NFT.NYC presents Bill Murray’s stories and other crypto fun
Good morning, and welcome to Protocol Fintech. This Thursday: Ends the crypto winter on NFT.NYC, eBay buys KnownOrigin, and Hester Peirce releases crypto rescue.
Out of the chain
Are blockchains actually decentralized? A new report commissioned by DARPA – you know, the organization that supported the original decentralized Internet – and authored by cybersecurity consultants Trail of Bits, suggests that bitcoin blockchain and Ethereum are unintentionally centralized in many respects. One statistic fell on me: “Of all bitcoin traffic, 60% go to just three ISPs.” It’s worth reading, and for those involved in building core blockchain infrastructure, you should think hard about Web3’s architecture.
– Owen Thomas (e-mail | twitter)
Crypto-winterland
With Bored Apes and CryptoPunks shining from Times Square’s billboards and thousands of collectors and creators meeting in person for the first time, NFT.NYC was described in the New York Times in November last year as an upcoming party for the Web3 world.
Seven months later, blockchain lovers head to Manhattan for the fourth annual NFT.NYC conference under completely different circumstances: what even the biggest bulls call crypto winter. Despite that, the party is raging this week, with panels during the day and networks that provide space for Deadmau5 concerts at night. Times Square is once again home to massive digital billboards from MoonPay, Coinbase NFT and Rubber Duckz, among others.
We are not talking about winter, no, no. “At NFT.NYC, the circles I am in do not talk about prices,” twitret Chris Cantino, a partner in venture capital firm Color Capital. “There is no question of leaving crypto. Not talking about the next fad or flip. They talk about the future and how to build it. “
- It may seem that the reported 15,000 participants of NFT.NYC suffer from a collective delusion, given the crypto bear market. But there’s a little more to it.
- The value of the crypto market is generally declining. Bitcoin, the world’s most famous token, fell below $ 20,000 for the first time since 2020 this weekend. Ethereum and solana, the tokens most commonly used with NFTs, have fallen around 71% and 79% respectively this year.
- Falling prices combined with lower transaction volumes mean that the NFT market in dollars and cents is on the way. NFT marketplace volume fell to just over $ 4 billion in May, from $ 7.2 billion the month before.
- But a focus on the dollar means you miss the volume increase. Chainalysis describes the current moment as a market stabilization after a flourishing 2021, not a crash. The company also points out that collectors sent $ 37 billion to marketplaces like OpenSea between January 1 and May 1 this year – already on their way to crossing the $ 40 billion mark set in 2021 before this year’s halving is over.
NFT.NYC demonstrated both the optimism of crypto and its eccentricity. There are plenty of panels with names like “Intellectual Property Considerations Raised by NFTs.” Then there was the protest / marketing stunt “God Hates NFTs” and a Snoop Dogg imitator who left Doop Snogg.
- “There are people in space now who have survived a couple of cryptocurrencies,” said Gavin Gillas, co-founder and CEO of Project Venkman, an NFT-focused rewards company. While projects seeking quick wins are destined for a shakeout, he added, “the long-term focus is that it’s time to build.”
- On Wednesday, Gillas’ Project Venkman and the Chive debuted images on NFT.NYC of Bill Murray 1000, an NFT collection of original artwork with the comedian. Murray told 100 stories for the project that will be featured in 10 colors each. The Murray project is proof that celebrities are still jumping on board with Web3 projects. His son, Jackson, appeared on stage Wednesday for his debut.
- The project will debut next month on Coinbase’s NFT marketplace, one of the first collections to be launched there.
Coinbase is not alone in expanding its NFT business, despite the downturn. Yesterday, eBay said that they had bought the NFT marketplace KnownOrigin for an undisclosed sum. VCs, whose job it is to predict trends, are still bullish as well. NFT-focused startups have raised $ 2.9 billion in the first five months of the year, according to PitchBook, more than the investment in 2021, despite falling values. No one knows when or how this crypto winter will end, but for now, NFT fans still put “fun” in “fungible”.
– Ryan Deffenbaugh (e-mail | twitter) and Veronica Irwin (e-mail | twitter)
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On the money
About minutes: To join the NFT campaign, eBay is acquiring the UK NFT marketplace KnownOrigin. It is far from the only company in traditional e-commerce that is taking the step despite the recent cryptocurrency: Shopify has also pushed for better NFT tools this week.
Crypto.com is seeking regulatory approval in Singapore. The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange giant received an approval in principle from the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a license for large payment institutions on Wednesday.
Ledger launches an NFT marketplace and Web3 services. The crypto-hardware company will focus on processes to avoid common NFT scams, and CEO Pascal Gauthier says that proper security for Web3 is “one of the industry’s biggest problems.”
Tether launches a stack coin linked to the British pound. The new stack coin, GBPT, will be the fifth coin launched by Tether. Existing Tether-stable coins include those denominated in US dollars, euros, yuan and Mexican pesos.
Meta Pay is more than just a rebranding for Facebook Pay, according to Mark Zuckerberg. Described as a “digital wallet for metaverse” by the Meta boss, he claimed that the digital wallet will eventually allow transactions in digital goods across metaverse environments.
Nexo has hired Citigroup to advise on acquisitions. The crypto-lender said it has “reached out to more companies … in the current need for liquidity and offered to ease financial pressure through a number of different options.”
Overheard (regulator edition)
SEC commissioner Hester Peirce can be hailed by the crypto community as “Crypto Mom”, but she’s telling you right now that she’s not going to give you a baby. Peirce said that even if it was a crypto rescue mechanism, she would “would not use that authority” because it is one “must let these things play out.”
The European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde want to get into the nitty-gritty of cryptoregulation. While EU legislation on markets for cryptocurrencies is unlikely to be implemented by 2024, Lagarde believes that more future legislation “should regulate the activities of efforts and lending of cryptocurrencies, which is definitely increasing. “
Fed Chair Jerome Powell believes that cryptocurrency regulation in theory should not be so difficult, because digital financial products are similar to traditional financial products in some ways. “The same activity should have the same regulations no matter where it appears,” in Powell. If that sounds familiar, it’s because California official Suzanne Martindale made a similar point to the Protocol recently.
Moves and hires
Pharrell Williams has joined the NFT project Doodles as brand manager. Williams will also act as executive producer on an album of Doodles-inspired music called “Doodles Records: Volume 1,” released in collaboration with Columbia Records, according to Decrypt.
Noah Davis leaves the role of Digital Sales Manager at Christie’s to join CryptoPunks. Davis will be one brand leader for the NFT collection.
Better.com has lost three leaders, according to TechCrunch: Jillian White, General Manager of Better’s Affiliates Better +; Megan Bellingham, senior vice president of sales and operations; and John Moffatt, vice president of sales.
Jin Hwang has joined Fundbox as Product Manager. Hwang most recently served as Head of Product Platform at Marcus by Goldman Sachs.
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Thanks for reading – see you tomorrow!
