $1,000 phone. Notably, Saga buyers qualified for a drop of 30 millionBONKtokens, worth $643.5 today, and $1,364 as of the token’s all-time high in March.
The phone also ignited buzz surrounding the decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) sector afterHelium, a crypto-native mobile plan provider, launched services for Saga users.
In January, Solana Mobile began accepting pre-orders for itssecond phone, "Chapter 2," which is expected to ship sometime next year.
APhone is powered by Aethir, a DePIN provider. The two teamspartneredup in March, with APhone leveraging Aethir’s decentralized cloud architecture.
"Aethir’s innovative decentralized cloud technology is the missing piece that will allow us to grant users their mobile freedom,” said Julie Zhu, APhone’s tech lead. “By virtualizing smartphones on blockchain, we can offer capabilities far beyond physical device limitations.”
The APhone is a cloud phone that can run both advanced Web3 applications and conventional apps on any web browser-compatible device. It boasts a dedicated seed vault working alongside the Android OS.
On June 12, Aethir launched its decentralized cloud computing network on the Ethereum mainnet. The network allows firms with idle GPU resources, such as data centers and cryptocurrency miners, to contribute computational power to the network in exchange for rewards.
During its testnet phase, Aethir engaged over 500,000 users and completed a "node sale" valued at $146 million, attracting backing from major computing firms including Nvidia, HPE, and Foxconn.
Aethir launched its native ATH token on June 12. After a volatile debut, ATH price action has stabilized, with the token shedding just 1% in the past week, according to CoinGecko. ATH is also up 9% in the past 24 hours.
https://thedefiant.io/news/nfts-and-web3/konami-taps-avalanche-for-yen-based-nft-marketplace-resella