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

Because of the small amount of liquidity of the asset on exchanges. It may be difficult for large holders of LADYS token to realize these profits. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

Amount of unrealized profit of the top 10 holders of the cryptocurrency Milady Meme Coin (LADYS) exceeded $20.4 million, according to the analytical service Lookonchain. These addresses hold 180 trillion LADYS tokens. Which is 20.3% of the issued coins.

The LADYS token was launched on the Ethereum network in early May. And it also supports the Arbitrum network standard (ARB). On the evening of May 10, Elon Musk posted a meme on Twitter with an image of NFT from the Milady Maker collection. After that, the LADYS token rate went up 119 times. Or almost 12,000% – from $0.0000001444 to $0.000000172234.

Coin is trading both on decentralized platforms, as well as on major DEX exchanges. LADYS has already been listed by Huobi, Gate.io, Bybit, Bidget and MEXC. According to CoinGecko, the market capitalization of the asset as of May 16 is $88 million. And the daily trading volume is $89.5 million.

At the same time, Lookonchain analysts noticed suspicious transactions with the cryptocurrency LADYS. And as they then stated, related to DWF Labs. After this information emerged, developer Milady added the three largest token holders to its blacklist. They contain 109 trillion LADYS (about $15 million) and it is now impossible to withdraw funds from these addresses.

Other large holders of the coin may also find it difficult to realize profits. According to him, the liquidity of the asset is about $3 million, distributed on the Uniswap v2 and v3 platforms. If token owners want to sell the cryptocurrency. Then they should either consider the possibility of huge slippage, or close their positions gradually.

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.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump released a new series of 47 thousand tokens, it was sold out within 24 hours

Sales of the first NFT collection of Donald Trump rose 860% after the launch of the second series of tokens. According to the Cryptoslam platform, secondary sales of items from the first issue of Trump Digital Trading Cards totaled $384,000 per day. During the week before the announcement of the new batch of NFTs, sales were $20,000 to $40,000 per day.

Also sales of the second series of NFTs featuring the former U.S. president began April 18. He appears on them as Elvis Presley, the chess king, in company with a fire lion and in other flamboyant images.

The new collection includes 47,000 NFTs – 2,000 more than the first issue. Buyers of the 47 tokens got a chance to be a guest at a dinner with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The number 47 could be a hint at his intention to become the 47th president of the United States.

The initial cost of the “cards” remained the same – $99. However, as stated on the site, all tokens have already been sold out.

Our experts note that the first collection of 45 thousand NFT on the blockchain Polygon Trump released last December. There were 44 thousand tokens for sale. All NFTs were sold out in the first 24 hours. And initial sales brought the project nearly $4.4 million.

Despite an increase in sales of NFTs from the first collection, the minimum price for them on the largest NFT-marketplace OpenSea fell by 64% overnight. On April 19, it stands at 0.1396 ETH ($279), almost three times the initial price of NFT.

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.

The decision to stop working with NFT on social networks was made by Meta. This was done in order to focus on other ways to support content creators and their audiences

Meta has decided to stop supporting NFT in its social networks Facebook and Instagram. This was announced by Stefan Kasriel, the head of commercial and financial technologies department of Meta.

NFT support was added to the social network Meta 6 months ago. At the end of August 2022, company announced the introduction of digital tokens in Facebook and Instagram. And since then, users have been able to upload tokens to both social networks. It was necessary to connect a cryptocurrency wallet to an account on either one. Meta used Polygon blockchain to integrate NFT.

According to Kasriel, the decision to stop supporting NFT was made to focus on other technologies. Which would allow content creators to monetize their content and communicate with their audiences.

The company’s priorities are now to create and implement payment tools on its platform, messenger and short video service Reels. According to Kasriel, Meta will also continue to develop its payment service, Meta Pay.

Interest in NFT from other major world companies grows

Our experts point out that at the same time, large global companies continue to register trademarks related to NFT. Auto giant Nissan filed four trademark applications March 7 for the Infiniti, Nismo and Nissan brands, according to Mike Condudis, a licensed attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Nissan’s new trademarks will be related to virtual apparel, automobiles and other NFTs. In addition, the document mentions the creation of a platform for issuing and trading digital tokens. As well as marketing services in the metaverse and the creation of specialized software for working with NFT.

You will only be able to buy NFTs through your Amazon account with a bank card. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

The Amazon NFT Marketplace will launch on April 24, according to TheBigWhale. At first, a service called Amazon Digital Marketplace will be open only to U.S. users. But in future, customers from other countries, including Europe, will have access to it.

At launch, the site will feature 15 NFT collections. It will only be possible to buy NFTs through an Amazon account with a bank card. This method of payment was chosen to make it convenient for customers to use the service in the traditional way. At the same time not tying cryptocurrencies like Metamask to it.

To host a marketplace, Amazon chose a private blockchain platform that is not compatible with Ethereum. Therefore, developers who want their NFTs to be available on the new platform will have to use blockchain bridges (tools to transfer tokens between different networks).

Our experts note that Amazon is preparing to launch its own NFT-platform, it was reported in early January. At the time, it was known that US online retailer was considering launching blockchain games. Participants in such games will be able to receive digital tokens, and it plans to hold at least one NFT airdrop.

NFTs will allow their owners access to subscriptions GQ and opportunities to participate in fashion publication events. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

GQ men’s fashion magazine has announced its first NFT collection. The name of this collection is GQ3 Issue 001: Change Is Good.

The collection will consist of 1,661 NFTs. Artists Chuck Anderson, REO, Kelsey Niziolek and Serwa Attafua worked on the collection for four months. The price of each item in the collection is set at ETH 0.1957 (about $330). The price is set to honor the 1957 founding year of the magazine. The collection is scheduled to launch on March 8.

Buying NFT will give you access to a subscription to the magazine, a gift box from GQ, exclusive merchandise and participation in various magazine events and parties. Additionally, NFT owners will also get access to a special Discord channel and priority access to future issues of NFT.

Also our experts note that in mid-January another popular magazine, National Geographic. Launched sales of its first NFT collection called GM: Daybreak Around the World. The publication released the number of NFTs equal to the year the magazine was founded – 1888.

Trading volume on NFT marketplaces is approaching its peak. And news surrounding the largest collections keeps investors hype going

The NFT market is recovering from the disappointing end of 2022. According to a new report from the DappRadar platform, there was a sharp increase in both prices and the number of NFT units sold on marketplaces at the beginning of the year.

There were 9.2 million transactions in January, a 37% increase over December. This was the highest marketplace volume in six months. Trading volume in dollars also rose, reaching $946 million, up 38% from December. And it’s the highest since the market peaked at $1 billion last June.

Importantly, DappRadar excludes data from transactions falling under any suspicion of manipulation in its calculations. The most popular method is so-called “wash trading”. When owner from his own wallets makes fake sales of NFT, artificially inflating its price or imitating the appearance of excitement for a little-known project.

Most popular NFT collections

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) collections remain the ” Blue Chip” of NFT market. And the Yuga Labs behind them retains its status as one of the most recognizable brands in the industry. In January, a new collection of NFT company products called Sewer Pass. Which serve as keys to the blockchain game Dookey Dash, accounted for 34.3% of all transactions in January’s marketplace. The passes were issued to owners of images from the BAYC and MAYC collections. And their daily turnover on the secondary market after the launch exceeded $27 million.

Other famous collections also had high-profile infomercials in January. Doodles creators acquired Emmy-nominated animation studio Golden Wolf. And PROOF, the company behind Moonbirds collection, contracted with Hollywood’s United Talent Agency to promote the brand outside of the Web 3.0 sphere in traditional advertising and TV shows. The average image price from Doodles was up 1.82% in January and Moonbirds was up 3.43%, according to NFT Price Floor.

Overall, collections in the top 10 by market capitalization survived the market downturn best. They also had the top 10 sales in January, according to a DappRadar report. They were also the first to recover from last year’s market decline. For example, the Bitwise Blue-Chip NFT Collections Index showed a 28.6% increase in prices from December. However, it is still nearly 65% lower than in January 2021.

Main NFT marketplaces

Marketplace sites oriented toward collectors are gradually wresting market share from those whose focus is primarily on traders and speculators. Blur, which seeks to minimize commissions for art creators. They accounted for 20% of the market for the third month in a row. In terms of turnover, the site is second only to OpenSea, with X2Y2 and Magic Eden in third and fourth place, respectively.

PFP-collections (NFT-collections with profile images) remain the most successful in terms of sales on the platforms. This is due to their high liquidity and hype in social networks. OpenSea remains the largest site in terms of trading volume, ($495 million in January). Platform received about $12.3 million of income from commissions from the trades and placement of NFT by their creators.

Our experts note that despite encouraging crypto market results. NFT platform Coinbase, the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it is suspending new collections listings. However, company representatives stressed that this does not mean the closure of its platform.

Coinbase’s NFT platform was not one of the top six trading platforms. And its trading volume, according to Dune Analytics, is only $7.3 million for its entire existence, roughly equivalent to 7% of OpenSea’s January results.

Market trends

In January, sales increased at all significant blockchains. For example, NFT sales on the Ethereum blockchain jumped from nearly $558 million in December to more than $772 million in January. And on Solana – respectively, from $69.5 million to $86 million. The largest NFT collection on Solana blockchain, called “DeGods,” showed a 113% increase in trading volumes in January. This was despite the fact that at the end of December its authors announced plans to migrate to Polygon.

NFT sales on Polygon were up 157% from December, reaching 4.5 million units. This was greatly aided by the launch of Donald Trump’s NFT collection, which has seen sales of $12.1 million since its launch.
As well as popularity of NFT passes to the “Mocaverse” meta universes from Animoca Labs and The Sandbox. Polygon token (MATIC) also had a successful start to 2023, rising 72% to $1.23 since Jan. 1.

Lending platforms that allow you to borrow crypto assets against NFT are also showing growth. NFTfi hit record highs in January with $300 million in turnover, 4,399 loans and 907 active borrowers and lenders. According to Dune Analytics, NFTfi and BendDAO together account for about 70% of the NFT lending market.

Despite the skeptical sentiment of the past six months. NFT market is starting to come to life, although its trading volumes as a whole have clearly correlated with the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Global hype around virtual worlds provokes demand for digital assets and land in Metaverse blockchain projects. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the topic of Metaverse was widely discussed. A special press conference was organized during the event. The WEF initiative entitled “Defining and Building the Metaverse” was presented.

More than 120 people were involved in creating the project. At one of the panel discussions, the first two documents of the initiative were discussed. The participants broke down the issues of accessibility, management systems and the role of the consumer in the Metaverse of the future. A working prototype of the WEF’s own Metaverse – Global Collaboration Village – was also demonstrated during the forum.

As often happens, global tendencies resonate with what is happening on the crypto market. A December CoinWire survey of more than 10,000 people interested in cryptocurrencies. Showed significant interest from people in the industry in Metaverse in general. More than 60% of respondents think that technology can reshape the mechanisms of social interaction and entertainment.

Survey participants also believe that the spread of metaverse will change the scenarios of interaction with finance, business and education spheres. More than half of those who have invested in metaverse-related companies in one form or another confirmed that they also own crypto assets.

Tokens from Metaverse projects go up in price

There are at least three major metaverse. The capitalization of their internal assets is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars: The Sandbox, Decentraland and Otherside. The growing excitement around virtual spaces provokes demand for project tokens. In the first month of this year, the domestic cryptocurrencies of the leading metacities are already showing growth of tens of percent. And creating a trend of price growth for less-capitalized assets of the Metaverse category as well.

Decentraland’s domestic currency (MANA) has doubled in just two weeks. The coin began to rise in value on January 13, when the developers announced several technical innovations in the official Twitter account of the project. And it showed itself as one of the most profitable crypto-assets for investing. Which rose in the first month of this year.

The Sandbox native token (SAND) showed an increase of more than 80% in the same period. And the internal currency of the Otherside universe (APE) has grown about one and a half times since the beginning of the year. The growth of the latter is associated with the excitement around the launch of the NFT collection. Which gives access to the new Dookey Dash game from Yuga Labs, the company behind Otherside. NFT passes were given to image holders from the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club. And their daily secondary market turnover after launch exceeded $27 million.

Some cryptoprojects do not imply the creation of metaverse as such. But aggregators categorize their coins as “Metaverse”. As a rule, these are developers of Play-to-Earn (P2E) games or other services indirectly related to virtual worlds. Whose assets, like digital land parcels, are traded on the open market in NFT form.

Demand for Virtual Lands is also growing

As for parcels of land in the metaverse. This form of investment has been quite successful in the past year. According to a report by marketplace Parcel.co. Despite the turmoil in the crypto market, the turnover of virtual real estate transactions in 2022 grew by 180%. And it exceeded $1.4 billion, up from $0.5 billion in 2021.

Leader in site sales was the Otherside project. It’s own metaverse was launched last May. The excitement around the land was provided by an extensive marketing campaign. As well as a common storyline tie Otherside with the acclaimed NFT-collections BAYC and MAYC. According to our analysts, within three months after the launch digital land sales in Otherside reached $ 900 million. And in general, last year the project took over 75% of sales.

Others leaders in sales for 2022 include The Sandbox (11%), Decentraland (5%), NFT Worlds (8%) and Somnium Space (1%). The market leaders also had the largest sales: 333.33 ETH in Otherside, 100 ETH in The Sandbox, and 81 ETH in Decentraland. Plots in several less capitalized metaverse. Which are still in development. They are also traded as an asset on NFT marketplaces. Their secondary market turnover over the past year is estimated at $60 million.

The growing adoption of VR technology and the development of virtual worlds has spurred demand for virtual land. This has sparked sales both within the cryptocommunity and from global brands. The future prospects for this market remain optimistic. That’s because the metaverse sphere is attracting more and more attention and investment. In 2023, the focus of the market will be on games in the Web 3.0 segment. As well as the digital fashion industry and various scenarios for the use of virtual land plots.