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Showtime: NFT tickets take the stage in 2022, connecting artists and fans

NFT tickets are on the rise as artists and fans seek lasting engagement in real life and in the Metaverse through the use of new technology.
Nonfungible tokens have proven to be successful across a number of industries. From gaming…

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NFT tickets are on the rise as artists and fans seek lasting engagement in real life and in the Metaverse through the use of new technology.

Nonfungible tokens have proven to be successful across a number of industries. From gaming to high-end luxury fashion, NFT use cases have demonstrated the importance of creating lasting connections between a company or a brand and its users/customers.

As such, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the billion-dollar event-ticketing industry is on its way to being disrupted by nonfungible tokens. Specifically, the online event-ticketing sector — which is expected to reach $60 billion by 2026 — will likely see an increase in NFT ticket platforms and marketplaces that issue virtual tickets across a blockchain network.

Colby Mort, head of marketing and communications at Get Protocol — an NFT ticketing infrastructure provider — told Cointelegraph that every ticket issued using Get Protocol’s platform is minted as an NFT on the Polygon blockchain. He added that “Since 2016, Get Protocol has processed over 1 million on-chain registered tickets for events across the world, with 500,000 being NFT tickets processed during 2021.”

While notable, it’s important to point out that NFT tickets are gaining popularity since they aim to solve inefficiencies faced by traditional ticketing systems. Josh Katz, founder and CEO of YellowHeart — a marketplace for music and live-event NFT ticketing — told Cointelegraph that NFT tickets allow fans to have more control, along with offering ongoing royalties for artists. Katz noted that these points are important when considering the problems associated with traditional ticketing models:

“There are tremendous challenges around ticketing today, including counterfeiting, bad actors, rampant fraud and, more than anything, fragmentation. For instance, when a major ticketing platform releases a ticket, it can be bought and sold across secondary marketplaces multiple times. NFT tickets solve all of these problems.”

According to Katz, the initial premise behind NFT ticketing platforms is to redirect money from third-party ticket sellers back to artists. He explained that NFT tickets can provide ongoing royalties to stakeholders, artists and event organizers: “The artist take is 95% primary and 5% secondary, currently. But when YellowHeart secondary opens in Q2, artists will be able to set their own secondary rate and keep up to 100% of revenue flow.”

Echoing Katz, Mort commented that Get Protocol’s white-label ticketing product consists of a mobile application, event dashboard, ticket webshops and other supplementary features. Mort explained that these elements help eradicate ticket scalping while giving event organizers full control over their secondary market ticket sales: “This ensures that event organizers rightfully make more revenue for their event ticket sales while keeping a direct connection between artist and all fans that would previously have been lost to external platforms.”

It could be argued that control over secondary market sales is one of the most important features provided by NFT tickets, especially as ticket brokers continue to buy thousands of event tickets to resell at inflated prices. Shedding light on the matter, Marc Brownstein, co-founder and bassist of The Disco Biscuits — an American jam band — told Cointelegraph that as a musician, he fully supports the idea of NFT tickets. Disco Biscuits has already explored NFTs elsewhere, having recently announced their second NFT album launch. Brownstein said:

“As creators and artists, being able to have some stake in the secondary ticket market is valuable. For example, if you are releasing a 500-ticket show and each ticket is $50, these can sell out instantly and then be listed on Stubhub for $500 each. This is a scenario artists know too well, so having commission on secondary sales is very opportunistic.”

NFT tickets create lasting engagement between fans and artists

In addition to giving back to artists and event organizers, Katz mentioned that NFT tickets contain everlasting utility. For example, Katz shared that the Kings of Leon’s tokenized NFT album generated close to $1.45 million during the first five days of sales on OpenSea. Part of this release contained VIP fan experiences, band meet-and-greets, exclusive tour merchandise and more. Katz explained that live music events that have returned since the end of COVID-19 lockdowns can now issue NFT tickets with similar utility:

“Individuals who buy NFT tickets are opted into a community for that artist or event. Merchandise booths may also become available where orders can be placed digitally, show transportation can be provided, and more. NFT tickets also allow for contracts to change, so leading up to a show or an event, holders can be treated as VIPs. Additionally, there are post-show utility features.”

While the concept behind NFT tickets is still emerging, the potential is becoming apparent to the mainstream. Most recently, the National Football League announced the launch of its limited-edition NFTs for the post-2021 season.

Dallas Cowboys NFT. Source: NFL

Robert Gallo, senior vice president of club business development at the NFL, told Cointelegraph that the NFL began releasing virtual commemorative tickets in the form of NFTs at no cost to fans in November 2021. “Since then, we’ve distributed over 250,000 free NFTs to fans who attended select games.” Gallo added that the goal behind the launch was to create more one-to-one experiences using innovation and technology while providing fans with new and unique ways to commemorate game-day experiences:

“Following the popularity of the regular-season virtual commemorative ticket NFTs, we will continue to release NFTs during the postseason and up through the Super Bowl. Select fans who attend postseason games will receive a free virtual commemorative ticket NFT, and a limited number of NFTs will also be made available to all fans for purchase for each round of the playoffs as teams progress, and to commemorate each team’s run through the postseason.”

Will centralized ticket providers hamper innovation?

Gallo further explained that the NFL’s NFT marketplace is powered by global ticketing giant Ticketmaster. Despite this being the case, Katz mentioned that a number of artists have come to YellowHeart to launch NFT tickets but have had difficulty due to companies like Ticketmaster vetoing the notion by not offering NFT support at affiliated concert venues. “Artists want to reap the upsides here, but incumbents have forced them to stick with a centralized ticketing model. I’ve had roughly 10 to 20 acts during 2021 wanting to tour through YellowHeart, but Ticketmaster or Live Nation shut them down,” said Katz.

On the contrary, some industry experts believe that large centralized institutions will encourage adoption. Colin Fitzpatrick, CEO of Animal Concerts — a Metaverse concert organizer — told Cointelegraph that Ticketmaster and other large institutions are accelerating their strategies toward embedding NFT capabilities into their existing business.

Indeed, this already appears to be the case. For instance, Akshay Khanna, general manager of North America for StubHub, told Cointelegraph that StubHub has been watching the prevalence of NFTs in recent years and has formulated creative views of what this could mean for StubHub’s business in the future:

“We believe in the magic and novelty that comes with each live experience, and any innovation that brings more personalized fan engagement to live events is good for the industry as a whole. While we haven’t yet developed anything unique on this front, as a trusted ticket marketplace of the NFL, we have been a distribution channel for NFTs that the league is distributing to ticket buyers for various games.”

Mort added that large, centralized companies might stand to gain the most by applying some type of NFT ticketing model. Mort shared that Get Protocol has received much interest and many questions from existing ticketing companies about what would be possible for them. Given this, Get Protocol has developed a “Digital Twin” product to allow these companies to explore the benefits of NFT tickets. He elaborated:

“This works by ‘twinning’ their ticketing operations through Get Protocol. For every ticket they issue, an NFT copy is created, allowing business as usual for the integrating ticketing company with zero operational risk while opening the door for a variety of value-adding features such as tickets becoming digital collectibles for fans and extensibility into Web3.”

Although this solution is innovative, Mort explained that big companies will be hesitant to adopt an NFT ticketing model if it hurts their revenue. “It’s a matter of showing lasting added value in areas that might not be available now. It’s less utopian from a blockchain enthusiast’s view, but finding that middle ground is the quickest way to mass NFT adoption.”

The Metaverse will push NFT tickets forward

Challenges aside, NFT tickets will likely gain popularity in 2022 with the rise of the Metaverse. For instance, NFTs could be a way for the music industry to boost revenues that have been lost since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, Fitzpatrick explained that Animal Concerts allows users to purchase tickets in the Metaverse with the company’s token, ANML. This gives users full access to Metaverse concerts in familiar ecosystems like Decentraland and The Sandbox. Next, the company plans to build out its own Metaverse concert venue. Animal Concerts recently announced a partnership with South Korean unicorn Kakao’s Klaytn network to increase its exposure to the Korean entertainment industry.

Related: Concerts in the Metaverse could lead to a new wave of adoption, Cointelegraph Magazine

Katz added that YellowHeart is looking into applying its NFT tickets within Metaverse environments: “We are working on securing venues and partnerships in the Metaverse, as this will be a disruptive angle.” However, Katz pointed out that Metaverse ecosystems will never be able to fully replace live concerts: “The Metaverse will complement live music, ensuring that we have both options available now.”

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Analyst reviews Apple stock price target amid challenges

Here’s what could happen to Apple shares next.

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They said it was bound to happen.

It was Jan. 11, 2024 when software giant Microsoft  (MSFT)  briefly passed Apple  (AAPL)  as the most valuable company in the world.

Microsoft's stock closed 0.5% higher, giving it a market valuation of $2.859 trillion. 

It rose as much as 2% during the session and the company was briefly worth $2.903 trillion. Apple closed 0.3% lower, giving the company a market capitalization of $2.886 trillion. 

"It was inevitable that Microsoft would overtake Apple since Microsoft is growing faster and has more to benefit from the generative AI revolution," D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said at the time, according to Reuters.

The two tech titans have jostled for top spot over the years and Microsoft was ahead at last check, with a market cap of $3.085 trillion, compared with Apple's value of $2.684 trillion.

Analysts noted that Apple had been dealing with weakening demand, including for the iPhone, the company’s main source of revenue. 

Demand in China, a major market, has slumped as the country's economy makes a slow recovery from the pandemic and competition from Huawei.

Sales in China of Apple's iPhone fell by 24% in the first six weeks of 2024 compared with a year earlier, according to research firm Counterpoint, as the company contended with stiff competition from a resurgent Huawei "while getting squeezed in the middle on aggressive pricing from the likes of OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi," said senior Analyst Mengmeng Zhang.

“Although the iPhone 15 is a great device, it has no significant upgrades from the previous version, so consumers feel fine holding on to the older-generation iPhones for now," he said.

A man scrolling through Netflix on an Apple iPad Pro. Photo by Phil Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images.

Future Publishing/Getty Images

Big plans for China

Counterpoint said that the first six weeks of 2023 saw abnormally high numbers with significant unit sales being deferred from December 2022 due to production issues.

Apple is planning to open its eighth store in Shanghai – and its 47th across China – on March 21.

Related: Tech News Now: OpenAI says Musk contract 'never existed', Xiaomi's EV, and more

The company also plans to expand its research centre in Shanghai to support all of its product lines and open a new lab in southern tech hub Shenzhen later this year, according to the South China Morning Post.

Meanwhile, over in Europe, Apple announced changes to comply with the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which went into effect last week, Reuters reported on March 12.

Beginning this spring, software developers operating in Europe will be able to distribute apps to EU customers directly from their own websites instead of through the App Store.

"To reflect the DMA’s changes, users in the EU can install apps from alternative app marketplaces in iOS 17.4 and later," Apple said on its website, referring to the software platform that runs iPhones and iPads. 

"Users will be able to download an alternative marketplace app from the marketplace developer’s website," the company said.

Apple has also said it will appeal a $2 billion EU antitrust fine for thwarting competition from Spotify  (SPOT)  and other music streaming rivals via restrictions on the App Store.

The company's shares have suffered amid all this upheaval, but some analysts still see good things in Apple's future.

Bank of America Securities confirmed its positive stance on Apple, maintaining a buy rating with a steady price target of $225, according to Investing.com

The firm's analysis highlighted Apple's pricing strategy evolution since the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007, with initial prices set at $499 for the 4GB model and $599 for the 8GB model.

BofA said that Apple has consistently launched new iPhone models, including the Pro/Pro Max versions, to target the premium market. 

Analyst says Apple selloff 'overdone'

Concurrently, prices for previous models are typically reduced by about $100 with each new release. 

This strategy, coupled with installment plans from Apple and carriers, has contributed to the iPhone's installed base reaching a record 1.2 billion in 2023, the firm said.

More Tech Stocks:

Apple has effectively shifted its sales mix toward higher-value units despite experiencing slower unit sales, BofA said.

This trend is expected to persist and could help mitigate potential unit sales weaknesses, particularly in China. 

BofA also noted Apple's dominance in the high-end market, maintaining a market share of over 90% in the $1,000 and above price band for the past three years.

The firm also cited the anticipation of a multi-year iPhone cycle propelled by next-generation AI technology, robust services growth, and the potential for margin expansion.

On Monday, Evercore ISI analysts said they believed that the sell-off in the iPhone maker’s shares may be “overdone.”

The firm said that investors' growing preference for AI-focused stocks like Nvidia  (NVDA)  has led to a reallocation of funds away from Apple. 

In addition, Evercore said concerns over weakening demand in China, where Apple may be losing market share in the smartphone segment, have affected investor sentiment.

And then ongoing regulatory issues continue to have an impact on investor confidence in the world's second-biggest company.

“We think the sell-off is rather overdone, while we suspect there is strong valuation support at current levels to down 10%, there are three distinct drivers that could unlock upside on the stock from here – a) Cap allocation, b) AI inferencing, and c) Risk-off/defensive shift," the firm said in a research note.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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Major typhoid fever surveillance study in sub-Saharan Africa indicates need for the introduction of typhoid conjugate vaccines in endemic countries

There is a high burden of typhoid fever in sub-Saharan African countries, according to a new study published today in The Lancet Global Health. This high…

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There is a high burden of typhoid fever in sub-Saharan African countries, according to a new study published today in The Lancet Global Health. This high burden combined with the threat of typhoid strains resistant to antibiotic treatment calls for stronger prevention strategies, including the use and implementation of typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCVs) in endemic settings along with improvements in access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene.

Credit: IVI

There is a high burden of typhoid fever in sub-Saharan African countries, according to a new study published today in The Lancet Global Health. This high burden combined with the threat of typhoid strains resistant to antibiotic treatment calls for stronger prevention strategies, including the use and implementation of typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCVs) in endemic settings along with improvements in access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene.

 

The findings from this 4-year study, the Severe Typhoid in Africa (SETA) program, offers new typhoid fever burden estimates from six countries: Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, and Nigeria, with four countries recording more than 100 cases for every 100,000 person-years of observation, which is considered a high burden. The highest incidence of typhoid was found in DRC with 315 cases per 100,000 people while children between 2-14 years of age were shown to be at highest risk across all 25 study sites.

 

There are an estimated 12.5 to 16.3 million cases of typhoid every year with 140,000 deaths. However, with generic symptoms such as fever, fatigue, and abdominal pain, and the need for blood culture sampling to make a definitive diagnosis, it is difficult for governments to capture the true burden of typhoid in their countries.

 

“Our goal through SETA was to address these gaps in typhoid disease burden data,” said lead author Dr. Florian Marks, Deputy Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI). “Our estimates indicate that introduction of TCV in endemic settings would go to lengths in protecting communities, especially school-aged children, against this potentially deadly—but preventable—disease.”

 

In addition to disease incidence, this study also showed that the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Salmonella Typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever, has led to more reliance beyond the traditional first line of antibiotic treatment. If left untreated, severe cases of the disease can lead to intestinal perforation and even death. This suggests that prevention through vaccination may play a critical role in not only protecting against typhoid fever but reducing the spread of drug-resistant strains of the bacteria.

 

There are two TCVs prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and available through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. In February 2024, IVI and SK bioscience announced that a third TCV, SKYTyphoid™, also achieved WHO PQ, paving the way for public procurement and increasing the global supply.

 

Alongside the SETA disease burden study, IVI has been working with colleagues in three African countries to show the real-world impact of TCV vaccination. These studies include a cluster-randomized trial in Agogo, Ghana and two effectiveness studies following mass vaccination in Kisantu, DRC and Imerintsiatosika, Madagascar.

 

Dr. Birkneh Tilahun Tadesse, Associate Director General at IVI and Head of the Real-World Evidence Department, explains, “Through these vaccine effectiveness studies, we aim to show the full public health value of TCV in settings that are directly impacted by a high burden of typhoid fever.” He adds, “Our final objective of course is to eliminate typhoid or to at least reduce the burden to low incidence levels, and that’s what we are attempting in Fiji with an island-wide vaccination campaign.”

 

As more countries in typhoid endemic countries, namely in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, consider TCV in national immunization programs, these data will help inform evidence-based policy decisions around typhoid prevention and control.

 

###

 

About the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a non-profit international organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health.

IVI’s current portfolio includes vaccines at all stages of pre-clinical and clinical development for infectious diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, such as cholera, typhoid, chikungunya, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, hepatitis E, HPV, COVID-19, and more. IVI developed the world’s first low-cost oral cholera vaccine, pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and developed a new-generation typhoid conjugate vaccine that is recently pre-qualified by WHO.

IVI is headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea with a Europe Regional Office in Sweden, a Country Office in Austria, and Collaborating Centers in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. 39 countries and the WHO are members of IVI, and the governments of the Republic of Korea, Sweden, India, Finland, and Thailand provide state funding. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int.

 

CONTACT

Aerie Em, Global Communications & Advocacy Manager
+82 2 881 1386 | aerie.em@ivi.int


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US Spent More Than Double What It Collected In February, As 2024 Deficit Is Second Highest Ever… And Debt Explodes

US Spent More Than Double What It Collected In February, As 2024 Deficit Is Second Highest Ever… And Debt Explodes

Earlier today, CNBC’s…

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US Spent More Than Double What It Collected In February, As 2024 Deficit Is Second Highest Ever... And Debt Explodes

Earlier today, CNBC's Brian Sullivan took a horse dose of Red Pills when, about six months after our readers, he learned that the US is issuing $1 trillion in debt every 100 days, which prompted him to rage tweet, (or rageX, not sure what the proper term is here) the following:

We’ve added 60% to national debt since 2018. Germany - a country with major economic woes - added ‘just’ 32%.   

Maybe it will never matter.   Maybe MMT is real.   Maybe we just cancel or inflate it out. Maybe career real estate borrowers or career politicians aren’t the answer.

I have no idea.  Only time will tell.   But it’s going to be fascinating to watch it play out.

He is right: it will be fascinating, and the latest budget deficit data simply confirmed that the day of reckoning will come very soon, certainly sooner than the two years that One River's Eric Peters predicted this weekend for the coming "US debt sustainability crisis."

According to the US Treasury, in February, the US collected $271 billion in various tax receipts, and spent $567 billion, more than double what it collected.

The two charts below show the divergence in US tax receipts which have flatlined (on a trailing 6M basis) since the covid pandemic in 2020 (with occasional stimmy-driven surges)...

... and spending which is about 50% higher compared to where it was in 2020.

The end result is that in February, the budget deficit rose to $296.3 billion, up 12.9% from a year prior, and the second highest February deficit on record.

And the punchline: on a cumulative basis, the budget deficit in fiscal 2024 which began on October 1, 2023 is now $828 billion, the second largest cumulative deficit through February on record, surpassed only by the peak covid year of 2021.

But wait there's more: because in a world where the US is spending more than twice what it is collecting, the endgame is clear: debt collapse, and while it won't be tomorrow, or the week after, it is coming... and it's also why the US is now selling $1 trillion in debt every 100 days just to keep operating (and absorbing all those millions of illegal immigrants who will keep voting democrat to preserve the socialist system of the US, so beloved by the Soros clan).

And it gets even worse, because we are now in the ponzi finance stage of the Minsky cycle, with total interest on the debt annualizing well above $1 trillion, and rising every day

... having already surpassed total US defense spending and soon to surpass total health spending and, finally all social security spending, the largest spending category of all, which means that US debt will now rise exponentially higher until the inevitable moment when the US dollar loses its reserve status and it all comes crashing down.

We conclude with another observation by CNBC's Brian Sullivan, who quotes an email by a DC strategist...

.. which lays out the proposed Biden budget as follows:

The budget deficit will growth another $16 TRILLION over next 10 years. Thats *with* the proposed massive tax hikes.

Without them the deficit will grow $19 trillion.

That's why you will hear the "deficit is being reduced by $3 trillion" over the decade.

No family budget or business could exist with this kind of math.

Of course, in the long run, neither can the US... and since neither party will ever cut the spending which everyone by now is so addicted to, the best anyone can do is start planning for the endgame.

Tyler Durden Tue, 03/12/2024 - 18:40

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