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/

Interesting NFTs
CryptoPunk #1190
The CryptoPunks are 10,000 uniquely generated characters. No two are exactly alike, and each one of them can be officially owned by a single person on the Ethereum blockchain. Originally, they could be claimed for free by anybody with an Ethereum wallet, but all 10,000 were quickly claimed. Now they must be purchased from someone via the marketplace that's also embedded in the blockchain.
Sploosh (Mirror)
MISHA KAHN (B. 1989) Sploosh (Mirror) Printable 3D model (FBX with vertex colors) together with an MP4 (00:00:08 seconds, 2048 x 2048 pixels) Executed in 2021. This work is unique and is sold as a non-fungible token. token ID: 25589172339488513184097753251259367849292773157707017705630314473933347225601 wallet address: 0x3892f55253893325771bcebda2aaacdd5c793c4c smart contract address: 0x495f947276749Ce646f68AC8c248420045cb7b5e
The Rabble
The Rabble on the TV.
PASSION FOR LIFE - 7/19 Limited Edition
PASSION FOR LIFE - 7/19 Limited Edition - Please enable the sound - This NFT was inspired by some of the attributes of a woman. She is so beautiful, elegant, and delicate, but at the same time powerful and full of passion. She merges with the universe and creates life in many ways, represented in this artwork by the dispersion of her body. I first sculpted this piece by hand, then digitalized it and gave it life and movement. Limited Edition 7/19 IG @ArtistLeonardo
ˈSÄ-V(Ə-)RƏN-TĒ
"I'm not smart enough to be an astronaut." That is what 7 year old Rayden told Micah the first time they met. How can a 7-year-old already feel limitations on his dreams? For centuries, the black community has been the target of a system designed to limit their power, their earning potential, their dreams. Now is your opportunity to help destroy the system. For the next 11 years, on each brother's birthday, (Rayden, Aug. 10/ Jacque Nov. 6), you the viewer, will be able to directly contribute Bitcoin to a wallet that will be given to each child upon turning 18. In what is one of the most powerful use cases for Bitcoin, 100% of your contributions and earnings will open all new doors for these special young men.