Among this week’s new NFT launches and news, we find exclusive new features such as the NFT projects of Habbo, Prada, Ledger, Sorare and Reddit. 

The digital world evolves so quickly that it is often almost impossible to follow the latest news and discover it at the right time. To be there a moment before something “explodes” economically, taking on value that most of the world had not imagined, is the dream of every modern investor. 

Habbo, Prada, Ledger, Reddit and Sorare

From the announcement of the launch of Habbo’s collections on OpenSea to Prada’s seventh NFT collection, this week was full of exclusive news for the Non Fungible Token world. In parallel, NFTs on the Reddit platform reached their all-time high in the bear market period, Lionel Messi joined Sorare’s shareholders, and Ledger assembled a ready-to-launch NFT collection. 

Here are the week’s latest news and launches regarding the world of NFTs.

HABBO X was released on 1 December

Habbo is a vintage pixel-art-style virtual community where you can create your own avatar, meet new friends, chat, build Rooms, design Games and play with other users, and much more. The Habbo X platform, focused mainly on NFTs, has been launched on 1 December. Announced as early as April 2022, Habbo X is a new fully integrated Web 3 server. The project aims to create a new hotel (in the metaverse) for socializing in a world powered by NFTs. 

With a focus on NFTs, Habbo X represents the company’s plan to focus on play-to-earn and tokenomics, where it will issue NFTs that players will be able to buy, own, or resell if they wish. Players will be able to own their own rooms in the hotel world and create their own monetized play-to-earn games.

Habbo X will become a distinct space where the Habbo and NFT communities can mingle.

Valtteri Karu, CEO of Sulake, said in an interview:

“Habbo has always been at the forefront of creating virtual communities for gamers and social creators, and we want to lead this change with the adoption of new blockchain technologies. Our goal is to maintain Habbo as a social pioneer of the endless possibilities available in the Web 3.0 metaverse.”

Prada and its new NFT collection dedicated to Christmas

Prada, in celebration of the holiday season, launched its new special sweater that is part of the Timecapsule series, a project of the brand that releases one new product per month. For the holiday season, the luxury house went all out by invoking Christmas feelings with a warm merino wool garment.

It is a luxury garment, costing $3750, which was made available for about 24 hours in only 50 pieces, in keeping with the traditions of the Timecapsule collection. Obviously, the Christmas sweater sold out in no time, partly because owning such a rarity allows one to enter the world of NFTs. In fact, each of the 50 sweaters is sold paired with an associated NFT, which will be delivered 45 days after the item’s purchase.

Reddit breaks record for minted NFTs

Good news for the Reddit platform, which breaks the record with the most minted NFTs on the platform. As many as 255,000 NFTs were minted in a single day, the number of Reddit NFT holders increased from 3.5 million to about 4.5 million. This is another major step forward for the world of NFTs, which is experiencing a remarkable moment both online and offline.

Reddit had been making headlines thanks to the staggering price increase of its NFT collections reaching excesses of 799%. The previous record of 200,000 daily mints was eclipsed bringing the number of NFT Reddit holders to 4.4 million wallets. These mostly belong to users of the social platform.

The Reddit social network is very connected with the world of cryptocurrency, with millions of users exchanging news and information regarding the ecosystem since time immemorial. Given the great interest in the crypto world on the platform, it was inevitable that the founders and managers of Reddit themselves would take an interest in this world, prompting their social network to implement a series of moves to take advantage of blockchain technology.

Ledger is planning to assemble a collection of NFTs

Ledger, a hardware wallet development company aims to launch a new collection of NFTs. The company has also created an internal working group and a non-profit fund to support artists.

The idea of diversifying its activities, through NFTs tantalizes Ledger’s mind; the desire to involve the company in more projects is a long-term goal of the executives. 

Jean Michel Pailhon, the chief curator of the Ledger NFT Art collection, sees NFTs as the next big art trend, taking the influence of the Beatles in the 1960s or rap in the 1990s as a point of comparison:

“Similarly, we believe that the 2020s will be remembered as the decade of NFTs, triggering a secular trend of mass adoption of digital art. By 2030, NFT artists will be among the most popular and successful contemporary artists.”

Leo Messi invests in Sorare and becomes ambassador

The Argentine legend has purchased an equity stake in the blockchain-based fantasy game, beginning a business partnership. Leo Messi and Sorare, one of the greatest players in soccer history and the highly successful blockchain-based fantasy game, have started a new commercial collaboration.

Indeed, La Pulga has purchased an equity stake in the French company, becoming its de facto ambassador. This new partnership will lead to the striker providing content and experiences for fans on the non-fungible token (NFT) trading platform, with the huge spotlight given by the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in the background.

Nicolas Julia, CEO and co-founder of Sorare, said:

“We believe Messi will help us set new standards in the way we do this work, and we look forward to sharing soon the new content and fan experiences we are collaborating on.”

On Thursday, 7 July, there will be the drop of Prada’s second NFT Timecapsule Collection, dedicated to the month of July. The physical item chosen is shirt number 31, along with the Non-Fungible Token as a gift. 

Prada and the second launch of the July NFT Timecapsule Collection

Prada is preparing for the second launch of the July NFT Timecapsule Collection, which, as with every launch, will take place on the first Thursday of the month, thus on 7 July 2022. 

Don’t miss the chance to join #PradaCrypted, #Prada’s community server on #Discord.
Follow us and stay tuned for the next #PradaTimeCapsule drop on July 7th.https://t.co/MgQJmKeu6B pic.twitter.com/xKYMt9pnYt

— PRADA (@Prada) June 30, 2022

“Don’t miss the chance to join PradaCrypted, Prada’s community server on Discord. Follow us and stay tuned for the next #PradaTimeCapsule drop on July 7th”.

The drop will allow users, for 24 hours only, to win the exclusive physical item of shirt No. 31 and the associated NFT as a gift. 

Specifically, the No. 31 shirt features black piping combined with Holliday & Brown’s tulip print on a cotton base. It also features a silk brocade and lurex “Jacquard Animalier” fabric and a silk Jacquard Thrush (flower) fabric from an early 20th-century French archive. Final design details include a Deco-inspired “Poplin Loto” printed fabric.

Prada: what are the Timecapsule NFT collections?

Having first launched in its Web3 version last month, the first NFT Timecapsule Collection made in collaboration with artist Cassius Hirst had sold out. 

In essence, the famous fashion brand, Prada, has decided to launch every first Thursday of the month, limited-edition physical and NFT items directly from its Prada Crypted marketplace. 

It is worth mentioning, however, that the Timecapsule Collection has actually existed since December 2019, although the introduction of NFTs only occurred last month. 

By purchasing the Timecapsule NFT, customers will be able to redeem the relevant NFT, which will also be available, in a second phase, to those who purchased the Timecapsule dating back to the first launch in December 2019. 

The Web3 in fashion

The introduction of NFTs in Prada’s collection marks an entry for the fashion brand into the Web3. 

Something that other industry brands are also delving into, each in its own way. Such is the case with Gucci, another Italian fashion brand that recently announced its online Vault Art Space, created in collaboration with SuperRare’s Crypto Art marketplace. 

Drops from the first exhibition “The Next 100 Years of Gucci,” which includes 29 selected artists, will be available until 29 July, with the price set in Ethereum. 

Continuing with the Italian luxury fashion brands that have introduced NFTs as they entered the Web3, we cannot forget to mention Dolce and Gabbana, who with their first collection of 9 NFTs called “Genesis”, had already registered a record in sales, reaching an impressive $5.65 million. 

Prada, with its TimeCapsule collection, plans to launch limited edition physical and NFT items every first Thursday of the month, directly on its Prada Crypted marketplace. 

Prada and the monthly launch of TimeCapsule NFTs on Prada Crypted

The famous fashion brand Prada has an original strategy: it plans to launch monthly NFT and limited edition physical objects from the TimeCapsule collection directly on its Prada Crypted marketplace. 

#PradaTimeCapsule revealed: This limited edition serial-numbered shirt is available for 24 hours starting today (June 2nd). By purchasing it, customers will become owners of a #NFT.
Get one while you can.https://t.co/0ZZMaeKL1B pic.twitter.com/kgxecQyLgT

— PRADA (@Prada) June 2, 2022

“#PradaTimeCapsule revealed: This limited edition serial-numbered shirt is available for 24 hours starting today (June 2nd). By purchasing it, customers will become owners of a #NFT. Get one while you can”.

On the first Thursday of June, Prada released 100 limited edition shirts accompanied by a free NFT for first-time buyers, both available for 24 hours only. 

Soon after, here was the announcement of the sold-out and upcoming July launch in anticipation. 

#PradaTimeCapsule is sold out.
Follow us on #PradaCrypted and stay tuned for the next drop on July 7th.https://t.co/MgQJmKf1W9 pic.twitter.com/cnys7hRv5N

— PRADA (@Prada) June 2, 2022

“#PradaTimeCapsule is sold out. Follow us on #PradaCrypted and stay tuned for the next drop on July 7th. http://discord.gg/prada“.

Prada: the TimeCapsule collection enters its Web3 phase thanks to NFTs

In reality, Prada’s TimeCapsule collection has already been live with this monthly drop approach since 5 December 2019, but it was only on the occasion of this 30th drop that the fashion brand wanted to introduce NFTs, entering the Web3 phase. 

From this moment on, therefore, the TimeCapsule NFT Collection will release a limited edition physical object and an NFT as a gift, presented on the first Thursday of each month, available for 24 hours.

For this 30th drop, Prada has collaborated with artist Cassius Hirst and presented a limited edition of 100 printed shirts and their digital version, each one unique and signed by the serial number of the drop and the numbering of each physical item.

Not only that, Prada also made public its Prada Crypted marketplace, although the collection is also already on OpenSea. 

As already mentioned, the idea of this major luxury fashion house is to create a fantastic marriage between physical and digital, by issuing a free NFT to every customer who buys a garment from the new collection. The NFT is represented by a GIF of the capsule collection and includes a number associated with each physical shirt. 

Slowly, all the big brands in the fashion world are beginning to embrace the world of NFTs at different times. The latest is the case of Prada, which is not a newcomer in this field. 

In fact, the brand had already collaborated with Adidas to release the “Adidas for Prada re-source” collection on Polygon.

Prada’s new 100 NFTs will be associated with a physical garment

On Thursday, Prada will launch its new collection in collaboration with Cassius Hirst, son of the famous artist Damien Hirst.

The idea of this major luxury fashion house is to create a fantastic marriage between physical and digital by issuing a free non-fungible token to every customer who decides to purchase one of the garments from the new collection.

Thus, buyers will receive a free NFT along with Prada x Cassius Hirst unisex button-down shirts, available in black or white.

The NFTs will be represented by a GIF of the capsule collection and will include a number associated with each physical shirt.

Prada and its experience with blockchain technology

For both Prada and the Hirst family, this is not the first approach to the world of Non-Fungible Tokens.

In fact, Damien Hirst’s first collection, “The Currency”, dates back to July last year and currently has a floor price of 5.2 ETH.

Prada on the other hand, as already mentioned, had collaborated with Adidas to release the collection: “Adidas for Prada re-source” on Polygon.

The beauty of this new limited collection is that it does not force customers to choose between physical and digital. In fact, the non-fungible token will be given for free with the purchase of the garment, thus using the potential of NFTs more like certificates of ownership than works of art. They will be digital assets that will accompany physical assets.

The collection will rely on the technology of the Aura Blockchain Consortium.

Aura is a non-profit organization founded by LVMH, Prada and Cartier, which uses Quorum, an Ethereum-based blockchain platform offering blockchain-as-a-service, ConsenSys Rollups and other blockchain products.