# Metaversal is Here *Author: William M. Peaster* *Published: Jan 1, 2021* *Source: https://www.bankless.com/metaversal-is-here* --- **Dear Bankless Nation,** Welcome to 2021. Why are we creating a weekly [subnewsletter](https://bankless.ghost.io/about/) focusing on art, collectibles, gaming items, and virtual worlds? Three reasons: - Digital scarcity is bigger than money. - Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are about to have a massive year. - The community needs a dedicated program to level up on NFTs. Our goal at Bankless is to help you front-run the opportunity and it’s become clear to me that there’s massive opportunity in the NFT space. This is Bitcoin in 2015. This is DeFi in 2018. This is a new frontier. This is why we’re launching [Metaversal](https://bankless.ghost.io/). Metaversal is a once or twice weekly newsletter edited by Bankless and curated by our friend [William Peaster](https://bankless.ghost.io/author/william-m-peaster). When you subscribe you’ll get: - A weekly recap of news and opportunities - Occasional posts with tactics and thought pieces We’ve designed Metaversal to complement the [regular Bankless program](https://bankless.ghost.io/about) and help you front-run the NFT opportunity. **How to subscribe to Metaversal for existing Bankless subscribers:** - Go to [Newsletters](https://bankless.ghost.io/about) - Click the “Subscribe" button next to Metaversal [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/public/images/f4db6b9b-cb1f-4ca8-82f3-62677b80a159_1584x536.png)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com-2fpublic-2fimages-2ff4db6b9b-cb1f-4ca8-82f3-62677b80a159_1584x536.jpg)*Just [click Subscribe](https://bankless.ghost.io/about) to start receiving Metaversal in your inbox* - Check [My Account page](#/portal/signup) to confirm email notifications are on for Metaversal [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/public/images/3bc193ce-7e42-47bf-b4bb-7c8090ba9f9c_736x568.png)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f3bc193ce-7e42-47bf-b4bb-7c8090ba9f9c_736x568.jpg)*You can subscribe or unsubscribe to Metaversal on your [Accounts page](#/portal/signup)* You ready? Ok…let’s get started. - RSA --- ## 🏆 Digital Collectibles - CryptoPunks achieved a [new all-time sales record](https://twitter.com/larvalabs/status/1344296148530552834) this week with the 189.99 ETH ($137.5k) purchase of [Punk 3307](https://www.larvalabs.com/cryptopunks/details/3307), an extremely rare punk because of its lack of attributes. We also saw sizable sales in recent days around [Punk 2681](https://www.larvalabs.com/cryptopunks/details/2681) (83 ETH), [Punk 6649](https://www.larvalabs.com/cryptopunks/details/6649) (36 ETH), [Punk 777](https://www.larvalabs.com/cryptopunks/details/777) (18.99 ETH), [Punk 9998](https://www.larvalabs.com/cryptopunks/details/9998) (15 ETH), [Punk 8320](https://www.larvalabs.com/cryptopunks/details/8320) (14 ETH), and [Punk 7777](https://twitter.com/cryptopunksbot/status/1342907697847562242) (10 ETH) … > [](https://twitter.com/cryptopunksbot/status/1344271831050674176) - Aave’s Tamagotchi-inspired NFT game Aavegotchi is [hitting the Ethereum mainnet](https://twitter.com/aavegotchi/status/1344313080335847432) on Jan. 4th. Ahead of that, the project is hosting its 3rd and final pre-launch [Aavegotchi Raffle](https://aavegotchi.medium.com/release-the-aapes-aavegotchi-raffle-3-details-revealed-3d7af1feb7ad) contest. ## **🎨 Cryptoart** - Grammy-winning musician and record producer RAC sold [Elephant Dreams Part III](https://superrare.co/artwork-v2/elephant-dreams-part-iii-17413), a collaboration with artist Reisinger Andres, for 25 ETH on SuperRare … > [](https://twitter.com/SuperRareBot/status/1343988742143553544) - Acclaimed cryptoartists Carlos Marcial and XCOPY just sold their collab piece Infinite CONSUME for 7 ETH to collector Basileus (who notched their [200th piece collected on SuperRare](https://twitter.com/basileus_eth/status/1344346773964292096) in the process).  - NFT farming project Meme Protocol hosted its “[Rug Pull](https://twitter.com/DontBuyMeme/status/1329924622196764672)” auction last month, which saw 12 NFTs auctioned with only one of them containing 1 BTC inside. The artist [byma](https://twitter.com/artbyma/status/1344417956739084294) published a [great write-up](https://by-ma.art/posts/meme-rugpull/) this week on how the auction was seemingly the victim of a “sophisticated smart contract attack.” - Speaking of Meme Protocol, the artist FEWOCiOUS just sold [Nobody Knows Me](https://twitter.com/fewocious/status/1344360041181114370) for 52 $MEME (~$23k) through the project.  ## **🕹️ Blockchain Games** - Ethereum’s most popular game Axie Infinity published its [year-end review post](https://axie.substack.com/p/nation). The project enjoyed explosive growth in 2020, and the horizon is looking bright with the coming launch of the franchise’s Ronin sidechain. - AxieTree, a borrowing and lending protocol for Axie monsters, unveiled the details of its [Alpha Program](https://axietree.medium.com/announcing-axietrees-alpha-program-7724890978b9). - The NFT game with the most 7-day volume this week was fantasy ⚽ game Sorare, which facilitated $395.5k of volume in that span [according to NonFungible](https://nonfungible.com/market/history). ## **🌐 Virtual Worlds** - Messari’s Mason Nystrom published a [great tweet thread](https://twitter.com/masonnystrom/status/1344448887843655680) on the Metaverse. Therein, the research analyst noted virtual world projects currently “account for over a third of all NFT sales activity.” > [](https://twitter.com/masonnystrom/status/1344448887843655680) - Never one to slow down, RAC headlined an epic set at Decentraland’s *End of Year Party* ... > [](https://twitter.com/RAC/status/1344356505940738048) ## **🛒 NFT Marketplaces** - Popular NFT marketplace OpenSea just rolled out a new feature, [Collection Manager](https://twitter.com/opensea/status/1344007540103929856), that lets users mint NFTs without needing to pay any gas. Powered by the ERC-1155 token standard and OpenSea’s API system, this service mints NFTs on-chain only after they’ve been purchased. - Upstart NFT marketplace Cargo is rolling out its Cargo NFT Reward System [in early 2021](https://twitter.com/BuildWithCargo/status/1344309190022426624). The program will let users stake Cargo Credits (and other assets for reward multipliers) for the chance to earn exclusive NFTs from popular cryptoartists. ## 💎** DeFi x NFTs** - NFTfi, a marketplace for NFT collateralized loans, [added Async Art NFTs](https://twitter.com/nftfi/status/1343895235856916480) as a supported collateral type this week. - NFTX, a new NFT index fund project, just hosted the second phase of its [Community Raise](https://twitter.com/NFTX_/status/1343994414964862980). The [open bounties available](https://twitter.com/NFTX_/status/1344621069643243520) are dwindling! --- ### **Action steps** - Try minting an NFT through OpenSea’s updated Collection Manager dashboard - Read *[Metaverse-Native VS Incumbent](https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/p/-metaverse-native-vs-incumbent)* by Andrew Steinwold