NFTs Weekly News #82- Ecosystem: Sandbox NFT Marketplace on Polygon

Are you ready for some NFTs news?

We’ve prepared a new article that covers the latest news and updates in the world of Web3 and NFTs. Read them below!

🗞️ News from last week

The Sandbox now has its own NFT marketplace on Polygon for trading and collecting in-game digital assets. What’s even cooler? Our friends at QED (Timisoara) have made it happen. Big shout out! Give them a follow here.

Also Sandbox announces a partnership with AIA Carnival for unique virtual-real experiences in Hong Kong.
Sales of Solana‘s Web3 Saga smartphone have soared after they announced that users can claim 30 million token $Bonk with their purchase. It reached to cost over $2000 on secondary marketplaces (even $5000 on eBay) from an initial value of $599.
According to a Fortune Business Insights report, the North American blockchain gaming market is estimated to reach $600B by 2030. That’s while the value of the global market is currently $154B, and by 2022 North America will have a 24% share of the total, or over $30B.
A vulnerability in the Ledger Connect Kit compromised the security of several DeFi protocols, including SushiSwap, Revoke[.]cash, Zapper, leading to a front-end exploit.

What’s more, over the weekend took place another exploit, several users who had interacted with NFT Trader in the past were affected, with NFTs worth several million dollars being stolen. However, Boring Security managed to recover them, with the hacker returning them for a reward of 120ETH.

And if that wasn’t enough, Flooring Protocol also suffered a $2M loss of digital assets.
Rainbow is launching Rainbow Points, which will be distributed as a reward to Ethereum users based on on-chain activity as part of the Rainbow wallet experience.
Animoca Brands and T&B Media Global partner to enhance digital property rights in the gaming and metaverse and promote NFT.
Coinbase has launched the Project Diamond platform, enabling institutions to create, manage, and exchange native digital assets on-chain.
MagicEden announces a collaborative drop with Collector Crypt on December 19, offering 300 digital cards that can be redeemed for physical ones for $150 in $SOL.

💰 Investments

The year 2024 will be the year of crypto gaming and the metaverse.

We can only agree with what Yat Siu, CEO of Animoca Brands, says. From the investment in recent months predominantly in Web3 game studios (over $456 million, according to DappRadar), to the focus of companies to develop their own metaverse, all this confirms that we are following this trend. GameFi will become more accessible and appealing to new (and old) gamers as the metaverse becomes more easily integrated into our everyday lives.

Yat Siu also says that despite unfavorable crypto market conditions, the industry has continued to see infrastructure developments, sales increases, hiring and partnerships on a roll. An example is NFT sales volume of nearly $900 million in the last 30 days alone!

Animoca Brands is well-positioned to take advantage of these trends. With an interesting portfolio to say the least (over 450 investments in Web3 companies and projects) and strong partnerships in blockchain gaming and metaverse (Ubisoft, Axie Infinity, Farcana, The Sandbox, Chiliz, Azarus, CyberConnect, you name it), the company remains an active and influential player in this industry.

After raising $20 million in September, Animoca Brands recently closed an additional round of financing, raising $11.89 million. The capital is to be used to further develop the Mocaverse, the metaverse imagined by Animoca Brands. An open and inclusive platform that will provide users with the ability to create their own digital identities, connect and interact with a variety of content and services, and gain exposure in the Web3 ecosystem and various collaboration opportunities.

🗽 Brands / Celebrities

China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK), China’s largest telecom operator has launched its own NFT marketplace, called LinkNFT. It will offer services such as mining, and trading and cover various sectors such as SocialFi, DeFi and GameFi.
BAPE and Bored Ape Yacht Club have announced the launch of the BAPE x BAYC collection on December 16, available in BAPEOFFICIAL stores worldwide and online.

Donald Trump is launching a new NFT collection called “Mugshot”, available at for $99. The NFTs are not transferable until December 31, 2024, and commemorate the former president’s legal troubles. Buyers of 47 collectible cards will receive dinner with him at Mar-A-Lago, exclusive merch, and a physical card with an authentic piece of Trump’s suit.
Cryptoys partners with Animoca Brands to deliver a digital experience for the Japanese market.

📣 Projects News / Updates

Pudgy Penguins in collaboration with Jack Butcher launch “opepeng hoodies” available now on Igloo.
Luca Netz revealed in an Inner Igloo about his future plans for the Pudgy Penguins. It’s about a Layer 0 integration with Solana, and future collaborations with Chubbicorns and NYXCosmetics.
World of Women (WoW) and Women In Tech Org organized a metaverse party in the WoW Museum as part of The Sandbox Game and WoW Discord.
Memeland, in partnership with Whisky Genius, introduces a limited-edition 34-year-old Macallan whisky presented in a skull-shaped bottle, available at a 20% discount for $MEME token holders.
Cool Cats announces the release of three games: a multiplayer arcade developed by nWayPlay, an Endless Runner by iCandy Interactive, and a Match3 mobile game by Sync Studios.

Legends of the Mara has released Kodamara Fusion, a new feature that allows players to evolve the Mara using Creation Season Catalysts.
Gods Unchained, the NFT game of Immutable, has been retired from Epic Games after being rated “Adults only” by the ESRB.
Frankdegods supports the option for holders of DeGods NFTs to transfer their NFTs back to Solana via a two-way bridge.

⚖️ Legal

US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Roger Marshall introduced a new bill: the Anti-Money Laundering Using Digital Assets Act of 2023.

This bill comes in the wake of Warren’s recent meeting with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, in which he told her that “if she were in government, she would shut down crypto.”

The Treasury Department, Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and other U.S. national security agencies and law enforcement experts have warned that digital assets are increasingly being used for money laundering, ransomware attacks, theft and fraud schemes, trafficking, terrorist financing and other crimes. So-called “rogue” states such as Iran, Russia and North Korea – which is seen as one of the world’s most prolific cryptocurrency criminals, stealing $1.7 billion in digital assets in 2022 alone – have turned to digital assets to evade sanctions and fund illegal weapons program activities. It is estimated that half of the DPRK’s missile program is funded by cybercrime and digital assets. Ransomware attackers, who almost exclusively demand payment in digital assets, hit more than 2,400 local governments, schools and hospitals in the US last year. Fentanyl chemical manufacturers in China are increasingly using crypto to sell their products to US cartels – last year, these manufacturers accepted more than $30 million in crypto payments, selling enough precursor chemicals to produce an estimated $50 billion in illicit drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine. Overall, last year**, illicit use of digital assets reached a record high of at least $20 billion**, with 44% of these transactions affiliated with sanctioned entities.

As the Financial Action Task Force warned, “loopholes in the global regulatory system have created significant loopholes that criminals and terrorists can abuse”, risking the creation of a “virtual safe haven for financial transactions by criminals and terrorists”.

The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act would mitigate the risks that digital assets pose to national security by closing loopholes and bringing the digital asset ecosystem more in line with the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act that governs the entire financial system.