Cryptocurrency
Are NFT markets in a death spiral or ready for a resurgence?
![](https://letizo.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/are-nft-markets-in-a-death-spiral-or-ready-for-a-resurgence_65006b2f9a468.jpeg)
Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) saw a massive surge in popularity in 2021, accompanied by sky-high prices, but the market has since come crashing back to earth, and it’s unclear whether there will be a resurgence.
NFTs are unique digital tokens recorded on a blockchain to certify ownership and authenticity. They can’t be copied or substituted but can be transferred and sold by their owner.
According to analytics platform NFTGo, the NFT market cap valued in Ether (ETH) is down 40.59% over the past year at the time of writing, with trading volume down 40.81%.
The market cap in U.S. dollars is down 41.16%, and its volume has dropped 66.77%. At the same time, market sentiment is ranked 13 out of 100, with an overall rating of “cold.”
![](https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2023-09/6711ba5f-d7cc-42a5-9aa5-7deee29ec87b.jpg)
Arno Bauer, senior solution architect at BNB Chain, told Cointelegraph that from a utility perspective, NFT projects are increasingly adding value and that this growth in functionality is where the future of NFTs likely lies.
Bauer said the NFT market is showing “promising signs of innovation and creativity,” which holds great potential for the growth and evolution of the tech.
Related: Crypto lawyer about SEC: ‘Problematic to imply all NFTs are securities’
“Market sentiment, cultural shifts towards digital ownership, and the potential for NFTs to be integrated into various aspects of our lives also contribute to a positive outlook for the future of NFTs,” he said.
“While current market conditions might seem subdued, the ongoing innovation and potential for integration with both digital and physical worlds suggest that NFTs have not had their day and that their continued relevance and growth are highly probable,” Bauer added.
NFTs in the long term
As for long-term use cases, Bauer said NFTs will “likely evolve” over time and become increasingly linked to real-world assets, such as property ownership or unique physical goods.
Currently, NFTs have been most successful in the art world, with some selling for tens of millions of dollars.
![](https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2023-09/a43e4a43-a60e-41f0-8bfe-a341edb868b5.png)
Digital artist Pak sold an NFT project titled “The Merge” for $91.8 million on Nifty Gateway in 2021, while Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, sold “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” for $69.3 million via Christie’s auction house the same year.
Blockchain games also use NFTs to represent in-game items such as weapons and armor, and there is speculation the tech will make the jump to mainstream games. Various types of music assets are also being sold as one-of-a-kind NFTs.
Bauer thinks that as more robust technology provides enhanced use cases and ownership security, NFTs will likely become more attractive to mainstream markets.
He speculated that NFTs could link to financial instruments, representing shares in companies or investment funds, and social achievements, where they could symbolize badges of accomplishment in various fields.
![](https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2023-09/8bb4ded4-60a4-4d85-aad6-4bf4b508a3d7.jpg)
“Beyond art, the ability to tokenize unique assets and provide verifiable ownership will create numerous applications across various domains,” Bauer said.
“Collaborations with traditional industries, technological advancements, clear regulatory frameworks and educational efforts can significantly boost NFT utility and adoption.”
“Addressing sustainability concerns could make them more appealing to a broader audience,” he added.
NFTs have the potential to make a comeback
Jason Bailey, co-founder and CEO of NFT tool and self-custody solution ClubNFT, told Cointelegraph he thinks “NFTs will come back and go mainstream” because crypto and NFTs rebound cyclically, just like previous tech crashes.
According to data gathering platform Statista, the NFT market is projected to continue growing in revenue, users and market capitalization.
As of 2023, there are 13.95 million NFT users, but that’s expected to hit 19.31 million users by 2027.
![](https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2023-09/613283e4-e0a2-4592-812b-bb680886d86c.jpg)
However, Bailey believes NFTs currently have some issues, most of which were amplified by rampant market speculation, that need to be solved before NFTs can go mainstream.
He said NFTs and the ecosystem around them are so complex that almost everyone is still vulnerable to many risks they may not even know about.
“Many of us have been trying to educate and onboard people into the space thoughtfully so they can be safe, but the truth is that NFTs won’t go mainstream until the complexity is replaced with a safe-by-default easy path,” Bailey said.
“For example, the vast majority of people don’t realize that an NFT is almost always at risk in a sense, except for fully on-chain NFTs, which are a truly tiny fraction.”
“The steps needed to protect the art from disappearing, and prevent the NFT from breaking, are complicated, time-consuming and error-prone,” he added.
Related: AI-based tools bring security and transparency to the NFT market
Bailey believes that in the long term, NFTs or similar tech could prove invaluable in validating digital documents such as marriage certificates, diplomas and licenses.
Overall, he thinks NFTs solve too many of the current problems associated with digital ownership — including scarcity, authentication, provenance and provable ownership — to be ignored.
“We need to build infrastructure now, during the bear market, for smoother onboarding and to protect NFT adopters from malicious actors in the next NFT bull market,” he said.
“Once these issues are solved, NFTs will absolutely go mainstream because the train of digital ownership left the station decades ago, and there is no stopping it.”
Meaningful projects could be a game changer for NFTs
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Andy Ku, founder and CEO of digital content Web3 ecosystem Altava Group, said he thinks the previous highs in the NFT market were based on a hype cycle, so it’ll be hard for an individual NFT to reach such lofty heights again.
asked google bard to write me some tweets about NFT market right now…
mf really went for the throat on these… pic.twitter.com/aLjUbwH3gT
— beeple (@beeple) August 22, 2023
According to CoinGecko, many of the top NFT collections have seen significant drops in value over the past year.
At the time of writing, Bored Ape Yacht Club has fallen by 67.1%, CryptoPunks by 33.2%, Mutant Ape Yacht Club by 59.2% and Azuki by 49.3%.
Ku believes that if we can see more meaningful NFT projects on the market offering tangible benefits to more people, then it’s possible to have the combined volume bring the overall market value up.
Related: What’s next for NFTs and Web3 in the age of the creator economy?
“NFTs should offer value and utility beyond just a digital art or PFP. The two areas I particularly believe in are asset-backed NFTs and a membership NFT,” he said.
“NFT’s core value of being an immutable representation of something is a great fit for assets and membership.”
NFTs for subscription, membership-based models and loyalty programs are starting to gain traction, with examples in hospitality venues and gyms already on the market.
“In terms of asset-backed NFTs, master artworks, real estate and precious metals like gold are all good examples of assets in which people believe,” Ku said.
“NFTs would make a great proof-of-ownership for these assets as well as being extremely portable,” he added.
Cryptocurrency
Top 10 Solana (SOL) Ecosystem Projects by Development Activity
![](https://letizo.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/top-10-solana-sol-ecosystem-projects-by-developmentactivity_66dc47b18afea.jpeg)
TL;DR
- Due to recent growth, Solana and its projects have gained popularity.
- Ecosystem meme coins like Dogewifhat (WIF) and Bonk Inu (BONK) have seen significant declines after a substantial surge earlier this year.
The Unsurprising Leader
Solana and numerous projects built on it have brimming in popularity in 2024. Some factors that could have contributed to this might be SOL’s bull run at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, the growing community, and innovations in the ecosystem.
The crypto analytics platform Santiment recently outlined the top 10 Solana-based projects in terms of development activity in the past 30 days.
Somewhat expected, the first spot belongs to Solana itself, which collected a score of 186.33. It is worth noting that the protocol’s native token – SOL – has been experiencing a downfall since the end of July, plunging by approximately 30% and currently trading at around $127 (per Coingecko’s data).
Wormhole holds the second position with a ratio of 90.5. It acts as a bridge connecting various blockchain networks, such as Solana, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and others. It enables users to transfer digital assets and data across these blockchains without a centralized intermediary.
Pyth Network is third, with a score of 68. It operates as a decentralized oracle network where multiple providers contribute to a collective data feed.
JITO and Neon round up the top 5 list. The other Solana-based projects down the line include Drift, Orca, Helium IOT, Helium Mobile, and Metaplex.
The Missing Ones
It is interesting to note that meme coins, which are part of Solana’s ecosystem, did not make the list. Such tokens, including dogwifhat (WIF), Bonk Inu (BONK), and many more, were among the top-trending topics in the crypto space at the start of the year due to their skyrocketing prices.
However, their progress has stalled as of late. WIF – the biggest Solana-based meme coin in terms of market capitalization – currently trades at around $1.52, representing more than a 70% decline from the ATH registered in April.
BONK (the second-largest) is worth approximately $0.00001666 as of the moment, or 60% less than the peak in May.
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Cryptocurrency
These Altcoins Bleed Out as Bitcoin (BTC) Price Fell by $4K in Hours (Weekend Watch)
![](https://letizo.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/these-altcoins-bleed-out-as-bitcoin-btc-price-fell-by-4kin-hours-weekend-watch_66dc47b73b311.jpeg)
Bitcoin’s nosedives continued in the past 24 hours as the asset slumped from an intraday high of $57,000 to under $53,000 within hours.
The altcoins are also in the red, and the total crypto market cap has dumped to $2 trillion for the first time in over a month.
BTC’s Troubles Keep Coming
The primary cryptocurrency lost the coveted $60,000 level last week, and the true downfall followed suit. Aside from a brief attempt to overcome that line on September 3, the bears have been predominantly in control, which culminated yesterday.
Before that, it was rejected a couple of times and marked lower daily highs. A relief rally came on Friday when the US released the job report for August, which showed that there was a slight decline in the unemployment rates.
BTC reacted quickly with a price increase from $55,500 to $57,000. However, that turned out to be a false breakout, and the cryptocurrency headed south immediately after. In a matter of minutes, it plummeted to $54,000 before the bears initiated another leg down that pushed it to a monthly low of $52,700 (on Bitstamp).
Despite recovering to just over $54,000 now, it is still 4% down on the day and more than 8% in the past seven days. Its market cap has plunged to $1.070 trillion, while its dominance over the alts is down to 53.5%.
Alts in Red Yet Again
The bearish scenario repeated once again, and the altcoins are back in red. Ethereum is among the leaders in this adverse trend, having lost over 4% of value. As a result, it now struggles at $2,250. BNB is down by 3%, XRP by 3%, and SOL by 2.5%.
DOGE has dumped the most from the larger-cap alts. The OG meme coin has seen 5% of its value evaporate over the past day and is below $0.1.
Further losses come from the likes of TON, BCH, SHIB, LTC, OKB, XMR, and many others.
The total crypto market cap has declined by another $50 billion and is down to $2 trillion on CG.
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Cryptocurrency
Vitalik Buterin Pledges L2 Tokens to Support Public Goods in the Ethereum Ecosystem
![](https://letizo.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/vitalik-buterin-pledges-l2-tokens-to-support-public-goods-inthe-ethereum-ecosystem_66dc47bce1201.jpeg)
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has pledged to donate all Layer 2 (L2) tokens he holds to support public goods within the Ethereum ecosystem or broader charitable causes.
This announcement comes a few days after accusations that he had sold millions in Ether (ETH) for personal gain.
Vitalik Buterin Denies Profit Motive
Buterin was quick to respond to the allegations, emphasizing that he has not sold any ETH for personal profit since 2018. Instead, he clarified that any proceeds from his ETH sales have been directed toward projects that contribute to the Ethereum ecosystem or other charitable initiatives.
In a September 5 update, he expanded on his stance, pledging to donate all L2 tokens he holds, including not-yet-liquid assets, to support similar causes.
He wrote, “All proceeds will be donated, again either to support public goods within the Ethereum ecosystem or broader charity (e.g., biomedical R&D). I also do not intend to invest into L2s or other token projects in the foreseeable future.”
He explained that his aim in funding projects is to support initiatives he believes are important, particularly in situations where other parts of the ecosystem may not fully recognize their value.
The Allegations
On August 30, an X user accused him of selling over $2 million worth of ETH shortly after posting a positive update about Ethereum’s future.
Later on, Lookonchain also revealed that Vitalik had transferred 800 ETH, worth around $2 million, to a multi-signature wallet. Shortly after, the wallet swapped 190 ETH for 477,000 USDC.
Further analysis from Lookonchain indicated that on August 9, he had moved an additional 3,000 ETH, valued at over $8 million, to the same multi-sig wallet.
These transfers fueled speculation that the Ethereum co-founder was liquidating his Ether holdings to realize profits.
Buterin had previously disclosed that his entire Ether holdings came from the Ethereum pre-mining period, which allocated 11.9 million ETH (about 10% of the total supply) to early contributors. As one of them, he received 700,000 ETH for his role in the network’s creation.
According to blockchain tracker Arkham Intelligence, his current holdings amount to approximately 240,000 ETH. This is a reduction of around 460,000 ETH from his initial stash.
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