This week has seen another round of NFT-based thrills and spills, so here’s our regular NFT roundup to let you know what you need to know.
NFTs Pump $7 Million into Ukraine’s Fundraising Projects
Even amid the chaos of war in Ukraine, NFTs have become a silver lining for the Ukrainian government. The country has raised about $7 million for its armed forces and humanitarian activities thanks to NFT fundraising activities.
On Wednesday, 2,258 ETH worth $6.7 million was donated by 3,271 contributors through the recently concluded Ukraine DOA NFT flag auction. Ukraine also received a CryptoPunk NFT estimated to be worth $200,000 in its Ethereum wallet on Tuesday.
🇺🇦 2250 ETH / $6.75M USD CONTRIBUTED TO THE UKRAINIAN FLAG NFT 🇺🇦
Thank you to all who supported our project 🙏
Next steps: POAP for all those who donated to partybid, work with Come Back Alive on safely transferring funds
You may still donate ETH directly to ukrainedao.eth pic.twitter.com/GsQBLzHIVK
— UkraineDAO (@Ukraine_DAO) March 2, 2022
Hackers Steal, Sell, then Return Smol Brains From TreasureDAO
The biggest marketplace for NFTs on the Arbitrum blockchain, TreasureDAO, suffered a significant hit by hackers this week, which led to the looting of hundreds of Smol Brains and other NFT collections. These NFTs were initially sold before the platform was frozen, but in an interesting twist the hackers returned around half of the unsold NFTs.
TreasureDAO co-founder John Patten offered to personally cover any losses incurred by users of the platform, which has temporarily ceased operations while it deals with the fallout.
Almost all Hacked NFTs being returned. Your smols and legions will get back to you soon friendss pic.twitter.com/IVOr0V5clG
— brokeboy96 | MoonBoi (@Br0keboy96) March 3, 2022
KPMG Canada Buys Its First NFT
Three weeks after buying its first cryptocurrency, the Canadian branch of accounting powerhouse KPMG became the latest global company to hop on the NFT bandwagon. The accounting firm splashed 25 ETH ($70 000) on the purchase of one World of Women (WoW) NFT and an Ethereum Name Service domain name (KPMG.eth) in what it described as its “first foray into this rapidly growing asset class.”
KPMG Canada’s purchase is the latest example of companies buying into NFTs, with Visa starting the trend six months ago.
We completed the purchase of digital art from the highly acclaimed World of Women non-fungible token (#NFT) collection, our first foray into this rapidly growing asset class. @worldofwomennft #ETH #NFTCommunity https://t.co/HDKu77oVam pic.twitter.com/JmUIaKZcpi
— KPMG Canada (@KPMG_Canada) February 28, 2022
Dolly Parton Plans To Release Limited-Edition NFTs
Country music legend Dolly Parton announced this week that she will be releasing a collection of NFTs on her own marketplace, Dollyverse. The singing legend’s NFTs will include a limited-edition of her Run, Rose, Run album, a collection of songs from a book she co-authored with bestselling author James Patterson, and a limited series of Dolly-inspired NFT artwork.
Parton’s venture is a part(o)nership with FOX Entertainment’s Blockchain Creative Labs and blockchain company Eluvio, likely the first of many such collaborations.