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.

NFT collection from Warner Bros. Discover was sold on the first day of trading for more than half a million dollars. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

The NFT collection, collectively titled Game of Thrones: Build Your Realm, was based on the Game of Thrones series. It was sold out on the Nifty Marketplace within the first seven hours of the start of trading. The tokens, presented by media giant Warner Bros. Discover, went on sale the evening of Jan. 10 for $150 each.

Each NFT is a “box” with an avatar of a character from the series. And which can be used in virtual world created based on the work. Also, the NFT includes additional attributes for “boosting” heroes. After purchase, the “box” can be opened or left unopened to save, trade or sell it intact.

During presale, 3.45k NFTs became available with a limit of one token per Nifty account. Then another 1,500 NFTs went on public sale a few hours later, with a limit of two additional items per account. Fifty NFT were retained by project authors for further events, free giveaways, and other promotional purposes.

The total amount of sales of NFT from this collection from the beginning of trading was $564 thousand according to the analytical platform CryptoSlam. Only two tokens were resold more expensive than the original price: for $200 and for $176. The current minimum token price (floor price) is 0.061 ETH.

The government-supported platform will conduct secondary trade in NFT and digital asset copyrights. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

China will launch its first regulated NFT trading platform on January 1, 2023. This was reported by Sina News. ” China Digital Asset Trading Platform ” will be a secondary marketplace for NFT. It is jointly created by state-owned China Technology Exchange and Art Exhibitions China. And a private company, Huban Digital Copyrights Ltd.

The new trading platform will focus on a national strategy to digitize culture. It will use blockchain and NFTs as the basis for technical support for the innovative development of the cultural industry and the preservation of cultural heritage.

NFT in China are called digital collectibles. In addition to these, the platform will also trade copyrights related to digital assets. Specific types of items that will be featured on the platform have not yet been determined.

Our experts note that according to Chinese laws, NFT cannot be purchased for cryptocurrency. At the end of September 2021, the People’s Bank of China banned cryptocurrency transactions. The use of digital assets for payments equates to illegal financial activity. NFTs are sold in China on closed regulated platforms.

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).

Crypto-Upvotes experts conducted their analysis and told about prospects of NFT segment

Throughout 2022, application solutions with NFT have been actively developed in a variety of projects. The audience of the technology continues to grow at a tremendous rate due to the introduction of the technology by social media. This year, some tools related to NFT were implemented by Twitter (audience of about 400 million users), Reddit (audience of about 430 million users), Onlyfans (audience of about 175 million users).Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Youtube also announced their plans to implement NFT.

Based on these data, we can consider a long-term investment portfolio, taking into account the prospects for the development of NFT

We would suggest dividing the investment portfolio into two parts. The first would be a liquid backbone, the tokens of projects that provide infrastructure for NFT. Polygon blockchain turned out to be the most popular for application solutions. Therefore, as the audience grows, the entire ecosystem could get developed, so the demand for native blockchain tokens would grow accordingly.

Other top blockchains – Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain – may also get a comparable effect from the development of NFT.

Another interesting application of NFT is the Fragment platform from Telegram. It is likely that in the future the supply will expand and the demand for TON will increase.

We suggest forming the second part of the portfolio from specific tokens of various promising NFT tokens. In a growing market, which by all projections should occur in the second half of 2023 and all of 2024. Therefore, collections with high social capital could go up in price several times over.

When to buy ?

Today, terrific conditions for opening long-term positions for at least 1-2 years, better from 3 years or more. The ongoing scandals around centralized exchanges are constantly weighing on the value of the Binance exchange’s native token. And rumors around the potential centralization of Ethereum due to the move to PoS, with validators predominantly in the same jurisdiction, are also negatively affecting the price of ETH in the medium term.

The market as a whole continues to be in a global bearish trend, which opens up the possibility of buying any tokens at undervalued prices.

What is the right investment portfolio structure ?

• Polygon (MATIC) — 20%
• Toncoin (TON) — 20%
• Ethereum (ETH) — 10%
• Binance coin (BNB) — 5%

Another 5% can be allocated under ApeCoin (APE) acting as a native token in the company’s developed meta-universe. The company that owns the world’s most popular NFT-collections Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks and Meebits.

The remaining 40% can be distributed among different NFT-collections.

For example, find interesting offers among applied projects from social media, like collections from Reddit or Twitter.

Risks

The first part of the investment portfolio is quite conservative by the standards of the crypto market. It lists well-established, reliable projects that have many growth and development factors other than the NFT segment. Therefore, the risks in 3/5 of the portfolio do not exceed the overall risks of the market.

However, the rest are extremely risky investments. You have to consider that NFTs have several orders of magnitude less liquidity. And predicting the value of NFTs in the future does not differ in its essence from flipping a coin for luck. But, with all that, the investment can pay off many times over, given a lucky set of circumstances. For example, one appreciated token can potentially outweigh the value of all the others that will fall. But there is absolutely no guarantee that this will happen to you, to your chosen collection, with tokens owned by you.

That’s why it’s worth investing only as much as you’re willing to lose at least half of that amount.

Disclaimer

Crypto-Upvotes experts do not give investment advice, this material is published for introductory purposes only. Cryptocurrency is a volatile asset that can lead to financial losses.

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.