The non-fungible token market is experiencing a boom as NFT marketplace, platforms and projects witness increasing mainstream acceptance of digital collectibles.
The results show this growth, with the sales for the second quarter of 2021 showing record highs. These highs have contributed to the$2.5 million generated so far by the NFT industry this year. This is more than 180 times higher than the same period last year.
This year has been off to a great start. In this roundup, we will take a look at NFT developments in the last few weeks and highlight what the community can expect in the coming months.
Crypto.com’s NFT Platform Partnerships Continue
Crypto.com is a crypto Visa card provider and exchange. Recently, Crypto.com launched the Crypto.com platform to collect and trade NFTs curated from art, design, entertainment, and sports.
The NFT platform’s development coincided with several high-profile partnerships in sports, including Crypto.com, becoming the UFC’s first official cryptocurrency platform partner. This is in addition to other firsts in crypto sponsorship, such as a global partnership agreement with Formula 1, a separate deal w/ Aston Martin Cognizant F1 team, NHL teams the Montreal Canadiens & Vegas Golden Knights, and the Argentine Football Association, (AFA), as well the top Italian football league, Serie A.
The marketplace has seen other notable creator partnerships, including those of Lionel Richie and Snoop Dogg’s debut NFT collections. A new feature has been announced by the world’s largest crypto exchange, allowing users to withdraw NFTsthat they have minted on the platform.
Also read: Top Most Impactful Cryptocurrencies Projects in 2021
WiV Brings NFTs to Wine Investment
WiV, a blockchain-based wine investment platform, uses NFTs to innovate wine investment and modernize the ecosystem. WiV connects investors and vineyards, opening up financing earlier in the winemaking process. This allows for the creation of new products.
NFTs can be purchased by investors from vineyards to purchase bottles or cases of fine wine. These NFTs are then traded globally on liquid markets like the open sea. This allows for faster trades and lowers costs. This allows wineries around the world to trade NFTs for bottles and cases of fine wine, which is a great opportunity to attract new investors.
Copa America Trophy to Be Minted as NFT on Ethernity
CONMEBOL has teamed up with Ethernity in commemoration of the 47th Copa America tournament. The Copa America trophy will be an NFT. Argentina defeated Brazil 1-0 in the final of the latest major tournament for South American football. The trophy NFT will be joined by four other digital collectibles that commemorate the two teams. These include Argentina captain Lionel Messi and the tournament’s top scorer.
The Copa America NFTs are the latest example of Ethernity’s use of digital collectibles to commemorate famous pop culture figures. This follows the partnership with the U.S. and the minting of an NFT to commemorate Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali’s “Fight of the Century”, on the 50th anniversary of the bout. Space Force will release NFTs in interactive augmented reality tokens.
Valuart Provides Exclusive Access to NFTs Created by Notable Artists
Beginning July 22, Valuart will start a series of exclusive monthly auctions of NFT masterpieces by well-known artists. Valuart will issue a certificate of authenticity to a piece of physical art and then create a digital copy.
“SPike” is Banksy’s unique artwork that will be the opening salvo of the Valuart auctions. Valuart created a digital version of Spike’s original piece using CGI technology. This shows Spike moving around the universe before returning home to Earth as a newly-minted, non-fungible token.
Valuart will reimagine the digital originals of some of the most famous artworks and creations around the globe. This includes an NFT drop on 22 October of the “Mantum and the Stole”, created by Stefano Zanella and worn on 24 December 1999 by Pope John Paul II to mark the opening of the Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica.
NFT Marketplace Hoard Launches Flash Loan Functionality
Hoard is a marketplace that allows users to buy, rent, trade, or sell NFTs, including digital art and in-game items. It’s integrated with the Ethereum blockchain. Hoard recently added flash loan functionality. Users can borrow crypto funds without collateral from a smart contract pool. However, the assets must be borrowed and repaid within one transaction on Ethereum.
Hoard flash loans are available at a low fee of 0.02%. This is in addition to the NFT marketplace offering, which includes arbitrage opportunities, loan collateral Swaps, and self-liquidation.
Also read: How to Build Your Own NFT Marketplace
Unify Enables No-Code Multi-Chain Solutions for NFT Creators
Unify’s multi-chain infrastructure platform is decentralized and focuses on creating an economy in the NFT space. Users can create, buy, trade, swap, and sell NFTs in minutes, with no coding skills.
Unify already has marketplaces across multiple networks and is expanding beyond Ethereum to offer its “WordPress of NFTs” across xDAI and Binance Smart Chain. It also offers services on Polygon, Avalanche Smart Chain, Celo, and Moonbeam. There are plans for expansion on Polkadot as well as Solana. Unifty NFT bridge facilitates interoperability between these networks, which is helping to realize NFT’s potential.
Spores Introduces a New Full Stack NFT and Defi Platform
Spores, a new platform, combines NFTs with defi. Users can issue NFTs, auction assets, and decentralize NFT trading. This allows them to access the wider defi market without limitations, which opens up many unique features.
Gamified transaction Mining rewards creators, users, traders, and investors with shared royalties throughout the lifecycle of NFTs. To improve liquidity, multiple NFTs can also be fractionalized and used in DEX LP mining and lending. You can create multiple NFTs at once and transfer them with minimal fees. NFT swaps or wraps across major blockchains are possible to reduce fragmentation.
NFT Card Game Splinterlands Reaches 100,000 User Milestone
Splinterlandshas reached the milestone of 100,000 users creating an account on its platform and generating more than 600,000 transactions per day on the Hive blockchain. This is another sign that the ecosystem’s NFT trading card game ecosystem has been adopted in the real world. Players of Splinterlands compete for a small reward pool of in-game cryptocurrency and provably rare NFTs from battles and quests.
This milestone is a testament to the synergy between trading card games and NFTs, and the gaming industry. Splinterlands has a higher level of player engagement and retention due to the fact that NFT cards can be traded or rented out to players. This creates real value, which helps facilitate the “play-to-earn” experience.
The Future for NFT Platforms
NFT platforms and projects are attracting more collectors and fans to this new world. This is introducing them to the wider cryptocurrency marketplace. To ensure that NFTs thrive in the future and stay true to the crypto ethos, they must find a way for them to decentralize fully. While ownership and authentication of NFTs are managed by decentralized smart contract blockchains such as Ethereum, actual NFT files are stored on centralized servers like AWS. This makes them vulnerable to censorship, and one point of failure.
This is where decentralized storage networks come in. Leading NFT platforms are looking atBluzelle, which allows for the storage of NFT files in a distributed manner. This ensures that they remain safe, available, and censorship-resistant to provide a fully decentralized NFT future.
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