The NFT winter? ❄️
NFTs have been a mixed pot all of 2023, and it's been a bumpy ride. 2020 twitter hacker sentenced to 5 years for crypto theft. Polygon launches its own copilot, a ChatGPT AI assistant chatbot.
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NFTs are kind of in a slump right now, not gonna lie.
The prices of "blue chip" NFTs like CryptoPunks and Bored Apes have been steadily dropping, and most other NFTs are doing even worse.
In the BAYC world
The high seas of the Bored Ape Yacht Club are witnessing some major waves as Jeffrey' Machi Big Brother' Huang stirs up a storm.
According to Blur, Huang sold over 50 Apes over the past couple of days and Huang dropped a bomb by selling 19 Bored Apes at once on Blur, a deal worth over $1.2 million - In one transaction on June 24.
The result? BAYC NFTs hit turbulence and prices fell to their lowest in Ethereum since November 2021. Tough times for these bored fellas, isn't it?
But then, Huang bounced back, buying 14 Apes in a single day, leading to a 14% rise in Bored Apes' cheapest price.
And did this:
Things are a little Blur?
Blur - the new and leading NFT marketplace and its influence on trading and lending volumes is impossible to ignore.
Some believe that Blur has played a major role in the recent floor price crash, with NFT trading volumes seeing a significant dip over the last two months.
Then came Blend - Blur's NFT lending platform. It hit the ground running, attracting significant volumes as users rushed to farm BLUR tokens.
Blend has already dominated over 95% of the NFT lending space, with a loan volume that's surged to $929 million.
The Blur rewards system incentivises users to churn loans as much as possible, which adds liquidation risk in the market and can push prices down. For example, a user leveraged a position on Blend worth over $2 million, backed by 32 Bored Ape NFTs, resulting in a loss of around 100 ETH. All this to keep farming Blur.
Eminem's hit
To make things more complicated, someone posted this
But hold up, Eminem's Bored Ape ain't #5099. It's actually #9055, which he copped for 123.45 ether (ETH) or around $450,000.
That cartoon token is still chilling in his collection, probably forgotten by now, but no way did the rapper ditch it like a weak hand.
The founders of Web3 entertainment firm Superduper have says that 'NFTs can't scale' in their current form, but they believe NFTs can scale to hundreds of millions of people with some changes.
The 2023 NFT market scene
NFT sales in January reached nearly $1 billion, a 40% increase compared to December 2022.
In February, NFT sales increased to nearly $2 billion.
Trading volumes in the first quarter of 2023 reached $4.7 billion, a 137% increase compared to the previous quarter.
Q1 2023 had a total of 19.4 million NFT sales, an 8.5% increase from Q4 2022.
Ethereum remained the leading blockchain in the NFT market, accounting for nearly 90% of the market share in March.
CryptoPunks was the most traded NFT collection on Ethereum, with a trading volume of $241 million in March, a 1,214% increase from the previous month.
Monthly trading volumes in March dipped by 15.6% to $1.7 billion.
Sales in March declined by 4.63% to 2.7 million.
In April, NFT trading volumes dropped by 37% to $1.28 billion.
On April 26, there were 8,641 sellers and 7,907 buyers in the NFT market, indicating more supply than demand.
It's not all bad
Collaborations with Web2 and Web3 brands are bringing digital collectibles to fans globally.
Nike is expanding digitally with a new partnership, bringing the .SWOOSH experience to Fortnite's 240 million users. Airphoria, a collaboration with Fortnite creator Epic Games, will enable players to link their digital items across Fortnite and .SWOOSH ecosystems.
Puma has joined the NFT space! With its new GutterMelo MB.03 sneakers, Puma links real-world kicks to NFTs. This vibrant drop is a collaboration between Puma, Web3 streetwear brand Gutter Cat Gang, and NBA player LaMelo Ball.
FC Barcelona has partnered with World of Women to release an NFT paying homage to soccer star Alexia Putellas and a pivotal moment in the club's history.
According to Michael Anderson, co-founder of Framework Ventures, this downtrend could actually present some positive opportunities.
He shared some insights: "Now might be a good time to start scooping up Punks."
"There's a point where the prices get so low and tempting that it could actually become a solid investment category," Anderson explains.
The revamping
NFTs are evolving, and they may soon streamline your wallet experience! Enter ERC-6551: It unlocks the potential for NFTs to be smart wallets interacting with various decentralised apps in the Ethereum ecosystem.
An NFT as a smart contract wallet? Yes, it's possible! With ERC-6551, your NFT can own tokens, and these go along with it when you transfer the NFT.
Best part? ERC-6551 tokens will be compatible with all existing ERC-721 tokens. Meaning no new smart contracts need to be deployed to existing NFTs.
How about using NFTs for inventory management? Giving each NFT a wallet creates a flexible inventory system where each item of clothing owned by an avatar becomes a separate token.
Beyond gaming, ERC-6551 can revolutionise experiences like organising trips and travel.
Gaming hours into Bitcoin
Ever thought about earning Bitcoin while gaming? With Zebedee's Android app, ZBD, now you can! Players can earn Bitcoin for each minute they play on over 100 eligible mobile games.
Zebedee's new feature is thanks to a partnership with advertising platform Adjoe and its Playtime network. The games offer time-based rewards, paying players in satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, for each minute they play.
Gaming to the rescue?
Experts believe that various sectors, including entertainment, loyalty, and gaming, have the potential to drive mass adoption of Web3. How?
Let's take it back to April 2023 when a rare digital gem 💎 was snatched up for a cool $400K...all in crypto, no less! Can you guess what it was? Not an NFT, but a unique skin in CS:GO. Shows you how much gamers are already living in the digital economy!
Just look at Fortnite and Roblox, where millions of dollars pour into their in-game economies daily. So why not bring that spending power into Web3?
After all, there are over 3 billion of us glued to our controllers 🎮 and we get the whole virtual thing. We're prime candidates to usher in a future where gaming and blockchain seamlessly merge.
With blockchain, you won't just own a skin or character – you'll truly OWN it. Sell it, trade it, gift it , all thanks to the magic of NFTs and blockchain.
"It's about just getting something back for what you put into it, in terms of possessing some sort of interoperable utility," - Spencer Tucker, chief gaming officer at Yuga Labs.
“Gaming is basically a cultural and entertainment phenomenon that is bigger than movies and music. And gamers and people who play games already have a relationship with virtual assets and items.” - Yat Siu, co-founder and CEO of Web3 giant Animoca Labs.
TTD NFT 🐝
NFL rivals scores big
NFL Rivals, this mobile game from Mythical Games, has been downloaded over a million times in less than two months since it came out. It's a free-to-play game where you can build teams and compete using these NFT player cards. These cards have different rarities and strengths, which adds to the excitement. Surprisingly, only about 10% of players have used the marketplace to trade collectibles, so most folks can enjoy the game without buying any NFTs.
The game's been quite popular too, with almost 15 million matches played so far. People are really getting into it, playing an average of six gaming sessions per day. And guess what? It's got a super high rating of 4.8 out of five on the App Store.
Hermès claims victory
Luxury goods maker Hermès has scored a major victory in their legal battle against digital artist Mason Rothschild. They've managed to secure a permanent ban on the sale of Rothschild's MetaBirkins NFTs. Earlier this year, a jury found Rothschild guilty of violating Hermès' trademark for their iconic Birkin handbags with his line of 100 MetaBirkins NFTs.
Now, what are these MetaBirkins? They're digital tokens that represent pictures of fur-covered, patterned handbags. But unfortunately for Rothschild, the court order delivered on Friday not only prohibits the sale of MetaBirkins but also restricts him from marketing, selling, and minting any more of these NFTs in the future.
In addition to the ban, Rothschild is required to airdrop copies of the court order to the current holders of the MetaBirkins tokens. This is to ensure that everyone is aware of the ruling and the consequences surrounding the NFTs.
TTD Sentenced 🙅♂️
Remember the notorious 2020 Twitter hacker? Well, justice has been served.
Back in 2020, the Twitterverse was shaken when high-profile accounts were hijacked.
Pulled off an elaborate Twitter hack, highjacking prominent accounts, including CoinDesk.
Promoted a Bitcoin giveaway scam using these accounts.
Cashed in nearly $104,000 from his digital deceit.
Not content with Twitter hacking, O'Connor levelled up his cyber mischief. He launched SIM-swapping attacks targeting high-profile crypto execs. The result? A staggering $794,000 worth of digital currencies vanished into his pockets.
But the long arm of the law is patient. Despite evading capture for a year, O'Connor was finally cornered and arrested in Spain in 2021.
Fast-forward to now: justice has been served. O'Connor, whose actions wreaked havoc in people's lives, was handed a 5-year sentence by a federal judge, as per reports by Inner City Press.
The sentencing took place at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Judge Jed Rakoff didn't mince words when talking about how O'Connor's actions affected real people.
TTD co-pilot 👩✈️
Say hello to your Co-pilot.
Polygon, the Ethereum scaling solution developer, has just launched their own AI chatbot assistant called Polygon Copilot. They're really stepping up their game! This AI-powered interface is all about making your life easier.
Polygon is known for their interoperability and scaling framework for Ethereum-compatible blockchains. With so many cool dApps on Polygon, they realised that having a helpful guide would be super handy.
They teamed up with LayerE, an application developer, to integrate OpenAI's GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 into Copilot. The goal is to provide insights, analytics, and guidance to users. This chatbot knows its stuff and is trained on Polygon protocol documentation. So you know you're getting accurate information!
The Copilot comes in three tiers: Beginner, Advanced, and Degen. They've got something for everyone, whether you're just starting out or you're a seasoned pro in the crypto world. They've really got your back!
To use Polygon Copilot, all you need to do is connect your wallet to your user account. They give you credits to ask questions, and they even add more credits every 24 hours.
TTD Surfer 🏄
The Terra Allies senior full stack engineering team, known as the Six Samurai, proposes a budget of $116k to revive Terra Classic ecosystem.
A draft bill from the Australian government is threatening tech and social media giants with big fines if they fail to remove misinformation from their platforms.
Following Binance's departure from Cyprus, island's crypto beefed up by ByBit license approval for operations, as it strengthens crypto ecosystem.
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