Reddit NFT mints hit all-time high, EU’s $400K Metaverse party flops and more

by · December 4, 2022

Reddit’s NFT minting hits a new high

Reddit’s NFT (nonfungible token) collection reached another milestone on December 3rd with a record 255,000 “avatars” minted in one day.

The new embossing record beat the previous records set on August 30 and 31, which saw just over 200,000 Reddit avatars embossed each day.

The NFTs are primarily used on the social media platform as a user’s avatar and are created by a number of independent artists who use the platform.

At the time of the collection’s launch in July, it was widely seen as a way to increase mainstream adoption of blockchain technology, as Reddit shied away from using crypto to purchase the avatars, opting to call them digital “collectibles” instead of NFTs.

The number of Reddit avatars highlighted, one bar represents one day. Source: Dune

With the record day, Reddit’s Polygon (MATIC)-based NFTs now have about 4.4 million in circulation, according to data from Dune Analytics.

Despite the quantities minted, Dune data shows that just over 40,000 Reddit avatar NFTs have been sold since launch, and there are around 3.7 million holders of avatars indicating that most choose to hold on The NFT.

The sales volume of the collectibles recently reached a record high of $2.5 million on October 24 with 1,991 buyers.

Some of the rarer Reddit NFTs have seen premium prices on secondary NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea with some of the most expensive selling for over $300, while the platform’s own marketplace sees prices around $50.

The EU went all out at a Metaverse party, hardly anyone came

The European Union’s (EU) external aid department reportedly handed out nearly $408,000 (€387,000) to a metaverse and threw a party on November 29 to celebrate, but only six people reportedly showed up.

Devex reporter Vince Chadwick tweeted a video on November 29 showing his metaverse avatar attending the “gala” saying “after initial confused conversations with the roughly five other people who showed up, I’m on my own.”

“Is anyone out there?” reads one of the messages on the screen in the video. “The concert is just the same DJ spinning the same music,” another message said.

The EU-made metaverse was created to promote its “Global Gateway” initiative which aims to develop and build infrastructure in developing countries.

The metaverse, apparently also called “Global Gateway,” was quietly launched in mid-October with a “depressing and embarrassing” promotional video, according to an anonymous employee of the EU’s foreign aid department who spoke to Devex.

According to an EU spokesperson, the target audience for the metaverse is 18 to 35-year-olds “who identify as neutral in relation to the EU and are not particularly engaged in political issues,” and the promo video was “to intrigue that audience, primarily on TikTok and Instagram” and encourage them to engage with the campaign.

TimeX ‘Goes Ape’ with BAYC

Watch maker TimeX said on December 1 that it has partnered with the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFT projects to create custom watches.

TimeX is making 500 physical watches and matching “twin NFTs” that will allow Bored and Mutant Ape owners to customize a watch including case, strap and etchings, while of course featuring the owners’ NFT on the dial.

The watches will be locked behind an NFT at a price of 2 Ether (ETH), or around $2,500, with BAYC and MAYC holders then able to use the NFT to create a mid-December watch that ships in the second quarter of 2023 .

NFT sales increase for the first time in 7 months

Sales of US dollar-denominated NFTs have managed to jump 16% in the month of November, bucking more than seven months of decline, according to data from Cryptoslam.

In November, NFT sales amounted to 534 million dollars, up from October’s almost 460.4 million dollars.

It was the first month since April that NFT sales increased, January had record NFT sales totaling $4.7 billion, while October was the slowest sales month of 2022.

Related: How NFT subpoenas can change the legal landscape

The increase in November is likely due to high-priced NFT sales, such as two BAYC NFTs that sold for close to $1 million each on November 23rd and 24th.

Cryptoslam data shows over the past 30 days that the top three NFT collections were BAYC, MAYC and Otherdeeds – all Yuga Labs owned projects. The top BAYC collection has seen 30-day sales increase by 89.5%, indicating that high-priced NFT sales could have fueled the November selloff.

Meanwhile, total transaction volume between October and November saw a 17.6% decline.

More good news

Browser Opera has created an NFT triggering tool that allows users to drag and drop media files into the application that will turn those files into NFTs by writing a smart contract and uploading them to a blockchain.

Coinbase has criticized Apple for blocking the latest release of its crypto wallet app. Coinbase says Apple wanted it to disable NFT transactions until it could “collect 30% of the gas fee,” which Coinbase says is “clearly not possible” since Apple’s system “doesn’t support crypto, so we couldn’t comply even if we tried .”