01/02/2023 First Exchange-Traded NFT Fund Shuts Down

The Defiance Digital Revolution ETF will cease activity by the end of February.


The Defiance Digital Revolution ETF will close. Image: Defiance ETFs
The Defiance Digital Revolution ETF will close. Image: Defiance ETFs

NFTZ, widely touted as the world’s first exchange-traded fund for NFTs, is shutting down.

Defiance ETFsannouncedthat it will “close and liquidate” NFTZ, its Defiance Digital Revolution ETF, by February 28.

When it kicked off trading in December 2021, Defiance ETFs co-founder and Chief Investment Officer Sylvia JablonskisaidNFTs “could be bigger than the internet.”

NFTZ tracked companies involved in the NFT (non-fungible token) and cryptocurrency space—including toy collectibles company Funko, online marketplace Ebay, and digital asset exchange Coinbase. Shares of the Fund were listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The fundfell11% to US$21.66 from US$24.41 in its first two days of trading.

ETFs are popular investment vehicles offering indirect exposure to an underlying asset through shares—like gold, foreign currencies or Bitcoin. This allows investors to expand their portfolios without having to store such assets.

NFTZ is an ETF that allowed investors to have a stake in a number of companies somehow related to the NFT space. Last July, crypto exchange KuCoinlaunched its own NFT ETFallowing users to own proportionally shared ownership of native blue-chip NFTs like the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

NFTs are cryptographically unique tokens linked to digital (or physical) content. Theyexploded in 2021and many celebrities openly invested or created their own NFTs. Major companies—likeEbayandFunko—also got involved by investing in NFT marketplaces.

But since the price of Bitcoin and every other coin and token in the ecosystem has nosedived, interest in the crypto world has waned—and this includes NFTs.

Bitcoin and crypto futures ETFs have found a market in the U.S.—at least during the bull run: When the first onelaunchedin October 2021, it exploded and sold nearly $1 billion on its debut.

BitcoinspotETFs, which directly track the biggest digital currency, do not yet exist in the U.S. Many major crypto companies have applied to the SEC to launch one, but have only facedrejection.

Arts

https://decrypt.co/120295/first-exchange-traded-nft-fund-shuts-down

Interesting NFTs
#85278
By OthersideDeployer
缥缈之美的过去与现在(Vanitas Then and Now)
虚空派的画像。在这个虚拟时代,外在之美到底是否还受到时间的限制?(Vanitas portrait of a woman. Is beauty finite or not in the Virtual age?)
Traffic
Traffic explores a crossroads between the metaverse & reality through organized chaos. The complexity of this aural / visual landscape demanded over 200 hours of design time between Slimesunday & 3LAU. Every detail of this piece was built from scratch, from the reflective puddled pavement to the stabbing synthesis of the song. We think we'll be spending a lot more time in the metaverse in the future, don't you?
Alex in Wonderland
A figure, Alex, stands mostly naked in the midst of a physical and psychological maelstrom. He is clad only in nostalgic 80’s era socks, on a tenuous island between active waters and a variety of shark denizens. Sharks on the right side of the image are all beached, including a shark with a quartz crystal snout, an orange shark wrapped in a life buoy, and a shark further in the distance wearing an 80’s style shirt with the number “88”. On the left side is the largest shark, wearing bright glossy red lipstick and brandishing prominent teeth with braces. She is cordoned off from the figure by a roped float divider, and within her thought bubble is a warning symbol. Behind the figure, hovering in the air, are Grey aliens emerging from the distance, out of a series of elliptical UFO shaped interdimensional membranes. The Greys take on the visual form of spermazoa ostensibly impregnating the interdimensional thresholds. As is typical, these Greys inhabit a zone just behind the unconscious topology of Alex’s dissociative mind. Though Alex’s bottom half is representative, his top half mutates into a psychological cornucopia. In a manner akin to “Auto-Erotic Sphinx”, a predecessor work, the figure has self suctioned—an act of sensual infatuation, enjoyment, and exploration. Upward exists the figure’s primary conscious eye, adorned with a revolutionary beret emblazoned with a Bitcoin badge. The figure’s summit features the nose of a fighter jet facing off against video game Bullet Bills, one of whom is marked by a communist North Korean star. A cropped section of a UFO observes the contest. Alex’s mind branches both left and right. To the left is more singular embodied consciousness, manifesting two eyes and a Ganesh trunk grasping crayons. The right branch dissociates upward diagonally, emerging into an array of eyes, faces, teeth, tail, a unicorn horn, and much more—all of which participate in expressing his unconscious being; a democracy of psychic factions representing thought impressions and associations. All illumination and darkness– fernal, infernal, high consciousness and corporeal underbelly–reside in this realm. In the distance are relatively languid, light clouds, and against the firmament hovers a colossal distant eye peering over the scene and far beyond. This painting possesses underlying genetic traits with previous works such as “Auto-Erotic Sphinx with Toys”, “Dionysus”, and “Fuku-Shiva”. The work serves also as a nod to an earlier period of art inspiration during late teens and early twenties— born out of the nakedness, vulnerability, curiosity, and wonder inherent to coming of age and all subsequent psychedelic revelation.
Pixel Story
This happy-go-lucky tribe made of lovable pixel Kitties have so much to talk about. While their language skills are simplistic, each Kitty still manages to express themselves with a variety of colorful emoticons and poses. From communicating their basic emotions, to discussing the economic implications of rising Ethereum gas prices, Pixel Tribe Kitties will keep each other entertained for hours. As their communications evolve and become more sophisticated, the inhabitants will come to realize that certain combinations of emotes will unlock secrets within their world. Try it out for yourself, if you're lucky enough to adopt a Kitty. Use the coordinate guide at: https://share.getcloudapp.com/7KumW6Lk to position your kitty Layer.