10/06/2022 The NFT slump is real

The consumer tradingboom has deflated, pushing unicorns and recently public companies alike into defensive modes. The decline in consumer trading activity is also extending to newer categories of assets, data indicates, like non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

PerThe Block’s data arm, weekly NFT sales declined by just over 70% from a high of nearly 1 million units in the third week of 2022 to a little more than a quarter-million in the most recent week in the dataset, which began in the final days of May. The decline in NFT sales volume is not new, but it has grown in severity in recent weeks, adding fresh heft to the argument that the crypto or web3 market is in a period of correction — what some describe as a “winter.”

The decline in NFT sales does not come amid a freeze in recent funding rounds for NFT-focused companies, however. A quick scan of TechCrunch headlines in fact shows the opposite. Sure,Yuga Labs of Bored Ape fame raised a $450 million roundfrom a16z at a lofty $4 billion valuation in March, but there has been much activity since that event.

In April,Glow Labs raised $4.15 million in seed capitalfor its NFT-related project that wants to help “creators to deploy a smart contract with no coding required in a matter of seconds, allowing them to create customized loyalty offerings without as much hassle,” as we wrote. In early May, Americana raised $6.9 millionfor its plans to help“brands and creators to turn physical items such as streetwear, collectibles, cars and artwork into NFTs.”

The list of recent NFT-related deals continues. Zora Labsraised $50 million in May; its protocol, TechCrunch said at the time, “allows artists and developers to create NFT marketplaces and collections.” Less than a week later,Arianee announced that it had raised $21 million for its work assisting “digital ownership and authenticity certificates on behalf of partner brands.” And in late May,Ayokenraised $1.4 million for its creator-focused NFT marketplace.

All those funding events are predicated on the NFT market growing. TechCrunch cited data in April, for example, that the NFT marketreached $41 billion in 2021, and another source said around the same time that the market could double this year.

Arts

https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/08/the-nft-slump-is-real/?guccounter=1

Interesting NFTs
Self-Portrait as Sine Wave
Raw photograph Setup: A single vertical projected line of light moves leftright in a sine wave against a wall. I try to match the motion & speed with my body. The movement occurs over 1 sec and my camera is set to take a 1 sec exposure. All three of us strive for perfect harmony The impossibility of total synchronicity acts a generator; generative patterned ghost architectures emerge out of the collision between frequencies Image created entirely in-camera, no fx 3456x5184px, Berlin 2011
The Machine of Real Madrid
Visual Toy honoring the greatness of the most awarded club in the world of football, Real Madrid. Including his top stars of all time including President Bernabeu, a myth in the club's management. This Visual Toy represents the club as a title machine with the Champions League as a great emblem, since it holds the leadership in victories in the maximum European competition. A magical and fantastic mechanism like the history of the club itself. Including the Bernabeu in its last year before the remodeling in 2020, this Visual Toy brings together all the essence and soul of the merengue team. https://javierarres.com
CryptoPunk #8857
The CryptoPunks are 10,000 uniquely generated characters. No two are exactly alike, and each one of them can be officially owned by a single person on the Ethereum blockchain. Originally, they could be claimed for free by anybody with an Ethereum wallet, but all 10,000 were quickly claimed. Now they must be purchased from someone via the marketplace that's also embedded in the blockchain.
Dreaming at Dusk
More than 15 years ago, Tor onion services were brought to digital life. An ecosystem of onions has been blooming ever since. To commemorate this landmark in the history of privacy, we collaborated with @ixshells to create a one-of-a-kind digital artifact: a generative art piece derived using the private key of the very first onion service, duskgytldkxiuqc6.onion. This auction benefits the Tor Project, the nonprofit protecting your human right to privacy. 1020*1280 / 60fps / .mp4 / RSA1024
#85150
By OthersideDeployer