NFT Weekly Market Update - January 25, 2023

Another week has passed in the land of JPEGs! This is the third consecutive week with positive numbers in the NFT market. It looks like this is the start of a bull run…or a perfect bull trap! Only time will tell. But the numbers don't lie, and the last two weeks have been filled with profiting opportunities in the NFT sector. This report will cover the most relevant news from the previous seven days. Let's dive in.

In This Report:

• Amazon to Unveil NFT Initiative
• Porsche NFT Release Was a FAIL, then a Success
• Kevin Rose Got Hacked for $1.1m
• Bored Ape NFT Game Update
• BLUR is releasing their Token
• Azuki's Twitter Account Hacked
• RugRadio Upcoming PFP Release
• Rankings of Top Collections
• NFT Market Statistics

Top News This Week:

• Amazon's NFT program will be released this Spring. The tech giant is preparing to dive into the world of JPEGs and digital collectibles. Amazon is aiming to launch its platform in the spring of 2023. In addition, Amazon is entering crypto by launching its platform, allowing customers to play crypto games and claim/trade NFTs. Amazon joining the space could have a massive influence. It could help onboard millions of users into Web3. Amazon has dominated e-commerce as the go-to marketplace of the world. They want to come early to the Web3 space and compete with other marketplaces like OpenSea. We are expecting more news to come out in April 2023.

• Porsche released their first NFT project, a collection of 7.000 digital collectible versions of the iconic Porsche 911. The launch was initially considered a total failure by the crypto community. Why? Because of multiple reasons. First, they released it with a mint price of 0.911 Ethereum (~$1.400), which is quite high. The utility could have been clearer, and the marketing team could have done a better job, as only a few people knew about it. The collection did not sell out. Only 2.363 were minted out of a total of 7.000 available. This created numerous critics on Twitter. But here's how Porsche saved their project! They decided to burn the remaining NFTs that did not sell, reducing the total supply to 2.363. This adjustment pumped the price to almost 3 Ethereum! Now holders are happy, as it is more exclusive. Currently, the NFT collection is sitting at 1.9E (~$3.000). Porsche has announced future options to reward its holders, like attending Formula E events, visiting the factory, or a test drive for the 911 model.

• Kevin Rose, the person behind the successful NFT project Moonbirds and a well-known personality in the NFT space, recently got hacked for $1.1M. He was phished into signing a malicious signature using his wallet, which allowed the hacker to transfer many valuable NFTs. Read all the details about this event in our dedicated article covering this story.

• The Sewer Pass dominated the carts thanks to the successful deployment of the Dooky Dash NFT game by Yuga Labs. To compare, non-blockchain console games cost ~$60, and people find that a bit expensive. To play this NFT game, you must pay at least $4,300 (2.8ETH), and the game passes are selling like hot potatoes! The price has kept going up since the game's release. Why? Because of the possibility of earning more than that, the initial cost is. Owners of the Sewer Pass can mint an NFT after the game closes on February 8th. The higher the score, the better the prize. This could indicate the future of Play-To-Earn and might incentivize new gaming companies to jump into the NFT ecosystem. Additionally, players can spend $APE on buying in-game assets, increasing their chances of a higher score. The price of Ape Coin has increased since the game's release. Let's see how that goes in the following weeks.

• Blur.io has become one of the most popular marketplaces for NFTs. Up to the point, that is the main contender to take OpenSea out of the 1st rank. Blur.io will be launching its token $BLUR February 14 and hype is building up as many users of the platform are keeping an eye on the release of the token. The launch is scheduled for February 14, so re-schedule your valentines plans!

• Another hack happened to Azuki, one of the largest NFT collections. Azuki's Twitter account got hacked, which misled many followers towards malicious links, and encouraged people to “claim land” in Azuki's virtual world platform. Azuki's team instantly warned and notified its community through discord. The account was recovered by officials shortly after. This confirms that the NFT space is still vulnerable to hacks. Stay safe, always verify official links, and double-check with discord and Twitter. A golden rule is: if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't.

• RugRadio, is an NFT project launched by the known NFT personality, Farokh Sharmad. His first collection was RugRadio Genesis, which served to fund his vision of creating a decentralized Web3 media ecosystem. They will be coming out with a new PFP collection. They came out with the concept of listen-to-earn. You can listen to their Twitter spaces and get paid (in $RUG tokens) while listening. While the amounts are not that much, the concept seems quite interesting to many users. RugRadio will be releasing a new PFP collection soon. Find out all the details from the founders in this recent Twitter space recording.

NFT Charts & Statistics

The last two weeks have been all about Sewer Pass. People have been playing the game constantly and spending $Ape. SewerPass sits at the top of the chart with the highest traded volume. The Memes by 6529 is a project aiming to create a decentralized Metaverse. They have done an outstanding job partnering up with artists to reward holders of the 'Meme Cards by 6529' have another great week! Overall, we continue to see healthy numbers in the chart. January has been a very bullish month for the NFT market.

Trading Volume of NFTs

The market is slowly picking up momentum. January had three consecutive weeks of increasing traded volume. The Blur marketplace continues to gain market share, and OpenSea feels pressure to remain at the top. The market could represent the beginning of an upcoming bull run or a perfect bull trap. We'll update you in the upcoming weeks to see how this develops!

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