The Bluesky hype explained

BAYC NFTs’ court win, the future of broadcasting, plus more metaverse stories today

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Backed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Bluesky has welcomed 20,000 users since its invite-only beta version for the app store rolled out.

Yet how is Bluesky truly different from the rest, banking on the “decentralized” infrastructure it’s supposedly built on? Some key details:

  • There’s no single central authority controlling the platform, as Bluesky is being developed based on the decentralized web protocol, a collection of open standards and tech for building DApps on the internet.

  • It’s a community-led platform, where users retain control over the platform’s development and governance.

  • It may use peer-to-peer networking to allow users to communicate directly with each other instead of relying on a centralized server to transmit messages, thus eliminating or reducing censorship and data breach risks.

No Twitter replacement has yet to make a serious charge at the bird app.

Zooming out on pure user numbers:

Bluesky: 20,000 users

HiveSocial: 2 million total users

Mastodon: 1.4 million monthly active users


Twitter: 238 million daily active users.

YC founder Paul Graham made an interesting point regarding new social networks:

“There's value if most of the 10 people you most want to talk to are there, and there are people for whom that's true.”

The company behind some of the most popular NFTs today has persuaded a judge that under the US constitution, an artist’s copies of the NFTs don’t qualify as protected speech.

This is the gist of the California court ruling on April 21, favoring Yuga Labs against artistic duo Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen.

A look back at the case:

  • In mid-2022, the duo released the RR/BAYC NFT collection comprising thousands of quirky apes looking uncannily similar to BAYC NFTs yet cheaper while using similar marketing materials.

  • As Yuga Labs sued Ripps and alleged he made millions of dollars while "celebrating the harm" he caused, Ripps said it’s "appropriation art" intended to spotlight what he called the company's "obvious racist messaging and imagery."

  • The court noted: Yuga Labs was allowed to protect a trademark product, citing the domains rrbayc and apemarket’s BAYC branding, which was “confusingly similar” to Yuga Labs’.

“We’re thrilled with this win,” Yuga Labs tells Artnet News, saying it’s a win “for the entire web3 industry to hold scammers and counterfeiters accountable.”

At the recently concluded 2023 National Association of Broadcasters Show, which wrapped up in Las Vegas with an estimated 65,000 delegates, AI was the talk of the town, causing both anxiety and optimism over staggering opportunities for broadcasting.

Key concerns, threats, and rays of hope identified at the conference include:

  • How “big tech [uses] their platforms” to access broadcast television and radio content, barring fair compensation for content despite the degree to which producers drive tremendous site traffic.

  • The needed additional diligence to determine what is real and what is AI, and the caution required to protect one’s likeness.

  • Navigating tech and workflows for the evolving area of virtual production, with potential applications from advertising and series work to features.

How much trouble can we get into if we let AI run wild? A letter by the Future of Life cites risks that can be brought about by unregulated AI:

  • “Loss of control of our civilization”

  • Creating harmful disinformation and fraud, “flooding our info channels with propaganda and lies”

  • “Actually manipulate people and bring down some of the key pieces of our democracies”

Perhaps peak AI concern is superintelligence, what Elon Musk refers to as “Godlike AI” and referencing artificial general intelligence (AGI), a system that can learn and evolve autonomously and generate new knowledge as it goes.

Another concern is the ease with which users can bypass or "jailbreak” the system, showing an inherent limitation as evidenced by the infamous napalm-making grandma incident.

🏃‍♂️ Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

  • Japanese game publisher Square Enix and PC gaming platform Elixir to drive web3 game adoption for mainstream players. (Link)

  • To connect better with its gaming clientele, HSBC unveils plans to buy land in The Sandbox. (Link)

  • Roblox's AI developments enable a seamless, engaging game creation process. (Link)

  • Meet GOMBLE’s upcoming game Rumby Stars. (Link)

  • How freelancing platform Uwerx can outperform The Sandbox and Shiba Inu. (Link)

  • Pikamoon’s offers a fast-rising GameFi token in the metaverse. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

  • Scavenger hunts get a style upgrade, thanks to Gucci’s latest web3 project in collaboration with Vans. (Link)

  • Meet Lorena Bello, winner of Vogue Singapore x Metaverse Fashion Week digital tilt. (Link)

  • Miami Fashion Week, shifting to November, will focus on tech and sustainability, including use of AI. (Link)

  • Nigerian brand Redbutton launches digital fashion exchange platform RedXchange. (Link)

  • How luxury fashion incubator SYKY Collective will help scale digital fashion startups. (Link)

  • Luxury brands like Coach and Gucci reap windfall in China from pandemic investments in digital sales and marketing. (Link)

🏀 Sports

  • What sports-related NFT business models are on the rise? (Link)

  • XRUN gets acquired by a Southeast Asian consortium, upgraded to FitVerse sports and health metaverse. (Link)

  • This electric car is the first Cupra concept to be presented on the brand’s metaverse space Metahype. (Link)

  • How the Porsche NFT Drop crashed and burned. (Link)

  • Heptagon Metaverse creates something new for all sports fans, sports clubs, athletes, and players in the sports economy. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

  • We soon won’t tell the difference between AI and human music - so can pop survive? (Link)

  • How is decentralized media breaking barriers in a web2 world? (Link)

  • Wes Anderson directs Harry Potter in AI-generated art, giving the series an offbeat spin. (Link)

  • Bluesky & Nostr, Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized social platforms, skyrocket in popularity amid Musk’s Twitter shakeup. (Link)

  • 30%+ of TikTok crypto investment videos are found deceptive. (Link)

  • How scammers are using your Snapchat and TikTok posts in their AI schemes. (Link)

  • Grimes is willing to split 50% royalties with AI-generated music. (Link)

🖼 Art & NFTs

  • Cao Fei’s Duotopia at Gallery Weekend Berlin 2023 dissects the metaverse’s real-world impact. (Link)

  • NFT.NYC 2023: Games and tokenization are driving a maturing NFT industry. (Link)

  • Web3, cross-chain environment Mandala plans NFT release, bringing folklore to the metaverse. (Link)

  • On the heels of the Metaverse Theater Festival, North China’s theater scene returns with vigor and charm. (Link)

  • Romania plugs into web3 with its national NFT marketplace. (Link)

🤖 AI

  • Generative AI is changing the way we book trips and travel. (Link)

  • German magazine fires editor over AI-generated Schumacher interview. (Link)

  • AI art sites censor prompts about abortion. (Link)

  • Canadian startup creates AI-powered drone that slashes chemical use in mega farms by 90%. (Link)

  • Airlines are flying high with AI algorithms. (Link)

  • How does AI perceive the contemporary home? Here are perspectives from 15 countries. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

  • Web3 startup funding drops by 82% YoY, from $9.1B in Q1 2022 to $1.7B in Q1 2023. (Link)

  • Weaviate, an Amsterdam-based AI-native vector database developer, secures $50M in Series B funding. (Link)

  • LA security firm Shield, combating online fraud, raises $2.1M in pre-seed funding. (Link)

  • Averett University unites metaverse, education, and ecological sustainability in a three-way partnership. (Link)

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All content on this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not aim to serve as or replace expert investment advice.

📈 If you are a startup building in the metaverse / web3 ecosystem and are raising capital, please reach out to Sfermion. Sfermion is an investment firm focused on accelerating the emergence of the metaverse 📈

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