The Baking Sheet - Issue #90

March 11, 2022

Join a bunch of misfits in the metaverse at SXSW

Welcome to this week's issue of 'The Baking Sheet' -- TenderBake is locked in! After reaching Quorum in the promotion phase with 100% supermajority, the next upgrade for Tezos will follow through. Get ready for an exciting few weeks as we head to the adoption phase. Fast Finality is here!

Tezos x Misfits Gaming

Misfits Gaming Group (MGG) today announced it has selected Tezos, the world’s most advanced blockchain, as its Official Blockchain in a multi-year technical partnership. The deal will encompass marquee branding and sponsorship rights, integrated business practices, and community-building content, as well as providing the launchpad for the new Misfits Gaming Group blockchain gaming platform, Block Born.

With this new technical partnership, MGG is launching a dedicated blockchain gaming community called Block Born. Blockchain gaming is an exciting new space for the gaming industry and MGG believes this is a significant opportunity to be part of this movement. Block Born will be MGG’s blockchain gaming arm, dedicated to supporting and growing the blockchain gaming space, as well as supporting the community through content, tournaments and signing professionals as the space begins to emerge. What’s more, all Block Born tournaments will be carbon neutral, which means that each tournament removes more carbon from the atmosphere than it produces.

In addition to Block Born and the cross-organization partnership, Misfits will refocus its $10 million gaming incubator MSF/IO, to become the MSF Tezos Gaming Incubator. The incubator will help identify and invest in esports and gaming startups, as well as startups that build directly on the highly secure, energy efficient Tezos blockchain.

“Gaming can do a lot better, and blockchain technologies will help get us there,” said Vas Roberts, EVP Partnerships, of Misfits Gaming Group. “By building new practices upon a decentralized, indexed platform, we’ll reimagine how we work with our community, peers, and partners. Tezos will help us share new levels of access, equity, and decision-making, and we’re thrilled to pioneer how blockchain can help gaming organizations redefine how they operate.”

As one of the world’s leading blockchains, Tezos is recognized for its energy-efficient design, self-upgradable mechanism and low transaction fees. Tezos’ pioneering Proof of Stake design means it is both highly secure and energy efficient as an open platform.

“At such an exciting time for the broader gaming and esports industries, Misfits Gaming Group’s choice of Tezos as its official blockchain adds to the momentum that is growing for blockchain gaming— with community building and player engagement as a priority. I believe that Tezos’ sustainability and its unique ability to adapt to rapidly-evolving technology is perfectly aligned to support MGG’s laudable goals.” added Mason Edwards, Chief of Staff, Tezos Foundation

Tezos x SXSW: Block/Space

Happening in the heart of Austin, TX, at Inn Cahoots boutique hotel (1221 E 6th St), Block/Space will feature four dedicated spaces showcasing how various brands and makers are harnessing the Tezos blockchain to experiment, reinvent, and reimagine aspects of daily life – from the way people establish their digital selves, try on and shop for shoes, participate in fandoms, and appreciate and collect art. Each space will offer a limited number of NFT giveaways each day, which can only be obtained by SXSW festival-goers who visit Block/Space, create a wallet, and scan a QR code in each room.

The experience will also feature a three-day speaker series called Block/Talks (March 11–13), featuring representatives from McLaren Racing, The Gap, Pantone, Sweet, Vyking, leading esports organization Misfits Gaming Group, InterPop, actor Khleo Thomas, and many rising artists and creators that are thriving in the Tezos ecosystem. The speaker series will offer an opportunity to discuss how Web3 and blockchain technology are helping push arts and culture forward. The full schedule and speaker lineup can be found here.

The metaverse, Web3, blockchain technology, and NFTs have become major buzzwords in the last year as companies scramble to understand and invest in these new areas. Rather than abstractly discussing these visions of a distant future, Block/Space will showcase how a thriving new wave of builders on Tezos are already utilizing blockchain technology, and what the implications of these innovations could mean for the near future.

Block/Space will include the following interactive experiences:

  • NFT Yourself into the Metaverse: Step into a 3D scanner to transform your image into a super-high-resolution digital avatar, which can then be minted as a 3D NFT on Tezos. The digital avatar can be used as your new identity in the metaverse, and also opens up potential integrations into gaming, fashion, social media, and virtual reality in the future.

  • Go Ahead, flex It (flex): Get the first look at flex, the first-ever footwear NFT marketplace built on Tezos. Browse the pop-up shoe store and virtually shop flex’s digital sneakers from your phone, including exclusive collections from brands and creators, such as French AR artist johwska. Try shoes on virtually using your smartphone camera, and if you like the way they look, you can buy them as NFTs to take with you into the metaverse.

  • Taking Fandom to a New Dimension (InterPop): Step into a retro-inspired comic book store that gives a peek at the future of digital fandom. Browse and purchase comic book NFTs from InterPop, a digital entertainment company based on the Tezos blockchain, which you can read, collect, sell and trade as you would in a physical store. Unlike the traditional way of passive fandom, this new type of digital ownership with InterPop Comics unlocks the ability for fans to have a say and shape the story – from character costumes to even major storylines. In addition, InterPop will be previewing a brand new series title, The Abyss, at SXSW. Block/Space attendees can collect The Abyss #0 for free and be given the opportunity to shape the future of this brand new story.

  • Experience Art Made for the Metaverse (Pantone): Immerse yourself in Pantone’s Color of the Year 2022, PANTONE® 17-3938 Very Peri, in the Pantone Very Peri Room – a newly created color inspired by our digital lives, with a courageous presence that encourages personal inventiveness and creativity. The space will display four NFT artworks that celebrate the Color of the Year from Paris-based multi-disciplinary artist Polygon1993, in a continuation of his collaboration with Pantone from last year. Between March 11-14, a limited number of the NFTs can be obtained for free by visiting the Pantone Very Peri Room and scanning a QR code. For those not able to attend SXSW, Polygon1993 will also be releasing his original set of Very Peri NFTs as a giveaway online from March 9-10 – follow @pantone on Instagram for more details.

Block/Space will be open from March 11-14, 2022, starting at 10:30 AM Central Time at Inn Cahoots, 1221 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78702. Block/Talks panel discussions will be broadcast live at tezos.com/events from March 11-13, 2022. Please click here for more information on the experience and full speaker panel schedule.

This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem

Announcing the Tezos Community Rewards Program Winners for the month of February! Every month, up to 5000 tez is distributed to the community that contribute in a wide range of categories. March Nominations are now open.

Dogami is the first mass-market NFT play-to-earn AR mobile game, where you adopt and raise your 3D dog and earn $DOGA in the Petaverse.

Tony Stewart's All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car series has named Tezos, the world's most advanced blockchain, as the official series title sponsor.

Ipocamp - a start-up specialized in creating solutions to protect creations thanks to Tezos blockchain - has formally announced plans to expand its involvement in the Tezos ecosystem as a corporate baker. Ipocamp will now validate transactions and add them to the Tezos blockchain.

People in the NFT community are finding technologically innovative ways to fundraise for Ukraine. Millions of dollars have been raised.

bitFlyer USA now supports Tezos and is available for tradingm Buy/Sell on desktop and mobile apps.

In collaboration with the Notorious B.I.G. estate, NFT platform OneOf will pay tribute to the forever King of New York – Biggie Smalls – by dropping The Notorious B.I.G. NFT Collection. Proceeds will benefit the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation.

This Week in Tezos Development: TenderBake

Earlier, Nomadic Labs shared an article describing steps needed to be taken before the activation of Protocol Ithaca. In that post, a checklist was provided for bakers and the Tezos community at large.

As a minimum, the following should be completed by the time of activation:

  • Tezos node and baking software need to be updated to a Tenderbake compatible version. For Octez, this is v12.0 and later versions. For TezEdge, it’s v2 and later versions.

  • Bakers using a Ledger hardware wallet for secure signing need to update the Tezos Baking app on their device to v2.2.15. Earlier versions will NOT work after Ithaca2 activation.

  • Remote signing software for baking will need to be significantly updated.

  • Block explorers and other indexing software will need to be significantly updated.

  • Dapp maintainers are highly encouraged to test their dapps on the testnet.

If you are unsure about what needs to be done on your end, reach out to us on the Tezos baking Slack or feel free to contact the Nomadic Labs support team.

Dappetizer: Release 1.1.0 Last month, we presented a preview of Dappetizer, our very own framework for indexing smart contracts on Tezos powered by TypeScript/JavaScript and Taquito.

Version 12.0 of Octez has just been released.

Compared to 12.0~rc2, version 12.0 fixes a bug in the Octez Ithaca2 baker implementation, and improves RPC support for the Ithaca2 protocol (e.g., to enable compatibility wi…

Now Streaming

A time for growth: The Teztalks stream dives deep into the current state of Tezos adoption with Trilitech’s Edward Adlard. We discuss Trilitech’s place in the Tezos ecosystem, how developments in the NFT, Gaming, and Defi spaces are driving global adoption forward in 2022, and what new partnerships with Manchester United, Redbull racing, and other global brands mean for the ongoing quest to bring new users to the Tezos cause. If you’re curious about what steps The Tezos Foundation and its partners are taking to build out the Tezos user base in 2022 and beyond (which you should be), you’ll definitely want to hear what Edward has to say.