Announcements and such:
Happy Monday and sorry you lost your bet on a Bored Ape being shown during the Super Bowl halftime show. There wasn’t much NFT excitement during the game but there’s plenty to discuss. Expect the next P1 on Thursday and then we should be back to the Sunday-Wednesday split. Thanks to all who help and send in suggestions - hat-tip to ianmichael.eth for sending a few over.
If you’re new, welcome. If you’ve been reading, thank you. If you’ve got feedback, recommendations, or just want to say what up, swing by The One.
TLDR:
How quickly the turn tables. On Thursday we discussed a lack of volume and slipping floors across the board. Since then, the heat is back on - new collections are finding solid footing, a few existing projects have covered substantial ground, and blue chips are seeing the occasional record-breaking sale. Macro uncertainty still looms large, but the gamblers have yet to evacuate the casino.
News and Notes:
WomenRise announced they will be featured in Adidas’ International Women’s Month exhibit. The collection, created by artist and activist Maliha Abidi, has been featured in various media publications and takes part in various charitable initiatives benefitting women across the world.
0xApes call themselves an “expansion pack for the Apeverse.” The collection consists of 10,000 Bored Apes that have been re-randomized, creating entirely new trait combinations. How projects like 0xApes progress over time remains to be seen, as the legality seems questionable, but “expansion apes” seem to be embracing the chance to join the club at a far lower price point.
Deadfellaz released their Deadfrenz companion collection yesterday. Fellaz holders can mint one for free using the Lab Access Pass. Deadfrenz includes 13 different animal species and 13,000 total pieces. Frenz can be claimed for free using the pass at any time for the next 120 days.
Chain Runners announced an upcoming expansion collection, Chain Runners XR. CR holders will be able to claim an XR - no public mint is planned. The 3D avatars will share the traits of their associated Chain Runner and will be built under the CC0 license. No release date has been set, but expect them in Q1.
The Empresses by Damian Hirst made their way to OpenSea and other marketplaces last week after the sale via Heni ended on the 4th. The collection contains 941 total pieces and five different artworks. Starting on May 5, 2022, each NFT can be redeemed for a physical print. The redemption window is open until 2-5-2025.
CryptoPunk 5822, one of only nine alien Punks, was purchased by Deepak Thapliyal for 8,000e ($23.7M). #5822 is the first alien to change hands since March 11, 2021, when Peruggia, who may have facilitated this sale, purchased #7804 for 4,200e.
Deepak, the CEO of Chain, has now spent over 10,000e on rare pfps, shown above, in just the past two months.
Punks: Marketplace | Twitter | Discord
Nouns glasses made a small appearance in Bud Light’s Super Bowl ad. While some may have been disappointed at of the brevity of the appearance, this proposal implies there might be more in store for Nouns glasses in the near future.
Recent Launches:
The Other Side launched and saw noticeable volume at times over the weekend. These hollow-headed 3D avatars have received some attention (including a Hypebeast shoutout) and should get some more when they reveal on the 18th.
Quirkies, the latest cute pfp collection, sold out on the 10th and trended upwards over the weekend. Multiple rare pieces have sold for 5e.
FancyBirds, a play-to-earn game similar to Flappy Bird, began their mint process on the 10th. FancyBirds have been under development for quite a while and have a strong cast of supporters. Their genesis collection is on Polygon - read more here.
Edenhorde began their whitelist mint this morning and will have a public sale for the remaining supply on the 16th with reveal planned for Friday. The project is supported by Merit Circle and features artwork and character design by Andy Ristaino, who formerly worked on Adventure Time and Midnight Gospel.
Squiggles, a project with nearly 230,000 Twitter followers and endorsements from well-respected community members, was delisted from OpenSea following allegations that the development team previously rugpulled multiple NFT projects. The document containing the allegations has since been taken down. This should serve as an important reminder that this space can still be incredibly risky. Be wary of those vying for your attention and ensure their motives align with your values.
Some other stuff worth a look: Notorious Alien Space Agents, Tasty Bones, Reflections
Upcoming Launches:
The Weather Report announced their mint will take place on Feb 24th. The project has a recognizable but unique art style, an experienced team, and pre-mint partnerships with Doodles, Coolmans and Alien Frens. Holders of the founders’ previous projects - including Letters by Vinnie Haggar - are eligible for the whitelist.
Murakami Flowers, the first independent NFT project from Takashi Murakami, was announced a few weeks and will provide more details soon. There is not much known about the project yet, but the website states it will release in February and Murakami has started developing the roadmap.
LVCIDIA, the evolution of the FVCKRENDERVERSE, released their roadmap on the 11th. The release of the FVCK_AVATAR collection is planned for sometime in Q1, as are a project token and staking.
Tubby Cats announced their mint will begin Feb 21st at noon EST. The hotly-anticipated debut collection from CT’s memequeen Ratwell will feature 20,000 pieces (including at least 44 1-of-1s) for 0.1e mint cost. Holders of various projects including Loomlock Wassies, Forgotten Runes Wizards, and Cupcats are eligible for the whitelist - check your address here.
Ali & His Friends have scheduled their presale mint to begin tomorrow, Feb 15th at 7:00 am EST. Created in 2006, Ali the Fox is the subject of a TV series and various picture books in China and has over 4M followers on Weibo.
NFT Market Overview:
After a few down days, volume returned this weekend. Various new projects had successful launches over the weekend, which likely helped bring back some traders who were waiting out uncertainty early last week. Even during the mid-week lull, volume, transactions and users were all higher than they were in November and December.
I’ve shifted graphs (again) and am displaying the hourly volume chart as well as the daily charts for volume, users and transactions. We are working on a more permanent solution for graphs, so look out for that in the next few weeks.
NFT News and Happenings
FTX, Coinbase, Crypto.com and others take crypto to the Super Bowl
NFL has been lobbying the SEC on blockchain technology since mid-2021
Samsung will give an NFT to South Koreans who pre-order the Galaxy S22
UK tax authority seizes three NFTs in fraud investigation
Intel, Uber, YouTube and other companies continue to embrace crypto
ImmutableX partners with MoonPay to enable USDC purchases via credit card
keep up the good work! much appreciated
terv never misses