The NFT space can feel like information overload at times, so we’ve cut through the noise to deliver you a curated dose of what matters most. Your all-in-one weekly companion.
Headline News - Blue chip NFT performance fails recovery, but investors HODL even harder
What a difference a week makes. In the last edition we saw ETH rallying nicely in anticipation of the upcoming merge. Seven short days later and its pulled back around 17% to ~$1,630 from recent highs of over $2,000.
The blue-chip NFT collections largely dominated the headlines of the past week with the official CryptoPunks and Meebits IP Rights Agreement being released, Rarible offering a no-fee marketplace for Bored Apes, a Mutant Ape being set to lead a new web3 cannibis brand and rumours of a burn mechanism for Oddities.
Despite all this, according to a publication by CoinTelegraph, the market performance of blue-chips ‘revisited its all-time low range for the second time since June 2022 — falling down below 10,000 Ether (ETH) in the blue-chip index maintained by NFTGo’.
The report goes on to say that ‘In the last 30 days, over 53% of NFT investors made losses on sale trades. Despite the evidently cold market sentiment, the number of investors that hold their NFT investments continues to rise’.
This suggest investors are hedging against a further downtrend by exiting a portion of trades in order to remain liquid should that scenario play out. Despite this, they are also looking to remain exposed in others trades for the longer-term, pointing towards a bullish long-term sentiment around the NFT space in general.
For a more in-depth article on this story, please click here: Blue chip NFT performance fails recovery, but investors HODL even harder
Curated News - the best bits of the past week
BIGGEST NFT Sale: Bored Ape Yacht Club #5383 Sold for 777 ETH
Bored Apes, Moonbirds Have 'Misled' Buyers on NFT IP Rights: Galaxy Digital Report
The IP licensing agreements for Meebits and Cryptopunks were released a few days ago. Click here to read Meebits. Click here to read CryptoPunks.
No Current Plans' for Scrapped V1 CryptoPunks NFTs, Says Yuga Labs
New NFT Utility Platform Launches to Compete for 60M Twitch, YouTube Creators
Nearly $55M worth of Bored Ape, CryptoPunks NFTs risk liquidation amid debt crisis'
AFL’s first limited-edition NFT drop sells out in under 12 hours
Fractional Rebrands, Raises $20M to Expand Collective NFT Ownership
Rarible Proposes No-Fee Bored Ape NFT Marketplace for ApeCoin Users
Maybe Something - things we’re keeping an eye on
Boss Beauties signs with world renowned @WME to push BB and Super BB out into film, TV, digital and gaming.
Dapper Labs Opens NFL Version of NBA Top Shot NFTs to the Public
Parallel announced the upcoming Pack Drop 5 (PDV) date as 10th September
DrifterShoots has an upcoming photography drop that will take place on Nifty Gateway on Sunday, August 21.
There are rumors of an Oddities burn mechanism. Kevin Rose mentioned the ability for holders to burn their NFTs during a private townhall at FuturePROOF.
Proof Collective began minting of Grails II on August 16th. Minting will be open for one week to anyone with a Grail II mint pass, and will end on August 23rd at 11 AM EST. For a thread on the collection, please click here.
Pranksy announced the first box of Series 2 is now finally available on GENERAL SALE from http://nftboxes.io. Price is 0.65 ETH, Limit of 500, 1 per address.
DraftKings Reinvents the Game with Reignmakers Fantasy Football
Historical Insight: Although by no means the oldest NFT project, CryptoPunks are certainly the most well-established “vintage” collection. Anyone in the NFT space should know at least a bit about them, so here’s an article that provides a simple overview on everything CryptoPunks: CryptoPunks Explained.
Talking Point - NFT Lending and Borrowing
NFT lending/borrowing grew sharply in popularity between June 2021 and April 2022, and then saw a pullback in line with general market sentiment. This trend is clearly visible on the infographic below from Dune analytics, which shows the monthly loan volume on NFTFi, a leading NFT lending/borrowing platform. That said, the sector is still attracting interest and enables NFT holders to overcome one of their biggest gripes: liquidity.
In short, providing your NFT/s as collateral enables you to get quick access to liquidity in one of the most illiquid asset classes around.
Here’s how it works (an excerpt from the full nftnow article linked below):
‘The borrower needs a loan and puts up an asset as collateral (NFT). The lender supplies the loan in exchange for interest. But if the borrower can’t repay the loan on the agreed terms, the lender will receive the collateral. In most cases, this process is autonomously executed by smart contracts on the blockchain’.
There are several different ways in which you can use your NFTs within the lending/borrowing landscape. Each have their own benefits and inherent risks. The guys at nftnow have published an excellent article on the topic which you can read in its entirety here: Looking for Liquidity? Here’s Everything to Know About NFT Lending
As nice as it sounds to be able to realize immediate liquidity from your NFT assets, please ensure you do your research and fully understand the mechanics of the smart contract “agreement” you’re entering into before making any decisions.
Tip Of The Week - Watch out for this mind-bending Discord scam
As our regular readers know, we often discuss how to keep your assets safe within the NFT/crypto environment. If you’re new to the space and want more info on this, please revisit Edition’s #21 and #22 where we cover the basics in detail.
Unfortunately, there’s an onslaught of scam tactics being deployed by unscrupulous individuals and they seem to get sneakier by the day. Recently, I came across one i’d never heard of before. It involves an OTC (over the counter) deal, which essentially means a privately executed deal between two parties who likely don’t know each other. These types of deal are not generally conducted on a marketplace and often use a trusted third-party to mediate.
The reasons for doing an OTC deal are plenty, but more often than not it’s to do away with platform fees and to conduct deals below collection floor prices so as not to affect market prices.
This particular incident involved a genuine third-party and a cloned Discord profile.
Please read the following thread by @defacto which outlines how he nearly got duped into sending assets to a devious scammer. (Note that this example involves cryptocurrencies as opposed to NFTs, but process would be exactly the same for an OTC NFT deal)
ZenAcademy and 333 Club Noticeboard
Regular Event Reminders
Don’t forget to keep across the Giveaways Discord channel, with plenty of allowlist spots up for grabs on a regular basis.
As a ZenAcademy member you get exclusive access to periodic market health statistics in the Discord content channel.
Join poker nights via our Discord. Events held weekly, with prizes to be won.
Weekly Movie Nights are going strong. Click here for the latest info.
As part of the ZA community you have free access to the Misfit Robot Discord (focused on mental health & recovery), and several of their “Members Only” rooms. Check them out here: https://discord.gg/misfitrobots
Season 2 of the ZA Trivia Challenge is underway. Click here for more info.
A ‘global-events’ channel was launched in the ZA Discord to help facilitate IRL meet-ups amongst the community. Get involved by clicking here.
Irregular Events and Community News
The ZenAcademy's Mentorship Program has been launched, an initiative geared exclusively towards helping ZA token holders with their NFT projects.
Our beloved @momo has transitioned into a fully fledged member of the Z-team, bringing some much needed technical expertise to the table and helping to round off our roster for taking ZA/333 through our next phases and beyond.
Attention ZA token holder members: token verification will be moving from Collab Land to Vulcan (Premint). Click here for more details.
The 333 Club formed a partnership with the amazing Unfiltered project, who have provided the community with free access to their paid subscription services. Unfiltered look to bring high-quality analysis and educational content to the NFT space.
ZA further strengthened its partnership with Roo Troop. For full details of what this means, please click here.
The 333 Club had its first Town Hall in the past week. The community had a very productive and open discussion about the direction of the 333 Club.
Additional ZA Content
Zeneca’s latest Newsletter is now out, entitled ‘Creator Royalties in NFTs’. Click here to read the full article.
YouTube Video: Episode #50 of Two Bored Apes is now available, where the guys discuss DeFi, CC0, Generative Art and offer a Giveaway. Click here to watch.
YouTube Video: Watch ZenChats #39 where Zeneca talks about Worldbuilding w/ Tally Labs from Jenkins The Vallet and Azurbala.
YouTube Video: How to grow and foster an NFT Community - Zeneca's Mentorship Session with Guava Girls
Video: An Introduction to FX Hash on TEZOS in collaboration with InPeak
YouTube Video: Dutch Auction Strategies For Beginners
YouTube Video: Should Metaverse Land Be Scarce? - Digital Land And Scarcity Discussion
The ZenAcademy GITBOOK is now live! It’s a repository for all of the information relating to ZA (our values, the team, our partners, perks, and plenty of helpful resources). You can visit it by clicking here.
Nothing in this or any other ZenCaps publication should be construed as financial or investment advice. The views and opinions expressed in ZenCaps publications do not reflect those of Zeneca_33 or the ZenAcademy.
Always exercise caution within the NFT space and adhere to best practices when it comes to making any investments. There is plenty of potential, but this comes with inherent risks.
Stay safe, and as always, good luck.