CZ’s message to brands that have not yet adopted NFTs
The recent triumph of acclaimed British rock band Muse has sent the cryptocurrency world into a frenzy. It has also caught the attention of Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ.” Binance’s CEO and Founder, CZ, has encouraged businesses and investors to join the crypto sector and, more importantly, NFTs.
English rock band Muse recently made history by becoming the first musical group to have a number one album strictly through NFT sales. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are a form of crypto that allows people to buy and sell digital collectibles.
The album in question is Will of the People, released last week. Last week the album was released as an NFT “digital pressing”, vinyl, digital, cassette and CD.
Muse rock bank becomes the first to top the UK charts with an NFT album
Muse have become the first band to hit the UK charts with an NFT-released album. The legendary rock act, according to reports, sold 51,500 copies of its new album Will of the People last week, making it the best-selling album in the country. It is interesting to note that the number surpassed the sales of the next nine best-selling albums combined.
The end of August saw the long-awaited release of Muse’s latest album, “The Tokenized Album”. Fans were able to purchase 1,000 NFT copies of the album, each with unique cover art and digital signatures from band members.
Although Will of the People only sold a fraction of that top 10 combined, they still managed to outsell them. The reason is that their digital printing was limited to 1000 copies worldwide. Even if every copy in the UK was an NFT, they would only have accounted for 1.96% percent of most of the total sales compared to other countries.
Although Will of the People was not the first album to be released in the NFT format, it still charted. Muse were not the pioneers of this technology, as Manchester rapper Aitch’s debut album, Close to Home, is ahead of theirs, reaching No.2 in the charts last week.
According to previous reports, NFT albums have been eligible for the charts for a few months, but it’s only recently that card-return stores are selling them. Will of the People was sold via Serenade, which is “organic”.
Aitch’s Close to Home NFT was sold on LimeWire, an NFT marketplace. The name and branding of the now-defunct file-sharing platform was licensed from it. Following the successful conclusion of the Muse NFT sale, ChangPeng Zhao has encouraged businesses to join the cryptocurrency revolution. In a tweet he wrote:
British rock band Muse have become the first band to top the UK charts with an album sold in NFT format. Not using crypto is a significant disadvantage going forward.
CZ, CEO of Binance
NFTs come out as a boon for brands, artists and investors
Naturally, businesses are beginning to take advantage of NFTs, given their various advantages. In fact, a number of companies are already using NFTs in innovative ways. Non-fungible tokens have become popular in the fashion, real estate, entertainment and sports industries.
According to Cryptopolitan’s latest news, FIFA has responded to the trend of buying NFTs and digital collectibles by announcing the launch of the NFT platform. The group claims it is ready to move forward with this initiative.
The move will bring the international football body and consumers in the digital world closer. Digital collectibles will be available to interested customers at the end of this month, following the platform’s launch. The organization said the move is a step towards democratization and will attract fans from around the world.
The recent increase in the value of NFTs has been steady. Bill Murray, a famous comic writer and actor, had his Ethereum wallet hacked for approximately 110 Wrapped ETH (wETH) worth $172,000 late last week.
By quickly moving the NFTs to secure storage, Murray’s wallet security team prevented the hackers from stealing his more valuable blue-chip NFTs, including CryptoPunks and a Pudgy Penguin.
More good news
DeVonta Smith, a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, has teamed up with Web3 startup Endstate to develop a distinctive sneaker line connected to NFTs. Endstate will begin selling NFTs featuring a digital replica of Smith’s signature shoe in September, according to a Sept. 2 Cryptopolitan article. After that, end users will receive the physical version when they are ready to ship in mid-December.
Later this month, Smith and Endstate’s design team will launch their new shoe line of NFTs. The endstate tokenization of the popular shoe collection market is part of the appeal. NFTs linked to shoes can make it easier to buy, sell and trade coveted sneakers.
