21/03/2023 This week in the metaverse: Yuga Labs adds to NFT game, The Sandbox opens a virtual Irish pub, and Silicon Valley Bank spooks Web3 traders

Welcome to This Week in the Metaverse, where Fortune rounds up the most interesting news in the world of NFTs, culture, and the metaverse. Email[email protected]with tips.

Yuga Labs is continuing to build on the release of NFT-powered gameDookey Dashearlier this year. The NFT powerhouse invited holders of its “sewer passes,” which were minted in January, to burn their pass to mint a new collection calledHV-MTL, or heavy metal, that is in part derived from users’Dookey Dashscores.

The new collection of 30,000 “mechs” (robot-looking boxy things) already sports a price floor of nearly $4,000 as the company has indicated that the NFTs will give users access to future minigames and other perks.

In an interesting twist at the intersection of Web2 and Web3, fans of the educational programSesame Streetare complaining about a series of NFTs launched by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind the show. The organization said it would release 5,555 cookie monster non-fungible tokens priced at $60, with more planned for later this year,Varietyreported.

Not everyone was amused by Sesame Street dipping its toe into the metaverse. Some online complained that releasing NFTs was straying from the show’s original values.

Still, others on Twitter pointed out that the NFTs could be a good way for Sesame Street to engage fans.

The Silicon Valley Bank effect

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week had a marked effect on the NFT market. According to areport by DappRadar, the day after Silicon Valley Bank was closed by state regulators, the number of active NFT traders recorded (11,440) dropped to the lowest since November 2021.

The floor price for blue chip NFTs was not affected much, the report said, which showed the resilience of collections like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club. Meanwhile, the floor price of Moonbirds dropped 18%.

Arts

https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/03/17/this-week-in-the-metaverse-yuga-labs-the-sandbox-irish-pub-silicon-valley-bank-nft-trading-drops/

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