This Week in Web3 | Shopify, Moonpay, Rolling Stone and More

It was a busy week of Web3 news, featuring a mix of headlines from eCommerce, payments giants, magazines, and rock bands.

Catch up on the latest headlines from the week here.

Shopify Expands NFT Integration for Millions of Merchants

Shopify has expanded its integration with NFTs on its platform, allowing merchants to design, mint, and sell Avalanche NFTs using the Venly Shopify merchant app.

The integration simplifies the process of selling NFTs on the platform, allowing merchants to automatically turn their creations into products that can be displayed and purchased on their storefronts, without the need for buyers to have a crypto wallet.

What they're saying: Shopify's blockchain ecosystem lead Christina Lomazzo shared: “Our growing blockchain ecosystem demonstrates our commitment to supporting merchants as they sell NFTs directly through their storefronts, helping to further grow participation in Web3 and expand what’s possible in commerce."

Mintable Partners with Moonpay to Make Payments Easier on ImmutableX

Mintable and Moonpay are working together to reduce friction in the NFT purchasing process with hopes of onboarding users to the IMX ecosystem. With Moonpay's NFT Checkout product, users can purchase NFTs directly with credit cards.

Why It Matters: A major barrier to NFT adoption to date revolves around the difficulty in crypto purchasing and crypto wallet setup. Allowing easier payment options like credit cards or Apple Pay removes several hurdles in the NFT purchasing process.

Mintable's goals with the partnership all represent progress against that target if executed:

Reducing the difficulty of wallet creation for new web3 users
Self-custody on crypto & digital assets
Seamless payments for NFT collections

Social Metrics Site NFT Inspect Is Shutting Down

The NFT Inspect made the difficult announcement on Tuesday, Jan. 3 that they would be shutting down their website and Chrome extension, noting they would be refunding recently onboarded collections and thanking their community members.

Though several community members offered their support to "save" the site in reaction to the announcement, it does not appear they have been successful.

Why It Matters: The NFT "Social Intelligence" site performed a unique service, sharing data on PFP usage across major NFT collections. PFP usage is one factor that traders use to determine if the holder base is buying more for short-term flips or actually embracing a community and likely holding for a longer period.

They also provided NFT influencer rankings in a weekly "power rankings" format, which were used by the community to determine who had the most "reach."

Rolling Stone Teams Up with Pussy Riot for "Matriarchy Now" NFTs

The "Matriarchy Now" NFT collection will feature photography from Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova in collaboration with Rolling Stone photographer and artist Ellen von Unwerth.

The theme of the project is "a reflection on art and sexuality," and sale proceeds will go towards supporting women's production rights.

Here's what you need to know to participate:

What: 11 unique photo NFTs (editions) with a "MATRIARCHY NOW" 1/1 cover featuring the Rolling Stone logo
When: Jan. 11
Where: Coinbase NFT marketplace (exact link TBD)
More details: Rolling Stone x Pussy Riot’s Nadya Announce “Matriarchy Now” NFTs

Photo credit: Coinbase

Web3 Roundup

Here's a recap of the other major Web3 headlines from this week:

Mastercard is teaming up with Polygon to teach artists how to leverage web3 technology when connecting with fans
A "Rug-puller" was charged by authorities, as the developer of Mutant Ape Planet NFTs was arrested and charged with defrauding investors of $2.9 million after landing at JFK
Fanatics cashed out of Candy Digital, citing lack of profitability in NFTs
Animoca Brands slashes its fundraising target for 2023 in half, now targets $1B, citing "challenging market"

That's it for this week. Check in next week for all the latest.

Enjoy this article or have a comment? Find me on Twitter @Tyler_did_it.

Author Bio

Tyler Warner

Tyler is a high-volume NFT trader, having reached the top 100 in NFT sales revenue using NFTBank’s rankings, a Pengu maxi (in Luca we trust), and a writer for Lucky Trader. Tyler’s writing spans market analysis, news breakdowns, project ecosystem overviews, and web3 opinion pieces.

Disclaimer: The author or members of the Lucky Trader staff may own NFTs discussed in this post. Furthermore, the information contained on this website or the Lucky Trader mobile application is not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as financial advice. AI may have assisted in the creation of this content.