Non-fungible tokens are tokenized media (think art, videos, and beyond) that trade atop blockchains like Ethereum, namely in NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible.
These special tokens provide provenance and ownership around digital assets to an extent that’s never been possible before. This year, Ethereum’s decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has rapidly heated up, yet in the same span and on a comparatively smaller scale, the reigning smart contract platform’s NFT arena has also been seriously blooming in parallel.
In fact, the arena’s bloomed enough that some of the wider cryptoeconomy’s most influential figures aren’t just paying attention — they’re now diving in.
Morgan Creek Digital’s Onboard
Anthony Pompliano is best known in crypto for his long-time Bitcoin advocacy. But now “Pomp” and his fellow Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Jason Williams are jumping headlong into the NFT-powered digital art scene, too.
That’s per the September 21st edition of The Pomp Letter, titled “The Next Big Bet — Digital Art.”
Therein, Pomp revealed he and Williams had recently been increasing their investments into the NFT art sector, including a new flagship commission of the talented up-and-coming artist FEWOCIOUS.
[NEW POST] The Next Big Bet — Digital Art@GoingParabolic and I have been investing heavily in digital art because we believe the market cap will eventually eclipse the traditional art market.
Today we reveal "The Innovator's Dinner" from @fewocious
https://t.co/dbkeMf2pMI
— Pomp
(@APompliano) September 21, 2020
“I personally believe that the digital art market cap will grow to become larger than the physical art market cap,” Pompliano said in the post.
BlockTower’s “Tripling Down” on NFTs
Like Morgan Creek Digital, BlockTower Capital is another highly recognized crypto investment firm. Which is why heads turned this week when BlockTower’s Ari Paul announced the company was planning to invest more than $10 million into NFTs and related projects over the next half year.
BlockTower has been excited about NFTs since our launch 3+ years ago, but we expect to triple down over the next 6 months and allocate $10m+ to the theme. Shill @xxstevelee (my colleague most focused on the sector) with ideas and pitches. A thread on NFTs to follow /1
— Ari Paul
(@AriDavidPaul) September 21, 2020
In this same announcement thread, Paul notably went on to argue:
“NFTs [are] a broad category. Gaming items and collectibles, digital art, insurance, intellectual property licenses…the list is endless. I’m interested in all of it, and almost every type of NFT built to date is likely to get traction eventually.”
Lil Bubble Mints First NFTs
Lil Bubble tickled just about everyone in crypto last summer when he released “All Time Lows,” a charming crypto-themed version of Lil Nas X’s hit song “Old Town Road.”
In recent weeks, Lil Bubble’s curiosity has been sparked by NFTs, so the creator has been exploring related ways to leverage the tech. These explorations culminated in Lil Bubble’s first NFT mint this week, a 10/10 editioned collectible titled “When Moon?”
The first lil bubble #NFT now on @rariblecom
Taking it back to where it all began – When Moon?
Total supply? 10https://t.co/FHhTRYIXLv
— lil bubble
(@TheCryptoBubble) September 21, 2020
The NFTs were immediately popular, too: all 10 copies had sold out within just hours of their release.
Cobie Buys an XCOPY?
King Co฿ie, a.k.a. CryptoCobain, has long been one of the most popular figures on “Crypto Twitter.” And now he’s gotten the NFT bug as well.
Earlier this month, Cobie got into a heated bidding war on Gemini-owned NFT auction house Nifty Gateway for “Death of Narcissus,” a signature 1/1 piece from the prolific cryptoartist Pak. Cobie eventually got beat out for the work, but he’s continued his collecting efforts in great style.
For instance, fast forward to this week and it looks like Cobie just bought “The State of Us,” a signature early NFT from acclaimed cryptoartist XCOPY, for 9 ETH on NFT art platform SuperRare.
The State of Us
1 of 1 crypto edition @SuperRare_co
Link: https://t.co/46MzVA2HOG$ETH #crypto #art #mood pic.twitter.com/LbCvQECeKF— XCOPY
(@XCOPYART) March 10, 2019
Zooming Out
Don’t go throw money at the first NFT projects you find just because more and more influential crypto figures are coming around to these “media lego” innovations. As always in crypto, do your research and never invest irresponsibly.
That said, this surge of new interest around NFTs is validating and shows that there’s real interest and promise afoot. Of course, the NFT ecosystem is still young and has plenty of room to grow from here, but as of this week it seems like an initial escape velocity has been reached as far as attention in the cryptoeconomy goes.
The post NFTs Hit the Limelight in the Cryptoeconomy This Week appeared first on Blockonomi.
September 23, 2020 at 03:36AM https://blockonomi.com from Blockonomi https://ift.tt/3600jog
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