Spider-Man NFTs, a digital rock that costs more than a car, and the first dive of collegiate engagement in non-fungible tokens. It’s just another week in NFTs. However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Popular crypto analyst Mr. Whale shared some sentiments this week that describe NFTs as pure money laundering schemes. Let’s take a look at all the quick hits from the past week, including that story and more.
This Week’s Non-Fungible Token News
The Digital Rock NFT That Is Commanding Six Figures
Ever thought that digital 2D rocks would be selling for the price of a Lamborghini? We didn’t either. Launched in 2017, EtherRocks are limited to 100 total “pet rocks.” The current floor price? Around 80 ETH, or just over $260,000. Last week, rocks were selling for around $50,000 – not a bad week for holders with rock-strong hands. What a time to be alive.
Spider-Man NFT Is The Latest Headlining IP To Hit The Market
Right around the time we posted last week’s Nutshell, Marvel announced that Spider-Man IP was up next for NFT collectibles. As part of their partnership with VeVe, Marvel’s released five different NFTs ranging from ‘commons’ (32,000 minted) to ‘super-rares’ (1,000 minted). All 60,500 NFTs minted sold out in the first 24 hours.
Next on the docket for Marvel and Veve? Captain America.
PartyBid: The Community That Fundraised a CryptoPunk
PartyBid, a project built on Ethereum-based PartyDAO, launched earlier this month and made a splash recently. In last week’s Nutshell, we highlighted fractional ownership companies like Rally Rd. and Otis. PartyBid is about as crypto-native as a fractional ownership structure could get. PartyBid users scooped up CryptoPunk 2066 with ownership fractionalized across over 400 members.
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Up To Bat For Candy Digital: A Fenway Park NFT
Candy Digital is creating NFTs for all of the MLBs 30 teams in the league. The MLB has announced the Red Sox ‘Fenway Park’ NFT set, first up on the docket – with Yankees, Cubs, Rays, and Nationals next up.
Crypto Analyst: NFTs Are A Money Laundering Scheme For Rich People
Is KYC really allowing NFTs to ‘know their customer?’ Popular crypto analyst Mr. Whale wrote on Medium this week suggesting that much like the physical art world, the subjectivity around value allows for NFTs to serve as a vehicle for money laundering among high net-worth individuals. Our team at Bitcoinist covered Mr. Whale’s broader thoughts in the full article – which you can find here.
Polygon Studios Announces First-Ever Cricket NFT Platform
In a Nutshell that wrapped up July’s activity, we highlighted Polygon’s $100M NFT gaming fund to establish Polygon Studios; now, it’s coming to life. Rario is an officially licensed cricket NFT platform that is launching on Polygon (and in partnership with Polygon Studios). We’ve covered a good variety of sports action in crypto – but this might be one of our first mentions of cricket.
More to come on this on tomorrow’s weekly Sports Slice on Bitcoinist.
Polygon Studios is the blockchains latest endeavor into the NFT and gaming world. The first project for Polygon Studios? A partnership with cricket NFT platform, Rario. | Source: MATIC-USD on TradingView.com
The Miami Hurricanes Are The First College To Sell NFTs
The University of Miami will be the first U.S. college to put up NFTs for auction, the first of which will be emblamtic of the University’s 1989 National Championship Ring. Why sit back and just post some listings on OpenSea? The Hurricanes set up their own site, Canes Vault, and appear to be quite invested in the long-term here. It will be interesting to see if other universities follow.
Twitter NFTs Have Been Something To Write Home About
It’s safe to say that Twitter NFT holders have diamond hands. Twitter’s NFT giveaway, “The 140 Collection,” has done numbers. With 140 total NFTs in the market, and 111 owners, the project has surpassed $5M in trading volume – a hefty number considering the limited amount of NFTs available.
Twitter and Reddit are undoubtedly showing the most interest and aggressiveness towards involving crypto in social. Don’t be surprised if there is more to come from Twitter on this.
Welcome To The Show, Art Blocks
Allow us to introduce you to Art Blocks, if you weren’t already familiar. The project has made a resounding splash this week into the top 3 in NFT volume, with nearly $60M in sales over the past 7 days (and nearly $20M in the past 24 hours). Art Blocks is now third in NFT volume in the past 30 days, and second in both the 24 hour and 7 day volume charts. This beats out major headlining projects, like Bored Ape Yacht Club, NBA Top Shot, and Zed Run.
If you aren’t already paying attention to Art Blocks – you might want to change that.
Related Reading | By The Numbers: How EIP-1559 Has Impacted Ethereum Thus Far
Featured image from Pixabay, Charts from TradingView.com