22/07/2021 NFT And DeFi Tokens Are Driving The Crypto Rally

Nina Bambysheva 

I cover cryptocurrencies and other applications of blockchain

The crypto market is rallying for the second day in a row, clawing back losses from Monday’s selloff that saw bitcoin drop below $30,000.

Currently, bitcoin is changing hands at $31,940, according to Bitstamp. Ether is trading 4.22% up at $1,983. 

The movement was prompted by an overnight surge out of Asia’s trading desks, according to cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. Their analysts also note that the market-wide trading volume has recently surpassed the 20-day moving average, a sign of growing activity in the space, hitting a near 2-week high of $118 billion.

The climb began earlier yesterday as anticipation grew for a virtual conference that would feature Tesla TSLA -0.8% and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Cathie Wood, CEO and chief investment officer of ARK Invest, and Jack Dorsey, leader of Twitter and Square SQ +4.4%, among other investors. As soon as their panel started at 2 p.m. ET, bitcoin set an intraday high of $32,847 and ether crossed the psychological $2,000 mark after spending almost a week below the threshold. 

The spike was short-lived, however, as the coins lost momentum, during the session and in the immediate aftermath, picking up later in the evening and Asian trading hours.

Altcoins are posting even larger gains. NFT players Axie Infinity, a blockchain-based game centered around virtual pets, and Flow, a platform supporting NBA Top Shot and CryptoKitties, are returning 26.96% and 19.74% over the past 24 hours, according to Messari. Last week, Axie Infinity raked in more protocol revenue, $35.8 million, than ethereum and bitcoin. On Tuesday, popular NFT marketplace OpenSea reached a $1.5 billion valuation after a $100 million Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

DeFi tokens are also outperforming the heavy lifters. THORChain, SushiSwap and Aave are up by 11.54%, 9.95% and 11.86% on the day respectively. This week, the world’s largest crypto asset manager, Grayscale Investments, unveiled its new fund, offering institutional investors index exposure to the booming sector of decentralized finance through a basket of ten DeFi tokens, including Aave and SushiSwap. 

Arts

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninabambysheva/2021/07/22/nft-and-defi-tokens-are-driving-the-crypto-rally/?sh=1290d3a91dc6

Interesting NFTs
taro
conceptual art. drawing and digitally processed
No Future #15/15
None.
Brave Samurai
This is the second collaborative piece that I have created with the very talented Dutch artist, @eattheart23. Here, a samurai warrior stands guard, honour bound to protect his master even to the death.
Ethboy
Young Vitalik takes on the role of Picasso’s son Paulo dressed as Harlequin in this artwork but the octahedron Ethereum logo replaces the chequered pattern of the original jester outfit. Leaning against a large chair, the boy genius fiddles with his fingers in a somewhat nervous manner; nevertheless, he stares directly at the viewer with what appears to be a confident, ‘Mona Lisa-like’ smile. Vitalik has no idea what the future has in store for him, but he’s prepared to face any obstacle ahead as he begins life's adventure.
Genesis
José Delbo sent me his striking pencil sketch and powerful inked work, which I then interpreted in oil on canvas. I wanted to create a very painterly piece with obvious brush marks etc, but I was also aiming for a nostalgic feel, a kind of 1980’s superhero comic book look, the kind I grew up with. My goal with this animation was to try to recreate, in part, the creative process that both artists went through with the visual information I had. I was able to showcase my painting process more accurately as I could take photographs of my progress throughout. Consecutive images could then be layered like brush strokes over José’s drawing to create the impression that this was one continuous artwork from pencil, to ink, to completed painting. The representation of the line sketch at the beginning, then pencil/ink and lastly the paint layers being applied demonstrate both artists’ struggle for the right lines, tone, form, and colour until the work is finally completed. As the oil was still wet with each photograph the glare of my studio lights can be seen in the brush strokes. Eventually, the figure emerges and as it does, our hero comes to life, looking directly at the viewer -- but is he grimacing in approval or disgust? We will never know for sure as just before he can say anything, white paint is brushed across the canvas entirely and the process begins again. Only the bat is quick enough to escape.