VeeFriends

NFT market held back by oversupply, greed and bad projects: Gary Vee

The number of celebrities, brands and artists that hopped on the NFT bandwagon was bound to cause supply and demand issues, the VeeFriends creator says.

Popular entrepreneur and NFT proponent Gary Vaynerchuck — also known as Gary Vee — has argued that oversupply, greed and subpar projects are the main reasons the NFT market fell so hard over the past year.

On Dec. 12, Vaynerchuck used Twitter to highlight his latest blog post, which explores the NFT sector’s current issues and where he thinks it’s headed next year.

Commenting on the state of the market, Vaynerchuck emphasized that there has been a significant amount of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) from traditional media as well as social media this year, with both generally highlighting issues such as dwindling trading volumes and plummeting floor prices.

“The truth is, if you’ve been paying attention, you know what’s really happening here — and if you’re like me, you’re not surprised,” argued Vaynerchuck.

He pointed back to a prediction he made a year prior, in which he argued that “98-99% of NFT projects” that gained traction during the NFT boom in 2021 would end up being bad investments or would “go to zero.”

Problems with NFTs

Explaining this prediction, Vaynerchuck highlighted three major issues holding back the market — oversupply, short-term greed and poor operators.

In terms of oversupply, Vaynerchuck argued that the large number of “celebrities, influencers, sports leagues, big brands and individual artists” who jumped on the bandwagon last year was bound to cause supply and demand issues.

“Some have been amazing projects led by true operators who are focused on delivering value to their communities — most are not,” he wrote, adding that:

“The demand has not and will not be able to keep up with that extraordinary level of supply, and any time that happens, there’s a bubble waiting to burst.”

In regards to short-term greed, Vaynerchuck argued that the industry has been hampered by too many people rushing to make a quick buck from launching projects or trading NFTs, resulting in losses to scams and projects with poor fundamentals imploding.

“Everyone’s way too selfish, way too fast, and lacking thoughtfulness. This is a marathon, but everyone’s treating it like a micro sprint and a gold rush, and that’s why most will lose,” he wrote.

In June, blockchain monitoring software company DEXterlab polled more than 1,300 people on Twitter about their NFT buying habits during the period fromlate May to early June. It found that while 64.3% of its respondents said they bought NFTs “to make money,” fewer than 42% had made a profit at the time of the poll.

Meanwhile, on the subject of bad projects, Vaynerchuck suggested that as anyone can simply launch an NFT project “there’s now a huge number of people with no real knowledge of things like business, long-term community building, culture, day-to-day operating of a staff, and creating demand.”

Where are NFTs going in 2023

Looking forward into 2023, Vaynerchuck argued that there’s unlikely to be another market boom like that of 2021, particularly as he doesn’t see the “macroeconomic landscape” turning bullish anytime soon.

Additionally, Vaynerchuck likened the crypto and NFT sector to the internet boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when countless companies crumbled while the strongest rose to dominance.

“Due to a ridiculous amount of supply, many projects will crash and go to zero like Pets.com, but there will be some – that 1-3% of projects – that will become the Amazons and the eBays. The key is… how many of you are willing to do the homework it takes to make smart investments?”

Vaynerchuck jumped into NFTs back in early 2021 and went on to launch his debut project VeeFriends in May of that year. He’s invested in a number of projects since then. According to data from CryptoSlam, VeeFriends is the 20th-ranked NFT collection in terms of all time sales volume, at $241.8 million.

Nifty News: Yuga Labs launches BAYC council, Animoca backs Cool Cats and more…

Solana NFT volume surged to $130 million in September and Gary Vaynerchuck’s VeeFriends are set to be released as collectibles at Macy’s and Toys “R” Us.

Yuga Labs has announced a new Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) community council to help the project “grow and thrive.”

The team revealed seven council members in an Oct. 5 blog post, noting that they are all OGs who have been around since the early days of the BAYC.

Yuga Labs said it assembled a new community council made up of “Apes with a proven track record of proactively and positively contributing to the club since the start.”

The members include, @beijingdou, @SeraStargirl, @TheMiamiApe, @OxEthanDG, @OxWave, @negithenagi, @peterjfang.

“This council was formed with the intention of representing the club at large and providing an avenue for new perspectives,” Yuga Labs wrote.

Yuga Labs stated that they will engage with the community and gather feedback for the firm, work with Yuga on community-driven initiatives such as commercial projects, meetups and charity work.

“Every Ape in our community has directly impacted our decisions-making from day one. This council, and future councils to come, puts a more formal, efficient and consistent process in place for Yuga leadership to get community feedback and advice on an ongoing basis,” it wrote.

Yuga Labs also teased that it could soon launch community councils for its other NFT projects including CryptoPunks, Meebits and the Otherside moving forward.

Animoca Brands partners with Cool Cats

NFT venture fund giant Animoca Brands has made a strategic investment into blue chip NFT project Cool Cats to help the project expand into new avenues such as gaming.

The Oct. 5 announcement from the duo states that the “partnership will drive Cool Cats’ mission to become the largest global NFT brand and a robust media and content company, including through expansion of its gaming offerings.”

Cool Cats was launched in July 2021 and consists of 9,999 cartoon cat avatars. The project has generated $369.2 million worth of NFT sales volume to date as per CryptoSlam data. The latest announcement has also coincided with Cool Cats sales volume pumping 220% over the past 24 hours.

The move also follows a partnership with Animoca Subsidiary GAMEE from Sept. 1, a virtual platform focused on connecting creators, brands and players in the GameFi space.

Solana NFT sales volume surges past $100M in September

NFT sales volume on the Solana blockchain tagged $130.1 million in September, with that figure marking an 82.2% increase compared to the $71.4 million posted in August.

While the figure still places Solana well behind Ethereum, which hosted $354.3 million worth of NFT sales volume last month, the difference between the two’s number of unique buyers is much smaller.

According to CryptoSlam data, Solana NFTs saw 143,997 unique buyers in September (up from 95,516 in August) compared to Ethereum’s 166,168 that month (down from 202,467).

While the figures may indicate that Solana is making up some notable ground on Ethereum, the latter still hosts the majority of blue chip NFT projects.

Looking at data over the past 30 days, only one Solana NFT project makes the top 10 in terms of sales volume with tenth ranked y00ts mint t00b’s $13.3 million worth of sale volume. In comparison, eight Ethereum-based projects make the top 10 during that time frame.

Mommy, I want that NFT!

Gary Vaynerchuck’s NFT project VeeFriends has penned an exclusive deal with Macy’s and Toys “R” Us to sell physical plush and figure collectibles featuring VeeFriends NFT characters.

The collectibles will be available in stores from Oct. 17th, and will be priced from $9.99 to $29.99. The characters include Common Sense Cow, Willful Wizard, Practical Peacock, Gratitude Gorilla, Genuine Giraffe and Be The Bigger Person.

Related: Three Arrows Capital’s NFT collection to be liquidated

Hodlers who own the NFT version of the characters will receive the associated physical collectibles, with the more expensive plush and six inch figures going to season one NFT holders.

Notably, the hodler’s won’t get a kick-back from the sales of the physical toys however.

Collectible toys: VeeFriends

Other Nifty News:

Horizon Blockchain Games, the developers of popular NFT card game Skyweaver have raised $40 million in Series A funding, the company disclosed on Oct. 4. The round was led by Brevan Howard Digital and Morgan Creek Digital, with additional participation from Polygon, Take-Two Interactive, and Ubisoft to name a few.

NFT marketplace OpenSea announced in a series of tweets on Oct. 5 that the platform will officially allow its users to bulk list and bulk purchase up to 30 digital collectible items in a single flow.

Nifty News: Yuga Labs launches BAYC council, Animoca backs Cool Cats and more

Solana NFT volume surged to $130 million in September, and Gary Vaynerchuck’s VeeFriends are set to be released as collectibles at Macy’s and Toys “R” Us.

Yuga Labs has announced a new Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) community council to help the project “grow and thrive.”

The team revealed seven council members in an Oct. 5 blog post, noting that they are all OGs who have been around since the early days of BAYC.

Yuga Labs said it assembled a new community council made up of “Apes with a proven track record of proactively and positively contributing to the club since the start.”

The members include Beijingdou, SeraStargirl, TheMiamiApe, OxEthanDG, OxWave, Negithenagi and Peterjfang.

“This council was formed with the intention of representing the club at large and providing an avenue for new perspectives,” Yuga Labs wrote.

Yuga Labs stated that it will engage with the community and gather feedback for the firm, working with Yuga on community-driven initiatives such as commercial projects, meetups and charity work.

“Every Ape in our community has directly impacted our decision-making from day one. This council, and future councils to come, puts a more formal, efficient and consistent process in place for Yuga leadership to get community feedback and advice on an ongoing basis,” it wrote.

Yuga Labs also teased that it could soon launch community councils for its other NFT projects including CryptoPunks, Meebits and the Otherside, moving forward.

Animoca Brands partners with Cool Cats

NFT venture fund giant Animoca Brands has made a strategic investment into the blue-chip NFT project Cool Cats to help the project expand into new avenues such as gaming.

The Oct. 5 announcement from the duo states that the “partnership will drive Cool Cats’ mission to become the largest global NFT brand and a robust media and content company, including through expansion of its gaming offerings.”

Cool Cats was launched in July 2021 and consists of 9,999 cartoon cat avatars. The project has generated $369.2 million worth of NFT sales volume to date, according to CryptoSlam data. The latest announcement has also coincided with Cool Cats sales volume pumping 220% over the past 24 hours.

The move also follows a partnership with Animoca Subsidiary GAMEE from Sept. 1, a virtual platform focused on connecting creators, brands and players in the GameFi space.

Solana NFT sales volume surges past $100M in September

NFT sales volume on the Solana blockchain tagged $130.1 million in September, with that figure marking an 82.2% increase compared to the $71.4 million posted in August.

While the figure still places Solana well behind Ethereum, which hosted $354.3 million worth of NFT sales volume last month, the difference between the two’s number of unique buyers is much smaller.

According to CryptoSlam data, Solana NFTs saw 143,997 unique buyers in September, up from 95,516 in August, compared with Ethereum’s 166,168 that month, down from 202,467.

While the figures may indicate that Solana is making up some notable ground on Ethereum, the latter still hosts the majority of blue-chip NFT projects.

Looking at data over the past 30 days, only one Solana NFT project makes the top 10 in terms of sales volume, with 10th-ranked Y00ts Mint T00b’s $13.3 million worth of sale volume. In comparison, eight Ethereum-based projects make the top 10 during that time frame.

Mommy, I want that NFT!

Gary Vaynerchuck’s NFT project VeeFriends has penned an exclusive deal with Macy’s and Toys “R” Us to sell physical plush and figure collectibles featuring VeeFriends NFT characters.

The collectibles will be available in stores from Oct. 17 and will be priced from $9.99 to $29.99. The characters include Common Sense Cow, Willful Wizard, Practical Peacock, Gratitude Gorilla, Genuine Giraffe and Be The Bigger Person.

Related: Three Arrows Capital’s NFT collection to be liquidated

Hodlers who own the NFT version of the characters will receive the associated physical collectibles, with the more expensive plush and six-inch figures going to season one NFT holders.

The hodlers won’t get a kick-back from the sales of the physical toys, however.

Collectible toys from VeeFriends.

Other Nifty News

Horizon Blockchain Games, the developers of popular NFT card game Skyweaver, raised $40 million in Series A funding, the company disclosed on Oct. 4. The round was led by Brevan Howard Digital and Morgan Creek Digital, with additional participation from Polygon, Take-Two Interactive and Ubisoft, to name a few.

NFT marketplace OpenSea announced in a series of tweets on Oct. 5 that the platform will officially allow its users to bulk list and bulk purchase up to 30 digital collectible items in a single flow.