Nifty News: Vogue tokenizes magazine covers, autographed Tesla and more…

Vogue Singapore has tokenized its front covers, Animoca Brands expanded its investment portfolio and acclaimed producer Rob Weiss has signed up to direct a crypto series.

NFTs are in Vogue

Readers of the high-end fashion magazine Vogue Singapore will be able to fight for a chance to purchase two tokenized front cover images.

The front cover of Vogue’s September issue will feature QR codes allowing readers to sign up for an auction of two one-of-a-kind “virtual-only covers.” While Vogue has revealed that the auction will take place in September, the publication has yet to reveal the exact date of the auction.

"Triumphant Awakening," the first of the animated covers up for auction, depicts a gold statuette in front of a blue planet encircled by a rising and setting sun. Vogue said the cover was inspired by its global theme of “New Beginnings” — which links all 27 global editions in September, according to a company statement.

The second cover, “The RenaiXance Rising,” features an avatar wearing a gown inspired by Singaporean and Malay culture. The token comprises a programmable nonfungible token (NFT), with its background changing throughout the day based on the time in Singapore.

Virtual cover NFTs. Source: Vogue Singapore

Alongside the two digital covers, Vogue Singapore is also dropping an additional 15 fashioned-focused one-of-one NFTs. A feature of the collection is the “Flame Dress” NFT, as it can be ported and used in the Altava fashion gaming app. The winning bidder will also receive a digital certificate of authenticity, along with sketches of the NFT dress designed by creative director Olivier Rousteing.

Tokenized Tesla autographed by Elon Musk

Autographia, a marketplace for signed memorabilia, will auction off a tokenized photo of a diminutive Tesla Model X replica. The toy car depicted was physically signed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and features his signature scrawled across its hood.

Signed Telsa X replica NFT. Source: Autographia

The auction will last for 10 days beginning Sunday on the HODL Diamond Marketplace. Opening bids will start at 7.5 Ether (ETH) — worth roughly $23,700 at the time of writing.

The sale is Autographia’s first move to expand its offerings into NFTs. The image of the toy Tesla will be the first tokenized memorabilia sold by the firm. 

Another Animoca investment

Global NFT licensing agency Epik Prime announced on Wednesday that Animoca Brands co-led investment into the firm’s $EPIK membership token, which will launch on the Huobi Prime crypto exchange on Friday.

Epik provides licensed cross-chain compatible NFTs that players can use in games and virtual metaverses. The token will be utilized to drive growth in further brand licensing and cross-chain gaming projects centered on NFTs.

In an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Animoca Brands co-founder and chairman, Yat Siu, stated, “We look forward to expanding our presence in brand licensing, gaming, and metaverse ecosystems.”

Epik claims to be “the first and only NFT company” to secure deals with AAA gaming firms. Epik’s clients include ViacomCBS, Warner Music, Garena, Tencent and Universal.

Animoca Brands is a leading NFT game developer, having launched several successful titles, including F1 Delta Time and The Sandbox. The firm was valued at $1 billion in May, with the firm making significant investments in Axie Infinity, Dapper Labs, OpenSea and MLB Champions.

Related: Fox Corporation backs Eluvio's $100M raise as part of its content plan for NFTs

Weiss takes his entourage to NFTs

Rob Weiss, the American producer best known for his work on the popular TV shows Entourage and Ballers, will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the upcoming crypto-themed series Hold On for Dear Life (HODL).

As previously reported by Cointelegraph in March, HODL is a scripted TV comedy centered on the lives of crypto entrepreneurs that has been developed by Beacon Pictures. The producers are minting NFTs that celebrate the show and plan to tokenize a full episode.

While details were sparse at the time of the initial announcement, a Wednesday article from Variety has revealed that Weiss is set to take the reins for a portion of the 10-episode series.

“When I read the 'Hold On for Dear Life' pilot, I felt as if I had been transported into a fresh and unique universe where characters spoke about money in a whole new language,” Weiss told Variety, adding:

“The world of currency is rapidly changing, and ‘Hold On for Dear Life’ will both illuminate and entertain at the same time.”

HODL will also be one of the first shows to feature on the blockchain-based streaming service Sator. Earlier this month, Sator announced that it had minted the first series of official HODL NFTs on Binance Smart Chain.

The NFTs offer owners the opportunity to provide input on the direction of the show’s story, such as selecting when a character goes bankrupt or suffers heartbreak.

The NFTs were dropped in partnership with NFT marketplace Refinable. The tokens have seen little trading since their launch, with the “Heartbreak a Character” token receiving a single bid of 0.37 Binance Coin (BNB), worth $182, while “Bankrupt a Character” has had zero bids.

Roundup

Cointelegraph reported earlier on Thursday that the popular beer company Budweiser appeared to have unofficially sanctioned a piece of NFT art after purchasing it for use on its Twitter profile.

According to OpenSea records, the beer producer purchased a Budweiser-branded rocketship NFT on Tuesday for 8 ETH, worth roughly $25,704, and is now using the NFT as its official Twitter profile picture.

The head of Facebook Financial and co-creator of Facebook-initiated cryptocurrency Diem, David Marcus, said on Wednesday that the firm is “definitely looking” at possible ways to get involved in the NFT industry, such as providing NFT support in Diem wallets.