NFTs in a nutshell: A weekly review

Move aside, traditional playmakers in NFTs. The buzz this past week was not with Ethereum or Solana-powered NFTs, but rather with new emerging players. That’s right, we saw some “unusual suspects” with blockchains like Cardano and Aptos making noise in the NFT space this past week.

We’ll review these, as well as some of the biggest headlines in the NFT space – including moves from big tech and social giants like Twitter and Apple – in our weekly nut shell. Let’s dive in.

This week’s non-fungible token news

Twitter’s New “NFT Tweet Tiles”

Last week, it was Reddit’s time to shine as the social media platform had a $2.5 million day in NFT sales, selling out of their first 40K NFT distribution in less than a day. This past week, however, was Twitter’s time to take the reigns. Between an Elon Musk takeover that would take the company from public to private ownership, and rumors of a new crypto wallet in development, social media still managed to find time to announce the testing of a new NFT feature.

Dubbed by the developer team as ‘NFT Tweet Tiles’, the new feature aims to give a handful of NFT marketplaces and platforms the ability to have in-app displays of NFTs for buying and selling.

Apple addresses NFTs… with a lot to be desired

Let’s say you have an app listed in the Apple App Store: can you, or can’t you, sell NFTs? Well, if there was any question before, you can put it to rest after this week. However, the answer is probably not the most appetizing to those educated with the space.

Apple’s new NFT terms for its app store specify that while NFTs are approved for minting, listing and transfer, sales of NFTs on apps will be subject to Apple’s criticized collection fees (around 30%). Additionally, in-app NFT ownership cannot “unlock features or functionality” in any app, meaning you can throw in-app tools out the window.

Overall, it’s simply not a model that makes sense for NFTs, making this progress in name only for Apple and blockchain technology.

New DC Comics NFTs

Iconic comics studio DC Comics has launched ‘Superman’ NFTs as their latest digital engagement activation. It’s the latest powerhouse IP to see “digitization” via NFTs, as DC Comics, a Warner Bros subsidiary, shows continued investment in the space. We’ve seen other IP from the studio, like Batman, as well as other Warner Bros.-owned IP, like Looney Tunes, find their way to NFTs over the past year. We’ll see what comes next from the old studio.

Aptos (APT) has been live for less than two weeks, but has already found a home for NFT consumers. | Source: APT-USD on TradingView.com

A new player in town? Aptos enters the arena

Aptos has been the talk of the town lately, apparently making quick moves into NFTs. The blockchain is brand new after years of hype and development, but it took no time for Aptos-based NFTs to gain steam; as our team at Bitcoinist covered early last week, some projects with free or cheap coins quickly found their way to $1,000+ floor prices as the chain introduces itself as the latest in a growing list of potential ‘Solana killers’.

No bear market here, Cardano

Speaking of ‘Solana killers’, should Cardano be considered a legitimate threat in the NFT sector? Increases in volume may indicate that, as they have hit record highs for the blockchain recently. A DappRadar report published in the past few days noted that Cardano has been pushing to be the third largest NFT protocol by volume (behind top dogs Ethereum and yes, Solana).

Solana challengers like Cardano, the aforementioned Aptos, Avalanche, Flow and more will allow the entire ecosystem to flourish and improve (including Solana).

Azuki’s Go IRL, take in over 1800 ETH

Who said the Azukis were dead? Well, many NFT naysayers may have said so, but the Azuki whales stepped up and made their presence known when bidding went live on eight 24K gold-plated skateboards last week. The custom skateboards brought in over 200 ETH a piece, and boast the title of the most expensive skateboards sold in recorded history. The top buyer walked away with a cool 309 ETH for their board – each of which of course came with a paired NFT.

Featured image from Pexels, Charts from TradingView.com

The writer of this content is not associated or affiliated with any of the parties mentioned in this article. This is not financial advice. This op-ed represents the views of the author, and may not necessarily reflect the views of Bitcoinist. Bitcoinist is an advocate of creative and financial freedom alike.