Impactful News and Developments Shaping the NFT and Crypto Space
General News and Sentiment
The Crypto Market faces negative sentiment as prominent collections struggle to keep pace with crypto price increases. Recent floor price drops in collections like BAYC and Azuki Elementals reveal the lack of real value accrual mechanisms in blue-chip collections, impacting NFT prices. During such times, projects must demonstrate strong team resilience, deliver results, gain market share, and experience substantial growth in bullish market conditions.
- Blur 2.0 is Live. The NFT marketplace Blur has launched its version 2.0, offering lower gas fees and trait bidding. Despite criticism for its limited NFT selection, Blur has captured 65% of the market share, surpassing OpenSea. The new trait bidding feature in Blur 2.0 allows traders to earn more points by bidding on specific traits, making the trading experience more interactive and rewarding. The community eagerly awaits if these enhancements will address concerns and improve sentiments in the Web3 space.
- Azuki Elementals Drop. Azuki released its new series, Azuki Elementals, but faced negative community reception due to its lack of originality and innovation. This highlights the importance of value creation and community engagement for successful NFT projects. The lack of enthusiasm is evident in Azuki's floor price, plummeting from 17 ETH on June 26th to 7 ETH after the Elementals mint on June 27th.
- Made by Apes - BAYC Announcement. Bored Apes Yacht Club teases its soon-to-be-announced “Made by Apes” initiative. Community posts from Twitter and re-tweets from BAYC state that the team is continuously building their IP to ensure on-chain verification of items and the official directory for everything on the apes and mutants.
- Google Play welcomes NFTs in Apps & Games. The tech giant announced a shift in policy by allowing developers to incorporate digital assets into their apps on the store as long as they remain transparent and adhere to the rules. This sets them apart from the Apple Store - their biggest competitor.
- OpenSea supports NFTs on Zora’s Ethereum Layer-2 network. This development enables the buying and selling art pieces minted on Zora's network through OpenSea. Additionally, OpenSea's NFT-related tools gain the capability to mint assets on Zora's scaling network.
Analytics Deep Dive
In the last 30 days, Bored Ape Yacht Club has held the highest market cap across all NFTs - giving it a cap of 412,967 ETH. The floor price has fluctuated in the last seven days, yet ultimately staying at an average price of 33 ETH. Following suit are Azuki (-0.4%), Mutant Ape Yacht Club (-0.33%), and DeGods (-6.56%), who have all seen respective drops in the last 24 hours (at the time of writing).
Image Below: BAYC Price & Volume (July 19th to July 25th) - Source Nansen
Image Below: Ethereum NFT Sales Volume (July 1st to July 25th) - Source CryptoSlam
Digital Art, Exhibitions, and Events
- Louis Vuitton continued their journey in the digital assets world and introduced the Speedy Bag NFT with an IRL claim. A month after the Treasure Trunk debut, valued at around $40K, Pharell Williams made his mark as creative director and introduced the iconic Speedy bag as a digital asset. The collection is set to launch in January 2024 and is rumored to be worth $1 million. Only Trunk Holders are applicable to purchase the Speedy.
- Christie's is teaming up with Gucci in the upcoming Generative Art NFT Auction. In an auction called “Future Frequencies, Explorations in Generative Art and Fashion, the sale showcases leading talents in the digital art space. The lots will comprise 21 artwork NFTs from AI and other generative techniques. The auction will take place from the 18th to the 25th of July.
- London-based art gallery Verse, showcasing primarily digital art, hosts a three-week summer sale on various new artworks. The gallery will feature Zach Lieberman, Harvey Raynar, and Maya Man. Read their entire thread for the whole schedule here.
- Puma teams up with Jay-Z to release the “Evolution of the Mixtape” sneaker collection, granting holders access to an exclusive music event. To celebrate hip-hop's 50th anniversary, the sports brand created a dedicated digital and physical sneaker.
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NFT Report: October Edition
The NFT market has felt the effects of “Uptober,” as sales volumes have increased 21% in the last 30 days, resulting in a market cap of $2.18 billion. Blue-chip projects such as the BAYC collection saw an 81.2% increase in volume the last month, similar to Pudgy Penguins, which had a 51.2% increase in volume. The increase in price and volume can be partly attributed to the general price increase of the crypto market, with Bitcoin and Ethereum up 24.7% and 7.26%, respectively, in the past month. Moreover, when Pudgy Penguins started selling physical plush toys in Walmart, one of the most successful retail stores, interest surged, and so did the floor price of the NFT.
NFT Report: September Edition
The NFT market continues to face low sentiment as sales volumes have dropped 29% in the last 30 days, and mainstream media is reporting NFTs as “worthless.” Covered by The Guardian, Cointelegraph, Yahoo, The Hindu Times, and more, a recent study conducted by dappGambl, which analyzed data from NFT Scan and CoinMarketCap, found that 95% of NFT collections, equivalent to 23 million individuals, hold NFTs with no market value – as 69,795 out of 73,257 collections have a market cap of 0 Ether.