NFT
Nearly $55M worth of Bored Ape, CryptoPunks NFTs risk liquidation amid debt crisis
Many owners of precious Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks NFTs, who used them as collateral to take out loans in Ether (ETH), have failed to repay their debts. The situation could lead up to the NFT sector’s first massive liquidation event. gm. As a result of the floor dropping to 72, the first BAYC liquidation auction on BendDAO has begun Starting price of 68.4e… Any takers or is this going to be the first bad-debt domino that falls for the platform? pic.twitter.com/7qxsIi661e — Cirrus (@CirrusNFT) August 18, 2022 BAYC “death spiral” incoming? DoubleQ, the founder of web3 launchpad Double Studio, says lending service BendDAO could liquidate up to $55 million worth of NFTs to recover its loans, fearing the so-called “health factor” of these deb...
Controversial Music NFT Platform HitPiece Relaunches Months After Shutdown
Mere months after being slammed by the music industry at large for auctioning music NFTs without artists’ consent, HitPiece has relaunched, Billboard reports. Legions of artists lashed out at HitPiece in early 2022 after a plethora of NFTs appeared on the controversial marketplace without their consent. After major recording artists like Jack Antonoff and industry trade organizations like the RIAA admonished the platform, its website went offline. But HitPiece is now back online and aiming to be “the easiest place to create and buy authentic music artist NFTs,” according to Billboard. “HitPiece is working with the licensors of music to secure performance rights,” Felton said in an email to Billboard. “We may enter into agree...
19 celebrities called out by consumer watchdog group for shilling NFTs
Consumer watchdog group Truth in Advertising (TINA.org) has called out 19 celebrities for allegedly promoting non-fungible tokens (NFTs) without disclosing their connection to the projects. The not-for-profit consumer advocacy organization said on their website they investigated “celebrities who promote non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on their social media channels”, finding that “it is an area rife with deception.” Among the star-studded list are sports stars Floyd Mayweather and Tom Brady, music icons Eminem and Snoop Dog, and several actresses, including Gwyneth Paltrow, all of whom have been sent letters urging them to immediately disclose any material connections they have to NFT companies or brands they have promoted, stating: “The promoter often ...
Vitalik Buterin proposes stealth addresses for anonymous NFT ownership
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has suggested there may be a “low-tech approach” to incorporating privacy features ito nonfungible token, or NFT, transactions. In a Monday post on the Ethereum research channel, Buterin implied Merkle trees and Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge, or ZK-SNARKs, were a more complicated method for stealth addresses for ERC-721 tokens, while proposing his own solution. The Ethereum co-founder suggested instead that smart contract wallets could include a method that would allow the sender to essentially mask their address to third parties. “You would be able to eg. send an NFT to vitalik.eth without anyone except me (the new owner) being able to see who the new owner is,” said Buterin. Idea: stealth addresses for ERC721s. A low-te...
Insta-rally! FLOW token jumps 50% amid Instagram adoption euphoria
Flow (FLOW) logged its best daily performance on Aug.4 after becoming the latest blockchain to support Instagram’s nonfungible token (NFT) features. Insta-made FLOW rally Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Aug. 4 that Instagram had expanded its NFT support to 100 more countries in Africa, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas. As a result, more users can post digital collectibles minted on the Flow blockchain on Instagram. The high-profile integration helped FLOW surge 54% to reach an intraday high of $2.83 a token. Interestingly, the token’s massive upside move accompanied a spike in its daily trading volumes, confirming some weight behind the bullish trend. FLOW/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView Like any blockchain native asset, the ups and...
NFT utility to remedy ticketing dilemmas? Experts weigh in
The 2022 Champions League final will have a checkered position in the competition’s history book. Real Madrid emerged victorious over Liverpool inside the Stade de France, but the pandemonium outside the stadium before kick-off highlights the need for innovative solutions to events ticketing. Counterfeit tickets played a massive role in the chaotic scenes that played out in the French capital in June 2022, as fans broke into the stadium precinct while authorities rebuffed many. French authorities estimated that 35,000 people had arrived at France’s national stadium with fake tickets or none at all, in addition to the 75,000 fans that had legitimate tickets for the grand final. Black market ticket sales and touting have been part and parcel of the sporting and events world for decades, but ...
NFT sales will fund the restoration of physical monuments in Ukraine
The Ukrainian government will be using the proceeds of sales from an online nonfungible token, or NFT, museum to restore artwork in the real world. According to a Friday announcement and information shared with Cointelegraph, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy said the government’s Meta History Museum of War platform, aimed at preserving the timeline of major events in Russia’s war with Ukraine, raised 803.28 Ether (ETH) — roughly $1.3 million at the time — through NFT sales. The ministry said proceeds from the sales will go toward “the restoration of Ukrainian cultural institutions,” many of which have been damaged or destroyed by missile attacks from Russia. “During the six months of the war in Ukraine, the Russians destroyed hundreds of our museum...
ApeCoin price eyes 45% rally following Otherside metaverse demo
ApeCoin (APE) rallied to start the week as traders considered Yuga Labs’ decision to open its Otherside metaverse for selected users. In doing so, the token broke out of a technical pattern that hints at another 45% price rally by September 2022. Otherside metaverse euphoria APE’s price surged by almost 23.5% week-to-date to reach $6.12 a token on July 19. The weekly gains came as a part of a rally that started on July 16. Interestingly, Yuga Labs invited 4,300 players of its Otherside gaming metaverse for a demo—and the tour of its Bored Ape avatar online platform—on the day of APE’s rally. APE/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView That suggests traders purchased APE after taking cues from the Otherside update, given it serves as a governance token at ApeC...
Christie’s launches venture fund aimed at Web3 and blockchain investments
Christie’s, the auction house known for its sales of art and luxury items, has launched an investment fund to support emerging companies with technology enabling “seamless consumption of art.” In a Monday announcement, the auction company said the fund, Christie’s Ventures, will financially support firms in Web3, “art-related financial products and solutions,” and technology related to art and luxury goods. According to Christie’s, its first investment will be in LayerZero Labs, a company developing solutions for enabling omnichain decentralized applications, allowing a more seamless transfer of assets between blockchains. “We will focus on products and services, which can solve real business challenges, improve client experiences and expand growth opportunities, both across the art ...
LimeWire Announces Partnership With Powerhouse Ibiza Nightclubs
LimeWire NFT holders will soon have the opportunity to indulge in a taste of Ibiza’s high life. As part of a newly minted partnership between LimeWire and Ushuaïa and Hï Ibiza, LimeWire Originals NFT holders will enjoy free VIP access to both clubs for free throughout the 2022 season. Both establishments are consistently recognized as among the world’s leading clubbing destinations. LimeWire, the defunct music piracy-turned NFT platform, is betting on a big summer season return for the Ibiza club circuit, which had been dormant due to the impact of the pandemic. The Hï Ibiza nightclub. c/o Hï Ibiza Scroll to Continue Recommended Articles “Providing our LimeWire Original holders with exclusive access during this first full season since the pandemic sets the benchmark ...
Community anticipation builds for Otherside’s First Trip demo run
The Otherside, a gamified metaverse project associated with the Bored Ape Yacht Club, is scheduled to deploy a technical demonstration of the first stage of the Otherside roadmap on Sunday, July 17 at 4 pm UTC. The First Trip experience will be exclusively accessible to Otherdeed land owners, known as Voyagers, and has been described by the platform as a “celebration of what’s to come and an opportunity for Voyagers to gather, explore, and plan.” The company indicated that thousands of users could participate in the event, navigating through the curated arena of play that has been specifically designed for the test, as well as guinea-pigging the “3D, hi-res Voyager prototypes that can walk, run, jump and emote,” and a “private, tokengated live stream,” among other novel features...
DeFi market fell off cliff in Q2 but users haven’t given up hope: Report
Despite the decentralized finance (DeFi) market suffering a 74.6% market cap decline in Q2, user activity has remained relatively resilient, says CoinGecko. In a report published by the crypto data aggregator on Wednesday, CoinGecko reported that the overall DeFi market cap fell from $142 million to $36 million over the second quarter, due mainly to the collapse of Terra and its stablecoin TerraUSD Classic (USTC) in May. CoinGecko also noted a rise in DeFi exploits in the quarter contributed to the fall, including Inverse Finance and Rari, which suffered hacks of $1.2 million and $11 million, respectively: “These attacks have negatively impacted token prices as investors lose faith in these hacked protocols.” However, CoinGecko also noted that while on-chain activity slowed down, the...
