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NFT clone Punks: Right or wrong?

“Can someone explain to me why NFT clones are selling for so much? asked Redditor LittleDoofus a couple of months ago.NFT clones cash in on successful NFT collections by releasing similar or even identical copies of the art under similar sounding brands..

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“Can someone explain to me why NFT clones are selling for so much? asked Redditor LittleDoofus a couple of months ago.

NFT clones cash in on successful NFT collections by releasing similar or even identical copies of the art under similar sounding brands. LittleDoofus wanted to know how we have suddenly ascribed so much value to NFTs, let alone mere copies of celebrated NFT artworks?

LittleDoofus post continued:

Ok so I kinda understand how someone might see the CryptoPunks or Ether Rocks projects as valuable digital collectibles, but whats going on with the craze over the clone projects? I see so many lazy CryptoPunks clone projects (no affiliation to Larva Labs) with no-name artists behind them selling for a lot.. why? Is it just scammers trying to scam each other?

It’s a good question: Where do NFT clones fit in open-source crypto culture? I decided to ask long-time crypto developers and the clone creators themselves for their thoughts.

First, by “clones” Im referring to exact copies of well known projects: Think of CryptoPhunks, which simply flipped the images and literally mirrored the original iconic NFT CryptoPunks series that now sells for millions a piece. CryptoPhunks sell for a little less than an Ether.

Clones also exist across different blockchains. SolPunks, for example, was built on the Solana blockchain and is in no way affiliated with Larva Labs and/or CryptoPunks built on Ethereum. But, the punks look the same.

 

 

CryptoPhunks
CryptoPhunks did the bare minimum possible to distinguish themselves from the originals. (Source: Twitter)

 

 

There are also NFT derivatives that cash in on the popularity of a well known brand by using a similar punk or ape name. These clones are copycats, imposters, tributes, spinoffs, or rent seekers, depending on who you ask. CryptoFUNKS took the name and applied it to hand-drawn stick figures for example.

Recreation and remixing also intersect with the open source ethos of crypto. Create stuff, open it up and encourage others to build on your efforts. SushiSwap began as a clone of Uniswaps code and then forged its own path.

Crypto venture and community builder Daniel Bar points to the current boom in generative art as an example of copying stuff that’s popular.

Its a bit like ICOs in 2017, mimicking grows like wildflowers, he says. But it does help the industry learn and develop.

He concedes that clone NFT projects might attract some money that would otherwise go to the original.

The people who buy the clones could have bought the real ones so, arguably, they may be devalued, say if one less bidder bids, he says. But, the real ones have actual perks that the fakes dont so its like buying a fake Rolex. The Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) included access to exclusive parties. CryptoPunks were used as tickets to a free NFT Meebit drop. That cant be cloned.

Crypto communities are also complex, ideological and multi-faceted. And while the unique strength of blockchain is authenticating stuff to enable trust between partners there is, of course, much speculative spending on digital assets in the current bull market, informed by memes and counter-culture. Valuable clones do make sense in this context.

But, lets start at the beginning. What the funk/phunk is a nonfungible token, or NFT? This definition frames the whole conversation about the emergence of NFT clones and why people buy them.

 

 

CryptoFunks
CryptoFunks on the other hand are derivatives that trade off the original while doing something different. (Source: OpenSea)

 

 

Emerging digital property rights

As everyone knows, 2021 is the year of the NFT. Literally, as NFT is Collins Dictionarys word of the year. Everyone from Canadian ice hockey deity Wayne Gretzky to brands such as Marvel comics have launched their own collections.

The potential collectible angle for original projects is clear, but for clones of a popular NFT series, its more uncertain. We do know that clone projects have value and rake in funds, (even if not at the level of their originals). Interestingly, almost nobody is being sold a fake believing it is the real thing.

Nonfungible means that the item is unique and cant be copied. Every NFT is a unique token, and while it’s easy to copy the related image, the creators wallet address cannot be faked, and minting is a direct line of provenance. Minting an NFT registers a particular user as its creator and the first owner of that NFT token.

(As an aside, hackers may be able toclone an NFT known as sleepminting, essentially changing the chain of ownership. The developers I spoke with werent sure this was actually possible though.)

So, an NFT is basically a form of notary service, a tokenized tool for provenance, establishing and certifying the creators wallet address. They can help artists, musicians and others prove they created something.

Michael Kong, CEO of Fantom Foundation, says NFTs show the full audit trail, level of authenticity attached to each unique token that you can see previous ownership people ascribe great value to that.

It means much more than copied images of pixelated punks. The possibilities for immutable provenance wrapped in an NFT are just starting to be explored. NFTs can wrap any data securely. Thats why true open source believers are keen to see progress in developing the space.

 

 

 

 

Open source revolution driving high prices, even for Clones

CryptoFUNKS and Sad Frogs District are two notable examples of copyright claims leading to copyright claim takedowns of cloned projects. The most well-known NFT marketplace Open Sea’s de-listing of NFT clone CryptoFUNKS in October ironically probably only increased its popularity. OpenSea had received a takedown notice from Larva Labs requesting the delisting due to copyright infringements. It was a similar story with PolygonPunks in August, though they reappeared in September.

In August, OpenSea also announced the delisting of the 7,000 minted images of the Pepe the Frog in Sad Frogs District on its Discord channel for copyright infringements filed by the characters creator, Matt Furie. This angered the community who had already invested$4 million in the project and was worried it would potentially leave the NFTs worthless.

Bokky PooBah is a well-known open-source advocate in the crypto world. A Sydney-based Malaysian, he fell in love with the tech and its ideological underpinnings and has offered free blockchain coding lessons for years. His coding academy has no corporate support and no sponsorships. He joined crypto to build and continues to recruit people to build experimental things. PooBah is cited on the bottom of the CryptoPunks website as a resource for their project.

The de-listing of CryptoPhunks had a Streisand Effect, making it more popular, according to PooBah. The phrase refers to when famed singer Barbara Streisand tried to suppress information relating to her Malibu home but simply promoted massive interest in it. PooBah himself then had to buy a CryptoFUNK on principle. Restrictive licensing hinders the community, bemoans PooBah.

He explains that NFTs are super powerful” and is building a decentralized NFT exchange where NFT creators can ask for ongoing royalties entries in a ledger.

Forked it?

One theory about NFT knock offs is that they are equivalent to forks of an OS or blockchain that, in fact, increases the value and credibility of the original collection. This view suggests clones are actually driving NFT prices higher.

After all, as the right-click save brigade points out, copies abound with NFTs. These types argue that NFTs are worthless because they can be replicated with a screenshot. But, PooBah argues passionately that they are missing the point.

In the end, for time immoral, the ownership is strong and thats the key point. Ownership is done on a blockchain, it doesnt matter if people will copy any images anyway, he says.

For PooBah, the highest earning artist Beeple is boring … in terms of technology use. Its tech progress that excites him. Imaginative code is the art.

 

 

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Kong agrees, pointing out that right, click and save arguments are true for all artworks. But it is not actually the same. Value is subjective, the value is in the eye of the holder, such as perceived rarity.

He says it’s totally expected, its easy to save a file and produce another NFT but the argument makes more sense the other way around: Copyright can be easily infringed, but with NFTs, it is actually easier to see who created the artwork.

PooBah believes that the licensing of images could be more permissive” and he argues that open licensing trains more people by creating learning tools so that anyone can go to source code and refer to it to build something. He is philosophical about clone NFT projects, citing the benefits of adoption and learning. This is always the party line for the decentralized devotees.

Clone punk creators

The creators all have their own stories. David Lawrence is a 29 year-old Orlando-based photographer who started a project called Punk Portraits. While it cashes in on the CryptoPunk phenomenon, clearly has its own style.

Punk Portrait #143
Punk Portrait #143 (OpenSea)

Punk Portraits are CryptoPunks in the flesh. Its 1000 different real life ‘Punks’ with the same traits but embodied by real people, he explains. My goal with portrait photography is to create images that represent ones truest self.

Its hard to judge someone truly believing in their art while also cashing in on the Punk name. He has been a photographer for over ten years. Punk Portraits was his first foray into both the NFT and fictional (art) world.

For Lawrence, Punk Portraits are, of course, not a clone, but a derivative.

CryptoPunks set the gold standard for what I believe an NFT collection to be. Its simple, yet unique and each piece can stand on its own Its the Rolex of NFTs.

He says his work is like a homage to a favorite piece of art.

We wanted the same detail and allure, but then to imagine what it would be like if the punks were more than just pixels. What if they came and took on a real life persona? PooBah bought one, of course, in protest to Larva Labs image IP restrictions. To date, there have been no IP infringements raised against Punk Portraits.

 

 

While using the Punk theme, Lawrence clearly has his own style (Source: OpenSea)

 

Clayton Dixon is the New Zealand-based creator of Fast Food Punks, which leaps from the original CryptoPunks to a familiar McDonalds themed band of misfits. One collection also raised $574,000 for the Ronald McDonald House in the U.S., a charity for sick kids.

ETH also went up at the time, so it amounted to about $700 thousand for charity.

Theres a genius to his creations, along with some luck. Bitcoin crashed in May 2021. So memes of holders of Bitcoin having to go back to McDonald’s to work went viral… which made it a popular series, he says fortuitously. I was making them by hand. I had no idea what I was doing and then uploaded them to OpenSea. They were selling instantly.”

Another punk clone creator, Berk zdemir, is the Turkish artist of Bastard Gan Punks, and he likes to use the music metaphor of remixing.

A remix recontextualizes the idea or a notion and gives it a new meaning. The original still stays where they are. Derivatives are built on top of it, sometimes as a variation or sometimes as a protest. Every artifact has marks of their predecessors.

He was a fan of CryptoPunks but couldnt afford them so I thought I could make some for myself. His creations turned out pretty ugly (but awesome) looking and this gave me the idea of being a bastard, a new generation born from cool looking, elite parents. I started being goofy and created a persona concept around them with silly descriptions.

He was stunned with the attention it received, and the community built around the project. After seven months, he left the governance of the project and brand to the BASTARD DAO. But, I still enjoy creating new lore for it and making derivative works and encourage people to create.

Longevity, he argues: depends on what the intention behind the ‘clone’ is and the end product. If a clone has no message or a solid standing point, they usually are phony cash grabs. The market is oversaturated by projects wanting to sell out with copy and paste ideas without having any visions or plans.

 

 

They do look familiar (Source: Bastard Gang Punks, OpenSea) https://opensea.io/collection/bastard-gan-punks-v2)

 

NFT community culture has a sinister side too

Communities built on Discord groups are important for NFT projects. Carefully curated plot lines are crafted so the NFTs didnt just emerge out of nowhere. Discord groups operate for the crypto native fans of an artists, drop in ones. There are certainly some very obsessive or perhaps devoted people waiting for news of new art or a possible airdrop.

Internet meme culture is a key driver of interest for NFTs. Humor is important to the world of clones… take the Dolly the NFT clone sheep clone, named after the famous Scottish sheep clone first cloned in 1996. And a limited series of Kimmie NFTs depicting North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in various forms of dress, which also comes with a leadership title to use in Kimdom.

The Kimmies
The Kimmies NFTs (Source: Twitter)

But, as with anything that engenders high passion, these debates can turn sour. Ex-Google employee Chunke Monke says he was the subject of threats from supporters of a certain NFT release after he began publishing articles that are critical of what he calls trademark trolls and their attempts to trademark their NFTs. The trademark trolls allegedly attacked his own satirical NFT release. In his view, these are actors stifle innovation through excessive IP protection.

Chunke Monke is now a vocal critic of big tech. He stumbled his way into crypto and NFTs after his last startup failed and he found Web 3.0 particularly alluring. According to Chunke Monke, a clone NFT trademarking their clone NFT is an affront to open source innovation and derivative creative possibilities, but the doxing of his true identity scared him. Such is the extreme passion in this space.

Chunke Monke bemoans this aggressive culture among some clone projects.

I’ve seen many Clone NFTs Discords. They are not fun. There’s no love or adoration for the art or the story because its all hollow. Theres no meaning and no durable community.

But, parody NFTs can retain a lot of value, maybe more than the original, if they have a certain sense of good humor, he says.

Prices symbolize the revolution?

In street art culture which also offers a huge spectrum of angry teenager tags to serious political statements painting over others work is part of the rules. It always seemed to me that Banksys huge prices at the auction distorted the roots of a protest movement born on the trains of Phillie in the 1970s. In fact, throughout art history, students were taught by copying the works of their masters.

For those in the art world selling T-shirts and mugs and aprons with reproductions of their work was once sacrilege for serious artists. Is that analogous to clone NFTs of art?

Like the TradArt or traditional art, its not winner takes all. There are many competitors and much space for many winners and losers. NFTS will be here as long as the blockchains last, says PooBah. The copyright arguments are there but going against clones is against open source a little.

So why do copycat clones attract such high prices? Pure speculation, says Web 3.0 developer Kong, buying clones in the hope someone else will sell it for a greater amount. The pandemic also shows how many people can make money out of thin air, notes PooBah.

Moderating these predictions, Chunke Monke notes why these valuations are hard. The truth is there are no right answers in NFT investing, but there are a lot of wrong answers. Valuing based on comparables (Clone Punk should be X percentage value of CryptoPunk) like in traditional finance, makes no sense.

For the record, in street art culture, tagging a scribbled signature on a detailed major piece was always sacrilegious.

For zdemir, the NFT clone creator, these are the rules :

I strongly encourage people to steal my art and create things with them. I think the world needs more fun and ideas.

 

 

 

 

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Shipping company files surprise Chapter 7 bankruptcy, liquidation

While demand for trucking has increased, so have costs and competition, which have forced a number of players to close.

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The U.S. economy is built on trucks.

As a nation we have relatively limited train assets, and while in recent years planes have played an expanded role in moving goods, trucks still represent the backbone of how everything — food, gasoline, commodities, and pretty much anything else — moves around the country.

Related: Fast-food chain closes more stores after Chapter 11 bankruptcy

"Trucks moved 61.1% of the tonnage and 64.9% of the value of these shipments. The average shipment by truck was 63 miles compared to an average of 640 miles by rail," according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics 2023 numbers.

But running a trucking company has been tricky because the largest players have economies of scale that smaller operators don't. That puts any trucking company that's not a massive player very sensitive to increases in gas prices or drops in freight rates.

And that in turn has led a number of trucking companies, including Yellow Freight, the third-largest less-than-truckload operator; J.J. & Sons Logistics, Meadow Lark, and Boateng Logistics, to close while freight brokerage Convoy shut down in October.

Aside from Convoy, none of these brands are household names. but with the demand for trucking increasing, every company that goes out of business puts more pressure on those that remain, which contributes to increased prices.

Demand for trucking has continued to increase.

Image source: Shutterstock

Another freight company closes and plans to liquidate

Not every bankruptcy filing explains why a company has gone out of business. In the trucking industry, multiple recent Chapter 7 bankruptcies have been tied to lawsuits that pushed otherwise successful companies into insolvency.

In the case of TBL Logistics, a Virginia-based national freight company, its Feb. 29 bankruptcy filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia appears to be death by too much debt.

"In its filing, TBL Logistics listed its assets and liabilities as between $1 million and $10 million. The company stated that it has up to 49 creditors and maintains that no funds will be available for unsecured creditors once it pays administrative fees," Freightwaves reported.

The company's owners, Christopher and Melinda Bradner, did not respond to the website's request for comment.

Before it closed, TBL Logistics specialized in refrigerated and oversized loads. The company described its business on its website.

"TBL Logistics is a non-asset-based third-party logistics freight broker company providing reliable and efficient transportation solutions, management, and storage for businesses of all sizes. With our extensive network of carriers and industry expertise, we streamline the shipping process, ensuring your goods reach their destination safely and on time."

The world has a truck-driver shortage

The covid pandemic forced companies to consider their supply chain in ways they never had to before. Increased demand showed the weakness in the trucking industry and drew attention to how difficult life for truck drivers can be.

That was an issue HBO's John Oliver highlighted on his "Last Week Tonight" show in October 2022. In the episode, the host suggested that the U.S. would basically start to starve if the trucking industry shut down for three days.

"Sorry, three days, every produce department in America would go from a fully stocked market to an all-you-can-eat raccoon buffet," he said. "So it’s no wonder trucking’s a huge industry, with more than 3.5 million people in America working as drivers, from port truckers who bring goods off ships to railyards and warehouses, to long-haul truckers who move them across the country, to 'last-mile' drivers, who take care of local delivery." 

The show highlighted how many truck drivers face low pay, difficult working conditions and, in many cases, crushing debt.

"Hundreds of thousands of people become truck drivers every year. But hundreds of thousands also quit. Job turnover for truckers averages over 100%, and at some companies it’s as high as 300%, meaning they’re hiring three people for a single job over the course of a year. And when a field this important has a level of job satisfaction that low, it sure seems like there’s a huge problem," Oliver shared.

The truck-driver shortage is not just a U.S. problem; it's a global issue, according to IRU.org.

"IRU’s 2023 driver shortage report has found that over three million truck driver jobs are unfilled, or 7% of total positions, in 36 countries studied," the global transportation trade association reported. 

"With the huge gap between young and old drivers growing, it will get much worse over the next five years without significant action."

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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Wendy’s has a new deal for daylight savings time haters

The Daylight Savings Time promotion slashes prices on breakfast.

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Daylight Savings Time, or the practice of advancing clocks an hour in the spring to maximize natural daylight, is a controversial practice because of the way it leaves many feeling off-sync and tired on the second Sunday in March when the change is made and one has one less hour to sleep in.

Despite annual "Abolish Daylight Savings Time" think pieces and online arguments that crop up with unwavering regularity, Daylight Savings in North America begins on March 10 this year.

Related: Coca-Cola has a new soda for Diet Coke fans

Tapping into some people's very vocal dislike of Daylight Savings Time, fast-food chain Wendy's  (WEN)  is launching a daylight savings promotion that is jokingly designed to make losing an hour of sleep less painful and encourage fans to order breakfast anyway.

Wendy's has recently made a big push to expand its breakfast menu.

Image source: Wendy's.

Promotion wants you to compensate for lost sleep with cheaper breakfast

As it is also meant to drive traffic to the Wendy's app, the promotion allows anyone who makes a purchase of $3 or more through the platform to get a free hot coffee, cold coffee or Frosty Cream Cold Brew.

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Available during the Wendy's breakfast hours of 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. (which, naturally, will feel even earlier due to Daylight Savings), the deal also allows customers to buy any of its breakfast sandwiches for $3. Items like the Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuit, Breakfast Baconator and Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant normally range in price between $4.50 and $7.

The choice of the latter is quite wide since, in the years following the pandemic, Wendy's has made a concerted effort to expand its breakfast menu with a range of new sandwiches with egg in them and sweet items such as the French Toast Sticks. The goal was both to stand out from competitors with a wider breakfast menu and increase traffic to its stores during early-morning hours.

Wendy's deal comes after controversy over 'dynamic pricing'

But last month, the chain known for the square shape of its burger patties ignited controversy after saying that it wanted to introduce "dynamic pricing" in which the cost of many of the items on its menu will vary depending on the time of day. In an earnings call, chief executive Kirk Tanner said that electronic billboards would allow restaurants to display various deals and promotions during slower times in the early morning and late at night.

Outcry was swift and Wendy's ended up walking back its plans with words that they were "misconstrued" as an intent to surge prices during its most popular periods.

While the company issued a statement saying that any changes were meant as "discounts and value offers" during quiet periods rather than raised prices during busy ones, the reputational damage was already done since many saw the clarification as another way to obfuscate its pricing model.

"We said these menuboards would give us more flexibility to change the display of featured items," Wendy's said in its statement. "This was misconstrued in some media reports as an intent to raise prices when demand is highest at our restaurants."

The Daylight Savings Time promotion, in turn, is also a way to demonstrate the kinds of deals Wendy's wants to promote in its stores without putting up full-sized advertising or posters for what is only relevant for a few days.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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International

United Airlines adds new flights to faraway destinations

The airline said that it has been working hard to "find hidden gem destinations."

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Since countries started opening up after the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, airlines have been seeing demand soar not just for major global cities and popular routes but also for farther-away destinations.

Numerous reports, including a recent TripAdvisor survey of trending destinations, showed that there has been a rise in U.S. traveler interest in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as well as growing tourism traction in off-the-beaten-path European countries such as Slovenia, Estonia and Montenegro.

Related: 'No more flying for you': Travel agency sounds alarm over risk of 'carbon passports'

As a result, airlines have been looking at their networks to include more faraway destinations as well as smaller cities that are growing increasingly popular with tourists and may not be served by their competitors.

The Philippines has been popular among tourists in recent years.

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United brings back more routes, says it is committed to 'finding hidden gems'

This week, United Airlines  (UAL)  announced that it will be launching a new route from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Morocco's Marrakesh. While it is only the country's fourth-largest city, Marrakesh is a particularly popular place for tourists to seek out the sights and experiences that many associate with the country — colorful souks, gardens with ornate architecture and mosques from the Moorish period.

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"We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad," United's SVP of Global Network Planning Patrick Quayle, said in a press statement.

The new route will launch on Oct. 24 and take place three times a week on a Boeing 767-300ER  (BA)  plane that is equipped with 46 Polaris business class and 22 Premium Plus seats. The plane choice was a way to reach a luxury customer customer looking to start their holiday in Marrakesh in the plane.

Along with the new Morocco route, United is also launching a flight between Houston (IAH) and Colombia's Medellín on Oct. 27 as well as a route between Tokyo and Cebu in the Philippines on July 31 — the latter is known as a "fifth freedom" flight in which the airline flies to the larger hub from the mainland U.S. and then goes on to smaller Asian city popular with tourists after some travelers get off (and others get on) in Tokyo.

United's network expansion includes new 'fifth freedom' flight

In the fall of 2023, United became the first U.S. airline to fly to the Philippines with a new Manila-San Francisco flight. It has expanded its service to Asia from different U.S. cities earlier last year. Cebu has been on its radar amid growing tourist interest in the region known for marine parks, rainforests and Spanish-style architecture.

With the summer coming up, United also announced that it plans to run its current flights to Hong Kong, Seoul, and Portugal's Porto more frequently at different points of the week and reach four weekly flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai by August 29.

"This is your normal, exciting network planning team back in action," Quayle told travel website The Points Guy of the airline's plans for the new routes.

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