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As we move into the second half of 2022, the NFT market is similar to the larger crypto market in that it is moving down Bear Street with no real indications of turning around yet. Daily sales volumes have decreased, Solana’s low gas prices and growing population are posing a serious threat, and OpenSea is still having difficulties due to the loss of a co-founder and an increase in suspicious flags on significant items.
It sets up an intriguing plot for the rest of the year, and it’s difficult to see things being much worse than they have been thus far. Let’s take a moment to recap everything that happened this past week with NFTs.
A Co-Founder of OpenSea Resigns
This week, OpenSea co-founder Alex Atallah made his retirement from the service official by tweeting that he was departing to “concentrate on other projects.” Although he stated in a blog post that he wanted to return to his “core passion: developing something from zero to one,” Atallah will continue to serve on the OpenSea board.
NFT Holdings of 3AC
The major cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital’s demise over the past few months has not gone unnoticed by the industry.
This week, a new Dune Analytics dashboard revealed what is thought to be a number of Ethereum-based NFTs that are present in 3AC’s wallet, including a dozen CryptoPunks, about $2.5 million worth of ArtBlocksCurated, as well as a variety of ArtBlocks, Autoglyphs, Chromie Squiggles, Mutant Apes, and a single Bored Ape.
The Otherside Metaverse Test Run by Yuga Labs
The formal Otherside Metaverse by Yuga Labs is scheduled to launch in about a week, but load testing that started rolling out this past week gave us an early preview.
The developer’s main NFT, Bored Ape Yacht Club, was expanded most significantly by The Otherside, which includes “The Otherside” metaverse land NFTs and will soon include an upcoming “video game”-like metaverse allowing BAYC holders to digitally connect. Although it appeared that there were few problems with the audio-visual effects during this week’s load tests, several customers complained that they were unable to use the platform since it was limited to 3,000 people.
Bots & Bagners
Among those who watch the most meme-able shows, “Bagners” have become the current hot topic. There has been significant conjecture over it’s genuine beginnings since it spread like wildfire. Some claim it began with a simple typo in a group chat, while others claim someone accidentally purchased the ENS domain “bagner.eth”
Whatever the case, it rapidly became heated and, after spreading for a few days, turned into free mint. The mint was packaged, sold out in a matter of seconds, and moved to the secondary market, where sales have been modest. The Bagner floor now stands at about 0.04 ETH. It was criticized for feeling too artificial and “influencer pump and dump” like. In any case, it appears from the free mint findings that we are entering an NFT market that is more difficult to find diamonds in than sneaker resale.
The New NFT Marketplace via Reddit and Polygon
Reddit has a history of involvement with the blockchain. With a new NFT collection called Collectible Avatars, it is one of the top social media platforms and businesses to engage in the market. Reddit chose to utilize the Polygon blockchain due of its “low-cost transactions and sustainability pledges” for the collection, which will comprise one-of-a-kind goods created by independent artists. On the upcoming weeks, the avatars are anticipated to roll out in a new subreddit called “Collectible Avatars.”
Major NFTs Are Accidentally Blacklisted by OpenSea
According to a widely publicized Dune Analytics dashboard, about $30M worth of NFTs – totalling around 24,000 ETH, including a variety of BAYC, MAYC, Azukis, Doodles, and more – are designated as “suspect” and blacklisted on the NFT market’s largest marketplace, OpenSea. Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs, which amount close to 270 flagged NFTs, are in first place.
Critics of OpenSea have asserted that the marketplace does not sufficiently evaluate flagged contributions, while others have claimed that the company’s overall security procedures are subpar.
