NFT MARKET UPDATE

NFT sales continue a downward spiral after a year of NFT booms and metaverse advancement. Transaction volume dropped by 75% on OpenSea since May, and global sales fell by more than $1 billion since July last year.
Despite that, the market is not as down as it seems. Let’s check out what happened this week.

CRYPTOPUNK SALES SURGED AFTER A PARTNERSHIP WITH TIFFANY

Following a collab with Tiffany & Co., CryptoPunks sales spiked over 248%. Each of the 250 limited edition NFT in the new collection called NFTiff is redeemable for a diamond-encrusted necklace featuring CryptoPunks, and it’s worth — wait for it — 30 ETH. Yurp, a whopping $50,000 each. The price tag isn’t that bizarre compared to other CryptoPunk sales averaging over 70 ETH. The collection sold a total of 1279 ETH (approx. $2.16 million) at the time of writing.

INSTAGRAM TO EXPAND NFT FEATURE TO 100 COUNTRIES

Instagram’s NFT feature was previously only available to select creators in the US. This week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the feature will roll out across 100 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the Americas. Users and businesses will soon be able to share their NFTs on the social media platform. Instagram requires that you connect your digital wallet to post a digital collectible. Supported blockchains include Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow, while supported wallets include Coinbase Wallet, Dapper wallet, MetaMask, and more.

STARBUCKS FOMOING IN

The coffee giant is embracing Web3, unveiling this digital initiative they’ve been working on. The project will improve its rewards program through exclusive experiences and Starbucks-marked collectibles. Right now, they are vague on details but will reveal more at the next Investor Day event on September 13.

IP RIGHTS DEBATE SPARKED BY MOONBIRD’S MOVE TO CC0

Moonbirds, one of the most successful NFT projects, grew in trading volume to more than half a billion dollars in just a few months this year. The project announced its switch to a CC0 license, which puts its digital artworks in the public domain. This means that anyone can use it freely — even for commercial purposes. Their surprise move was met with mixed feelings, with several collectors welcoming the move while some folks felt like holders’ rights had been taken away. The collection’s floor price remained steady at around 18 ETH, and only a few sales movements since the announcement.

OPENSEA SUED

Attorney and strategic advisor Jesse Halfon sued OpenSea over their ‘broken’ stolen NFT Policy. In the lawsuit, Halfon challenged how OpenSea handles NFTs reported as stolen. Users have long complained about this policy where OpenSea prevents the sale of stolen NFTs on their platform. In an ideal world, that sounds excellent.

However, there were several incidents where previous owners of an NFT reported their assets as stolen, whether true or not. This prevented the next owner from selling their NFT, despite having no part in the theft. There has been frustration among users regarding the policy in the past, and many have joined in the lawsuit.