LAB51 logo
Menu
Subscribe

NFT DIGEST: Bitcoin Frogs, Secret Services Join Web3, China’s New Guidelines, Moonbirds and Spotify Collab, NFTs in Finance

Bitcoin Frogs Ordinals NFT Blockchain
By Luigi Savarese
Luigi Savarese

5 Min

May 19, 2023

Bitcoin Frogs Leap Over Bored Apes in NFT Trading

Bitcoin Frogs, a collection of 10,000 unique frog collectibles minted directly on the Bitcoin Blockchain, have jumped over the competition, surpassing Bored Ape Yacht Club as the most traded NFT collection in the last 24 hours. This milestone represents a groundbreaking moment for the Ordinals market, highlighting its growing popularity.

The Bitcoin Frogs collection has seen more than 700 transactions, generating over $2 million in trading. By comparison, Bored Ape Yacht Club, recognized as the most valuable NFT collection globally by market share, came in third with a trading volume of approximately $1.3 million.

Bitcoin Frogs' success is not merely a one-day phenomenon, as the collection has amassed $5.9 million in trading this month alone. It's a sign of an intriguing, if possibly temporary, shift in the NFT market dynamics.

Secret Service Steps into Web3!

On May 15, the U.S. Secret Service and the Bay Area's Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) hosted an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on the r/cryptocurrency subreddit. This move underscores their interest in the crypto universe given their mandate to safeguard the nation’s financial infrastructure. Participants learned that despite regulatory bodies struggling to keep up with the pace of innovation, law enforcement is on the ball.

Through this AMA, the agencies demonstrated a deep understanding of blockchain technology and its use in tracking funds directed toward illegal activities. They revealed that government employees are gaining education in all things crypto. Additionally, they showcased their efforts to raise public awareness of digital asset security with the launch of the Cryptocurrency Awareness Hub in February 2022. The Secret Service also surprised the audience by sharing their own nine-piece NFT collection on OpenSea.

This event clearly signifies a shift in law enforcement's approach to the burgeoning crypto landscape.

China's NFT Market Dilemma: Innovation vs Regulation

On May 15, China's Supreme People's Procuratorate published a new set of guidelines aimed at regulating the growing market of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). With the domestic NFT market in a legal gray area since the banning of cryptocurrencies in September 2021, these guidelines are a step toward formalizing regulation. 

The guidelines highlight the potential financial, management, and network security risks NFTs can pose, urging for stronger "risk research and judgment". The guidelines also address the issue of "securitization" of NFTs, warning against violation of proper NFT criteria such as non-reproducibility, indivisibility, and uniqueness. Additionally, the authorities clarify that consumers' ownership of NFT digital assets is limited to preventing tampering with the NFT ownership on the blockchain, contradicting the Hangzhou Internet Court's ruling on NFTs as online virtual property.

The Chinese NFT market has seen a significant surge of interest, with the State Administration for Market Regulation reporting a 300-fold increase in NFT-related complaints in 2022. However, this interest hasn't been without issues, as an underground secondary NFT market has emerged in response to banking and finance associations' April 2022 call to reduce NFT financing.

This situation calls for more explicit regulations to manage this burgeoning industry. But in the meantime, as the country battles an underground NFT market, it's evident that China's tryst with NFTs is just started. 

Moonbirds and Spotify Tuning the Web3

The renowned NFT project Moonbirds recently started a collaboration with Spotify, the leading music streaming platform.

This unique token-gate partnership offers Moonbirds holders exclusive access to the specially curated playlist "Sound of a Digital Renaissance". The catch? Only Moonbirds holders from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Azerbaijan, and Australia using Android devices can unlock this unique feature, due to Apple Inc’s policy restrictions regarding NFT functionalities.

Spotify has previously ventured into the Web3 arena by teaming up with BAYC supergroup Kingship, signaling a new wave of cross-sector collaborations and a more interconnected digital ecosystem.

This collaboration underlines the continuous growth of Web3 opportunities and paves the way for more immersive experiences for NFT community members.

Blend & BendDAO Surge: NFTs Shaking Up the Finance World?

In the ever-evolving world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), two major milestones have caught the attention of investors and collectors. The first is the extraordinary success of Reddit's collectible avatars on Polygon, which boasts over 9 million holders. This feat, coupled with an average sale price of $114, underscores the mainstream acceptance of NFTs. Polygon's scalability and low transaction fees have made it a hotbed for artists, creators, and collectors.

The second milestone is the surge in the NFT lending market. Leading platforms like BendDAO and Blend have seen significant growth. Blend, in particular, has facilitated loans worth over $135 million in just two weeks, demonstrating the increasing recognition of NFTs as valuable financial assets. 

These concurrent successes underline the vast potential of the NFT ecosystem as it continues to revolutionize the art, finance, and digital realms. Will NFTs shake up the world economy as we know it? 

magnifiercrossmenuchevron-down