Metaversal is a Bankless newsletter for weekly level-ups on NFTs, virtual worlds, & collectibles
Dear Bankless Nation,
The NFT space is incredibly multidisciplinary.
There are so many different verticals here, from analytics to wallets, as NFTs lie at the intersection of so many different fields like art, computer science, cryptography, economics, finance, history, the humanities, mathematics, philosophy, politics, and more.
You don’t have to master every branch of the NFT skill tree, of course. Even just steadily progressing along in the areas you like most will help you hone a more multidisciplinary perspective going forward, and that will undoubtedly prove invaluable as this ecosystem continues to expand and become more complicated and varied over time.
For now, though, I hope you all just have a fantastic weekend. Let’s dive in and catch you up on the past week’s biggest NFT developments ✌️
-WMP
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The cumulative market cap of the NFT space has continued its upward trend for the 7th consecutive week. This week, the market cap climbed from 9.46M ETH to 10.02M ETH, marking a 6% increase since the previous Friday recap. This rise in market cap comes after the NFT ecosystem just had its best 7-day weekly volume statistics since May 2022, signaling increased activity and demand.
Last week, the leading blue-chip PFP collections contributed nearly 150k ETH to the NFT trading volume statistics. Among them, BAYC, MAYC, and Azuki experienced decent increases in floor prices, while MAYC, BAKC, and Moonbirds all recorded more than 2,000 sales over the week.
Once again, Blur continues to dominate NFT trading volume levels. According to the graph below, the platform currently represents roughly 80% of the ecosystem’s 7-day trading volume, with OpenSea trailing far behind at approximately 18%. This overwhelming activity on Blur is, of course, largely attributable to the ongoing scramble to earn $BLUR Season 2 rewards.
There were no sales of ‘Punks or Apes in the top three largest transactions this week, but that wasn’t for a lack of major activity. On Monday, Fortnite esports professional and Yuga Labs’s “Dookey Dash” competition winner Mongraal grabbed headlines and a major bag when he accepted a staggering Ξ1,000 bid for his top Sewer Pass key NFT!
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Decentraland is getting ready for Metaverse Fashion Week.
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ilemi spotted “Metaverse Landlords,” i.e. 181 addresses that have collected 100 plots of land across Decentraland, Otherside, The Sandbox, and Voxels.
By the creators of the Creature World collection, the new generative Crowd series is the first open-edition mint to be launched via OpenSea. Dropped on Thursday and since closed, the series racked up over 38,000 mints at over Ξ0.029 a pop over the course of 24 hours. With over Ξ1,110 in primary sales and over Ξ250 in secondary sales so far, Crowd just ushered in OE season for OpenSea in a big way!
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Bankless Monday Mint — The latest Podcast NFT from Bankless Collectibles, “Is the CIA Spying on Crypto” featuring author and journalist Annie Jacobsen, dropped this week; at the time of writing 21 out of 100 editions were still available to mint at Ξ0.07 each (There’s also a 24h free Gauntlet Mint for Genesis Collectors ongoing today!)
1. soup on why Gem shouldn’t be slept on:
2. Signal on recent big changes in the Moonbirds ecosystem:
3. Upshot on its upcoming arrival in the NFT lending scene:
Mint.fun is becoming the preferred minting frontend for many emerging NFT projects, and it just introduced an awesome new feature that allows creators to customize the layout and aesthetics of their collection’s mint page. To access this resource, simply click the “Customize” button on the projects you have created while on the site.
This week, the wizard-themed Noun 627 auctioned for Ξ42.84, while the average clearing price of the previous 10 Noun auctions was Ξ26. This major spike is clearly the result of Nouns DAO’s recent release of “The Wizard’s Hat,” an animated short and the decentralized brand collective’s second OE drop. The wizard-themed short has made the wizard-themed Noun that much more iconic, indicating the significance of context in the valuation of NFTs!
We’ve all had bets that go to zero. Keep your chin up, though, because you automatically miss all the shots that you don’t take!
William M. Peaster is a professional writer and creator of Metaversal—a Bankless newsletter focused on the emergence of NFTs in the cryptoeconomy. He’s also recently been contributing content to Bankless, JPG, and beyond!
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Not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here.
