Nifty news: Sandbox LAND on Polygon, ETH gain a tax loss and more

Popular Ethereum-based metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox has unveiled a bridge that enables users to transfer their virtual nonfungible token (NFT) LAND and native SAND tokens over to layer-2 network Polygon.

While The Sandbox will live on Ethereum for the most part, the platform has emphasized that conducting SAND and LAND transactions on Polygon will result in lower gas fees, faster transaction speeds and greener interactions on the blockchain.

The firm stated via Twitter on Wednesday that it is now ready to start deploying LAND on Polygon, and users will be able to receive a 10 mSAND cashback worth roughly $10.60 on LAND ported over to the layer 2.

We are ready to deploy LAND to @0xPolygon Each LAND bridged grants a 10 mSAND cashback!LAND multipliers on both mSAND staking programs are back!LAND sales and LAND staking features (on Polygon) are coming soon!BRIDGE NOW ➡️ https://t.co/jlcSKxuBWh pic.twitter.com/1tuAAsqEZP

— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) June 28, 2022

mSAND is the new ticker for SAND tokens based on Polygon and has identical pricing to Ethereum-based SAND. As part of the bridge going live, The Sandbox will soon roll out two staking programs for LAND and mSAND and a new drop of LAND sales on Polygon.

The bridge to Polygon and the new staking programs have been in the works since December 2021, and the firm stated in a blog post that “300,000 mSAND will be injected” into the mSand/Polygon (MATIC) staking pool weekly, plus a bonus 200,000 mSAND for the first four weeks to incentivize early adoption. The specific percentage of staking rewards has not been detailed yet, however.

According to data from CoinGecko, SAND is up 12.9% over the past seven days to sit at $1.06 at the time of writing. However, the Polygon-related announcement doesn’t appear to have had an impact on the price, as SAND is down 2.4% over the past 24 hours.

Stack ETH for your tax loss needs

Ryan Carson, founder of the NFT venture fund 121G, has pulled off a “master class” by selling Moonbird NFT #6969 for a $52,000 loss, according to NFT trader OxQuit, as it represented a major 74.2 Ether (ETH) gain while representing a tax write-off at the same time.

Carson, the former chief operating officer of the Moonbirds project, initially purchased the NFT for 69.49 ETH on April 16 when it was worth $212,000. On Wendesday, Carson sold the NFT for 143.69 ETH, worth roughly $160,000.

Tweeting to their 54,900 followers on Thursday, OxQuit, who appears to own a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT, labeled the move as a “master class in how to stack ETH while also booking a tax loss.”

Not everyone agreed, however, with self-described NFT degen HollanderAdam commenting:

“Or he could have just not bought the bird. Waited and bought 143 ETH today for $160k. And then had an extra $52k in his account.”

As it stands, Carson would need to see a 32.5% ETH price increase for his ETH hodling strategy to see him back in the green, although he’d still be on the hook for capital gains tax if he were to sell.

Pixels.com launches NFT merch support

On Wednesday, print-on-demand marketplace giant Pixels.com launched a new NFT service that enables owners to copy and paste their wallet address and promptly transform their tokenized artwork into merch.

The service is built for hodlers of Ethereum-based NFTs and it works by enabling Pixels to retrieve the NFT artwork and then generate “3D, photorealistic previews of each available product” on the website. Pixels offers customizable products ranging from t-shirts to canvas prints and stationery.

Print-on-demand companies are a handy tool for artists and content creators as it enables them to outsource the entire merch manufacturing and shipping process.

Snoop Dogg says crypto winter is ‘great’

Iconic rapper and avid NFT collector Snoop Dogg has expressed thankfulness over the current crypto winter, as it is washing out bad players in the space and will result in “great things” moving forward.

Speaking with CNBC during NFT.NYC last week, Snoop stated that the current bear market has “weeded out all the people who weren’t supposed to be in the space and who were abusing the opportunities that were there.”

Related: Bear market will last until crypto apps are actually useful: Mark Cuban

The rapper went on to suggest that most of the projects and companies that survive the carnage will mostly be offering good products:

“Now it’s going to bring on great business, and moving forward, when the market comes back, there will only be great things to pick and choose from.”

Other Nifty News

Blockchain analytics firm Flipside Crypto has launched an online Software Development Kit (SDK) called ShroomDK, which is based on nonfungible tokens and provides an automated means to pull “comprehensive” blockchain data via software.

Catalonian director-general of innovation Daniel Marco has revealed that the government is working toward building a Catalonian metaverse called the Cataverse.