NFTs & DeFi 🗓

2023-05-22 16:25:13 Influencer served settlement demand via NFT following $7M token presale

A nonfungible token (NFT) influencer has been served with a settlement demand via an NFT — which casually dropped the “F-bomb” several times — alleging that the influencer engaged in wire fraud “at a minimum” on a recent $7 million token presale. On May 20, Mike Kanovitz, a partner at law firm Loevy & Loevy, stated in a tweet that a settlement demand letter had been served as an NFT to the wallet address associated with the influencer known as Ben.eth, whose real identity remains undisclosed. Ben.eth “used a manipulative launch strategy” for the Psyop (PSYOP) token, which raised $7 million in its initial presale over 72 hours. The concerns revolved around how the liquidity pools (LP) were structured and how the tokens “trickled out” after the presale. Shortly after the letter was published on Twitter, Ben.eth tweeted that 50% of the tokens had been sent out and “the rest will be sent in short order.” “At a minimum, you would be guilty of wire fraud, which is a predicate act for racketeering and the basis for a treble damages award against you ($7 million becomes $21 million),” the letter stated. he warned of a potentially “painful” process for Ben.eth if the letter is not complied with.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2023-05-22 10:25:09 NFT Artist and Collector OSF: 'NFTs Are Just a Medium'

London’s House of Fine Art (HOFA) gallery is one of the pioneers of the crypto art scene, being one of the first venues to showcase NFT artworks in a physical space back in 2021. Back then, it took a somewhat conservative approach, focusing on prints of CryptoPunks alongside physical sculptures and NFT-adjacent work. This time around, its "Beyond the Screen" exhibition is dialing up the digital element, with vibrant screens displaying eye-popping animated work by the likes of XCOPY. NFTs are “just a medium,” said NFT artist and collector Ovie Faruq, aka OSF, who showed Decrypt around the space. “It's just like, do I have my painting on an oil canvas, or do I have a photograph? Or do I have a screen displaying some digital art? It's just a canvas; it's just a mechanism to transact,” he added. Ultimately, he argued, “people will start buying NFTs without knowing they're NFTs. And that's the sort of thing that will get us over this, like, stigma that's attached to it.” OSF’s own contribution to the exhibition, “Super Fan,” inadvertently predicted the current PEPE-led memecoin market frenzy. The digital artwork, which OSF drew “two or three months ago,” features a “kind of loner character” who’s obsessed with Pepe the Frog, and surrounded by market charts showing green and red candles.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2023-05-22 04:25:04 FIRST RGB-POWERED NFT MARKETPLACE LAUNCHES AT BITCOIN 2023

DIBA, the first Bitcoin NFT marketplace utilizing RGB smart contracts, has officially launched on mainnet. According to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine, the platform also introduces BitMask, an exclusive Bitcoin-only wallet capable of storing unique digital assets (UDAs) such as music and art. The UDAs will be hosted on high availability storage and cloud services provided by Hut 8, a publicly traded bitcoin miner in North America. DIBA aims to bring Bitcoin utility to the masses by enabling the exchange of UDAs on a decentralized and censorship-resistant network. Notable bitcoin investors, including Tim Draper of Draper Associates and Bill Tai of ACTAI Unicorn Fund, support the venture. Gideon Nweze, founder and CEO of DIBA, expressed his excitement about the launch, stating, "This marks a major milestone in the transition of the internet onto Bitcoin." Tim Draper also commended DIBA's innovative approach, emphasizing the potential of NFTs on Bitcoin. He said, "What Gideon and the team at DIBA have built is a testament to the potential NFTs on Bitcoin hold in capturing the creative and sovereign spirit of this next generation."

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2023-05-21 20:31:01 'In Hindsight the Metaverse Will Be Obvious and Inevitable' Says Affyn CEO Lucaz Lee

Despite the many obstacles that currently make mainstream adoption seem impossible, the metaverse will eventually “mature when gateways that form the access point for entering the myriads of metaverses come onstream,” Lucaz Lee, CEO of Affyn, has said. Lee suggested that when this point is reached, entering and exiting the metaverse will be as easy “as ordering dinner from a takeaway app.” Lee also said he believes augmented reality (AR), rather than virtual reality, will play a key role in the metaverse. The boss of Affyn, a play-and-earn metaverse, said this is because AR is capable of being “seamlessly integrated into the apps we use every day.” All of this will happen with users being none the wiser. The CEO also offered his thoughts on why the play-to-earn (P2E) model has not lived up to the hype and what he sees as the more sustainable Web3 gaming model. He also explained to Bitcoin.com News why he still believes in the metaverse despite the many false starts he has seen so far. Nevertheless, the core elements that make the metaverse so immersive are not the technology it’s built upon, but rather the communities that coalesce around it. Just as newsgroups united people with shared interests in the early days of the internet.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2023-05-21 16:25:12 NFT Trading Volume on Track to Drop Below $1B

The non-fungible token (NFT) market is evolving, and measuring its success depends on which metrics you're looking at. According to a new report released by DappRadar on Thursday, NFT trading volume for the month of May has reached $333 million so far, putting it on track to fall below $1 billion for the first time this year. In contrast, there have been 2.3 million sales executed so far this month and a notable increase in the number of weekly active wallets interacting with NFTs. Sara Gherghelas, a blockchain analyst at DappRadar, told CoinDesk that the number of NFT sales appears to be on track to reach or surpass last month's numbers, as opposed to trading volume, which is significantly lagging behind last month's count. In her view, this could signal that there are more NFT traders in the market making smaller dollar-figure trades. The number of unique active wallets linked to NFT activities grew by 27% in May, the report added, attributing the growth to the Miladys NFT collection – which received a notable pump from Elon Musk – as well as profits made from the hyped PEPE token that funneled back into the NFT market. This contributed to an uptick in on-chain activity, which sent Ethereum gas fees skyrocketing.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2023-05-21 10:25:08 Bitcoin Frogs Best Selling NFT for 24-Hrs as BTC Catches Pepe Mania

The ordinals are coming in dank this week. Bitcoin Frogs was the #1 selling NFT collection for the 24-hour period on Wednesday. Frogs sales outpaced Bored Apes Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, and other popular collections for the day. The BRC-20 memecoin project describes itself as “10,000 unique frog collectibles minted directly on the Bitcoin Blockchain.” As of publication time, 3,700 frogs had owners. Meanwhile, hundreds were listed for sale on NFT marketplaces. According to data from CryptoSlam, a leading aggregator of on-chain NFT analytics, Bitcoin Frogs sales reached a trading volume above $2.2 million for the day. Frogs outsold Bored Apes NFTs for Wednesday, May 17th. Some of the BAYC sellers may have even been cashing out to buy PEPE Coin in the meanwhile. There’s been a lot of that going on during this season of Pepe fever. CryptoSlam data shows Bitcoin Frogs selling for an average price of 0.12 BTC (around $3,200 USD) on Wednesday. The PEPE-inspired boom in sales overtook Bored Apes Yacht Club despite the higher average sale price of around $83,000 for the blue-chip NFT. The inclusion of cool NFT features like generative AI to produce unique properties in each mint brings the artistry of smart contract minting to the Bitcoin blockchain.

NFTs | DeFi | News Open / Comment

2023-05-21 04:25:08 Injective (INJ) Surges By 19% Following ‘Surprise’ NFT Announcement

Injective (INJ) is one of the few tokens to have racked up impressive gains in the last week. While most of the assets in the crypto market were marked by insignificant price actions leading to little gains or losses, INJ stood out with an excellent price movement to become one of the biggest weekly gainers. According to data from CoinMarketCap, Injective’s price gained by 19% in the last seven days boasting of a market performance. INJ initially began the week trading around a price region of $6.08 and soon recorded consecutive gains and losses before experiencing a price hike on May 17 to hit a market price of $6.7. On May 13, the team behind the Injective blockchain tweeted a statement urging the user community to interact more with dApps built on Injective or its L1 chain, stating there could be a chance to receive an “NFT-related surprise.” Interestingly, the price rally by INJ in the last week appears to be due to an exciting announcement made by the project developers six days ago. This announcement sparked much excitement within the Injective community, which has been represented not just in price but also in the network activity.

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2023-05-20 20:41:01 Bankrupt crypto hedge fund 3AC’s NFT auction fetches $2.5M

The auction for parts of bankrupt Singaporean cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital’s (3AC) nonfungible tokens (NFT) collection fetched $2.5 million at its conclusion on May 19. Facilitated by fine arts broker Sotheby’s, collectibles on sale included Tyler Hobbs Fidenza #725, Larva Labs Autoglyph #187 and Tyler Hobbs Fidenza #861. The highest sale amount was Tyler Hobbs Fidenza #725 at $1 million. In response to the news, Kyle Davies, co-founder of 3AC. At the same time, fellow co-founder Su Zhu said, “Sent a few of them the Sothebys auction results, and the response is *crickets*” in response to journalist inquiries on the liquidity of the NFTs. At the commencement of the auction, Zhu quoted English poet Alfred Tennyson: “[Tis] better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all” as a response to the sale. The NFTs were recovered by liquidators of 3AC after the hedge fund filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. At its peak, 3AC’s estimated assets under management reached $10 billion before being hit hard by the ongoing cryptocurrency bear market. The firm reportedly owes creditors a total of $3.5 billion.

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2023-05-20 16:25:11 Zombie-themed Deadfellaz NFTs Let You Bring the Avatars to Life on Video

DFZ Labs, the creative team behind zombie themed non-fungible token (NFT) collection Deadfellaz said Friday its rolling out a video utility extension to allow community members to bring their tokens to life and embody their avatars on screen. Called Streamingfellaz, the tool will let Deadfellaz token holders, also known as The Horde, to utlize the collection’s intellectual property (IP) beyond the artwork itself. Betty, CEO & Co-Founder of DFZ LABS said in a press release that Streamingfellaz will further extend Deadfellaz’ mission of giving holders a Web3 digital identity and new modes of self-expression. One member of The Horde, Dead Channel, was able to beta test the new tool and was enthusiastic about the product. “It’s been great bringing my full Web3 identity to life with my Streamingfella. Like many in the Horde: I am my fella, and my fella is me!” Dead Channel said in the release. Deadfellaz has been keen on expanding its IP beyond its digital artwork since its inception. In October, the collection teamed up with popular DJ and NFT collector Steve Aoki.

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2023-05-20 10:25:09 Pudgy Penguins wants to use its NFT-inspired toys to bring IP to the real world

Pudgy Penguins, an (admittedly adorable) NFT collection that also doubles as a web3 IP company, is releasing a line of toys dubbed Pudgy Toys, Luca Netz, CEO of the company, told TechCrunch+ in an exclusive interview. As the NFT sector continues to waddle through a period of frosty consumer interest, some collections are diving deep, exploring new waters and expanding their horizons to the physical realm in hopes of reaching more people and growing their brand. The penguin plushies are being made in collaboration with PMI, which also produces toys for Fortnite and Among Us, Netz said. The company sees physical toys as a “Trojan horse” for the web3 ecosystem and NFTs. “Unfortunately, NFT revenue is not sustainable and it’s not really growable,” Netz acknowledged, adding that the toys are meant to make the company more sustainable. “Secondly, we wanted to create an IP that transcends this ecosystem, and the way I know how to do that is through physical products.”. Launched in 2021 and acquired by Netz in April 2022, the 8,888-NFT collection has grown to include real-world products.

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