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CryptoPunk holders offered physical versions of their NFTs for 48 hours

October 26, 2023 Coin Telegraph

avante art

Online art store Avante Art is offering print copies of CryptoPunks for the next 48 hours through a partnership with CryptoPunks brand owner Yuga Labs.

Holders of CryptoPunk non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are being offered the chance to obtain physical prints of their digital art items, according to an October 26 announcement. The items are being offered as part of a partnership between online art store Avante Art and CryptoPunks brand owner Yuga Labs. The sale will last for only 48 hours. It began on October 26 at 3:00 p.m. UTC and will end on October 28 at 3:00 p.m. UTC.

Our print collaboration with @avant_arte is officially live – for 48 hours only.

Punk On-Chain is available exclusively to CryptoPunk holders at https://t.co/skT1FKTJgB pic.twitter.com/X657IqdgUT
— CryptoPunks (@cryptopunksnfts) October 26, 2023

Two different versions of the physical CryptoPunks collection are being offered on Avante Art. The first is called “Punk-On-Chain.” Each punk owner can commission a Punk-on-Chain print copy for each digital punk they own. However, users will need to prove ownership to commission a print copy. This means that individuals who do not own the on-chain version cannot buy its print version.

The second collection is called “10,000 On-Chain,” which is a print collection of all 10,000 CryptoPunks that's open to anyone. Collectors can buy the print version of a 10,000 On-Chain punk even if they don’t own the original on-chain version.

The two different versions of each printed punk are distinguishable from each other by a variety of characteristics. For example, the 10,000 On-Chain pieces are Archival pigment prints with silkscreen varnish seal, whereas the Punks-On-Chain pieces are UV pigment prints with white underpins. Both versions of each punk contain a Yuga Labs holographic sticker to prove their authenticity.

The Punks-On-Chain items also feature a QR code on the back of the print, leading to a blockchain-based digital Certificate of Authenticity (CoA). As for the 10,000 On-Chain pieces, they ship with a physical CoA that contains a QR code leading to the digital CoA, but this QR code is not on the print itself.

CryptoPunks was one of the first algorithmically generated art collections to be distributed through blockchain technology. It was developed by Larva Labs studio and released in June 2017. The pieces were originally free to any Ethereum network user who wanted to mint them. At the time of publication, the lowest-priced CryptoPunks sell for approximately $78,000, and the entire collection has a market cap of over $782 million, according to data from Coingecko.

Larva Labs sold the copyrights for CryptoPunks to fellow NFT development team Yuga Labs in March 2022.

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Avalanche launches initiative for digital artists, NFT creator protests Sotheby’s gender bias, and more

March 31, 2023 Coin Telegraph

beeple

The Avalanche Foundation has launched a new mentoring initiative for digital artists, and Ticketmaster has introduced a new feature allowing artists to reward NFT holders.

In a March 30 blog post, The Avalanche Foundation announced the launch of Avaissance, an initiative designed to support digital artists and boost the growth of the Avalanche nonfungible token (NFT) ecosystem.

Avaissance has two main components, an Artist in Resident program (AIR) for over 50 artists and the Mona Lisa Initiative (MLI) to curate digital art and expand the collections of art-focused decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

Avaissance begins!

The Avalanche Foundation is launching the Avaissance initiative to grow the #AVAX NFT ecosystem and support its budding artists. The program aims to usher in a rebirth of creative activity on Avalanche.

So, what’s the plan?⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mNhDoQqDhD
— Art on Avalanche (@ArtOnAvax) March 29, 2023

AIR will provide artists “of any skill level” with funding, mentorship and virtual workshops for six months, while MLI will collaborate with DAOs’ curatorial teams to promote emerging Avalanche NFT artists and establish an “Avalanche Permanent Collection.”

Ticketmaster introduces new feature for artists to reward fans using NFTs

On March 27, United States-based ticketing company Ticketmaster announced a new feature token gated ticket sales, which allow artists to reward NFT holders with exclusive benefits, including “special presales, prime seats, custom travel packages and access to unique concert experiences.”

The ticketing giant developed the functionality after being approached by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) and its Web3 team, Bitflips, to help implement a service to provide holders of their NFTs – Deathbats Club, a collection of 10,000 unique Deathbat NFTs – the opportunity to unlock perks and access to events.

The feature currently works with tokens minted on Ethereum (ETH) and stored in decentralized application (DApp) wallets, including MetaMask or Coinbase.

NFT artist withdraws work from Sotheby’s over lack of female representation

Popular NFT artist Patrick Amadon told his 142,400 Twitter followers that he will be withdrawing his work from major auction house Sotheby's Natively Digital: Glitch-ism sale to protest a lack of female representation.

I am pulling my work from the Sothebys sale. While I believe it was a genuine oversight and the team means well, the lack of representation is a serious issue and we need to address this in our space. Female-identifying artists have played a major role in the glitch movement. ✊
— Patrick Amadon (@patrickamadon) March 25, 2023

Sotheby’s responded the next day to say it will pause the sale to “redress the imbalance in representation within the sale” and will relaunch at a later date with a “more equitable and diverse group of artists.”

Sotheby’s is pausing Natively Digital: Glitch-ism to redress the imbalance in representation within the sale, and will relaunch with a more equitable and diverse group of artists at a later date.
— Sotheby's Metaverse (@Sothebysverse) March 26, 2023

NFT artist Beeple opens a major 50,000 sq ft studio in South Carolina

Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, shared a video with his Twitter followers on March 12, revealing his new 50,000-square-foot studio in South Carolina.

welcome to Beeple Studios pic.twitter.com/yBUxFRftX2
— beeple (@beeple) March 12, 2023

According to Beeple’s website he will use the space to create his artwork and host events to “showcase the very best art and communities.”

“We are looking to partner with the most cutting-edge artists and communities to put on events that are not possible at any other venue,” the website stated.

Other Nifty News

On March 25, an NFT from the popular CryptoPunks collection, valued at approximately $135,000, was accidently burned by an investor attempting the process of NFT wrapping to potentially borrow liquidity from it.

Today I accidentally burned a @cryptopunksnfts trying to wrap punk 685.

I was so focused on following the instructions exactly, that I slipped up, destroying a third of of my net worth in a single transaction. @yugalabs please sell me the @v1punks 685 as a consolation. pic.twitter.com/jHoTGvlc7j
— Brandon Riley (@vitalitygrowth) March 25, 2023

Sony Interactive Entertainment, the video gaming giant behind the PlayStation brand, recently filed a patent for a framework allowing users to transfer and utilize NFTs across multiple game platforms, titled “NFT framework for transferring and using digital assets between game platforms.”

Once implemented, Playstation 5 users will be able to explore NFT use cases via popular gaming titles.

NFT Sales Drop 5.4% to $193M, Ethereum Dominates with $107M in Sales: Weekly Recap

March 25, 2023 Bitcoin.com

SVB collapse chilled NFT trading volumes: DappRadar

March 17, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bored Apes Yacht Club

Only 11,440 NFT traders were active on March 11 which was the lowest figure recorded since November 2021.

Nonfungible token (NFT) trading volumes took a massive beating following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week as traders fled the markets fearing the repercussions of a major United States bank going under.

According to a March 16 report from data aggregation platform DappRadar, NFT trading volumes were hovering between $68 million to $74 million in the lead-up to SVB’s collapse on March 10, then fell to $36 million on March 12.

The dip was accompanied by a 27.9% drop in daily NFT sales count between March 9 to March 11.

*NFT trading volume and sales count on all networks between March 1-13. Source:* *DappRadar*

11,440 NFT traders were “active” on March 11 also, the lowest figure recorded since November 2021 according to DappRadar.

The report explained the depeg of USD Coin (USDC) which hit as low as $0.88 moved trader attention away from the NFT market:

As a result “NFT traders became less active,” Dappradar explained.

Despite the trading chills the market value of “blue chip” NFTs was not materially impacted, with the floor prices of collections such as the Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks only slightly falling.

*The floor price of BAYC NFTs fell 2% from 68.4 Ether* *(ETH)* *to 67 ETH since the SVB collapse. Source:* *OpenSea*

“The recovery was quick, showing the resilience of these top-tier NFTs,” DappRadar said. “Blue-Chip NFTs remain a steady investment in a disrupted market.”

The steady floor prices of the BAYC and CryptoPunks may be attributed to the firm behind the collections, Yuga Labs, confirming it only had a “super limited exposure” to SVB, according to co-founder Greg Solano.

However, the floor price of the Moonbirds collection fell a significant 35.3% from 6.18 ETH to 4 ETH on OpenSea, following the news that PROOF — the team behind the NFTs — had considerable exposure to SVB.

*The floor price of Moonbird since the SVB collapse. Source:* *OpenSea*

This was partially triggered by one Ethereum address selling off almost 500 Moonbirds NFTs for losses ranging between 9% to 33%, DappRadar explained.

The sell-offs on the NFT marketplace Blur totaled a loss of 700 Ether (ETH).

Cryptopunks