In July, prices for CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club and other popular NFT collections fell by more than 60%. Our experts talk about the trends in the market. And the existing trading opportunities and its further prospects

In early July, the prices of the well-known and best capitalized collectible NFTs plummeted. And which are considered the blue chips of the NFT market. Collections such as CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) or Azuki fell in price by more than 60% in just one month. This is attributed to market trends. However, even a bearish period leaves traders with opportunities to make money.

BAYC, which is backed by Yuga Labs, saw its floor price fall below 30 ETH for the first time since October 2021. At the time of publication, the price has recovered to 32 ETH (about $60k). But it is still far below the historic high of $370 thousand in April 2022. The news that singer Justin Bieber bought BAYC image #3001 for $1.3 million (500 ETH at the exchange rate at the time of purchase) had fallen in price by more than 20 times by early July was widely circulated on the web.

The fall in the NFT market comes on the back of Bitcoin’s rise

So far, NFT prices have been falling systematically since the beginning of the year. And bitcoin kept going to new annual highs, and now its return for the year exceeds 80%. Most altcoins have also been rising in price, but less aggressively. This is evidenced by bitcoin’s growing dominance – for the first time since April 2021, the figure exceeded 50% of the total crypto market capitalization.

Along with the fall in prices on the NFT market, the volume of trading on the platforms significantly decreased. This indicator can be seen as a marker of interest in the market. And the low volume indicates a smaller number of participants. According to NFTGo data, over the month the total daily volume of NFT secondary trades fell by 55% from $22 million at the end of June to $10 million or lower.

Copyright royalties (royalties) from NFT creators have also hit a two-year low. According to a recent report from analytics platform Nansen, weekly royalty payments peaked at $76 million in April 2022. And by the end of June, they fell 95% to $3.8 million. Royalties are directly tied to trading volume – many NFT projects include a commission on secondary trades when creating collections. And that is paid to them in the form of royalties and serves as revenue.

In addition, the total volume of royalties fell as some trading platforms made them optional in order to attract traders. This was the case with the market leaders Blur, OpenSea, Magic Eden and LooksRare. Thus, the reduction in trading volumes and changes in the market structure led to a noticeable decrease in royalties as the main source of income for companies and teams behind NFT projects and art creators.

Whale Games

The fall in NFT prices and trading volumes is also attributed to the growing dominance of the Blur platform. It is initially oriented at more professional traders and speculators. But due to its scale, transactions on it inevitably affect the entire market. After the launch of its own token BLUR and its sensational airdrop in February this year. Blur has implemented a user reward program where traders receive tokens for placing orders and listing NFTs.

Traders on Blur with significant capital (“whales”) who can afford short-term losses sell large NFT positions en masse. And which they previously purchased and then buy them back again, gaining more tokens through more trades. This is called “farming” the tokens. Selling these tokens in the future is likely to compensate them for their losses.

Such activity increases selling pressure and collapses minimum prices in collections. It also provokes panic selling by smaller traders. And some of them in addition take loans for trading against NFT or other crypto-assets in specialized services. The combination of these factors leads to fewer and fewer new users entering the market. Alternatively, they act as the buyer of last resort.

However, there is a contrary view that token farming increases liquidity on the platform. Those traders who engage in it get an incentive to place more assets on it. And thus preventing an even greater collapse of prices on NFT.

The resulting farmed tokens are actively traded on exchanges – at the time of publication, the price of BLUR is near an all-time low of $0.30, according to CoinMarketCap. This is nearly 80% below the all-time high of $1.40 reached in late February.

NFT market prospects

Like the broader cryptocurrency market, the NFT market is likely to continue to exhibit cyclical price dynamics. As new projects emerge in the sector, bullish cycles occur. And leading to increased innovation and adoption of new technologies. This eventually leads to the emergence of lower quality projects. And then a market crash and the start of a new cycle.

The NFT sphere could, in theory, benefit from the gaming business. Blockchain gaming has become one of the popular destinations for venture capitalists in the Web3 segment. And investment in this sector is estimated at $10 billion. Many of these games involve using NFT to represent ownership of in-game assets or players’ digital avatars. However, developing truly high-quality, high-budget games can take several years. And so it’s not yet obvious which developers can take on this niche and carve out a leadership role in it.

The NFT market is no longer limited to marketplaces like OpenSea or Rarible, where you can release new NFTs or trade them with other users. There are credit services or platforms for trading derivatives on NFTs from large collections. And allowing you to speculate on NFTs without actually owning them.

Earning opportunities

For those who believe the bearish trends in NFT will continue, there is an opportunity to make money on a short position (on a “short”). And roughly the same as in the traditional or cryptocurrency markets. To do this, you can use credit platforms such as NFTfi, Arcade or the Blend service on the Blur platform. In order to “short” NFT, the trader first defines a collection. And whose value he believes will decline. Then he uses the lending platform to borrow NFTs, sells the asset at the current market price. And then re-buys it at a lower value, after which he closes the loan.

Because such platforms require lenders to actually own the underlying asset. So borrowers can only “short” NFTs from the largest and most liquid collections. Those who, conversely, believe in market growth can use these same platforms to borrow against their NFTs. And accumulating more assets and taking profits if the market goes into a bullish phase.

Platforms for trading perpetual futures for specific NFT collections. NFTPerp, for example, allow speculating on the floor prices of popular collections without the need to own the underlying assets. However, this is still a new market segment and the services are highly dependent on external data providers (aka oracles). And who can distort the data, which creates corresponding risks. In addition, as in the traditional market, there is margin call risk when trading NFT futures.

Music NFTs

Our experts note that in addition to collectible NFTs or blockchain games, there are NFT-related initiatives from big brands or, for example, music NFT platforms. In July, the market decline did not prevent the Sound service from raising $20 million from investors. And that includes Andreessen Horowitz’s largest crypto fund (a16z crypto). The platform allows you to trade musical compositions in the form of NFT. And musicians who place compositions on it have already collectively earned more than $5 million.

NFT digital tokens can be used at Formula 1 races starting with the Monaco Grand Prix on May 28

Formula 1 ticket supplier Platinum Group has introduced tickets in the form of NFTs. The first event to which they will be available is the Monaco Grand Prix, which will be held on May 28.

The tokens will be issued on the Polygon blockchain. In addition to admission to the event. NFT tickets will also give owners various bonuses. For example, discounts for future races or participation in parties.

For sports fans, easy entry is the most important principle. Eli Zerbib, co-founder of the Web3 company Bary, which was involved in the creation of the tokens, said this. According to him, NFT tokens provide just that simplicity. And they offer transparency, traceability, easy purchasing, personalization. And also great audience involvement, which the company needs.

Our experts note that the use of blockchain technology in sports already goes beyond selling event tickets or issuing fan tokens and NFT collections

The former product manager of the OpenSea platform knew which of the NFT collections would be advertised on the home page of this site. And was buying them up in advance for resale

Prosecutors have won the first ever U.S. insider trading lawsuit involving digital assets. A former employee of NFT marketplace OpenSea has now been found guilty of using confidential information to make a profit.

A jury found former platform product manager Nathaniel Chastain guilty of fraud and money laundering. In contrast, insider trading litigation centered on securities fraud charges. Then Chastain was charged with wire fraud. This allowed prosecutors to sidestep the issue of classifying NFTs as an asset, not yet spelled out in the law.

Chastain, 32, was responsible for selecting the NFT section of Trending. These are the images that were posted on the front page of OpenSea’s home page. Getting NFTs into that section of the site usually resulted in an immediate jump in their price. According to the charge, OpenSea kept information about the NFT collections secret. Which were chosen to be displayed on the home page. But Chastain, in possession of this information, bought up dozens of the right images in advance. And when he published them in the Trending section, he immediately sold them at several times the purchase price, violating the confidentiality agreement.

The prosecution alleges that Chastain profited over $57,000 in ETH cryptocurrency from the scheme. The defendant himself claims that he never converted the proceeds into dollars. Consequently, he made no profit.

In September 2021, Chastain was asked to resign after his activities became visible both internally. And to outside observers in the crypto community. Who analyzed sales and tracked wallet transfers at the expense of blockchain transparency. The company then introduced a policy prohibiting employees from buying or selling NFTs. As long as they are displayed on the home page of the site.

Our experts note that Chastain was arrested in June 2022. He faces up to 20 years in prison for each count. Although he will likely end up with a much lesser sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for August 22.

Net book value of digital assets of Playboy as of December dropped to $ 327 thousand. A year earlier the figure was equal to $ 6.8 million

PLBY Group, parent company of Playboy magazine, said it suffered a $4.9 million asset impairment loss in Ethereum (ETH) in 2022, according to its annual report. The company was accepting the leading altcoin as payment for its 2021 Rabbitars collection NFTs.

In 2021, the company received $7.8 million from the sale of NFTs. At the end of that year, however, it recorded a $1 million loss on their impairment. At the end of 2022, the value of the digital assets on the Playboy balance sheet was $327,000.

Digital assets as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 consisted of Ethereum cryptocurrency from the sale of NFT. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the carrying value of our digital assets was $0.3 million and $6.8 million, respectively. The digital asset impairment charges for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were $4.9 million and $1 million, respectively.

Playboy explained that it accounts for its digital assets as “indefinite-lived intangible assets.” These are subject to impairment if their fair value falls below their carrying value at any time. Impairment losses that the company incurs on digital assets cannot be recovered. Even if the fair value of the assets increases after impairment losses are accepted.

The market price of a single Ethereum ranged from $964 to $3,813 during 2022. But book value of each Ethereum that Playboy owned at the end of a reporting period. It reflects the lowest price per Ethereum on the exchange at any time since it was received.

Our experts note that negative fluctuations in the market price of Ethereum could have a significant impact on Playboy’s profits and book value. While an increase in prices will only have a positive impact on company profits. If the tokens on the balance sheet are sold at a profit.

Investments giants and other big brands are registering names in digital assets and metaverse. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

Fidelity Investments and HSBC Bank have filed U.S. trademark applications related to NFT and cryptocurrencies. This was announced by licensed trademark lawyer Michael Kondoudis.

Fidelity Investments, an American financial company founded in 1946. It has $9.6 trillion under management, serving more than 40 million investors. According to Condudis, the company has filed trademark applications related to NFT and NFT marketplaces. As well as cryptocurrency trading as well as metaverse and virtual real estate investment services.

The lawyer also said that the UK’s largest bank, HSBC, has applied for trademarks for its name in the field of NFT. As well as cryptocurrency exchanges and transactions, and digital asset transactions on credit cards.

Earlier in December, Mercedes Benz also filed trademark applications related to digital assets. And Las Vegas-based gaming and hospitality company Boyd Gaming as well as popular toy brand Hello Kitty.

Our experts note that in the first 11 months of 2022 in the U.S. have already been registered 5.3 thousand trademarks associated with metaverse and virtual assets for them. And a year earlier there were 1.9 thousand. 4.9 thousand cryptocurrency and digital asset services trademarks were registered until December this year, while there were only 3.5 thousand registrations for the whole of 2021.

Christie’s sold only 87 NFT in 2022 for a total of $5.9 million. Review by Crypto-Upvotes experts

NFT sales at Christie’s are down 96% this year. The auction house sold more than 100 NFTs worth more than $150 million in 2021 and only 87 items worth $5.9 million in 2022.

In 2021, the most expensive lots of Christie’s were the works of American artist Michael Winkelman, known under the nickname Beeple. NFT-painting “Every Day: the first 5 thousand days” was sold in March for $ 69.4 million. And an animated 3d-image of an astronaut called HUMAN ONE left the auction in October of the same year for $ 28.8 million.

The NFT sculpture by Turkish-born media artist and filmmaker Refik Anadol was the most expensive lot of 2022. Living Architecture: Casa Batlló, which sold in May for $1.38 million.

Despite the decline in digital art sales. Christie’s continued to be active in web3 and NFT in 2022. The company created a venture capital fund, which on July 18 made its first investment in the startup LayerZero. This campaign specializes in blockchain interoperability.

Our experts also note that in September Christie’s launched its own NFT trading platform called Christie’s 3.0. The platform is based on the Ethereum network. Also now all payments are accepted in cryptocurrency and they include post-sale transactions (payment of commission and taxes).

Coca-Cola to issue 10K digital tokens from Piece of Magic series will be created based on “heat maps” of tournament matches. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

Coca-Cola, in cooperation with cryptoplatform Crypto.com, will release an NFT collection in honor of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The NFT series, called Piece of Magic, will consist of 10,000 items. Which will be created based on “heat maps” of the tournament matches, according to announcement.

Author NFT is an artist known under the pseudonym GMUNK. He has previously contributed to films such as Tron: Legacy and Oblivion. NFT tokens of collection are generated by tracking attacks, jerks, goals, and other interesting moments during championship matches. According to artist, these NFTs will “capture the spirit of football and depict a visual story unique to each match”.

Items in the collection will only be available to users of Crypto. com NFT marketplace. To gain access to the tokens, one must also register on the Coca-Cola Fan Zone page.

In addition to its partnership with Coca-Cola, Crypto.com has also become one of major crypto sponsors of this FIFA World Cup. Platform’s logo is placed in stadiums where tournament takes place, and users of the service had an opportunity to visit matches and win official attributes.

Hugo Boss will release 1,000 animated tokens from the series “Take Your Emotions” will be presented in early November

Fashion house Hugo Boss announced a partnership with Imaginary Ones, a Web3 company. With this partnership, the first NFT-collection in the brand’s history will be released. Presentation is planned for early November.

A collection called Embrace Your Emotion or EYE will consist of 1,001 animated 3D objects. With this project, Hugo Boss encourages users to embrace their emotions with courage. And regardless of whether they are bad or good, says this project description.

Also Hugo Boss will release special 5 NFTs will be animated characters. These characters will represent joy, sadness, fear, anger and love. Another character will combine all qualities of these five characters. And he will be auctioned for charity on the occasion of World Mental Health Day (October 10).

Of the remaining 1,000 tokens, 500 will be available to buyers of exclusive merchandise t-shirts. Another 500 will be available to NFT holders from other Imaginary Ones projects and contest participants. Our experts have noticed that these contests will be held on Web-3-company social networks starting Oct. 4.

For the first time in 2022, organizers of awards have added a category “Best Performance in Metaverse”. Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Twenty One Pilots are also nominated. NFT becomes part of music.

Eminem and Snoop Dogg will perform the track “From The D 2 The LBC” at the MTV Music Awards. It was created in collaboration with the NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).

The music video for “From the D 2 the LBC” was released along with a single. Directed by James Larez, the video alternates between footage of the rappers and animation in which they are presented as NFT avatars.

Our experts found out on the day of the single’s release, Eminem and Snoop Dogg performed the song at ApeFest. Which was held in New York City for  holders from the BAYC collection.

Market for virtual art continues to grow, despite falling prices for cryptocurrencies and collectibles. Which of NFT artist’s works sold the most, and what was bought this summer.

NFTs are unique crypto-assets that are often objects of art and digital collectibles. Rapid growth in popularity of NFTs began in 2021. And by the end of which NFT trading volume exceeded $13 billion.

This figure was up almost 400 times from 2020 ($33 million). However, due to the downturn in the cryptocurrency market in 2022. The NFT industry has shown a significant decline in sales: in July, it was about $647.23 million.

Despite this, investors and NFT enthusiasts continue to be interested in digital art. Prices for some works by virtual artists approach those of luxury goods. And in particular, they are comparable to the cost of a luxury home. The most popular tokens continue to be items from the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cool Cats and Crypto Punks collections. Such NFTs are owned by celebrities including rappers Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, footballer Neymar, Madonna, Ozzy Osbourne and others.

Our experts found the most expensive NFTs ever sold

The Merge – $98.1 million

This work of art was created by Pak, a student of Mike Winkelmann (also known as Beeple). This painting is made up of balls of different sizes. About 29 thousand people invested in The Merge, and total value of NFT was $91.8 million.

The First 5000 Days – $69.3 million

Work by American graphic designer Beeple. NFT was sold in 2021 for $69.3 million at Christie’s auction. First 5000 Days is a collage of Beeple work from 2007.

Clock – $52.7 million

This NFT was created by digital artist Pak to support Wikileaks journalist Julian Assange. The clock counts down how many days Assange has been in prison. It was bought by an activist group AssangeDAO.

HUMAN ONE – $28.8 million

Another NFT by Beeple, sold by him at Christie’s auction. HUMAN ONE is an animated 3d image of an astronaut. Beeple has access to this NFT and can change it periodically.

CryptoPank No. 5822 – $23.7 million

Pixel NFT with a blue punk in a bandana was sold for 8,000 ETH. It was bought for that amount in early 2022.

Expensive NFT buys over last few months

The Answer

The Answer was sold for 100 ETH ($174,900) This work is by one of the most successful digital artists of anyma. Who illuminates in his work the interaction between technology and nature.

gn

NFT gn desktop wallpaper by artist Rajon Bliss (@rivenribbon) was purchased by Snoop Dogg for 64.0 ETH ($97.3k).

88MPH In SoHo

A work by photographer Guido Di Salle was sold for 55.0 ETH ($74,000).

Synth Garden

NFT by Indian artist Archana Nair was sold for 124.69 ETH ($138,100).

Painting by actor Jim Carrey– Sunshower for 62,04 ETH ($69,500 )