The Hype Report

Welcome to The Hype Report where we break down the latest news, stories & happenings around sports & web3.

Here's What You Need To Know This Week:

• Detroit Pistons Star Cade Cunningham Gets Caught In Crypto Collapse

• NFT Startup Candy Digital Cuts Staff in Mass Layoffs

• Web3 Sports Prediction Platform Maincard Launches on Mainnet

• Porsche Just Entered Web3 With Its First NFT Collection

Let's Dive Into It...

Cade Cunningham Caught In Crypto Collapse

BlockFi, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange, filed for Chapter 11 this past week as a result of the collapse of FTX.

The company announced earlier this month that it had halted withdrawals, citing “significant exposure” to Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange, as well as its sister hedge fund Alameda. FTX, Alameda, band dozens of affiliates filed for bankruptcy on November 11.

Not great news for Detroit Pistons star point guard Cade Cunningham who in 2021 received bitcoin as part of a partnership deal with the crypto exchange BlockFi. Cunningham's bitcoin bonus was "insignificant" and separate from the overall cash payment he received from BlockFi, a source familiar with the deal told Crain's.

In its bankruptcy filing, BlockFi said it owed money to more than 100,000 creditors. The largest creditor listed is Ankura Trust, a company that represents creditors in stressful situations, which is owed $729 million. FTX, BlockFi’s second-largest creditor, is owed $275 million.

BlockFi has about $257 million in cash on hand, and the company expects that will provide sufficient liquidity to support it during restructuring. The company estimates it has between $1 billion and $10 billion in assets and liabilities, according to the filing.

Candy Digital Cuts A Third Of Their Staff

Candy Digital, a sports and entertainment NFT startup that was founded in 2021 and rocketed to a $1.5 billion valuation that same year, laid off a large part of its staff this week.

Candy Digital was founded in June 2021 by Michael Rubin, executive chairman of sports merchandise giant Fanatics, along with Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Mike Novogratz and entrepreneur and investor Gary Vaynerchuk. Fanatics was described as the majority owner at the time and said that it would tap its existing customer base to promote Candy.

In October 2021, the company announced that it had raised $100 million at a $1.5 billion valuation, in a Series A round led by Insight Partners and Softbank’s Vision Fund 2.

the firm has rolled out several partnerships and sports licenses, including partnerships with MLB, WWE, all of NASCAR’s teams (but not the league itself), and a number of college athletes.

It is the latest NFT-centric firm to face layoffs in recent months as the market has lost significant momentum amid a broader crypto market decline and wider macroeconomic turmoil. NFT sales have fallen dramatically since the start of the year, with about 87% less total trading volume in October compared to January, and valuations are sinking too.

NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day maker Dapper Labs, one of Candy’s biggest rivals in the sports NFT space, laid off about 22% of its workforce earlier this month, although it’s unclear how many people were affected. Top overall NFT marketplace OpenSea shed 20% of its staff in July.

Tough times call for tough decisions.

Web3 Sports Prediction Platform Maincard Launches on Mainnet

Maincard, a platform for fantasy sports built on the Polygon network, has officially launched its mainnet (a working, fully-operational blockchain).

The Web3 sports prediction game launched on November 19th, one day before the 2022 FIFA World Cup took off in Qatar. Since mid-September, the project has been running many testnets to check that the app is ready for release. During this period, they have had more than 14,000 players from 125 different countries test the game.

Maincard's gameplay focuses on its NFTs, known as Maincards. Players can use Maincards to vote on match outcomes for popular sports like soccer and basketball. Although limited for this initial launch, additional sports will be added in the future.

Early project backers have already received rewards in Maincards for their support and can start playing the game immediately. Meanwhile, cards are available on Maincard's in-built NFT marketplace.

Despite only being live for a couple of days, activity on the platform is already booming. The current number one spot on the leaderboard has a 90% prediction success rate from 52 votes.

In addition to revenue generated through MainCoins — Maincard's in-game currency — there will be weekly prizes of between 3,000 and 1,000 MATIC (Polygon's native coin) for gold, silver, and bronze leaderboard finishes.

Porsche Pushes Into Web3 With NFT Collection

Sports-car manufacturer Porsche announced its first planned NFT collection this week as part of its web3 strategy. The collection involves 7500 customized art pieces of the Porsche 911 to be launched in January 2023 on the official marketplace.

The artwork is created by Patrick Vogel, a Hamburg-based designer, and 3D artist, and the NFTs in this collection are developed around a white Porsche 911 car model.

However, the buyers can also influence the appearance and character of their NFTs by choosing from themes of Heritage, Performance, and Lifestyle routes with 150,000 potential variations. The company is working on integrating blockchain technology into future solutions with the help of its subsidiaries, Porsche Digital and MHP.

It also has collaborated with UP.labs, a company that incubates mobility technology startups, and NFTnow, a digital media platform for NFT coverage and creation. This isn't Porsche's debut into web3 though.

Forward31, a company started by Porsche Digital, launched Fanzone in 2021, a platform for digital trading cards that uses blockchain technology. In 2021, they also auctioned an NFT through the SuperRare marketplace.

As part of the Volkswagen Group, Porsche's investment in NFTs follows the trail of other companies in the group. Last week, Skoda entered the metaverse through the blockchain-enabled “Skodaverse”, which provides immersive virtual experiences and NFTs.

In May 2022, Audi launched fractional NFTs, which sell parts of a single piece of art. Earlier this year, Volkswagen’s South African subsidiary also launched NFTs through OpenSea, as part of an advertising campaign for the new Polo car.

What Else To Read:

Thanks for reading this week!

Talk soon,

Malcolm