The Biggest NFT Stories of 2023: Bitcoin’s Rise from Ordinary to Obscure

It was another year of change. NFTsFor better or for worse. of Turns The protocol is on BitcoinIt reinvigorated creators and fueled excitement around the chain—but fueled a divide between Bitcoin purists and expansionists. Meanwhile, as sales declined for several years, collectors voiced their frustrations, and creator royalties dwindled.

Despite the setback, NFTs are not dead—and some are still in demand. But the NFT market is in a different place than it was in 2021 or 2022, and this year's events have faded some of the early overhyped hype and now left a gap to struggle with how to improve and move forward. Check out the NFT stories and trends for 2023.

Turns appear

In the year There has never been a bigger NFT story than the emergence of Ordinals in 2023, Bitcoin's native NFTs. Created by Bitcoin developer Casey Rodermore, the Ordinals protocol allows users to write media, applications and text files to individual satoshis – the smallest unit of measurement on the main blockchain – and from there, thanks to marketplaces and infrastructure.

As Bitcoin users begin to use the chain for something other than digital money, and increasingly, “laser-eyes,” senior experts have complained. Network congestion and charges have occurred. But it has been confirmed that the ranks did not have any flash: they have become more than 52 million Listed to date.And the protocol is also activated The addition of BRC-20 tokensIt is similar to the signs of fungus on other chains.

Now there are inscriptions on other chains and symbols created in the same way. Traditionalists are still grumbling, but the mountains are here—and they're challenging its dominance. Ethereum On-chain properties as a go-to network.

Blur and Tensor take over.

The leading market places have been sold this year on both Ethereum and Solana. No doubt, the Blurred rise It was one of 2023's crypto moments as the marketplace used token incentives to quickly dominate the space and crush OpenSea.

Fuzzy wallet charging token airdrops – general More than 800 million dollars to date At a high price – it helped rise to the top of the heap and now regularly commands 80% or more of the Ethereum NFT trading market share.

Of course, such incentives have resulted in wholesale asset overturns, as traders consider NFTs to be volatile tokens. Some have called it. Washing businessBut at the end of the day, blur is buying the juice. OpenSea, on the other hand, is comparably affected and still hasn't launched a token. A one-time leader estimated at $13.3 billion in early 2022; In November, they laid off half of their staff..

A similar change was made to Solana as longtime leader Asmat Eden was strong Exceeded by TensorAlthough there is no token that has taken off the air yet, the startup borrows Blur's message and rewards model. Tensor now typically owns more than 50% of Solana's business operations as collections. Refresh food And his Tensorians see a growing interest.

The SEC will take action

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has not yet completed its investigation into crypto exchanges this year – it has also targeted NFT projects, which it calls unregistered securities.

First, the SEC took action against Impact Theory, created by NFT startup entrepreneur and business influencer Tom Bilyeu. He agreed to make a deal of 6 million dollars On “Founders Key NFTs”. Team members promised investors high returns, which was a one-way ticket to security breaches.

Not long ago, the SEC targeted a very high-profile project: “Stoner Cats”, a 2021 animated series financed and accessed through NFT passes. A project supported by Mila Kunis He agreed to a settlement of 1 million dollars And it effectively shuts down; Then the main market places Banned NFTs.

An NFT fraudster also faced justice before US authorities this year: Aurelien Michel, the 25-year-old founder of the Mutant Ape Planet NFT collective, pleaded guilty in November to fraud charges. According to the Ministry of Justice. “Confused” Buyers of NFTs – that is, the covenants attached to asset sales and then not followed through after the money is made.

Trump will destroy NFTs

Former US President Donald Trump, who started in December 2022 First NFT collection It was a hit. Despite being widely derided online and in mainstream media, the collection sold out within 24 hours and generated millions of dollars in secondary market sales. and prices It really went up The first months of this year.

But in April, Trump's team released another A second set of very similar NFTs, which caused the price of the first set to fall immediately. And the third set It started at the beginning of this monthGreater than the first two sets, Not even half sold yet.. The trading lock will be lifted on December 31st, at which point we'll see if they sink below the $99 mint price.

“Goose” cost $6.2 million.

The NFT market may be down significantly, but demand for some “blue chip” assets is still strong. Case in point: Block NFT, an art piece in Dmitry Chernyk's “Ringers” generative art collection, affectionately called “Zyu” because of its resemblance to the creature; It was sold for 6.2 million dollars At a live Sotheby's auction in June. 2023 is the peak NFT sale.

Beyond the funny nickname and resemblance, this digital art has another unique quality: The wound was formerly owned by Three Arrows Capital, a now-defunct crypto hedge fund that lost billions in the 2022 market crash. There is a buyer, Sotheby's, through 6529 NFT funds.

Are Royalties Dead… Or Are They?

Creator Royalties – Small payments to artists and companies when NFTs are resold on the secondary market—At the end of 2022, it started to evaporate As fledgling marketplaces are left to claim market share from established platforms. However, OpenSea and some other marketplaces In the end they chose to keep them Following the backlash from creators and collectors last year.

But that changed in 2023, when first Blur controlled most of the NFT trade (without respecting full royalty settings) and then OpenSea effectively admitted defeat on the topic in August. Stop enforcing the required royalty payments. It's backfired, but many creators have already accepted the reality that ongoing royalty payments aren't reliable.

However, there is hope. For Solana, which moved its payments away from the required royalties in 2022, a new token requirement made creator payments more strictly enforced. And there is movement in that direction on Ethereum as well, including entry ERC721-C standard From a game developer Limit interruptions.

DeGods left Solana; not good

In the year One of the biggest stories in the NFT space at the tail end of 2022 and early this year was the planned The rise of high projects DeGods and y00ts from Solana, following massive ecosystem disruption and SOL pricing late last year. The sets left Solana, but it didn't do well for long.

DeGods migrated to Ethereum in March and y00ts followed to the Ethereum scale network. Polygon (before Emigration one more time to the ETH mainnet). However, the mood has changed since then. DeGods NFTs fell sharply in August, falling from a floor price of $16,000 USD to $7,300 USD. He faced criticism for not giving. And not being able to keep the incentive.

What makes matters worse for the DeGods is that the Solana ecosystem has seen a dramatic comeback in recent months. in fact, Solana's new top NFT project Mad Lads SOL has a starting price of $14,400, almost double that of DeGods on ETH.

DeGods and Y00ts founder Rohun “Frank” Vora, who Recently posted on Twitter “2023 is the worst year of my life” speculates that the projects could provide a bridge back to Solana and allow owners to own NFTs on whatever chain they want. However, it remains unclear whether DeLabs will follow through on that discussion.

Pudgy Penguin puts NFTs in Walmart.

Decrypt‘S 2023 NFT of the Year Award In the middle of the crypto winter, the richer and stronger went to Pudgy Penguins – and now he's making the main game.

The Ethereum project has partnered with mega-retailer Walmart to place cute toys in thousands of stores, and each toy comes with a scannable QR code that unlocks free NFTs that can be used in the future. Pudgy World online game. Luca Netz, owner and CEO of Pudgy Penguin They spoke Decrypt So far only 20% of buyers are asking for NFTs, but they aim to increase that figure with improved messaging and the upcoming launch of the game.

Yuga Labs won the court battle

The legal battle between Boring Monkey Boat Club Creator Yuga Labs and artist Ryder Ripps (and collaborator Jeremy Cahen) have been closely watched by the industry over the legality of copycat projects described as NFT's intellectual property and “parody”. at last , Yuga Labs was the winner.a US district judge awarded the startup more than $1.5 million in damages.

After Ripps and his partners accused Yuga of using racist imagery, they launched the “Ryder Ripps Bored Ape Yacht Club” NFT collection, featuring copies of the original artwork. The NFTs were sold and Yuga sued for trademark infringement, ultimately winning summary judgment and bankruptcy. Rips and Cahen were also ordered to transfer the project's smart contract to Yuga and destroy any associated digital assets.

They give the name of the guarantee holders

One of the most unique NFT projects saw a community breakdown in September, with more than half of all owners Names NFTs voted to break away from the others and “fork”. Take $27 million in ETH with them in the treasury. Such action was enabled by the creation of the “ragequit” protocol, which allows holders to form groups and leave “refunds”.

Names are designed as decentralized, open-source intellectual property, with millions of dollars to fund community projects—such as Comic books., ToysEsports team and even a Parade float. But some members of the community saw unnecessary costs and unclear returns and chose to bail out their share of the treasury. The remaining Nonce owners are still developing the IP and funding projects.

Azuki's response

One of the biggest NFT drops of the year quickly turned into a huge mess. In June, Chiru Labs—creator of Azuki, one of the most valuable Ethereum NFT projects—The collection of “Elementals” revealed. To expand the collector base, generating 38 million dollars in sales in 15 minutes. But once the artwork is revealed after minting, The buyers rebelled.

The artwork of the Elementals was very similar to the original NFTs, not only confusing but The price of the previous Azuki NFTs is sinking In the process (like Trump's NFTs). Some owners have created a DAO. Request a refund through a lawsuitAlthough they eventually gave up the addiction.

At the time of writing, Azuki Elementals will launch ETH at a price of $1,200 after NFTs have priced around $3,800. NFT price floor. The original Azuki NFT prices were about half of the USD price they were before the Elementals mint.

Open version meta

Earlier this year, when NFT prices were falling, a new model of NFT issuance took hold. Open Edition Mints They offered reasonably priced and similar or simple works of art, designed as an easy way for buyers to collect—but also an opportunity to create gamified models and reward collectors for buying and trading multiple editions.

One of the most successful of these drops was the “Checks” project by artist Jack Butcher on Twitter's verification check design. About 16,000 editions were released for just $8, and collectors were turning over thousands of dollars within weeks trying to trade up to rare editions. The open edition booth cooled, but offered another way for artists and creators to connect with collectors and promote business.

“The Simpsons” weighs in

For 35 years, “The Simpsons” has had a cult following—and the NFTs finally got some special attention in November as the annual “Tree of Horror” Halloween special. The episode references various creators and projects; From Beeples to Bored Monkeysreveling in the NFT hype and some of the negativity associated with it.

By and large, NFT collectors and creators have responded positively to the show, seeing it as a defining moment for the culture. Meanwhile, some have launched unofficial Simpsons-themed NFT projects; Generating millions of dollars in transaction volume. Maybe this will be part of the next roast, if “The Simpsons” gets back on board with the NFT craze.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.