Features / 303 posts found
The Rise and Demise of CryptoZoo: A Deep Dive Into Logan Paul’s NFT World
The start of 2023 has been rocky for Logan Paul and his NFT escapades. It seemingly all started with a multi-part video expose created by a YouTuber known as Coffeezilla (whose real name is Stephen Findeisen). In the series, Findeisen chronicles the rise and ultimate demise of Paul’s once-popular NFT project CryptoZoo, offering evidence that Paul and his team may have scammed investors. After a short spat between Paul and Findeisen, the accused celebrity eventually opted to take accountability, pledging to pay back 1,000 ETH (around $1.3 million at the time) to those who lost money on the project. But […]
How Ordinals Fractured the Bitcoin Community (and Why It Was Necessary)
The new Ordinals protocol just made everyone’s answer to the question “What is Bitcoin?” a lot more complicated. Software engineer Casey Rodarmor launched the protocol on the Bitcoin mainnet on January 21. It allows digital artifacts like images, text, programs, and even video games to be inscribed directly on the Bitcoin blockchain. In other words, Ordinals means NFTs on Bitcoin. This upgrade has caused a rift in the Bitcoin community. Some purists are calling Ordinals an attack on Bitcoin, while others are using it to troll over-serious Bitcoin enthusiasts known as Maxis, loading as much superfluous data into each block […]
Cautionary Tales From Hyped NFTs: Pixelmon, Hape Prime, and More
We’ve all witnessed it happen: a 10,000 supply PFP project comes out of nowhere and becomes the hot new thing seemingly overnight. Clad with flashy animated teasers and cryptic tweets, the social media accounts supporting these projects somehow find a way to attract hundreds of thousands of followers in record time, prompting those in the NFT space to turn on notifications lest they be left out of the loop. Yet, at this current stage of maturation in the NFT space, we know that hyped NFT projects are never what they seem. When a hot new collection catches fire and sells […]
Next Up: Five Ones to Watch in February 2023
In 2021, a new creator economy was born on the blockchain. Since NFTs took center stage, artists have achieved NFT superstardom, billion-dollar brands have been forged in just a few months, and many lives have been utterly transformed time and again. Yet, the most inspiring thing about the NFT space is the number of artists of all creeds and mediums who have found community and support by embracing this technology. In keeping with our mission to empower creators, we present Next Up — our monthly franchise dedicated to showcasing rising artists. Although the NFT space has changed significantly over the […]
The Future of Digital Artistry Hinges On the NFT Royalty Debate
Despite the fact that approximately $100-200 million in NFTs are traded on blockchain networks each week, many creators still struggle to generate significant revenue from their work. The reason? Royalties — or rather, a lack thereof. Royalties allow creators to be compensated for their work beyond the primary sale, making them a vital source of income and a means of funding future creative endeavors. However, royalty allocations for creators are not technically enforceable. As a result, creators are at the mercy of the NFT platforms that host their work, as these platforms have the power to determine how royalties are […]
NFTs 2.0? When Will Soulbound Tokens Arrive?
Think back to May of 2022. Spring is here, the NFT100 is a month away, and Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin just made a huge announcement: Soulbound Tokens (SBTs). The idea — which came via a white paper entitled “Decentralized Society: Finding Web3’s Soul” — inspires “oohs” and “ahhs” throughout the metaverse. That same month, the paper’s co-author E. Glen Weyl states that early uses of SBTs may be available by the end of 2022. Yet, fast forward to January 2023, and where are all these early use-case SBTs to be found? Did the NFT space glaze over this potentially paradigm-shifting technology […]
NFT Scams: How to Keep Your Wallet Safe from Hacks
Scams have become an inevitable part of the NFT ecosystem. At this point, nearly all of the biggest names in the space have been victims of hacking. In January of 2023 alone, PROOF Collective founder Kevin Rose lost more than $1 million in NFTs in a phishing scam, and the Azuki Twitter account got hacked. Followers who clicked a nefarious link posted by the hackers lost nearly $800,000 in NFTs combined. If the biggest names in crypto and NFTs can get hacked, so can you. Despite the growing awareness around these scams, everyone from NFT still stands a massive risk of being swindled out of their assets […]
The NFT Community Reacts to the Rise of Open Editions
So far, the defining Web3 conversation of 2023 has been about open editions (OE). 3D animator and crypto artist NessGraphics broke records when they dropped Money Printer Go BRRRRRR and raised over 1,404 ETH ($2 million) in one hour. Likewise, Victor Mosquera’s January 29 OE drop for The Collector raised 224 ETH (nearly $400,000) in the span of 90 minutes. These exceptional sales volumes, coupled with a clear statistical uptick in the number of OEs being minted in the last month, opened up a passionate debate in the NFT community about the supply, value, and utility of an artist’s body […]
For Better or Worse, NFT Open Editions Are on the Rise
The rise of the open edition (OE) is officially here. After increasing in popularity throughout 2022, the last few months have seen thousands of artists and Web3 builders creating claim pages for open-edition mints. The NFT community has flocked to them in droves, generating millions in revenue and reinvigorating the crypto art space as it tries to shake off the icicles of a frosty 2022. Beyond the financial boost, OEs benefit the NFT ecosystem by driving engagement, allowing an artist’s fan base more opportunities to collect their work while expanding that community’s reach at the same time. This all sounds […]
No Sewer Pass? Here’s How You Can Still Play BAYC’s Dookey Dash
It’s been a week since Dookey Dash went live, and the hype surrounding Yuga Labs’ skills-based endless runner-style game has yet to die down. From leisure gamers to competitive players (and even those looking to hire out for a high score), it seems everyone wants to take a shot at the hot new Bored Ape Yacht Club game. And who can blame them? NFT sales are up more than 40 percent in January. BAYC-related assets are leading the charge, having claimed a seriously significant portion of the total ETH NFT volume for the month. But not everyone can get a run at […]