Rug Radio Recap - December 11, 2022

gm! It's been another eventful week in Web3 and we're here to recap the top stories...

• The debate of marketplace royalty protections

• Updates surrounding FTX, Alameda, and SBF

• Rug Radio Updates: Farokh, OSF, and Mando were in Paris for Ledger Op3n and we have CVL PFP mint updates

The Week Ahead

• On Monday, Apecoin staking rewards begin to accrue and we'll be watching to see which part of the ecosystem these rewards flow towards.

• On Tuesday, we get the latest inflation data with the November CPI which will likely move markets and impact the federal reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

• On Wednesday, we get the outcome of the FOMC meeting and how the federal reserve plans to move forward with monetary policy and rate hikes.

Market Royalty Protections

The debate surrounding how marketplaces are implementing protections for creator royalties got a little tense and slightly confusing...

OpenSea announced that their operator filter registry, the tool that introduces the on-chain enforcement of royalties, will be transferred to a multi-sig wallet before January 2, 2023. The deadline for new collections to implement this filter was also pushed to this date with royalties for collections who opt out of using the filter becoming optional for collectors.

Magic Eden launched their own version on the tool called Open Creator Protocol where creators and collections can set dynamic royalties, freeze authority, and personalized restrictions on a per token basis.

Metaplex also introduced their own solution that preserves provenance and enables an easy, automatic upgrade process.

While all of these marketplaces have their own implementation of royalty protections, a commonality among them is that these tools enable creators to block other marketplaces that don't honor royalties. The issue that creators have with these protections is a movement away from decentralization and being directly impacted by marketplaces in this "race to zero" in an attempt to attract traders and gain market share.

FTX, Alameda, and SBF Updates

While the bulk of the action surrounding the FTX collapse has passed, new revelations are still coming to light each week...

• NFTs on FTX now link to the restructuring page which includes the Coachella NFTs that launched in February.

• The Financial Times leaked Alameda's investment portfolio showing nearly 500 companies with the total investment value exceeding $5 billion USD.

• The CEO of The Block resigned after revelations of undisclosed loans from SBF.

• SBF will testify in front of the Financial Services Committee on December 13.

At the LedgerOp3n event in Paris, Ledger unveiled Ledger Stax, a touch screen version of their wallet that allows greater customization, created by iPod creator Tony Fadell.

Starbucks' odyssey experience, an extension to the existing rewards program leveraging Web3 technology, went live on December 8 to it's first group of beta testers.

After mysteriously disappearing in June, Sartoshi, creator of mfers, announced his return and new utility for "end of sartoshi" holders.

CoinDesk released their list of 50 most influential people who defined the year in crypto.

Ethereum developers are targeting March 2023 for the Shanghai Upgrade allowing for the release of staked ETH.

Farokh was in Paris for Ledger Op3n

We released mint details for our Cory Van Lew PFP drop

Town Hall

With the Thanksgiving holiday and all of the traveling, we recognize it's been a while since our last Town Hall, but we'll be back to our normal biweekly schedule starting with our next Town Hall on Friday, December 16, at 3pm EST with ALL of the latest updates.

Look out for the Space on our Twitter or, if you can't make it, subscribe to our Mirror where we post notes later in the evening!