China’s COVID-19 protests cemented in NFT
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) illustrating China’s ongoing protests against the country’s zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy have found their way to the OpenSea NFT market.
At least two collections were created in November, the first is a Polygon (MATIC) based collection called “Silent Speech” featuring 135 NFTs depicting images of protesters, signs, graffiti and even social media screenshots related to ongoing protests auctioned from 0.01 Ether (ETH), or just under $11.50.
Another collection titled “Blank Paper Movement” of 36 Ethereum-based NFTs with a floor price of 10 ETH, or nearly $11,800, showcases a more artistic approach as images of the protests appear painted on.
Holding a blank sheet of paper has become a symbol representing the suppression of speech in the rare and widespread protests that have erupted across China since November 14, starting with residents of Guangzhou, one of the largest cities in China, tearing down police barricades in response to COVID-19 measures.
Protesters in Beijing hold up blank sheets of paper during a rally against the communist government.
This idea developed during a student movement by a group of high school students in HK. pic.twitter.com/jRmnQ50Mlz— 鄉港 (@sabaocean) November 28, 2022
Protests escalated on November 24 as a fire that day at a high-rise building in the northeast city of Urumqi killed 10 people.
Some Chinese netizens believe residents were unable to escape due to extreme lockdown measures, including authorities wiring or closing doors.
Candy Digital lays off 100 employees
NFT Candy Digital has reportedly laid off a significant portion of its workforce amid turbulent crypto market conditions and a massive drop in NFT trading volumes this year.
More than a third of the company’s roughly 100 employees have been laid off according to a Nov. 28 report by sports industry outlet Sportico.
The reason for the layoffs is unclear and whether any particular departments were affected, as Candy Digital has not publicly addressed the layoffs. Former Community Content Manager at Candy Digital, Matthew Muntner, in a November 28 Twitter post publicly confirmed that he was part of the staff cuts:
I hate having to share this as much as I loved my job at @CandyDigital but I was part of the layoffs that took place earlier today.
I am quickly looking for a new role in community management, graphic design or related marketing.
Thank you, Candy Fam for a hell of a ride ❤️
— Muntner (@muntnerdesigns) November 28, 2022
Cointelegraph contacted Candy Digital for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Candy Digital launched in June 2021, backed by sports e-commerce store Fanatics, crypto-friendly entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, and Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz.
The company quickly forged partnerships with sports leagues, including Major League Baseball, NASCAR’s Race Team Alliance collaboration, and several college athletes. It was valued at $1.5 billion in October 2021 following a $100 million funding round.
Candy Digital’s layoffs follow others at tech companies such as NFT protocol Metaplex on Nov. 17, the layoffs of “several members” of its team, the layoff of 11,000 employees by Meta on Nov. 9, and developer of the Flow blockchain, Dapper Labs, on November 2, the layoffs of approximately 130 employees. .
Bored & Hungry Restaurant Hosts Pop-Up During Philippines Blockchain Week
Bored & Hungry, the NFT-themed burger restaurant based in Long Beach, set up a pop-up shop during Philippine Blockchain Week which kicked off on November 28 local time.
This is the first time the restaurant has operated in Southeast Asia, the brand has also exploited a pop-up chip stand at NFT.London in early November.
Grilling in Manila for 3 days only!
Birthplace of the Trill Burger, the best American burger of 2022: @BorednHungry bring his monkeys and burgers to Manila! pic.twitter.com/RuDBy6Ykjg
— Philippine Blockchain Week (@philblockchain) November 27, 2022
The restaurant opened in April and is themed around using the owner’s IP of its Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht club NFTs and has accepted ETH and ApeCoin (APE) as payment.
About two months after opening in June, the store inexplicably stopped accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment, likely due to falling crypto prices.
Ripple’s XRP Ledger Hits New NFT Sale Record
Ripple’s XRP Ledger blockchain recorded another record NFT sale, with an NFT XPUNK – a clone of Ethereum’s popular native CryptoPunk NFTs – selling for 108,900 XRP (XRP), or around $44,000 at the time of the sale November 25.
The #XRPL has a new record! A @XRPLPUNKS NFT just sold for 108900 $XRP ($44,000).
This is just the start for #NFTonXRP.— onXRP.com (@onXRPdotcom) November 25, 2022
The sale is the result of an open auction with over 20 people in a Discord voice chat according on the official XPUNKS Twitter account. He declined to disclose the buyer but said “the community knows who it is.”
Related: The Metaverse is a New Frontier for Earning Passive Income
The XRP Ledger introduced NFTs on October 31 with the introduction of the XLS-20 standard which was first proposed on May 25, 2021, NFTs feature “automatic royalties” for creators.
More interesting news
The community-driven Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) made up of ApeCoin holders launched its own NFT market on November 24 with only collections supported by Yuga Labs.
After the Saudi football team’s surprise win at the FIFA World Cup against Argentina on November 22, the floor price of a Saudi Arabia-themed NFT collection unrelated to the team jumped. 52.6%, with some seeming to see chips as an indirect way to bet on the success of football teams.