ApeCoin geo-blocks US stakers, two Apes sell for $1M each, marketplace launched

November 25, 2022 Coin Telegraph

ApeCoin geo-blocks US stakers, two Apes sell for M each, marketplace launched

Ape

The U.S. made the list of regions blocked from using an upcoming website for ApeCoin staking with the related DAO claiming regulations are to blame.

United States-based ApeCoin (APE) holders could miss out on staking rewards after the U.S. was added to a list of regions geo-blocked from using an upcoming APE staking service.

Blockchain infrastructure company Horizen Labs, which is building the site on behalf of the ApeCoin decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), revealed the news in a Nov. 24 update regarding ApeStake.io on Twitter, saying “unfortunately, in today’s regulatory environment, we had no good alternative.”

Ape Staking Update: Big thanks to the talented community devs for their helpful improvements. Bug Bounty AIP delayed us a bit, so we shortened the pre-deposit period by a week to keep our original 12/12 go-live. Alternate front-end sites going live. See card. pic.twitter.com/mgmP7X3SwQ
— Horizen Labs (@HorizenLabs) November 24, 2022

Canada, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Cuba, Russia, and the Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk are also on the block list.

There are likely ways to get around the geo-block. The update noted the website is only an interface to interact with the Ethereum-based open-source smart contract, and “several other” interfaces are being crafted by parties such as exchanges and DeFi platforms.

Prominent Twitter user “Zeneca” told their 312,00 followers that those from regions geo-blocked by ApeStake.io will still be able to stake by interacting with the smart contract directly or using another interface without geo-blocks. Those in blocked regions could also use a virtual private network (VPN) to spoof their location.

The decision to block U.S. users likely resulted from the probe in October by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into APE creator Yuga Labs. The regulator is investigating if the company’s nonfungible tokens (NFTs) act more like securities and are subsequently violating federal laws.

Two Bored Ape NFTs sell for nearly $1M each

Meanwhile some Bored Apes are still fetching high prices even during the depths of Crypto Winter. An NFT from Yuga Labs’ flagship Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection sold for 800 Ether (ETH), or almost $950,000 at the time of sale on Nov. 23.

BAYC #232 was sold to pseudonymous NFT collector “Keungz” — who seemingly has multiple Yuga Labs NFTs according to their OpenSea profile — by Deepak Thapliydal.

Thanks @dt_chain for the good deal⚓️#NewNFTProfilePic NFT by @BoredApeYC pic.twitter.com/CgIy73fBx5
— Keungz ❤️ Memeland ‍☠️ YGPZ ‍♀️ (@keung) November 23, 2022

Thapliydal is the CEO of Web3 infrastructure company Chain and gained notoriety for making the Guinness World Records for buying the “most expensive NFT collectible” after purchasing CryptoPunk #5822 for 8,000 ETH, or $23.7 million, on Feb. 12.

The sale of BAYC #232 was closely followed by another on Nov. 24 for BAYC #1268 between two unidentified wallets for 780 ETH, or almost $940,000 at the time of sale.

The sales are significant as the NFTs sold far above the current floor price for the collection which has seen a decline over the past months.

According to data from NFT Price Floor, the minimum price for a Bored Ape at the time of writing is just under 63 ETH, or about $75,600, and is 80% down in U.S. dollar terms from its May 1 all-time high of 144.9 ETH, or over $391,000 at the time.

ApeCoin DAO launches marketplace

The community-led DAO made up of ApeCoin holders has launched its own marketplace to buy and sell NFTs from the Yuga Labs ecosystem.

The aptly named ApeCoin Marketplace built by NFT infrastructure firm Snag Solutions was launched on Nov. 24 and supports transactions of the BAYC, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Bored Ape Kennel Club, and Otherdeed NFT collections.

In a Nov. 24 Twitter thread Snag Solutions CEO, Zach Heerwagen, said the marketplace “includes unique features” specifically for NFT communities including the ability to stake APE.

1/ The custom marketplace includes unique features built specifically for the BAYC and Otherside communities, including ApeCoin staking and NFT metadata integrations. pic.twitter.com/mem2ZsXNkt
— Zach | Zheerwagen.eth (@ZHeerwagen) November 23, 2022

The marketplace “respects royalties while heavily reducing fees” according to Heerwagen. A 0.25% slice of each sale is held in a multi-signature wallet and used to fund DAO initiatives.

The marketplace’s support for royalties comes as some other NFT marketplaces such as the Solana (SOL)-based Magic Eden and Ethereum-based LooksRare stopped enforcing creator royalties by default.

Others such as OpenSea have continued to enforce royalties and even created a tool to help NFT creators with on-chain enforcement of royalties, allowing them to blacklist the sale of their NFTs on royalty-free marketplaces.

OpenSea to enforce creator royalties on all collections after community outcry

November 10, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Artists

The NFT marketplace has clarified its stance on creator royalties after receiving significant public backlash from an earlier post.

NFT marketplace OpenSea has announced it will continue to enforce royalties across all collections going forward, following outcry from creators earlier this week for considering otherwise.

On Nov. 7 OpenSea announced they were launching an on-chain tool allowing creators to enforce royalties for any new collections on the platform, but stopped short of offering the same to existing collections.

At the time, the marketplace said it would be considering options ranging from enforcing off-chain fees for “some subsets of collections,” to “allowing optional creator fees,” to “collaborating with other on-chain enforcement options for creators.”

The announcement saw significant pushback from the community, urging OpenSea to clarify its stance, noting the messaging was unclear, while others took issue with its “optional creator fee” suggestion.

Some NFT creators, such as Bobby Kim, co-founder of The Hundreds on Nov. 9 said they had decided to cancel the release of their upcoming NFT collection on OpenSea, noting they were "waiting to see if OpenSea would take a stand to preserve creator royalties for existing collections."

"Unfortunately, that announcement has not arrived in time," he said.

On Nov. 8, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) founders including Wylie Aronow, Greg Solano and Kerem Atalay chimed in on the debate in a blog post, sharing that the move from OpenSea was “not great” and shows its intent “to move with the rest of the herd and remove creator royalties for legacy collections from their platform.”

OpenSea appears to have heard the criticisms, and as part of a Nov. 9 post on Twitter, confirmed it will "continue to enforce creator fees on all existing collections" as well.

OpenSea said it was "awed by the passion we've seen from creators and collectors alike this week. We were looking for your feedback, and we heard it, loud and clear."

According to the marketplace, they "will start open-sourcing our data on creator fees in the upcoming weeks for everyone to use."

12/ In short, we’re at a collective inflection point: if everyone left in this ecosystem who believes that creator fees are important to our future links arms on this, we WILL ensure that fees are durable.
— OpenSea (@opensea) November 9, 2022

OpenSea launches new “on-chain” tool to enforce NFT royalties

November 7, 2022 Coin Telegraph

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OpenSea launches new "on-chain" tool to enforce NFT royalties

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Coin Telegraph

Royalty enforcement tool only applies to new NFT collections at this stage, with a decision to be made on existing collections at a later date.

Nonfungible (NFT) marketplace OpenSea appears to have taken a position in the NFT royalties debate — launching a new "on-chain" tool helping creators enforce royalties.

The NFT marketplace, which according to CoinGecko commands 66% of the market share in NFT marketplaces been relatively silent on the issue of royalties and enforcement while others in the space have been implementing their own strategies over the last few months.

In a Nov. 6 blog post, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer noted that in marketplaces where fees are optional, they’ve “watched the voluntary creator fee payment rate dwindle to less than 20%”, while in other marketplaces creator fees are “simply not paid at all.”

The OpenSea CEO announced the marketplace has launched a new tool that will allow creators to deliver “on-chain enforcement” of their royalties.

There’s been a lot of discussion over the past few months about business models for NFT creators & whether creator fees (“royalties”) are viable.

Given our role in the ecosystem, we want to take a thoughtful, principled approach to this topic & to lead w/ solutions.
— OpenSea (@opensea) November 6, 2022

Finzer described the tool as a "simple code snippet," which allows creators to enforce royalties on new and future NFT collection smart contracts, and existing upgradeable smart contracts. The code will also restrict NFT sales to only marketplaces that enforce creator fees.

"It's clear that many creators want the ability to enforce fees on-chain; and fundamentally, we believe that the choice should be theirs to make — it shouldn't be a decision made for them by marketplaces," Finzer said.

Finzer also said that OpenSea will enforce royalties for any new collections using an on-chain enforcement tool, but won't do so for new collections that don't opt-in.

Finzer explained in an accompanying Twitter Spaces that OpenSea is "not requiring folks to use our specific solution," creators can use "whatever solution you want and implement it anyway."

"We provide a template GitHub repo that helps you use a solution that basically blocks lists marketplace that doesn't support creator fees, you don't have to use that solution; the requirement is that if you want creator fees, you have to enforce them on chain."

The tool also won’t be rolled out for existing NFT collections for the moment due to implementation challenges.

"To the best of our knowledge, the only way to achieve on-chain creator fee enforcement for existing collections with non-upgradeable smart contracts is to take drastic measures with their communities, like shifting the canonical collection to a new smart contract," Finzer said.

"In our opinion, by far the better option is for existing creators to explore new forms of monetization and alternative ways of incentivizing buyers and sellers to pay creator fees, and to ensure that future collections enforce creator fees on-chain," he added.

According to Finzer, this includes options such as continuing to enforce off-chain fees for some subsets of collections, allowing optional creator fees and collaborating on other on-chain enforcement options for creators.

Reaction among the NFT creator and Twitter community has been mixed. Wab.eth, founder of the Sappy Seals NFT collection and co-founder of The Pixlverse and Pixl Labs told their nearly 60,000 followers that while “I don't fundamentally agree with the removal of royalties, I do appreciate this execution.”

I don't fundamentally agree with the removal of royalties though but I do appreciate this execution. There has to be give and take with these things.

Recognizing you are making a (unavoidable) change that harms your audience but also simultaneously presenting a solution.
— wab.eth ❁ (@wabdoteth) November 6, 2022

Others users had questions they felt were not answered. Betty, the pseudonym for one of the creators of the Deadfellaz NFT collection, told their 89,000 followers, “it feels like there is no plan and no clear answers were given in regards to existing collections & artist’s royalties.”

Although later noted, “I look forward to reading more concrete communication from them soon in regards to proposed strategies.”

After speaking with @opensea it feels like there is no plan and no clear answers were given in regards to existing collections & artist’s royalties. Communication has been misleading and facts are not there. Speak up if you feel a certain way about this because it has impact.
— BETTY (@betty_nft) November 6, 2022

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October 14, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Industry exec explains why NFT fraud protection falls on brand and not marketplaces

October 14, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Brands that issue NFTs should hold the greatest responsibility to protect themselves and potential investors from fraud, an NFT security executive suggested.

Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces should commit to combat fraudulent NFTs, but brands are far more responsible for protecting NFT investors, according to one industry executive.

Brands that issue NFTs should be taking the first step to protecting themselves and potential investors from fraud, BrandShield CEO Yoav Keren said in an interview with Cointelegraph on Oct. 12.

According to Keren, it’s more straightforward for a brand to recognize NFTs that were not released by the company itself rather than marketplaces like OpenSea or Rarible. NFT marketplaces usually have fewer insights into which brands are creating NFTs when they are launching and other details, the CEO noted.

Although marketplaces should not be negligent of the reality of NFT fraud, it’s still a must for brands to keep their audience publicly and transparently updated about any NFT offerings, Keren hinted, stating:

“Brands should understand the legal implications of misuse of their image, and should take action to protect their customers across all platforms, websites and marketplaces.”

The CEO went on to say that counterfeits and copyright infringements have emerged as the two most common forms of NFT fraud so far.

Counterfeit NFT fraud implies unauthorized replicas that are sold despite the existence and sale of an original NFT drop by its creator or authorized party. Copyright and trademark infringements refer to fraudsters hijacking a brand’s likeness or image to create and sell NFTs without prior authorization.

Both types of NFT fraud occur across some of the largest NFT marketplaces, including OpenSea, Rarible and Nifty Gateway, Keren noted.

“We conducted a scan on OpenSea and found 41,500 suspicious NFT listings using unauthorized likenesses or images associated with prominent celebrities who’ve promoted NFTs or cryptocurrency,” Keren said. In these cases, fraudsters utilized copyright or trademark infringements to defraud consumers, he added.

One of the ways to eliminate NFT fraud is for platforms to encourage more reporting of fake listings when a suspicious listing is discovered by a user of the platform. “Ideally, brands and marketplaces should work together on solutions,” Keren stated, adding that attacking a problem from multiple angles is the fastest way to an effective solution.

Despite encouraging brands and marketplaces to do their best to protect NFT investors, BrandShield CEO emphasized that it’s still important for consumers to do their own research while investing in NFTs. It is important to not only double-check the website of the NFT marketplace’s domain but also go for only verified NFT sellers and avoid suspicious shortened links.

“Work to verify an NFT before purchasing because by the time marketplaces catch on to these abuses, it’s oftentimes too late,” Keren added.

The rise of NFTs and metaverse has created yet another way for fraudsters to mislead investors into falling for scams and counterfeits. According to data from crypto risk management firm Elliptic, NFT investors became victims of more than $100 million worth of NFT scams and thefts related to NFTs in a period from July 2021 to July 2022.

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Blue chip NFT performance fails recovery, but investors HODL even harder

August 16, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

In the last 30 days, over 53% of NFT investors made losses on sale trades. Despite the cold market sentiment, the number of investors that hold their NFT investments continues to rise.

The market performance of blue chip nonfungible tokens (NFTs), often considered a good long-term investment, revisited its all-time low range for the second time since June 2022 — falling down below 10,000 Ether (ETH) in the blue-chip index maintained by NFTGo.

Blue chip NFTs marked their best performance not too long ago, on April 29, amounting to nearly 14,900 ETH. However, June 13 was the worst performing day in blue chip NFT history when the index fell down to 9,331 ETH — primarily driven by a floor price adjustment in CyberKongz and CyberKongzBabies projects.

*Performance indicator of blue chip NFTs. Source: NFTGo*

In the last 30 days, over 53% of NFT investors made losses on sale trades. Despite the evidently cold market sentiment, the number of investors that hold their NFT investments continues to rise.

*Investor behavior pattern show increase in long-term holders. Source: NFTGo*

Nearly 500,000 users joined the growing pool of NFT investors in June and July alone who intend to hold for the long-term, taking the number of holders above 3 million at the time of writing. Out of all the NFT categories, PFP (picture for proof) NFTs boast the biggest market capitalization of $13.95 billion.

Former leaders such as collectibles, games and art NFTs together represent approximately $6.7 billion in market capitalization.

Taking a proactive measure to counter illicit activities via NFT trades, NFT marketplace OpenSea announced plans to design policies around the sale of stolen NFTs on its platform.

2/ Our policy is designed to keep our community safe, but we know in some cases its side effects have damaged your trust in our platform. We’ve failed to proactively and transparently communicate the rationale behind our approach.
— OpenSea (@opensea) August 10, 2022

OpenSea admitted that buyers unknowingly bought stolen items and were penalized for no fault of their own. As a result, the marketplace adjusted its policy to expand the use of police reports in identifying threats.

GameStop ‘Falling Man’ NFT saga shows people’s power at its finest

July 25, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

While GameStop faced the heat for insensitive NFT listing, OpenSea had the Falling Man NFT listed on its platform for over two months.

A recent nonfungible token (NFT) listing on Gamestop’s marketplace became the center of controversy in the NFT world. The listing received heavy backlash from the community prompting the marketplace to take action within a day, showing how a community can come together to reverse the wrong.

The NFT in question, titled “Falling Man,” showed a man in a space suit falling downwards. The NFT in question had quite a resemblance to the infamous 9/11 photo of a man falling to his death that since has become a defining moment of the deadly attacks. Many believed the NFT was mimicking the 9/11 victim and also infringed on the copyright of the image taken by original photojournalist Richard Drew.

In another discussion on the meme stock subreddit GME_Meltdown, a user pointed out that the figure in the NFT is a render of an existing 3D model of a Russian flight suit created by an independent artist, which was used without the permission of the original artist.

The GameStop team eventually took down the NFT and even banned the creator behind the art from minting on the platform.

Gamestop got rid of the nft and removed the creators ability to mint thankfully. pic.twitter.com/tJpcmXqkJz
— Thrawnbelina (@AltStacie) July 23, 2022

The crypto community demanded Gamestop to do better due diligence before approving any artform to its marketplace, where one user wrote:

“It’s still not enough how do you even allow this it’s disgusting there needs to be a review team that looks into each NFT for shit like this or stolen art.”

GameStop didn't respond to Cointelegraph's request for comments at press time.

While GameStop faced the community backlash, the incident opened a pandora’s box of evidence highlighting how NFTs became a medium of making quick money for many at the cost of common human decency.

OpenSea, one of the most popular NFT marketplaces today, has the “Falling Man” as NFT up for sale for nearly two months.

The Falling Man NFT has been up on @opensea for two months plus. Stupid People are trying to shame @GameStopNFT for taken it down in a day! saying #GameStopNFT needs to do better content control They’re already the best!!! Go FUD elsewhere! https://t.co/DQNLRE6xd2 #GME pic.twitter.com/qQ8kIBvXWI
— VanGuardianVI (@VanGuardianVI) July 24, 2022

Another revelation came earlier in January this year when a doctor tried selling an X-ray of the 2015 Paris terrorist attack victim as an NFT. The doctor is currently facing legal and disciplinary actions.

The NFT mania began at the height of the bull run in March 2021 after digital artist Beeple’s NFT art fetched a whopping $69.3 million. Since then, NFT has become the buzzword, and every other brand and celebrity has been getting involved with the phenomenon.

With the rise in popularity, the ecosystem became a target of scammers as well, leading to an increase in copyright infringements and fake NFT sales. However, the crypto community has always come together to show the power of the people. One such instance took place in May this year when the Solana community came together to “scam” a scammer to get back some stolen NFTs.

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Two Bored Ape NFTs sell for nearly $1M each

ApeCoin DAO launches marketplace

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