August has been full of promising news in the world of NFTs. The month kicked off with Ethereum’s London Hard Fork, and was followed by a cascade of NFT drop announcements by some of the biggest brands in luxury fashion and entertainment. It also marked a milestone for Axie Infinity and CryptoPunks, which became the first two NFT projects to hit $1 billion in sales.
Just in case you’ve been too busy to keep up with the avalanche of news online, we’ve summarised some of the top NFT headlines in the month of August for your review.
London Hard Fork of Ethereum Network
The London Hard Fork is a set of five Ethereum improvement proposals (EIP) that set the stage for the upgrade to Ethereum 2.0. The most notable change for Ethereum users is EIP-1559, which changes the gas fee price determination from an open auction to an algorithmically calculated rate based on overall network demand. This means smoother transactions, and less volatile gas fees – good news for NFT creators and collectors alike!
Axie Infinity Reaches $1 Billion in Sales
Axie Infinity, the pokemon-esque NFT game, has become the first NFT game on the Ethereum network to hit $1 Billion in sales. The game has surged in popularity recently, with ⅕ of total sales made in the first week of August alone. It’s popularity is due to its play-to-earn model, which allows players to sell their in-game tokens (representing creatures and resources) on secondary markets.
Louis Vuitton Launches NFT Game with Beeple Art
Luxury brand Louis Vuitton launched a game app in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of their founder. ‘Louis: The Game’ is a story-driven RPG that illustrates the history of the French fashion brand. Available on Google Play and the Apple Store, the game features embedded NFTs, as well as art from Beeple – the artist who made the most expensive NFT ever sold.
Mintable Launches Sellers’ University
Mintable launched Sellers’ University this month, the first online course for NFTs by Mintable’s founder and CEO, Zach Burks, and crypto marketer Paul Democrtitou. These videos form a comprehensive online course for NFTs by some of the most credible figures in the industry today, and use a two-pronged approach to NFT education that presents best practices for both creating and selling NFTs.
Dapper Labs Announces Upcoming LaLiga NFT Collectibles
Dapper Labs, the studio behind the highly successful CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot NFT collections, has just announced an upcoming release of LaLiga Collectibles. Following the popularity of Top Shot, the team at Dapper is aiming to create a similar experience for soccer fans, with the collection set to be released in June 2022.
Vogue Singapore Releases NFT Mystery Boxes
Vogue Singapore released Mystery Boxes containing NFT art as a teaser to their September issue. The NFT artworks feature astronauts playfully exploring various cities around the world at sunrise. Videos of the NFTs can be seen on the Vogue SG website and twitter page.
Fetch.ai Launches First NFT Machine Learning Platform for AI-Generated Art
Blockchain artificial intelligence lab, Fetch.ai, is launching a new NFT platform for AI-generated art. The platform aims to leverage machine learning and provide users with a platform for the collaborative creation of digital collectibles. Creators will be able to automatically generate NFTs and own them collectively.
CryptoPunks Hit $1 Billion in Sales
CryptoPunks has become the second NFT project to hit $1 Billion in total sales, just weeks after Axie Infinity. Now, the cheapest CryptoPunk sells for $445,000. CryptoPunks have been around since 2017, and have been increasing in value ever since because they’re one of the original NFT projects on the Ethereum blockchain.
Visa buys a CryptoPunk
Visa has bought a CryptoPunk NFT for $150,000. Visa’s head of crypto said in email to MarketWatch that they “want to have a seat at the table as the crypto community evolves”, and that the purchase was a “great way to raise awareness about the potential of this space while providing us an opportunity to learn and help our clients navigate it”.
NFT JPEG of a Rock Sells For $608,000 USD
The EtherRocks NFT collection just passed a price floor of $1 million. Days before, one EtherRock (pictured above) was sold for $608,000, an unbelievably high price for just a simple rock. The most expensive rock sold to date went for 420 ETH, or approximately $1,397,277. Because they have no inherent value other than being tradeable, ownership of EtherRocks have become the biggest flex in the world of NFTs.
Bored Ape Yacht Club Sells $96 Million of Mutant Ape NFTs
NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club sold 10,000 randomly generated NFT Mutant Apes in an hour on 28 August, raising $96 million. They also airdopped 10,000 vials of mutant serum that allowed existing NFT holders to generate new mutant apes. Sold for an initial 3 ETH, mutant apes now go for double that amount.
