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Headline News - OpenSea Pro Launches, Yuga Heats Up, Nakamigos Sticking Around?
OpenSea Pro Launches
Blur appears to be winning the 2023 marketplace war so far. Prior to their airdrop and bidding system, OpenSea still maintained a healthy 40-50% share. Afterwards? OpenSea’s market share is down to 20%-25%. OpenSea Pro is their play to change that.
On Tuesday, Devin Finzer (OpenSea CEO) announced that Gem is transitioning into OpenSea Pro: https://opensea.io/blog/articles/opensea-pro
Key takeaways include a new website (https://pro.opensea.io) with improved functionality such as live aggregation, instant sales, and mobile integration. Fees are also 0% for a limited time. All that is great, and community sentiment around UX and functionality seem positive, but direct rewards is what most traders care about. OpenSea’s first play is a free commemorative mint (supply 180K) for Gem users, "Gemesis NFT", with more "NFTs as rewards" to come. So far, almost 50% of Gemesis NFTs have been minted. Floor is currently 0.05 ETH. OpenSea stated Gemesis is not part of the future rewards program, though it’s likely we’ll see a reveal/rarity component. Gemesis is a fun introductory play and has people talking, but what of the rewards system? Here’s what OpenSea had to say:
“And we’re not forgetting about community rewards. Keep your spyglasses ready! We’re charting a different course by featuring NFTs as rewards (this will be separate from our commemorative Gemesis NFT)."
It’s likely rewards will incentivize regular trading (and farming), much like Blur. But the quote above suggests those rewards will be in the form of NFTs, rather than Blur’s token approach. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out specifically. Will the community value OpenSea NFTs? OpenSea Pro has just launched and more features are likely on the horizon, but so far it doesn’t feel drastically different to its primary competitor. Aggregation, instant sales, and mobile integration are already on Blur. If functionality and user experience is similar on both platforms, branding and rewards is what sets you apart. It’s hard to make an argument that one brand is seen in significantly better light than the other. People appear to be using Blur for user experience and rewards—not brand affinity. That in mind, it’s likely OpenSea Pro’s rewards program will hold the most weight when traders consider their options. If OpenSea’s rewards can compete with Blur, things get interesting.
Yuga Isn’t Stopping: Otherdeed Vessel Claim and Decoupling
Yuga—Otherside in particular—had a busy March, and that momentum looks set to continue into April. We’ve seen HV-MTL rise from the sewer (pass), Otherside Trip #2, Legends of the Mara announced, and a multi-year Gucci partnership kick off via an Otherside x Gucci chain. Now, Otherdeed NFTs can be ‘decoupled’, and Vessels claimed.
What happens when you decouple or claim a Vessel? All Otherdeed NFTs can claim a Vessel, but only Otherdeed NFTs with Kodas can decouple. Performing either action will burn the original Otherdeed, and you’ll end up with new NFTs as a result. Those with Kodas will receive an “Otherdeed Expanded” and an “Otherside Koda” NFT as a result of decoupling. Those without a Koda will receive an “Otherdeed Expanded” NFT, and their “Otherside Vessels” NFT. There is currently no deadline to claim; the window is open indefinitely. While claiming isn’t required, it’ll be necessary if you want to participate in future Otherside experiences (including Legends of the Mara).
Floor prices dropped after claims/decoupling went live. Otherdeed is at 1.55 ETH, down around 10-15% from the 1.7-1.8 ETH range of the last few weeks. Otherdeed Expanded is at 1 ETH, while Otherdeed Vessels is at 0.35 ETH (1.35 ETH total). Otherside Koda is at 10.48 ETH, while the non-decoupled Koda floor is 12.7 ETH. It’s hard to determine whether this is a fairly routine ‘buy the NFT rumor, sell the NFT news’ scenario playing out—time will tell. It’ll be interesting to see whether these ‘new’ collections eventually match and ultimately beat out floor prices of the original Otherdeed collection, particularly when playable experiences that require them actually launch. It seems unlikely unique utility will be provided to the original collection too.
For full articles on all the above and much, much more, head into the sections below and click on the relevant links.
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Curated News - the biggest stories of the past week
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A word from our Founder: Welcome to ZenAcademy! and why to join
Talking Point - Nakamigos
Nakamigo minted on March 23, and it’s been quite the ride since. Two weeks is really no time at all, but in this space it can feel like two months. No matter your perception of time, the project is still demanding community attention.
Perhaps it’s because the NFT space is pretty quiet right now. We’re seeing NFTs bleed out across the board, and there isn’t much else to talk about. Perhaps it’s the relative mystery around Nakamigos keeping people talking. An entity called HiFo Labs claim ownership, with supposed years of NFT project experience. Then there’s the artist, who HiFo Labs claim to be an “OG crypto artist with many years of experience in digital art”. Goblintown springs to mind in that respect; the project captured community attention during an otherwise quiet market, while the lack of concrete information—and plenty of rumor—only fueled the enigma. The cynic would say its run is coming to an end; a repeating pattern of influencer pumps that come and go: https://twitter.com/waleswoosh/status/1643205986046337024?s=20 Is Nakamigos here to stay? The next few weeks should prove telling.
One thing propping Nakamigos up are the big names who appear to be supporting it. Influencers are one thing, but artists paying homage to the project feels like another—something arguably more valuable. That said, the lines between influencer and artist are often blurred, and intent is always worth paying close attention to. This weekend it’s Gremplin's “AN EYE FOR A FRY" Nakamigos burn-to-redeem that minted out. It took just 2 hours, and 69 Nakamigos were burned in the process. Nakamigos’ floor jumped 10% as a result; it’s 0.77 ETH at the time of writing. We also saw positive price action when Beeple dropped an art piece honoring the collection, an ATH of 0.9 ETH. Floor price is huge irrespective of project, but higher sales matter too. A not-insignificant number of Nakamigos sales are happening above floor. In other words, it’s less likely to be a trading play (though it could be), and more likely someone buying a piece they actually resonate with.
Monday marks week 3 of Nakamigos; will momentum hold another week? NFT NYC is April 12 through 14, and while in-person events certainly lack the buzz of a bull market, NYC will likely offer something. We’ll see if Nakamigos online attention translates to something IRL, and whether the team have anything planned. Whether Nakamigos sticks around remains to be seen, but at least it’s providing some much-needed conversation in a tough, quiet market.
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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.
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Great job, once again!