Capital Radio owner Global is getting into the NFT space by offering digital lanyards for its Summertime Ball.
To celebrate the return of the event this Sunday at Wembley Stadium after three years following COVID-19, it has partnered with green NFT platform OneOf for the digital collectibles.
Described as unique memorabilia of the live event, the digital lanyard features the official line-up of Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, David Guetta, Aitch, Jax Jones, Mabel, Joel Corry, Mimi Webb, Tate McRae, Lauren Spencer-Smith, A1 x J1, KSI, Anne-Marie, George Ezra, Becky Hill, Sigala, GAYLE, ArrDee and Eddie Benjamin, who will play in front of a crowd of 80,000 Capital listeners.
“Collecting venue ticket stubs and programmes is very much part of the music fan experience when you’re at a live event, so we are thrilled to be able to move the fan experience into the metaverse by creating digital memorabilia,” said Global CMO Cilesta Van Doorn.
“And as millions of people watch along on social media and Global Player’s live stream, they can also now join in the full experience by owning unique memorabilia for the first time. The NFT digital lanyard is the perfect way to capture the full event experience, making it accessible to all.”
Mark Lyn, VP of special projects at OneOf, added: “OneOf is excited about being Global UK’s launch partner for Capital to be the first radio brand in the UK to release an NFT.
“Enabling Capital’s listeners an easy platform to onboard into Web3 and buy their first NFT without the need of a cryptocurrency wallet is core to our mission of onboarding 100 million new people into NFTs.”
Europe’s largest radio company, Global is also home to Heart, Classic FM, LBC, LBC News, Global’s Newsroom, Smooth, Radio X, Capital XTRA and Gold.
Cryptocurrency shorts
Former Liverpool and England star Michael Owen has deleted a tweet promoting NFTs following criticism from the Advertising Standards Authority. Tweeting a promotion for crypto startup Oceidon in May, he wrote: “Despite the critics, my NFTs will be the first ever that can’t lose their initial value.” Naturally, this is not true.
Cryptocurrency payment gateway CoinsPaid claims to have become the largest crypto processor by monthly volume. It has reached €12 billion total processing to date and is growing that by almost €1bn each month.
Scotland’s first whisky-focused NFT startup has moved into consultancy services. Rebranded CD Corp, based in Aberdeen, directly correlates NFTs with rare Scotch whiskey sets and sells them online. It now offers advice on blockchain strategy and NFT consultancy services.
Toy brand Mattel has signed a multi-year partnership with NFT marketplace Cryptoys to exclusively feature its brands on the platform. Mattel plans to create and sell playable avatars around Barbie and Hot Wheels for an upcoming metaverse.
Warner Bros has launched a story-based NFT collection – Looney Tunes: What’s Up Block? – with Nifty to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Looney Tunes.
Blockchain logistics firm the VeChain Foundation has signed a marketing partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship worth nearly $100 million.
Floor, an app which aims to make NFTs more accessible, has raised $8 million in a Series A round led by 6th Man Ventures and featuring B Capital, Worklife Ventures, Collab+Currency, Hannah Grey, Crypto.com, Exponent Capital and Eberg Capital.
SuperTeam Games, a gaming studio based in California, has raised $10m to launch blockchain-based sports games. The funding was led by Griffin Gaming Partners and included investment from Powerhouse Capital, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner and MLS franchise owners Steve Kaplan and Bennett Rosenthal.
Crypto prices
The overall market cap of the more than 19,800 coins is at $1.24 trillion at the time of writing (7am UK), a 0.3% decrease in the last 24 hours.
Market leader Bitcoin – the original cryptocurrency created by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto – fell almost 1% towards $30,100. BTC is 1% down in a week.
Ethereum, the second most valuable crypto coin – created as a decentralised network for smart contracts on the blockchain – dropped almost 0.5% and remains below $1,800. ETH is 2% down over the course of a week.
Binance Coin is a cryptocurrency created by popular crypto exchange Binance to assist its aim in becoming the infrastructure services provider for the entire blockchain ecosystem. Its BNB token gained 1% to $292, leaving it 5% down over seven days.
Cardano is an open source network facilitating dApps which considers itself to be an updated version of Ethereum. Its ADA token, designed to allow owners to participate in the operation of the network, fell 3% to below 63 cents and is 6% up over the course of a week.
The XRP token of Ripple, a payment settlement asset exchange and remittance system, acts as a bridge for transfers between other currencies. XRP grew 1% towards 41c and its price is more or less where it was seven days ago.
Solana is a blockchain built to make decentralised finance accessible on a larger scale – and capable of processing 50,000 transactions per second. Its SOL token rose 4% to $40.50 yet is 1% down compared with a week ago.
Meme coin DOGE was created as a satire on the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies but is now a major player in the space. DOGE dropped 1% to 7.9c, leaving it 4% down in a week.
Polkadot was founded by the Swiss-based Web3 Foundation as an open-source project to develop a decentralised web. Its DOT token, which aims to securely connect blockchains, climbed slightly to $9.30 and is 6% lower than its price a week ago.
Avalanche is a lightning-quick verifiable platform for institutions, enterprises and governments. Its AVAX token gained 1.5% to $24.56 and is 2% up in a week.
To see how the valuations of the main coins have changed in recent times – and for round-ups of recent cryptocurrency news developments – click here.
For valuations of the top 100 coins by market cap in US dollars, plus 24-hour price change, see below.