June 28, 2021       /       Unchained Daily       /       Laura Shin

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What Do You Meme?


What’s Poppin’?

NFTs are poppin’.

While weekly trading volume for NFTs is only 1/5th of the mid-February highs, it appears that NFTs are gaining a bit of traction once again.

Source: The Block

Here is a quick round-up of recent NFT news:

  • CoinFund is set to launch Metaversal, an NFT investment vehicle. Vanessa Grellet, head of portfolio growth at CoinFund, told The Scoop that there is still “so much demand” for NFT exposure. She added, “Even though you see a slowing down in the consumption, I think we are going to see a lot of tools around lending, around the financialization of NFTs that are going to make the NFT space even larger than other spaces like DeFi, etcetera.”
  • Rarible, an NFT platform, announced a $14.2M fundraising round led by CoinFund, Venrock Capital, and 01 Advisors. According to the press release, the marketplace’s trading volume grew 3000x in the past 12 months — jumping from $28,000 to $150M. Along with the fundraising, Rarible teased its Rarible NFT Protocol, an L2 solution, and the adoption of the Flow blockchain.
  • Reddit launched its own NFT smart contract, auctioning off three NFTs that can be connected to users’ profile pictures once purchased. You can check out the auction here.
  • Marvel is moving into NFTs. The comic book and entertainment giant is partnering with VeVe Digital Collectibles app to launch its first official NFT collection later this year.
  • Rapper Jay-Z is auctioning an NFT based on the cover of his debut album, “Reasonable Doubt,” at Sotheby’s.

Jay-Z doubled down on his NFT foray, changing his profile picture on Twitter to a CryptoPunk (purchased on April 25th for 55 ETH — $126,000 at the time).


Recommended Reads

  • What to watch in crypto, according to some of the best investors in the space:

  • Pantera Capital: “For new investors, it’s best to buy when the market is below trend.  Now is one of those times.  The market has been this “cheap” or cheaper relative to trend only 20.3% of the past eleven years.”

  • Glassnode on DeFi activity slowing down:


On The Pod…

Strong Hands Aren’t Selling Bitcoin. So Who Is?

Will Clemente, author of the BTC by WC3 newsletter, breaks down the current state of Bitcoin’s on-chain activity and explains why he believes the market is in a mid-cycle lull rather than turning bearish. Show highlights:
  • why Will is not worried about a bear market

  • what indicators make Will believe BTC is in a mid-cycle consolidation

  • who is selling and driving the recent market downturn

  • why Will thinks the unwinding of derivatives is a significant factor in Bitcoin’s move below $30K

  • what Will believe institutions are waiting on before entering the market again

  • how Bitcoin cycles can be broken down into mini hype-cycles

  • how long-term holders are acting on-chain

  • the difference between long-term holders versus short-term holders during bear and bull markets

  • why Will is interested in finding data on Latin American Bitcoin users

  • how long the consolidation process might take

  • what metrics Will has his eyes on for the latter half of 2021


Book Update

My book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, is now available for pre-order now.

The book, which is all about Ethereum and the 2017 ICO mania, comes out Nov. 2nd. Pre-order it today!

You can purchase it here: http://bit.ly/cryptopians