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NFTs start December with a $187M weekly sales volume

Coin Telegraph
NFTs start December with a 7M weekly sales volume
Bitcoin

Pudgy Penguins recorded $25 million in sales, while CryptoPunks had a weekly volume of $16.5 million.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) started strongly in December, with Ethereum leading the top digital collectible blockchains in sales. 

On Dec. 8, NFT data tracker CryptoSlam showed that digital collectibles recorded a weekly sales volume of over $187 million in the first week of December, continuing an upward trend since October. The starting week in December surpasses digital collectibles’ strongest week in November when NFTs had a sales volume of $181 million. 

Since March, NFT volumes decreased before reaching their lowest point in September, when NFTs saw their lowest monthly sales volume since 2021. However, the asset class recovered in October. This was followed by a 57% month-on-month increase as NFTs saw volumes of over $562 million in November. 

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Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Pudgy Penguins CEO unfazed by SEC actions against the NFT sector

Coin Telegraph
Pudgy Penguins CEO unfazed by SEC actions against the NFT sector
Coin Telegraph

While the SEC focuses on investor protection, Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Schnetzler believes that investors should also hold some form of accountability for their purchases. 

Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Schnetzler, widely known in the NFT space as Luca Netz, stated that he remains unfazed by the recent actions taken by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the NFT industry.

On Aug. 28, NFT marketplace OpenSea revealed that it had received a Wells notice from the SEC. The company claimed that the SEC is alleging that NFTs on the trading platform may qualify as securities. Then, on Sept. 17, the SEC imposed a $750,000 fine on the restaurant Flyfish Club for offering NFTs.

As the SEC takes action against the industry, some argue that it is necessary to respond to these measures. However, Schnetzler dismisses the SEC’s actions as “nonsense.”

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Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Unstoppable Domains to Provide Web3 Sign-In to Pudgy Penguins Metaverse

Bitcoin.com
Unstoppable Domains to Provide Web3 Sign-In to Pudgy Penguins Metaverse
bitcoin.com
Unstoppable Domains to Provide Web3 Sign-In to Pudgy Penguins MetaverseUnstoppable Domains, a key player in Web3 domains and digital identity solutions, has announced an integration with Pudgy Penguins, enabling users to access Pudgy World using their .pudgy domain names. The integration allows users to bypass traditional password-based logins, offering a more streamlined access that doesn’t rely on Web2 credentials. This approach not only enhances […]
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Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

NFT Sales Rise 8% Higher Amid Broader Crypto Market Downturn

Bitcoin.com
NFT Sales Rise 8% Higher Amid Broader Crypto Market Downturn
bitcoin.com
NFT Sales Rise 8% Higher Amid Broader Crypto Market DownturnOver the past week, non-fungible token (NFT) sales have increased despite the significant decline in the broader crypto market. Approximately $109 million in NFT sales were recorded, marking an 8.1% rise from the previous week. NFT Transactions Surge 45.57% as Weekly Sales Hit $109M NFT sales rebounded in the past seven days, climbing 8.1% to […]
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Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Yuga Labs to wind back from OpenSea over its axing of royalty enforcements

Coin Telegraph
Yuga Labs to wind back from OpenSea over its axing of royalty enforcements
Blur marketplace

Yuga Labs said it will start winding back OpenSea support for “all upgradable contracts and any new collections” following the announcement from the NFT marketplace.

Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creators Yuga Labs is set to wind down support for OpenSea following the platform’s upcoming removal of its on-chain royalty enforcement tool Operator Filter.

The Operator Filter was launched in November 2022, essentially enabling creators to restrict secondary nonfungible token sales only to marketplaces that enforce creator royalties, thus filtering out platforms like Blur.

However, OpenSea revealed on Aug. 17 that it will soon “sunset” the tool at the end of August, citing a lack of “opt-in by the entire ecosystem,” platforms being able to bypass the tool and pushback from creators.

The following day, Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre shared an announcement via X (Twitter), stating that the firm will gradually wind down its use of OpenSea’s Seaport marketplace smart contract:

“Yuga Labs will begin the process of sunsetting support for OpenSea’s SeaPort for all upgradable contracts and any new collections, with the aim of this being complete in February 2024 in tandem with OpenSea’s approach.”

“Yuga believes in protecting creator royalties so creators are properly compensated for their work,” he added.

The post was met with a positive reaction from members of the BAYC community, while content creators/NFT project founders such as EllioTrades and Alex Becker also praised the move.

The CEO and co-founder of the Forgotten Runes Wizards Cult NFT project @dotta, was also in support, noting that they loved to see how Yuga Labs responded to OpenSea.

“The creators have enough power in aggregate to move to royalty-paying marketplaces. Yuga leading the charge is the spark that was needed.”

Notably, Luca Netz, the CEO of the Pudgy Penguins NFT project also seemingly hinted towards doing the same thing as Yuga Labs, as he responded to the firm’s post by calling it a “great move.”

In a separate post from Coinbase NFT on Aug. 18 highlighting its “commitment to enforcing creator royalties,” Netz also stated: “Let’s talk.”

Divided market

The notion of creator royalties and whether they should be supported/enforced or not, has become a divisive topic in the NFT community over the past year or so.

In the early stages of the NFT boom around 2021, it was the general practice to enforce creator royalties. However, marketplaces like Blur then stormed the market in October 2022 and managed to secure significant market share by offering zero trading fees and an optional creator royalty payment model.

Related: Nifty News: Coca-Cola gets Based, Reddit avatars reach 20M milestone and more

As a result, trading fees and royalty percentages started to decrease across the board as marketplaces competed for users.

As it stands, it generally appears that the NFT community is split between those who favor the cheaper NFT trading model of platforms like Blur, and argue for different methods of creator compensation, and those who staunchly advocate for the need to pay royalties.

Magazine: NFT Collector: Grails’ lucky dip of famous NFT artists, new hope for PFP holders

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Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Stop shoving crypto ‘down people’s throats’ — Pudgy Penguins CEO on NFTs

Coin Telegraph
Stop shoving crypto ‘down people’s throats’ — Pudgy Penguins CEO on NFTs
Coin Telegraph

Luca Netz suggested that Pudgy Penguins is pushing for Web3/blockchain as a “back end not front end” approach, as it makes its IP as accessible as possible.

The CEO of Pudgy Penguins — a nonfungible token project that recently launched a line of “phygitals” on Amazon despite the bear market — has offered one piece of sage advice to budding projects: Stop talking about crypto.

Speaking with Cointelegraph, 24-year-old entrepreneur Luca Netz said that many NFT projects overwhelm people with Web3 jargon and information, making it almost unapproachable for newcomers:

“If you look at the other NFTs in the space, can everyone really get it? [...] I think they’re trying to drown crypto and Web3 down people’s throats. That’s not what people want. People want amazing products.”

Since he took over Pudgy Penguins in April 2022, Netz stated that the project has opted for a Web3/blockchain as a “back end, not front end” approach.

This essentially boils down to bringing as much attention to the IP as possible, in an easily digestible way, he said, adding: 

“So our focus is really, how do we create a lovable character that everyone loves? And as the space evolves as the technology matures, you know, teach that user base that we're in NFTs.”

“Everything that we do and everything that you'll see us do is ‘how do we get more familiarity and brand awareness around our characters?’ and that's really at the top of the totem pole for us,” he added.

Huggable Pudgy Penguins 

One of the key initiatives that Netz has introduced is the physical or “phygital” Pudgy Penguins collectibles, which are designed from the IP of around 16 different NFTs from the collection.

Each toy comes with a scannable code that people can use to unlock blockchain-based digital penguin customizations to make their own unique NFT. All in a user-friendly way.

In a Twitter Spaces in late May, Netz claimed that toys pulled in $500,000 worth of sales from around 20,000 units within two days of debut on Amazon on May 18.

Notably, hodler’s of those specific NFTs get a cut of the revenue.

“So for us, you know, my number one objective — watching the successes and failures in the space thus far — is how do I bring value to my NFT holder. I think if that's not your number one objective when running an NFT business, then you're unfortunately going to be in a tough spot.”

“So we believe that when we make a product and we make content, that we want to pay our community for that and it's kind of how we're looking at it,” he added.

From bear... to penguin

In late 2021, Pudgy Penguins was essentially in tatters as the floor price was plummeting, while promised milestones on the roadmap such as blockchain games were nowhere in sight.

At the time, questions were being raised about the past dealings of controversial founder Cole Villemain, who was ultimately voted out of the project by the community by January 2022.

A few months later, the project was subject to a $2.5 million takeover by Netz, and since the announcement on April 3, 2022, the floor price for Pudgy Penguins NFTs has surged from around 1.3 Ether (ETH) to around 5.05 ETH at the time of writing.

Pudgy Penguins Floor price surge. Source: NFT Price Floor.

Adding to that, the Pudgy Penguins also recently closed a $9 million seed funding round in early May, along with signing a Hollywood representation deal with WME to expand the IP into areas such as TV, film and gaming.

Revival under Luca Netz

While it may have looked like another dead NFT project to some, Netz emphasized that he saw a diamond in the rough with a strong community that wanted to see the project thrive again:

“I think it had all of the ingredients to be the face of NFTs. And I felt like nobody [else] at the time had the same value proposition.”

“I decided to buy it because I saw that it had those ingredients, and they just needed the right person to cook it.” he added.

Explaining what he saw in Pudgy Penguins, Netz stated that he felt it had a culture that was “second to none,” along with a “universal IP” that was primed for growth.

“So what I mean, by universal, you know anyone, and everyone can understand a Pudgy Penguin, it doesn't matter what your ethnicity is, or your gender or your religion, like you all get and understand a Pudgy Penguin,” he said.

Magazine: NFT Creator: Top 10 crypto artist Trevor Jones on being rich, rekt and rich again

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Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Nifty News: Assassin’s Creed unveils ‘smart collectibles’, MechaFightClub winds down and more ….

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: Assassin’s Creed unveils ‘smart collectibles’, MechaFightClub winds down and more ….
Assassin's Creed

NFT game MechaFightClub is shutting down due to the regulatory uncertainty in the U.S., while Yuga Lab’s new CEO has snapped up a BAYC NFT well over the floor price.

Assassin’s Creed, one of Ubisoft’s most popular gaming franchises, has announced a series of customizable “smart collectibles” featuring both digital and physical components.

The collectibles are set to drop on May 16 and consist of a transparent 3D-printed cube with a character figure inside, along with a Polygon-based NFT called a “Digital Soul” which provides proof of ownership.

Fans of the series will need to purchase a Digital Soul NFT, which comes in two tiers of rarity. From there, they can then customize their character with different poses, outfits and weapons and have the final product shipped to their door.

The amount of available customizations is of course tied to the level or rarity the person buys.

Assassin's Creed collectibles. Source: smartcollectibles.io

The “smart” aspect of the collectibles comes via an embedded near-field communication (NFC) chip placed on the 3D cube, and an IRL companion app.

Upon scanning or tapping the physical collectibles, users can access the app to complete achievements and earn various “items, recipes, loot boxes” and other utilities.

The collection is part of a broader project in partnership with Integral Reality Labs which the Assassin's Creed team describes as a “co-reality platform.”

The platform will soon have a marketplace to trade Assassin's Creed collectibles, and it is also set to host the sale of the “Pieces of Eden Pass” NFTs.

The collection consists of 1,500 tokens that offer access to exclusive perks and experiences, along with a “unique limited edition” Digital Soul NFT.

MechaFightClub ‘indefinitely pausing’ operations

Irreverent Labs’ Solana-based NFT game MechaFightClub announced on May 12 that it will be ‘indefinitely pausing’ due to the lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S.

The game was intended to revolve around NFT and artificial intelligence-based fighting robot chickens, however the project has cited concerns with launching a blockchain-based in-game economy in the current regulatory climate.

Robot fighting chicken. Source: MechaFightClub

As part of the shutting down process, from May 15 MechaFightClub will start buying back the NFTs it sold to the community for 18 Solana (SOL).

“We are an American company, and a lack of clarity is making it difficult for blockchain companies to operate here. In the current regulatory confusion, we simply couldn’t create an in-game economy without concern about the regulatory ramifications,” the firm stated in an announcement.

New Yuga Labs CEO buys BAYC NFT well above floor price

Yuga Labs’ new CEO Daniel Alegre has splashed 50 Ether (ETH) on Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT #3575.

Th purchase on May 10 equated to $90,000, well above the floor price at the time of $78,000 or 44 ETH. The move indicates a strong show of faith from the CEO in Yuga Lab’s major project, considering the BAYC floor price has declined from 75 ETH to 44.5 ETH over the past 90 days.

Alegre joined Yuga Labs on April 1 and he is the former president and chief operating officer of gaming firm Activision Blizzard.

As part of the announcement in April, the CEO stated that “the company’s pipeline of products, partnerships, and IP represents a massive opportunity to define the metaverse.“

Pudgy Penguins raises $9M

Just a few days after signing a Hollywood representation deal with WME, Blue chip NFT project Pudgy Penguins has closed a $9 million seed funding round.

The round was led by early-stage investment firm 1kx, with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Kronos Research and the Founders of LayerZero Labs to name a few.

The funds will be used to scale the project’s intellectual property and expand its offerings within its community and ecosystem.

“We are thrilled to be able to continue the strong momentum we’ve built over the last year, even in a bear market,” noted Pudgy Penguins head of investor relations Vi Powils, as part of a May 9 announcement.

Related: Web3 community-building meets music technology at Wavelengths Summit 2023

Other Nifty News

South Korean tech company LG Electronics has filed a patent application for its blockchain-based Smart TV that allows users to trade NFTs.

On May 10, American business magnate Elon Musk tweeted a meme created using imagery from the Milady NFT collection. Shortly thereafter, the floor price of Milady NFTs spiked from 3.8 Ether (ETH) to as high as 7.3 ETH before falling to 5.69 ETH apiece at the time of publication.

Magazine: NFT art pioneer wants to upload her brain so she can live forever: Josie Bellini, NFT Creator

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Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Nifty News: Pudgy Penguins signs with WME, Bitblox to make Web3 gambling games and more….

Coin Telegraph
Nifty News: Pudgy Penguins signs with WME, Bitblox to make Web3 gambling games and more....
Bitblox

Palm NFT Studio has also launched a new tool via Epic Games’ Unreal Engine that enables creators to make generative “game-ready” 3D assets and art collections.

Blue chip nonfungible token (NFT) project Pudgy Penguins has signed a representation deal with major Hollywood talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME).

According to an announcement via Twitter on May 5, Pudgy Penguins is looking to spread its intellectual property across film, TV, and gaming.

Pudgy Penguins joins a growing list of big name NFT projects that have sought out Hollywood representation deals as a way to expand their brands and audiences. WME’s other NFT-related clients includes Dapper Labs co-founder Mack Flavelle, the Boss Beauties project, pseudonymous NFT artist FEWOCiOUS and artist Claire Silver.

Pudgy Penguins is the twenty-first highest-selling NFT project of all time according to data from CryptoSlam. Since launching in July 2021, it has generated a total of $250.2 million worth of sales on secondary markets.

Last month the project was acquired by Luca Netz of Netz Capital for 750 Ether (ETH), worth about $2.5 million at the time of purchase on April 3.

Pudgy Penguins has been gradually developing a Web3 ecosystem and community surrounding the project, and has already made some moves to get the IP out into the mainstream.

In late March, the project soft-launched physical Pudgy Penguin figurines that come with certificates of authenticity and a proof of ownership that is recorded on Ethereum.

Bitblox to build Web3 gambling games

A new blockchain gaming studio called Bitblox has launched to build a suite of Web3 gambling games on the Solana-based Hxro Network, a distributed liquidity layer for derivatives trading and betting applications.

The online gambling industry, or igaming, was worth roughly $63.5 billion in 2022, and is estimated to grow 11.7% annually from 2023 to 2030, according to Grand View Research.

In a May 4 announcement, Bitblox Games stated that it will focus on developing player-to-player (P2P) games built around skill and speed, where players bet against each other as opposed to the ‘house’ such as Casino or bookie in regular gambling.

“Blockchain-based gaming provides additional transparency to igaming operators while giving players the ability to bet in new and engaging ways,” noted Bitblox CEO Brandt Page.

Specific games are yet to be announced, however more information is likely to come later this month as Bitblox is set to debut at CasinoBeats Summit 2023 in Malta between May 23 and May 25.

Related: A new frontier for collectibles: Preserving music history in NFTs with Legends of Rock

Generative art via Unreal Engine

NFT infrastructure and ecosystem developer Palm NFT Studio has launched a new tool via Epic Games’ Unreal Engine that enables creators to make generative “game-ready” 3D assets and art collections.

The tool is dubbed the “Palm Generative Art Maker” and provides a simplified process for people to make generative art and assets, something which is usually quite complicated for creators that are not well versed in coding.

The tool was launched on May 4 and is available for download as an Unreal Engine plug-in.

Palm Generative Art Maker. Source: Unreal Engine

It enables users to develop a concept in the plug-in, and then port the assets into Unreal Engine 5.1 to fine tune and add finishing details. From there, they can mint the assets as NFTs on the blockchain.

Interest in generative art has surged alongside the growth of the NFT sector over the past couple of years, with profile picture/avatar-based projects such as CryptoPunks helping to popularize the method. While NFT art projects such as Tyler Hobb’s Fidenza have also driven interest in the computer-based art style.

Digital Star Wars toys on Flow

NFT start-up Cryptoys has unveiled the upcoming launch of Star Wars digital collectibles on the Flow blockchain, home to major NFT projects such as NBA Top Shot.

The NFT collectibles, or “digital toys” will drop on May 24, with the artwork bearing a similar design to Funko Pop figurines. Each token will be priced at $39.99 a piece in a randomized “blind box,” with the buyer not knowing which character they got until after purchase.

The NFTs will feature characters such as Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, and will come in different tiers of rarity ranging from common, to rare, legendary, “Grail” and “Ultra Grail.”

Other Nifty News

Kenya’s lawmakers are considering the introduction of a 3% tax on crypto and NFT transfers and a 15% tax on monetized online content, according to a new bill introduced on May 4.

The former OpenSea manager who was accused of insider trading of NFTs was convicted on May 3 of wire fraud and money laundering in a New York federal court.

Magazine: NFT art pioneer wants to upload her brain so she can live forever: Josie Bellini, NFT Creator

Read more
Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

Bitcoin Reaccumulation Gains Traction Among Large Investors, Says Cryptoquant

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