NFTs In A Nutshell: A Weekly Review

Crypto connoisseur Mike Novogratz doesn’t seem as bullish on NFTs as the rest of us. Bank of America is envisioning a bright future ahead. Oh, and the NFT market has officially surpassed $10B. Even a ‘slow’ week in NFTs feels like it moves at a million miles an hour.

It’s just another week of fun and games with million dollar JPEGs. As the final quarter of the year kicks off, let’s review all of the biggest action in the past seven days of NFTs.

This Week’s Non-Fungible Token News

It’s An Eleven-Digit(al) Market

Don’t worry, you’re still early. Nonetheless, according to Messari Crypto, this week we’ve surpassed a $10B market for NFTs. The market leader, as to be expected, is Ethereum with over $6B in secondary sales.

However, layer 2 blockchains are aggressively in hot pursuit. Solana, Flow, Immutable X, Polygon and other chains are looking to build out more NFT platforms and projects. Many chains are bolstered by lower fees and faster transaction speeds relative to Ethereum. However, Ethereum’s first-mover advantage is substantial at present time.

The Latest Rug Pull In NFTs: Evolved Apes

This is not a project you wanted to ‘ape into.’ The anonymous developer of ‘Evolved Apes,’ who went by Evil Ape, disappeared with the project’s full wallet, estimated to be worth around $3M.

Artists involved in the project have reportedly still not been paid, and while the project was at one point verified on OpenSea, it seems that the verification has been removed. The project’s official website and Twitter are seemingly wiped.

Another unfortunate case in an almost nonsensical rugpull; the creator likely could’ve made more money in the long-run by seeing the project through. A friendly reminder to always do your due diligence and don’t ‘ape’ into NFTs with money you can’t afford to lose.

Bank Of America Is Bullish

Yes, you’re reading that right. Bank of America is bullish. The financial beast released a 140+ page report around crypto this week, including some optimistic perspectives on NFTs.

The report describes NFTs as “changing the way creators connect with fans and receive compensation.” However, while the bank realizes the immense potential, they also suggest that there is “heightened risks in this segment.”

Related Reading | The Metaverse Travel Agency (M.T.A) Partners With Decentraland And The Sandbox To Launch MetaHelmets, It’s First NFT Collection With Exclusive Community Access

The Most Successful Fashion Brand NFT Release Yet

Last month, our team at Bitcoinist reported on fashion house Dolce & Gabbana turning things up a notch with NFTs. This past week, reports have emerged that the nine-piece digital collection from D&G is now worth nearly $6M.

That makes the D&G release the priciest fashion brand NFT release yet, beating out NFTs from competing brands like Burberry and Gucci.

Ethereum continues to be the dominant force for NFTs, despite a number of different blockchains looking to gain traction in the space. | Source: ETH-USD on TradingView.com

Metaverse Consolidation

NFT-based metaverse Warena, backed by Animoca Brands, agreed to a partnership with Illuvium this week. The move will achieve full cross-chain capability and asset migration opportunities for users. This is essentially a ‘merger’ of two metaverses.

Check out the full story from our team at Bitcoinist here.

NFTs: Mike Novogratz Says No Thanks?

Galaxy Digital CEO and one of crypto’s more renowned advocates, Mike Novogratz, suggested that the NFT is a bit frothy this week. Novogratz spoke during London’s Token 2049 Crypto Conference, stating that the massive numbers people are paying for some NFTs are not normal in “any way, shape or form.”

Additionally, Novogratz stated that “it seems to me like a pretty good time to at least book some profits and fold it back to Bitcoin or Ethereum or another token.”

Novogratz had previously described NFTs as a driving force in shifting culture after Jay-Z purchased a CryptoPunk – so there’s no reason to believe he’s a full-on NFT skeptic. He described that purchase as a “big, big deal” for NFTs.

Emerging NFTs Of The Week: MekaVerse

Our new closing section of Bitcoinist’s ‘NFTs In A Nutshell’ series highlights the week’s latest emerging project. Since Thursday, the launch of MekaVerse has reportedly yielded over $60M in initial and secondary sales.

The current OpenSea floor is nearly 7 ETH, and the craziest part? The NFT avatars haven’t even been released yet. The drop hasn’t come without some drama, of course, as many skeptics arrived over MekaVerse’s ‘raffle’ release process, and a MekaVerse designer claimed on Twitter that compensation was a concern.

Related Reading | The Andy Milonakis NFT Show, EP. 7 – Our Hero Reaches The Edge Of The Abyss

Featured image from Pixabay, Charts from TradingView.com