Spotify has spotted an opportunity in the NFT market,
OpenSea adds new verification features,
and the NFT market?
Well, it's down with the rest of the cryptos.
This is your weekly NFT update.
And let's ape into it!
Audio streaming service Spotify has joined the chorus of companies entering the NFT space
announcing it's running a test in which it will help a small group of artists
promote their existing third-party NFT offerings via their artists profiles.
They plan to test this feature with a small amount of users in the US.
And the artists include, of course, Steve Aoki and The Wombats.
If the trial is successful, artists will be able to promote their NFTs on the platform
and provide links where users can buy them.
Spotify said they wouldn't be taking a cut of the NFT sells during the test run.
It seems a little ironic because they get a lot of flack for paying their artists so little.
We'll see if this holds true once they realize how lucrative the NFT space can be.
They've been surveying user sentiment towards NFTs in the crypto community,
and the responses have been mixed.
It'll be interesting to see if Spotify's moves towards NFTs
will impact the decentralized blockchain music streaming services like Audius and Emanate
that are trying to get off the ground.
Spotify previously tested the Web3 waters when they created Spotify Island on Roblox,
a Web3 game platform and creation service that currently has about half of America's kids enchanted.
And OpenSea might be giving its users even more parental supervision than those kids get on Roblox.
OpenSea announced last week that they're updating their NFT verification system,
rolling out a new two-part copy detection system that'll identify and remove copymints from the site.
Copymints are plagiarized NFTs that are sometimes flipped or rotated.
OpenSea said they will use image recognition tech to scan the NFTs on the platform,
as well as have live human beings review the content.
Supposedly, they want to remove the copymints so it's easier for users to find the authentic content
but still leave room for new projects that remix the old.
They also plan to alter account verification.
It seems there'll be broader eligibility requirements for verifying accounts with 100 ETH volume or more.
However, the verification system will be invite-based.
Once your account has been verified and you reach the 100 ETH trading threshold,
you can get that sought-after little blue badge.
They say these changes are to combat complaints
that their verification eligibility is opaque, slow or cumbersome,
but this announcement is anything but transparent.
Back in February, OpenSea launched a verified customer support system
because users kept giving out their personal wallet info to scammers.
We didn't think this needed to be said again,
but just don't give out your wallet info.
Just don't!
Unless it's to me.
So, what do you think?
Is this a necessary security update that benefits users?
Or just more centralized corporate overreach
when users should take responsibility to make sure they don't fall prey to scams?
Leave a comment below and tell us what you think.
Either way, OpenSea does have more time on their hands to make updates
because NFT trading volume is way down.
As the value of ETH declines,
the NFT floor prices and gas fees have gone down in comparison with the dollar as well.
But interestingly enough,
NFTs on Terra saw a huge trading spike when UST lost its peg last week.
However, they quickly declined.
Even sought-after NFTs like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks are down,
with the former seeing a 63% decline in trading volume
and a floor price ranging from around 90 to 100 ETH
versus around 150 ETH floor early May.
But it seems the lower prices aren't keeping investors from selling and following that age-old adage
"buy high and sell low"
And Otherdeeds are indeed in demand.
Otherdeeds are needed to purchase land in the Otherside,
and they currently have the highest trading volume since its debut on OpenSea
despite seeing a decline from $375 million to $6.5 million.
One Otherdeed actually sold for 625 ETH.
That's about $1.6 million!
Art Blocks, Doodles and Moonbirds were popular this week.
And even Azuki Beanz saw big numbers
despite coming out that the founder Zagabond had previously been part of three failed NFT projects.
We'll have to see if all these corporations getting into NFTs,
Spotify, Meta, etc.,
will give the space the bump it needs
or if we just have to sit tight through the bear market.
That's not okay.
But you know what keeps us all cozy during a frigid crypto winter?
Liking this video and subbing to the channel for more NFT updates.
See you next week, BitSquad!