The Past Week In Crypto (Dec. 29th): Shaq's NFTs and More

Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari has reached a deal with Velas. The deal was announced by the CEO of Velas, Farkhad Shagulyamov. Velas, which is based in Switzerland, claims that they have an EVN chain built on Solana that competes with ETH 2.0. All details are not known, but Velas will sponsor Ferrari’s Esports series. This partnership could be a catalyzer for Ferrari to enter the crypto/NFT space. 

One of the world’s largest aircraft, rocket and satellite manufacturers, Boeing, has announced that it plans to enter the metaverse. The conglomerate headquartered in Chicago plans to revamp its entire design process in multiple ways. This plan includes steps such as Integrating Microsoft Hololens, increasing the use of robotics, and creating a single system of digitally integrated information. This system will include digital designs of different airplane models in the metaverse, which is supposedly going to help the company design airplanes. This use case shows that the metaverse can go beyond social/consumer experiences.

Just days ago, Ubisoft held a presentation during which, among other things, it announced its integration of NFTs in its platform Quartz. Players of Ghost Recon would be able to buy digital items in the game. This announcement has sparked a lot of backlash from a number of gaming fans, who feel that the company has not integrated its concept well enough for it to be accepted by fans. Ubisoft restated its intentions to continue with its plans. These developments show that we are still early in the NFT space and that both companies and fans will have to make adjustments. 

NBA Hall Of Famer Shaquille O’Neal launched his NFT Collection earlier this week. Titled “Shaq Gives Back”, the collection contained 10,000 mintable pieces. 100% of the profits will go to underprivileged youth through Shaq’s charity foundation. The money will be used to provide clothes, toys, and meals. The collection raised $2 million and contained different designs of Shaq, which represent his many sides and career paths during his life, including NBA player, Sheriff, TV analyst, entrepreneur, etc.

Turkish President Erdogan announced that the country’s law that regulates cryptocurrency is ready. While other details are yet to be announced, it is likely that this law will soon come into power. With a population of more than 80 million people, Turkey has struggled with inflation, and its government has opposed crypto in the past. While it is still unknown what this law will entail, watching crypto-policy be created from a large government that opposed crypto in the past can become a valuable lesson for the crypto community.