WEEKLY NFT MARKET WRAP – 21 AUGUST 2022
NFT MARKET UPDATE
The market has been trading sideways this week as Ethereum touches the $2k mark, which can be tied to the ongoing anticipation for the merge. NFTs, however, have been sinking in price for the past several days. That’s no surprise as we are still living in a bear market.
Despite the current state of the market, players in the NFT space continue to break barriers with all the recent news and advancement this week.
Before we dive into the delightful side of things, let’s get the BAYC gossip out of the way.
BAYC TO BE INVESTIGATED BY HACKTIVIST GROUP ANONYMOUS
As we all witnessed, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) received a lot of shit in the past few months on Twitter (or anywhere rumors are shared). The project has been accused of things like racism, occultism, Nazism, and even pedophilia! With all the heat coming in, the hacker collective “Anonymous” has publicly declared its intention to investigate BAYC.
A video was released on its official Facebook page where a masked narrator raised the issue and laid out an investigation plan that will take several months to complete. The video is a “friendly message” to the Bored Ape Community, with the intention to open a discussion about the collection. Anonymous stated that they take issue with unethical ideologies being injected into unsuspecting collectors and enthusiasts through esoteric symbolism and cryptic messages. BAYC’s founders have publicly denied the allegations, so the investigation begins.
SUDOSWAP’S ROYALTY-FREE NFT TRADING EXPLODES
Sudoswap received some steam in the past week due to its stance on royalty fees. Unlike OpenSea and similar platforms, Sudoswap declares itself as a decentralized solution for NFT exchanges. sudoAMM, Sudoswap’s new marketplace protocol, prohibits artists from setting a royalty percentage for their NFTs. What all this means for collectors and traders is that the fees will be significantly smaller — a win for them, but not for the creators. Despite possibly undermining creators, NFT traders seem happy with the model.
THE UNDISPUTED KING OF POP IS COMING BACK TO LIFE
It may be safe to say that many of us didn’t foresee deceased celebrities in the metaverse. Well, it’s happening. NFT Naruto Art Museum partnered with The Jackson Family Foundation Japan and received exclusive rights to MJWWT “Michael Jackson Wonder World Toys.” With MJWWT, we will see the metaverse recreations of Michael Jackson’s 1992 hand-drawn fictional world that act as “an amusement facility to liberate the world’s poor children.” The project aims to show the world the visions the king of pop had before his death. MJWWT has no announced official release date yet, but museum members are ensured to have the Michael Jackson Wonder World Toys whitelisted in their wallets. The NFTs can be used as access to the MJWWT metaverse, which is scheduled to launch next year.
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMP TO RAISE FUNDS FOR UKRAINE
Oleksandr Usyk is utilizing his August 20 rematch with Anthony Joshua to raise $2 million to support his homeland as Russia continues to invade. A new NFT collection featuring quirky designs by famed artist Dosbrak showcases the Olympic medalist’s key moments in his boxing career. Contributions to a charitable foundation supporting Ukrainians are the project’s primary goal. To reach as many supporters as possible, Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay, and Google Pay are available, apart from USDC stablecoin, for those who wish to purchase one of these NFTs.
TENCENT STOPS SALES ON ITS NFT MARKETPLACE
As regulators continue to scrutinize Tencent’s NFT platform, the Chinese tech giant stopped releasing digital collectibles. Huanhe, Tencent’s NFT Platform launched in August 2021, halted sales last Tuesday, but its users will still be able to hold, display, or request a refund for their digital tokens. The company did not further elaborate on the subject.
