For the Love of the Game (Market Commentary) |
Your average NFT trader may not be buying NFTs right now, but there’s one class of trader that is feasting. It’s the whales. NFT trading volume is down, and floor prices are tumbling along with it, but those with deep pockets are acquiring major art grails. Fidenzas, Ringers, Chromie Squiggles, and rare Archetypes; if it sounds like I’m speaking another language, you’re right. This is the language of whales and art collectors. Here are some of the high-priced generative art grails they’ve been buying in
the past week. - Fidenza #158 sold for $370k USD
- XCOPY’s Five Eyes sold for $238k USD
- Fidenza #646 sold for $225k
USD
- Fidenza #454 sold for $132k USD
- Fidenza #25 sold for $129k USD
- Fidenza #577 sold for $123k USD
- Chromie Squiggle #10 sold for $91k USD
- 13 Chromie Squiggles sold for roughly $20k USD each
Capping off the mega art week was Sotheby’s auction of NFT art grails, all coming from 3AC’s previous holdings. With the auction now completed, we must take a moment to appreciate
a BIG HONKIN’ SALE. Ringers #879 (last sold for 1800 ETH, worth $5.4m at the time ) was the grail of the entire lot and now may become world-famous for being the second highest-priced generative art sale ever in USD value, but
possibly the highest in ETH value at 3,233 ETH. Known as ‘The Goose’ this stand-out output in Dmitri Cherniak’s highly regarded Ringers collection of generative art perfectly highlights the randomness of generative art, and how
randomized parameters and code can sometimes form an unexpected image that is unique, beautiful, and iconic.
Let’s check out some more examples of big money moving around NFTs. - Nike NFTs seem
to be coming to Fortnite as soon as next week. Nike’s official Twitter account just teased the ultimate sneaker hunt as Fortnite x Nike Air Max coming on 6/20.
- 2 Rolex watches are being used as collateral for loans after being tokenized as NFTs. This is significant because it’s an obvious use case for NFTs,
with the NFT acting as a COA and proof of ownership at the same time.
- A mysterious anon wallet has been on a shopping spree lately, buying over 2600 ETH worth of BAYC, and over 1500 ETH in other collections including MAYC, Azuki, DeGods, Doodles, Moonbirds, and Pudgy Penguins.
- Snoop Dogg has just
delivered possibly the best music-related NFT to date. His new NFT called Passport will give holders a behind-the-scenes look at his current tour (updated at each
event), free art for holders by Coldie, Terrell Jones, and Alien Queen, and early access to tickets. Think of this as the evolution of a fan club, and priced just like it, at just $45.
- Donald Trump’s Trump Digital Trading Cards has begun to accept the collection’s rare “Win Trump Prizes” NFTs to be redeemed and burned in exchange for the prize. Prizes include signed books, gift cards, golf tickets, zoom calls, and even a gala dinner at Trump’s home
Mara Lago.
- On Chain Monkeys completed their mint of 300 Dimensions NFTs as Bitcoin ordinals, and we’re already seeing some significant secondary sales
that are north of 1 BTC each.
- Boring Punks, while not majorly expensive, saw plenty of money trading hands. The CryptoPunks derivative project minted at .01 ETH and found itself quickly reaching a floor price of over .16 ETH. Quite the feat in such a down market, with over $1.7m in secondary
action trading hands.
It has been almost an entirely red week in the top 10,
but… - Ordinals still benefit from being the meta right now, and this is where degens are focusing their time.
- My prediction that DMarket would shine as the rest of the space fizzles seems to be coming true. Gamers will buy skins, independent of speculation, so it just makes sense for them to be a stable top performer.
- BoringPunks are the new kid on the block,
entering the top 10 with weekly sales that almost mirror real CryptoPunks. But CryptoPunks only needed 17 transactions to do the same sales volume that it took BoringPunks 22k to reach.
- Sales across Ethereum and Bitcoin continue to lose steam, and it’s hard to say when this could turn around due to uncertainty with regulations and legal matters up in the air.
- Polygon is up almost 10% this week as it’s propelled by DraftKings’ Golf and Reignmakers UFC
- Binance’s LBT liquidity positions as NFTs pushed them into the green, up over 22% in 7 days
NFT Forkast The Forkast 500 NFT Index is down 10.5% in the past 7 days, showing traders’ unwillingness to trade and NFTs continuing to lose value. I’m watching to see if Sotheby’s art sales will have any impact on the market. Currently, excitement is high following the success of Sotheby’s auction, along with news that BlackRock is filing for a Bitcoin ETF. Will these be enough fuel to bring
confidence back to the NFT market? NFTs are in a very unique spot right now as traders are still willing to spend big bucks on NFTs that they think will hold special value. I don’t see the Sotheby’s auctions leading to any money trickling down to other NFT collections like we typically see from big runs on art, but this should be a boost of confidence in NFTs as a medium. In the long run, we’ll likely look back at this
week as a defining moment in NFTs, where collectors, armed with conviction, made moves that prove that we’re really here for the long haul. Have a MEGA GM! DC Comics - The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1
Date - Now
Blockchain - Palm
Price $9.99 USD TimeWarp - Rocky Horror Show
Date - June 19
Blockchain - Ethereum
Price - .1 ETH Funko - IT
Date -
June 20
Blockchain - Wax
Price - Starting at $9.99 USD REMO’s World
Date - June 21
Blockchain - Ethereum
Price .085 ETH Gutter x PUMA
x LaMelo Ball - MB.03
Date - June 29
Blockchain - Ethereum
Price $175 USD
Pizza Punk -
Ukiyo
Date - June 30
Blockchain - Tezos
Price - Dutch Auction starting at 50
XTZ
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Generative art is digital art that is created with code and typically involves a degree of randomness that an artist programs in. While the artist sets rules and guidelines for the code, the process of generation allows for the parameters of the code to react with each other in real-time as the image is formed. Many feel that we’re in a historic time for digital art, as the craft is evolving at a blistering pace largely thanks to the value NFTs can bring to artists.
Data can be beautiful and as you dive in I think you’ll see for yourself that there’s something special brewing here. Happy Researching! Received this from a friend? Sign
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Yohann chats with Edward Lee, a leading legal expert on NFTs and intellectual property. He is a professor of law and co-director of Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Center for Design, Law, and Technology, the first U.S. institution devoted to research of creativity, technology, design, and the law.
In his latest book “Creator take control” Edward offers a compelling new theory to explain the meteoric rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their impact on art, business, entertainment, and society, and explains how they are revolutionizing our understanding of ownership.
In this
interview they discuss:
- Recommendations for collections owners to legally protect their brands.
- How NFT technology and Web3 is related to the birth of modern art in the 20th century and what lesson it provides for the 21st century.
- The explosion of AI and ChatGPT and how they are complimentary to NFTs.
- The theory of
decentralized IP, or De-IP.
- Smart contracts on Ethereum, and lack of smart contracts on Bitcoin.
- How commercial rights for NFTs and Bitcoin Ordinals compare to each other.
- What Edward’s favourite brand-able NFT IP is.
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