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An In-Depth Look at the 5 Most Profitable Bored Ape NFT Traders of All Time

An In-Depth Look at the 5 Most Profitable Bored Ape NFT Traders of All TimeNon-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been extremely popular during the last two years and in recent times, specific NFTs from certain collections, sell for hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars per NFT. During the last 30 days, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs saw $257 million in sales volume. While people still question the […]

Tether and Four Other Stablecoins Set To Lose $625,000,000 in Interest Income Following Fed Pivot: CCData

DeFi sector TVL rises as investors return to a bullish crypto market

Decentralized finance token prices have begun to trend higher and the rise in the total value locked across protocols and increasing dApp revenue hint at a potential DeFi revival.

The month of March has been a tale of two halves for the cryptocurrency market and the weakness seen since the start of the year has began to fade. Bitcoin's (BTC) strong move above the $40,000 level is helping to lift sentiment across the sector, and DeFi tokens are also beginning to move upward. 

Crypto Fear & Greed Index. Source: Alternative.me

Data from cryptocurrency market intelligence firm Messari shows that a majority of the top tokens in the DeFi sector have posted double-digit gains over the past 30 days, led by THORChain (RUNE), which has increased by 199.81%, and Aave (AAVE), which has seen its price increase 53.95%

Top 12 DeFi assets. Source: Messari

Here’s a rundown of the state of DeFi as the sector attempts to get back to its former glory and kickstart a new bull run.

Value locked in DeFi is on the uptrend

Some of the best evidence for the ongoing comeback in DeFi can be found by looking at the total value locked (TVL) across the sector, which now sits at $228.05 billion according to data from Defi Llama.

Total value locked in DeFi. Source: Defi Llama

Despite the fact that many tokens remain well below their all-time highs, the TVL for the DeFi sector is only $28 billion below its previous high of $256.62 billion. This suggests that the DeFi ecosystem has continued to expand and attract value as new protocols and blockchain networks have launched over the past few months.

Data from Dune Analytics shows that the total number of DeFi users has steadily increased throughout 2022 and currently sits at a record high of 4,562,318 unique wallet addresses.

Total DeFi users over time. Source: Dune Analytics

Related: DeFi, Web3, CBDC still unknown for most: Survey

NFT marketplaces overtake DEXes

One subsector of the DeFi market that has yet to really see a reversal in its downtrend has been the levels of activity on decentralized exchanges (DEXes), which is currently at its lowest point since July 2021.

Weekly DEX volume. Source: Dune Analytics

While it appears as though traders haven’t been too eager to swap tokens in the current environment, data from Token Terminal shows that they have been active in other areas of the market with the revenue generated by the top apps on the uptrend since bottoming in February.

Top dApps based on daily total revenue. Source: Token Terminal

OpenSea and LooksRare NFT marketplaces have been the top-performing decentralized applications (dApps) by revenue over the past couple of months, followed by Uniswap (UNI), Convex Finance (CVX) and PancakeSwap (CAKE).

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.151 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 41.7%.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Tether and Four Other Stablecoins Set To Lose $625,000,000 in Interest Income Following Fed Pivot: CCData

GameStop NFT Marketplace now live and powered by Loopring L2

The beta version of GameStop’s NFT marketplace is now available, while the marketplace's official launch is expected to deploy soon.

GameStop has confirmed its integration with Loopring (LRC), an Ethereum Layer 2 zkRollup protocol designed for powering decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges, into their highly anticipated NFT marketplace. Adam Browman, Loopring’s Head of Growth, announced on Medium on Wednesday that the beta version of GameStop's marketplace had gone live.

According to Browman, GameStop, in partnership with Loopring L2, aims to provide "fast, cheap and secure" access to digital ownership for the masses. They intend to give power back to the players, creators and collectors with GameStop at the "forefront of these new global digital economies."

He explained how users can now mint NFTs directly on Loopring L2 for "fractions" of the costly gas-fees that tend to result from minting on L1, approximately less than $1. The Loopring zkRollup inherits Ethereum L1's self-custodial security to ensure that its users "receive the strongest digital property rights."

Beta users will get access to these "massive speed improvements and lower costs" and start making deposits ahead of the the full launch of the official marketplace that is reportedly coming soon.

Related: GameStop looks toward NFT marketplace launch after big Q4 loss

GameStop recently partnered with Immutable X (IMX) for its NFT marketplace and announced a $100 million grant for game creators and developers. At the time, GameStop had stated in a Securities and Exchange Commission report filed on January 28, 2022 that Immutable was the its first Layer 2 NFT integration for trading and minting, and that Loopring would follow. Immutable X recently closed a $200 million fundraising round, which brought the company's valuation to $2.5 billion.

Reports about GameStop teaming up with Microsoft for its NFT marketplace also circulated last month but this has yet to be confirmed. GameStop first announced a multiyear strategic partnership with Microsoft back in October. 

NFT related announcements tend to impact the price of GameStop (GME) shares, which were up 15% today at $141.35 per share. Similarly,  LRC marked a sharp surge in trading volume over the past 24 hours and experienced a price change of 32% at the time of publication.

Tether and Four Other Stablecoins Set To Lose $625,000,000 in Interest Income Following Fed Pivot: CCData

Marvel NFT partner Veve closes its marketplace after an in-app token exploit

Twitter users have complained that the exploit has resulted in a sharp decline in the price of their Digital collectibles over the past week.

Veve, a nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace with licensed digital collectibles, faced an exploit on Tuesday, resulting in millions of gems (in-app tokens) being acquired illegally. The platform is quite popular among mainstream brands such as Marvel, Pixar, and Coca-Cola, that have chosen Veve as their official launch partner.

In an official tweet published on Wednesday, Veve acknowledged the exploit on its platform and said that the attackers managed to acquire a “large amount” of gems illegitimately. The app-based NFT platform has shut the marketplace along with the gems purchase option until the investigation is complete.

Gems are the VeVe in-app token that users use to exchange for collectibles during drops or in the Market. Early reports suggest that the exploiters behind the attack managed to mint millions of gems without having to pay for it by exploiting a bug in buying mechanism. One user wrote that their friend accidentally purchased gems using an expired credit card and the transaction went through.

The platform has also restricted several user accounts that reportedly tried buying the cheap gems from fraudulent accounts. While the NFT platfrom didn’t disclose the exact amount of gems that were exploited, a Twitter user has claimed the figure could be in millions and might be the biggest heist on the platform. Veve didn’t respond to Cointelegraph’s requests for comments at the time of publishing.

Related: Nifty News: Wolf snaps up Punk, Disney NFTs, Economist mag cover fetches $422K...

The Twitter user also shared a timeline of events of the exploit where Veve first registered the largest 3-day buying of the in-app token gems, followed by a crash in the price of the token off app by half, falling from 0.5 to 0.25 and then the marketplace goes into maintenance.

The gem exploits on Veve also resulted in a massive decline in the price of the listed NFTs on the platform, where one user realized why their NFT value plunged by 80% within a week after Veve’s official Twitter post.

Tether and Four Other Stablecoins Set To Lose $625,000,000 in Interest Income Following Fed Pivot: CCData

LimeWire makes a comeback after a decade with an NFT marketplace

The new owners of LimeWire aim to "make things right" with the NFT marketplace and promises to give music artists freedom over their content.

Limewire, a popular peer-to-peer file-sharing website from the early 2000s that went defunct in 2010, is making a reentry in the market with a digital collectible marketplace at the hands of its new owners.

In an official announcement on Wednesday, the platform revealed its plans to launch a nonfungible token marketplace focused on the art and music industry. The NFT marketplace is expected to launch in May, and an official NFT with a token reward system is due later this year.

The marketplace will be fully curated and is launching with major artist partnerships from the music industry. LimeWire has also partnered with Algorand for cost and energy-efficient minting.

Brothers Paul and Julian Zehetmayr bought the rights of the company with hopes of reviving the brand in the Web3 era. Given LimeWire’s connection with the music (it was primarily used for downloading pirated songs) industry, the new era for the brand will be focused on supporting artists and the music industry.

The CEO brothers addressed the controversial past of the platform and claimed it was one of the key reasons for them to revive the brand and support true artists and their content.

Related: Crypto.com airdrops LeBron James NFT collection to eagle-eyed Super Bowl ad viewers

“LimeWire is returning as a platform for artists, not against them. On LimeWire, the majority of the revenue will go directly to the artist, and we will be working with creators to allow full flexibility, ownership and control when it comes to their content.”, said Julian.

Limewire’s controversial past had been the reason for several lawsuits from music labels and the founder of the platform Mark Gorton agreed to pay $105 million as a penalty to record labels for copyright infringement in May 2011.

The CEOs of the firm stressed that the relaunch is focused on making things right and building a digital collectible marketplace for the music community.

Tether and Four Other Stablecoins Set To Lose $625,000,000 in Interest Income Following Fed Pivot: CCData

Immutable raises $200M to invest in blockchain gaming, bringing valuation to $2.5B

The company’s valuation grew from just $410 million in 2021, reflecting the rapid expansion of the NFT economy.

Australian NFT trading platform Immutable announced a $200 million Series C funding round led primarily by Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek and with participation from Animoca Brands and Tencent. Additional investment from ParaFi Capital, Princeville Capital and Arrington Capital as well as from existing backers King River Capital, Prosus Ventures, AirTree Ventures, Declaration Partners and others have raised Immutable’s valuation to $2.5 billion.  

The company intends to put this capital toward developing its Immutable X layer-2 scaling solution for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum network and scaling Immutable Gaming Studio, which includes its flagship Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians video games. Immutable X uses StarkWare’s StarkEx zero-knowledge proof technology to achieve scalability on Ethereum while providing game developers with zero gas fees and a carbon-neutral environment.

Robbie Ferguson, Immutable’s co-founder and president, tweeted that the future of gaming is dependent on NFT economies and that Immutable wants to pioneer NFT adoption.

Related: Monthly NFT buyers dip below 800K as searches ‘fall off a cliff’

Ferguson added that the digital future will need open order books as opposed to siloed liquidity, and “genuine” decentralization on Ethereum as well as consumer-focused NFT projects.

According to the company, part of Immutable’s plans for “rapid global expansion” include onboarding four new executives: Justin Hulog, former Riot Games general manager, as chief studio officer; Gill Findlay, AirTree ventures partner, as chief operating officer; John Boris, former CEO of IfOnly, as chief growth officer; and Katherine Rau as chief people officer. Immutable also plans to grow its 165-person team by adding 200 new employees globally this year.

Related: Immutable X (IMX) price soars after GameStop partnership and new project launches

Recently, Immutable partnered with GameStop to develop the game retailer’s upcoming NFT marketplace as well as sponsor game creators via a $100 million grant program. Other companies currently building on Immutable X include TikTok, OpenSea, Ember Sword, GreenPark Sports and Gary Vee’s Vee Friends.

Immutable is one of several blockchain and crypto-focused companies to have achieved “unicorn” status over the past year. In the startup community, a unicorn is a company that achieves a valuation of $1 billion or more.

Tether and Four Other Stablecoins Set To Lose $625,000,000 in Interest Income Following Fed Pivot: CCData

NFT projects thrive even as OpenSea trading volumes take a hit

Monthly volumes on OpenSea have declined in comparison with January’s record-breaking start, but select NFT collections are still seeing their floor prices soar.

Despite a number of attempted vampire attacks, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) continue to have a strong run on OpenSea, with the number of unique users and transactions increasing. However, the NFT market’s overall volume is falling behind last month’s figure of nearly $3 billion

While there are NFT projects readying to hit the secondary market, it seems the sector, as a whole, is navigating the next move regarding utility and the integration of NFTs in the metaverse. Adding to this, global political uncertainties are also having a noticeable impact on market environments.

Ether (ETH) price has decreased by nearly 16% in the last seven days, and since most NFT projects are on the Ethereum network, NFT collectors tend to remain unphased, shopping for NFTs at a bargain. For an NFT collection, Azuki made a considerable impact in the last 30-days, amassing over 80,000 Ether ($209,100,216) and have knocked blue-chip collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Crypto Punks from their top spots. Similarly, Invisible Friends’ launch on Feb. 23, has already reeled in over $23.1 million with a floor price of 8.95 Ether ($22,010.74)

Azuki 30-day average price / volume. Source: OpenSea

It is not just new entrants rotating collections from their top spots in total volume, older projects are resurging as the market environment sorts out shaky conditions. 

Here is the state of the current NFT market as we enter the end of Q1.

3Landers NFT

Surprising the market with its underwhelming yet charming appeal and relatability to Doodles meets The Simpsons, 3Landers slides into the number one spot for total volume, amassing over 11,000 Ether ($28,666,000) since hitting the secondary market on Feb.19. 

3Landers all-time average price / volume. Source: OpenSea

3Landers' average sale price has increased 63% in the last seven days and is one of the few projects whose floors continue to increase post reveal, now sitting at a thin 1.55 Ether ($4.056.35.) 

Generated on the Ethereum blockchain, 3Landers describes itself as a “...NFT project centered around community, adventure and collaboration.” Perhaps it is the positivity collectors need in light of recent events.

As a community-centered project, 3Landers will rely on the talents, commitments and unity of its community to lead where the project may expand to.

While some NFT projects are community-centered in value sharing, others are exploring uncharted territory building out digital sovereign nations.

NFT Worlds

NFT Worlds is built with the metaverse in mind and at its center. Each of the 10,000 NFT Worlds is explorable and unique with the capacity to build on. Also, it touts being compatible with none other than the sandbox game, Minecraft. 

NFT Worlds saw a boost in growth in the last seven days reaching a floor price of nearly 18 Ether.

NFT Worlds 7-day floor price. Source: NFT Price Floor

In the last 30-days, NFT Worlds has generated over $42.3 million in volume, bringing about half that amount in the last seven days alone at $21.3 million.

NFT Worlds 7-day average price / volume. Source: OpenSea

NFT Worlds seems to attract Web3 advocates and developers granting decentralization and APIs. As digital land with a high cost of entry, NFT Worlds is integrating a rental system later this year, allowing owners to rent out their worlds in exchange for a monthly fee of its in-game currency, WRLD. 

Operating on the Polygon network, WRLD will have a reward faucet for creators who meet the criteria and are seeking to integrate a play-to-earn (P2E) game using the token.

It seems investors are heavily valuing open-source and interoperable features as good positions for the next phase of the metaverse.

Mfers

Created by Sartoshi, a play on the mysterious Satoshi Nakomoto, Mfers climbed its way to the third spot for total volume. Amassing a growth of nearly 66% in total volume in the last seven days, Mfers floor prices topped 5.84 Ether ($15,330). 

Mfers 7 day average price / volume. Source: OpenSea

These right-facing, slouching, stick Mfers are meme-inspired and created. The ethos of the Mfers seems to have recently triggered something within the sector, as the average sale price increased by 43% at one point in the seven days. 

Out of a total supply of 10,000 Mfers in the collection, there are approximately 5,100 unique holders. Currently, at 4 Ether ($10,950.08), the floor price has increased by nearly 81% in the last seven days.

Investors are taking pride that their investment will provide them all the creative freedom since Mfers hold creative commons zero (CC0) meaning, no rights reserved, and owners are enabled to build upon them. CryptoPunk owners encountered blistering issues with their intellectual property (IP) rights, which is why some see the Mfers proof-of-profile (PFP) as a symbol for the culture

Related: OpenSea monthly volumes top $5B as NFTs continue to mainstream

Tubby Cats

Speaking of culture, another cat collection has made its way to the scene. Tubby Cats has entered space and reaffirmed the love people have for cats. Tubby Cats by the Tubby collective is a collection of 20,000 anime-inspired cats.

Since its whitelist launch on Feb. 21, 2021, the collection has already amassed 9,000 unique holders and generated over $20.7 million in total volume

Tubby Cats all-time average price and volume. Source: OpenSea

Tubby Cats is not a completely randomly generated collection; instead, each tubby cat is generated from 120 various themed palettes on which the rarity is based. 

The Tubby Cat collection seems to have gained the attention and hearts of Crypto Twitter influencers as the collection has slid it’s way to the number four spot in total sales volume.

Although it has long ways to grow before its Cool Cats status, Tubby Cats is already making an impression with collectors of other projects. Tubby Cats may be the most recent feline-inspired project to purr their way to the sector, but it isn’t the last.

CatBlox Genesis Collection

It may have clawed its way to the fifth spot, but CatBlox Genesis collection is 10,000 cute and pudgy cats living in none other than CatBlox. Launched on Feb. 17, there are already 5,400 unique holders out of 10,000 and the average sale price has increased by nearly 50% in the last seven days.

CatBlox 7-day average price and volume. Source: OpenSea

CatBlox has since announced its partnership with athletic footwear brand, Puma to further itself with its health and wellness initiatives in place on its roadmap. While it still isn’t clear what the partnership with Puma entails, Puma is gearing itself for Web3. Puma has since changed its domain handle on Twitter to reflect “Puma.eth.” Apparently, the feline brand purchased other cat-like collections including CoolCats, Lazy Lions and Gutter Cat Gang. 

Understanding the impact of strong collaboration, CatBlox collection uniquely factors in distinct functionality with each collaboration.

Generating over $15.1 million in total volume so far, CatBlox is making a statement with its stealth reveal and latest announcement.

Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content of product on this page. While we aim at providing you all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor this article can be considered as an investment advice.

Tether and Four Other Stablecoins Set To Lose $625,000,000 in Interest Income Following Fed Pivot: CCData

OpenSea planned upgrade stalls as phishing attack targets NFT migration

OpenSea announced a new smart contract upgrade with a one-week deadline yesterday. However, the urgency and short deadline opened up a small window of opportunity for hackers.

Just yesterday, OpenSea announced a smart contract upgrade, which requires users to migrate their listed NFTs from Ethereum (ETH) blockchain to a new smart contract. As a direct result of the upgrade, users that don't migrate over from Ethereum risk losing their old, inactive listings — which currently require no gas fees for migration.

Major nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has reportedly fallen victim to an ongoing phishing attack within hours after announcing a week-long planned upgrade to delist inactive NFTs on the platform. 

However, the urgency and short deadline opened up a small window of opportunity for hackers. Within hours after OpenSea’s upgrade announcement, reports across multiple sources emerged about an ongoing attack that targets the soon-to-be-delisted NFTs.

Further investigations revealed that attackers used phishing emails to steal the NFTs before they get migrated over OpenSea’s new smart contract. Once a user authorizes the NFT migration from the fraudulent email, the attackers gain access to the NFTs.

Users are now advised to be wary of all communications from OpenSea in addition to revoking all permissions about the migration to the new smart contract.

OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer acknowledged the phishing attack while confirming that 32 users have lost NFTs so far. While the NFT marketplace is yet to decipher the ongoing attack, blockchain investigator Peckshield suspects a possible leak of user information (including email ids) that fuels the ongoing phishing attack.

However, Finzer has asked affected users to reach out to the company as he concluded:

“If you are concerned and want to protect yourself, you can un-approve access to your NFT collection.”

Related: UK tax authority makes first NFT seizure in VAT fraud case

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the chief tax authority in the United Kingdom, seized three NFTs associated with a suspected tax evasion fraud.

As Cointelegraph reported, the suspects used fake identities and created 250 fake “shell” companies to evade 1.4 million British pounds (roughly $1.8 million) in value-added taxes.

Tether and Four Other Stablecoins Set To Lose $625,000,000 in Interest Income Following Fed Pivot: CCData