How The Turn Tides

Blubber Notes #116

In today’s note, I discuss the shifting sentiment towards NFTs with utility beyond just PFPs. Next week is Permissionless, and if you're attending, I’d love to connect! Lastly, I'll provide an update on TTK. Let’s dive in!

DALL-E3

Summary:

• The Tide is Backed by RWAs

• Growing Interest in RWAs+

• Follow-Up on The Third Kingdom

The Tide is Backed by RWAs:

• It only took NFTs losing 90%+ of their value for me to feel justified in making the case that utility is essential for their survival. Back in 2021, during the height of the NFT craze when everything seemed like a guaranteed winner, I often felt like an outsider who didn’t fully connect with the pure art culture. Instead, I gravitated toward projects with potential utility—like Portals for metaverse/world-building, Futureverse for gaming+, and most importantly, tokens tied to real-world assets.

• While some art-focused NFTs will likely continue to do well, they need more than just aesthetics to thrive. Even Pudgy Penguins isn’t just art—it's intellectual property, a collectible, part of a gaming ecosystem, and so much more. Utility adds layers of value.

• Take, for example, Collector’s Crypt on Solana, which just sold out their mint of 150 graded Pokémon cards at 1 SOL each. I grabbed two, intrigued by the potential pull. There’s a Mario Pikachu card worth around $5,000 in market value hidden in the mix. Yes, it’s a bit of a gamble, but no matter what I pull, it’s backed by a real, physical asset. And grading alone costs $25–50 depending on the item.

x.com

• I encourage readers to explore platforms focused on tokenized physical collectibles, like Collector’s Crypt, Courtyard, Baxus, Cantinium, Blockbar, and others. Remember, the NFT is just the wrapper and delivery mechanism—the real value often lies in what it represents.

Permissionless+:

• Next week, I’ll be at Permissionless in Salt Lake City, but before that, I’ll be presenting on tokenized collectibles at RWA.Day. If you're attending, I highly recommend signing up for this event. It’s a great opportunity to dive deeper into the future of tokenization. If you’d like to connect while I’m there, feel free to send me a DM on X.com!

• Sticking with RWAs, I highly recommend checking out the latest episode of the Real Talk NFT podcast. In this episode, you'll hear from the founder of BlockBar and learn how they’re bringing spirits on-chain. It’s a fascinating conversation about the intersection of blockchain and the luxury spirits market.

A Follow-Up on The Third Kingdom: Early Challenges and Promising Progress:

In my article last week, I shared some initial thoughts on The Third Kingdom (TTK), and after spending more time with the game, here's where I stand:

• TTK had a rocky start at launch. The game was riddled with bugs, which forced the team to switch to beta mode, entering a period of heavy maintenance. Now, users are bracing for an imminent full reset. To be honest, this wasn’t a surprise. Futureverse has faced similar issues with previously launched titles, and the lack of thorough Alpha testing with the community was a key factor here. The hope is that they’ll take these lessons into account for the upcoming Readyverse launch.

The Good News

• Despite the rough start, there’s a lot to be excited about. The game itself is visually stunning and surprisingly addictive. Now that players have had the chance to engage in testing, it's clear that the community enjoys the gameplay. What's been most inspiring, though, is how the development team responded to the issues.

• They took action by shifting to testing mode, planning a full relaunch, and rewarding players for their participation in testing. This level of responsiveness is encouraging, and I have to tip my hat to CEO Aaron McDonald for listening to the community, addressing the problems, and guiding the project back on track.

Stay Tuned for More

If you're playing TTK and haven’t yet subscribed to my TTK Substack, now’s the time! I’ll be providing regular gameplay updates and strategy tips several times a week, offering quick bursts of alpha that you won’t want to miss.

Authored by Matt Bartlett, CAIA. Follow Matt on x.com @MattBartlettVE

NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE

Please note the author has invested in all NFT projects and Cryptocurrencies mentioned within this article. The Author owns assets created by the Futureverse team and ecosystem.

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