NFT Review is a weekly newsletter covering NFTs in the Web3 ecosystem on Polkadot’s side of the woods. The newsletter is put together by Bruno Škvorc and gbaci.

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Looking for a primer on NFTs? This should be the last introduction you’ll ever need.

Dear NFT enthusiast,

Last week, Minecraft banned NFTs from their platform, forcing Minecraft-based projects like NFT Worlds to create new plans. Minecraft stated that NFTs do not align with their ethos of creating an inclusive place for gamers and developers. It is funny because it is somewhat hypocritical. 

If Minecraft is about inclusivity, why are they excluding gamers and developers who want to play with NFTs? They argued that NFTs thrive by leveraging digital scarcity to create an ecosystem of haves and have-nots. But they do not consider that NFTs grant gamers an avenue to own–and thus profit–their experiences. It is interesting how this decision plays out in the long run. Epic Games CEO has already come out to declare that Epic Games will ‘definitely not’ be banning NFTs, but will grant its gamers and developers freedom to decide.

While Minecraft was banning NFTs, Square Enix, the gaming studio behind the worldwide smash hit Final Fantasy, announced that it would release Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary cards on the Efinity, an NFT-focused Polkadot parachain. 

Thank you for reading and have a great week.

— NFT Review

📬 NFT News from Kusama & Polkadot

• Enjin and Square Enix to launch a digital collection of Final Fantasy VII cards on Efinity.

• Secondary sales and transfers have been enabled for Skybreach.

• RMRK published an interview with Shawn Tabrizi and a vlog series recapping the NYC experience of Polkadot Decoded.

• The Governance experiment powered by RMRK’s advanced NFT system is a resounding success, creating a 700% increase in governance participation.

• You can find all RMRK tools created by the community in the official wiki. MarcoRo also published a list of all useful RMRK tools including development git and bots that have been created so far.

• Basilisk is hosting a minting workshop on 28th July.

🗞 NFT News from Ethereum and Beyond

• Web3 platforms launch the Open Metaverse Alliance.

• Mojang Studios bans Minecraft NFT integrations.

• US federal agency issues legal advisory on NFT investments.

• Amazon.eth ENS domain owner disregards 1M USDC buyout offer on OpenSea.

• Dubai to ramp up metaverse efforts with 40,000 new jobs.

• Yuga Labs warns of ‘persistent threat group’ targeting NFT holders.

• Christie's launches venture fund aimed at Web3 and blockchain investments.

• Otherside Metaverse demo kicks off with 4,500 participants: highlights.

• Bill Murray's biographical NFT project is set to be premiered by Coinbase.

• 34% of gamers want to use crypto in the Metaverse, despite the backlash.

• NFT market worth $231B by 2030? Report projects big growth for sector.

• Tencent shuts down NFT platform as gov policy makes it impossible to thrive.

• CryptoPunk sells for $2.6M as big NFT brands floor prices increase.

• Shanghai included blockchain, NFTs and Web3 in its 5-year plan.

• Playboy to launch first ‘MetaMansion’ in The Sandbox.

• GameStop releases public beta NFT marketplace.

• amazon.eth received a 1M USDC bid.

• MetaMask is working on a new confirmation window that will help mitigate SetApprovalForAll NFT scams.

• OpenSea introduced a Solana launchpad. 

• PREMINT had its website temporarily commandeered by a hacker, who then stole ~$375k USD worth of NFTs. PREMINT also acquired NFT authorization service Vulcan. 

• The U.S. Office of Ethics issued new NFT rules for executive branch employees. 

• Yuga Labs warned of a “persistent threat group” that may be on the verge of launching a coordinated attack against multiple NFT communities. 

• Moonbirds held its Oddities reveal.

• Nickelodeon launched its Rugrats PFP collection.

• Yuga Labs is estimated to have made the equivalent of ~$150M USD via NFT royalties to date. 

• Gremplin auctioned Bufo Canicidus via Endaoment for 3 ETH, the proceeds of which will fund conservation efforts around the Colorado River Toad. 

• The VerticalCrypto Art Residency Program celebrated its 1st birthday. 

• Pxls, a cryptoart project on StarkNet, is launching. 

• Axie Infinity unveiled its first Lunacian Summer skins.

• Sound has paid its artists over $3M worth of revenues to date. 

• Spores launched an Acoustify functionality. 

• nft42 / nameless parted ways with TokenSmart, the crew behind iconic Ethereum metaverse events like The WIP Meetup, Metalympics, and more. 

• Nike x RTFKT released AR Genesis Hoodie NFTs, which are digitally compatible with Clone X avatars and come with accompanying physical versions.

• NFTX rolled out a new Yield dashboard. 

• sudoswap’s new sudoAMM crossed the 500k ETH trading volume milestone already. 

That’s all for this week, see you in the next edition! Got some links to share with us, artists to feature, NFTs to sell, jobs to promote, or events to popularize? Get in touch with Bruno or gbaci!