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SludgeFeed Joins Hands with OpenSea for Seamless Adoption of Blockchain Gaming

SludgeFeed, a platform in the blockchain gaming sector, has collaborated with OpenSea, a notable digital marketplace for crypto collectibles, to propel the adoption of blockchain gaming by presenting relevant items on its structure.

By teaming up, OpenSea will offer SludgeFeed technical support as it creates a unique non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that directly integrates into its content and platform.

Blockchain Gaming the New Kid on the Block

Both SludgeFeed and OpenSea seek to thrust mainstream adoption of the blockchain gaming industry by enabling readers to significantly interact with the NFTs because it is a relatively new space.

The co-founder of SludgeFeed, Tom Stankewicz, noted: “While the blockchain gaming industry holds a lot of promise, the current adoption rates are still minimal compared to traditional gaming.”

Stankewicz also added: “Together with OpenSea, we aim to take blockchain gaming to new heights by enabling unique and interactive ways to engage with in-game items and collectibles directly in our platform.”

Conversely, Devin Finzer, OpenSea’s co-founder, ascertained that they were excited with the collaboration made with SludgeFeed because it could instigate more visibility and awareness in the blockchain gaming sector.

He noted: “OpenSea is incredibly excited about the growing number of digital assets on blockchain—from crypto collectibles to ‘decentralized native’ domain names to traditional digital assets like event tickets.”

Through this partnership, new doors will be opened for blockchain games that have already incorporated SludgeFeed into their ecosystem, and this will offer unmatched revenue and marketing opportunities.

Image via Shutterstock

NFT Trading Platform Giant OpenSea Raises $100 M in Series B Funding, Becoming Next Crypto Unicorn

The well-known NFT trading platform giant OpenSea announced the completion of a $100 million Series B financing and officially joined the crypto unicorn track.

Reportedly, the financing was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Other investors include hedge funds and private equity firm Coatue, former Disney president Michael Ovitz, Co-Founder and Chairman of Eventbrite Kevin Hartz, CEO & Co-founder of Figma Dylan Field, famous NBA star Kevin Durant, American actor Ashton Kutcher, and the founder and CEO of Shopify Tobi Lutke.

The financing did not disclose the specific purpose of use. However, the company stated that its direct mission is to provide the best market for the creation and establishment of NFTs and to help establish systems and standards that can transform all types of digital wealth into a truly possessive and freely exchangeable form, stating that:

“OpenSea’s broader mission is to turn the internet from an information transfer machine into a value transfer machine.”

According to a Forbes report, the funds raised this time will be used to develop the team and establish multi-chain support and provide customers with a smoother experience.

The OpeaSea team said that in the announcement:

“we’re officially announcing cross-blockchain support, starting with a gas-free marketplace on the Polygon blockchain. Buyers no longer have to pay blockchain fees when making trades on OpenSea, and creators can fully earn their way into crypto for the first time.”

The B round of financing is the largest financing. The peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace for crypto collectables and non-fungible tokens (NFT) OpeaSea is valued at about $1.5 billion, becoming the latest crypto unicorn-referring to the establishment of fewer than 10 years valuation of $1 billion technology startups that are not listed on the stock market.

The well-known cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain in the United States and the recently completed $900M round of financing of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, etc., are currently well-known cryptocurrency unicorn companies.

This is not the first time Andreessen Horowitz has invested in OpenSea. On March 18, OpenSea, a notable digital marketplace for crypto collectables, completed an investment led by a16z with a total value of $23 Million.

So far, OpenSea has raised $127.2M in funding over 5 rounds, including this round of financing.

NFT Boom: OpenSea is Recording More Daily Volume than its Total 2020 Volume

The Non-Fungible Token (NFT) metaverse boom is growing, as shown in the transaction volume of the popular marketplace, OpenSea.

According to Devin Finzer, the co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, the platform processed $95 million worth of NFT transactions in two days compared to the cumulative volume of $21 million recorded in the entirety of 2020.

Innovation in the cryptocurrency ecosystem is dynamic, and the advent of NFTs represents a unique application of blockchain technology. NFTs are a way to secure the ownership of digital assets on the blockchain, making them easily verifiable. The applications of NFTs is beginning to be appreciated amongst digital artists, and musicians amongst others.

Devin acknowledged that the NFT boom is insane, with his remarks being drawn from a trend that has ushered in whole new ecosystem economics. The 650x growth in the daily volumes of OpenSea has pitched it as the most formidable NFT marketplace compared to its competitors.

The two other major marketplaces, SuperRare and Rarible, according to data from DappRadar, have a daily transaction volume of $543,000 and $248,000, respectively.

The NFT boom has been adjudged unsustainable in terms of its growth trend when the skyrocketing prices of digital artworks were brought to the fore. The most expensive NFT sold thus far, Beeple’s Everyday, was auctioned for $69.3 million in Ethereum (ETH). Beyond this, other notable NFT pieces go out for thousands and millions of dollars, giving a burgeoning valuation that many fear will stump the mass adoption of the new technology.

Major tech leaders, including Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Elon Musk of Tesla, have also waded into the innovative world of NFTs. While Jack sold the first tweet for $2.5 million, Musk said he is gearing up to release his first NFT, which features a techno song.

Ape-Themed NFT CyberKongz Leads Top Protocols in Ethereum Burning Rate

Ape-themed Non-Fungible Token project, CyberKongz has taken the lead amongst all protocols for the highest Ethereum burn rate in the past 24 hours, according to the burning leaderboard as provided by Ultrasound.

Money, CyberKongz VX has burnt a total of 1,432.65 ETH in the past 24 hours, surpassing the entirety of the burning rate on OpenSea, Uniswap V2, and Axie Infinity.

The real-time burning of the Ethereum token was recently ushered in by the EIP 1559 upgrade that went live, turning the world’s second-largest token into a deflationary asset. The burning occurs when users transacting on the network pay a base fee for processing all work done. This base fee is burned, while miners only benefit from the optional tip being added to the transaction by the users.

CyberKongZ VX is a new animal-themed NFT that began in March as a collection of 1000 unique NFTs. The popularity of this project has soared over time, with many collectors looking to get a hold of the super rare asset, which can readily be displayed as a profile photo on social media, including Discord, Twitter and the likes.

Based on this, CyberKongZ VX launched a mass minting event on Sunday, with about 10,000 CyberKongZ available for minting. Amongst these are 3D versions that can be used in the CyberKongZ metaverse. The minted NFTs were sold out, and the availability is now in Secondary markets such as OpenSea. Prices for the CyberKongZ VX as listed on OpenSea are as low as 1.27 ETH, worth approximately $4,150 to the most expensive pegged at 10,000 ETH or $33 million.

The surge in the burning rate has also been accompanied by the rise in the gas fee to a price of $25, a level not recorded since May. The CyberKongZ VX craze is poised to last a bit longer as an accompanying token; $ BANANA has been created, which will grant genesis CyberKongZ owners the opportunity of claiming ten coins daily for the next decade.

Image source: cyberkongz page

NFT Trading Surges 8X Boom from the Popularity of Bored Ape Yacht Club,Pudgy Penguins and CryptoPunk

Non-fungible token (NFT) has seen a surge in market trading volume in the last two weeks, thanks to the craze of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins, as well as the classic NFT CryptoPunk.

According to the August 17 report of the encrypted data provider Coin Metrics, the daily number of sales and buyers on NFT trading platform giant OpenSea’s sales reached 60K last week, which is far higher than March’s boom of NFT market, which is almost eight times higher compared to March.

Source: Coin Metrics

OpenSea’s transaction volume has surpassed $1billion in August.

In addition to the exchange trading volume, several NFTs have also drawn the public’s attention. Among them, on July 30, an anonymous buyer purchased 104 CryptoPunks with a total value of approximately $7 million as a long-term store of value means.

Sources: Coin Metrics

CryptoPunks are the earliest collections in the early NFT market. Around 2017, the two earliest NFTs to be created and to gain popularity were CryptoPunks and CryptoKitty. CryptoPunks contains 10,000 cute animations of human bodies and animal characters.

In addition, many animal-based NFT projects, Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins, have drawn public attention.

Sales of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) soared after announcing that it would be exhibited at Christie’s auction. Since then, BAYC’s sales have reached millions of dollars, and the base price has reached more than 15 ETH.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10000 unique Bored Ape NFTs— unique digital collectables living on the Ethereum blockchain.

The trading volume of Pudgy Penguins reached a peak of $13.5 million on August 13.

The Coin Metrics report pointed out that most mainstream NFTs are usually priced in ETH, so the fluctuation or the volatility of ETH prices will impact the trading volume on the NFT market, and a sudden increase may deter new entrants NFT market. However, higher NFT sales may help attract new users to the Ethereum blockchain.

Blockchain.News reported on August 16, ape-themed Non-Fungible Token project, CyberKongz has taken the lead amongst all protocols for the highest Ethereum burn rate in the past 24 hours, according to the burning leaderboard provided by Ultrasound.

OpenSea Desperate to Hire New Engineers to Relieve its Overwhelmed Staff

Decentralised Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace, OpenSea is on the lookout for new engineers as it looks to relieve its current staffers from the overwhelming tasks of managing the marketplace’s trading volume. As revealed by Nate Chastain, the Head of Product at OpenSea, only about 37 people are handling over 98% of all trading volumes on the platform.

The growth of NFTs has been unprecedented in 2021. Marketplaces like OpenSea have built an ecosystem to encourage retail trading of digital collectables and, as such, helping to drive more mainstream adoption of the new technology.

With the marketplace made possible by OpenSea, many digital artists and creators can find a place to earn rewards for their skills. The fundamental reason behind OpenSea’s popularity is that it pioneered lowering the barrier for entry into the NFT metaverse.

As reported earlier by Blockhain.news, the daily transactions being processed on the OpenSea platform is now 650x the transactions processed for the whole of 2020. In monetary terms, this exponential growth showed that the platform processed $95 million worth of NFT transactions in two days compared to the cumulative volume of $21 million recorded in the entirety of 2020.

While competitor platforms such as Rarible and SuperRare, OpenSea’s foundational role has been entrenched, and future growth push cannot be ruled out. To further emphasise the urgency of the proposed staff hunt, Chastain is offering a referral bonus of 1 ETH (worth $3170) to anyone who points the team in the right direction where they can hire the best candidates.

OpenSea recently raised $100 million in a Series B funding round, a boost that pushed the company up to the ranks of crypto unicorns with a $1.5 billion valuation. With this funding, the firm has enough liquidity to bolster its workforce, and it is committed to doing so in the coming months.

Wallet Code Bug Destroys $100,000 Worth of Ethereum on NFT Marketplace Opensea

A bug in Opensea online marketplace has accidentally burned (destroyed) more than 42 NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) worth a minimum of $100,000.

Nick Johnson, a lead developer of the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), first noticed the incident and talked about the matter.

Johnson tweeted about the incident, thinking that he was the only victim affected after the bug burnt his NFT, but later realised that other 42 NTF users were also affected.

On Tuesday, September 7, Nick Johnson announced that a “bug” introduced to the “Opensea” transfer page in the last 24 hours accidentally destroyed (burned) NFTs that users attempted to transfer to an Ethereum wallet using an ENS name.

The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a service that provides easily readable names for Ethereum wallet addresses. Many NFT users normally use ENS names to simplify the process of transferring their NFTs – rare digital items (like images, video clips, interactive video games items, and many more digital assets) – to an Ethereum wallet address and to cultivate a brand around their collection.

Johnson himself lost an NFT because of the mysterious bug in Opensea online platform, including at least 42 other collectors who also lost their respective NFTs.

Johnson disclosed that he encountered the bug while transferring his NFT into his personal wallet (nick.eth) by using the ENS service.

After he tried to transfer the digital asset, OpenSea instead sent the NFT to an incorrect wallet address. Johnson then wrote that Opensea’s interface failed to resolve the ENS name linked to his wallet. In other words, the Opensea network accidentally sent the NFT to an address that nobody controls and cannot be transferred back to Johnson.

Initially, Johnson tweeted that he was the first and the only victim of the bug after talking to Opensea, which he stated has fixed the bug. But later, Johnson found out that more than 42 NFTs from various collectors were affected and destroyed by the bug. The total amount for such 42 NFTs was $100,000.

Talking about the incident, Johnson tweeted: “A frantic call to OpenSea later, it transpires I was the first and apparently only victim of a bug introduced to their transfer page in the past 24 hours, which affected all ERC721 transfers to ENS names. Ownership of rilxxlir.eth is now permanently burned.”

Some of the affected users have tweeted about the incident, requesting Opensea to respond to the matter and provide compensation for the losses. Opensea has yet to talk about the situation officially. Johnson noted that the marketplace is still conducting a postmortem analysis about the issue.

Opensea To Expand Its Digital Commerce

Opensea intends to expand its service to multiple blockchains in search of a long-term solution.

The marketplace is currently the single hottest platform for purchasing NFTs, processing around $3.4 billion worth of transaction volume in August alone. But when something goes wrong within the online marketplace, it can have serious consequences for owners of crypto collectables. Some users have lost almost $100,000 attributed to the mysterious presence of the aforementioned bug in the Opensea platform.

In July, Opensea raised $100 million in a Series B round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The new funding valued the firm at $1.5 billion, effectively making Opensea a unicorn or a startup with an over $1 billion total valuation.

During that time, Opensea stated that it planned to use the new funding to scale up its NFT marketplace by hiring more engineers and expanding to new markets and audiences worldwide.

NFT Mania Slows with Tapering Transaction Volume on Top Marketplaces

Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplaces are seeing a decreasing demand for digital collectables, a trend that might have been aggravated by the recent flash crash in the broader crypto industry.

According to data from crypto market analytics platform Dune Analytics, there has been a steady decline in transaction volumes on OpenSea from September 3. Beyond OpenSea, other competing marketplaces, including Rarible and LarvaLabs, also witnessed a similar trend.

Per the data, the total average Ethereum tokens transacted on September 3 was 56,842.07 ETH across the five platforms featuring Foundation and SuperRare. This volume slumped to 29,371.84 ETH on September 9. The decrease in trading volumes has effectively showcased the shift in demands as gas fees across various NFT blockchains soars and collectors toned down their interests.

Individual marketplaces have also recorded a shrink in the growth metrics for most projects listed. As of the time of writing, the top two projects on OpenSea, including CryptoPunks and Art Blocks Curated, saw their trading volumes shrink by 54.85% and 3.23%, respectively. While Bored Ape Yacht Club deviated from the bearish drop with a rise of 53.30% in its trading volume, the overall outlook of the NFT marketplace is not positive.

With Bitcoin (BTC) and the thousands of altcoins reeling from the impacts of the recent price flash crash, the path the NFT markets trailed shows a great deal of correlation between both offshoots the underlying blockchain technology. There has been an incremental leap in the growth of the NFT metaverse this year as collections continue to go for sale at over-the-roof prices.

The demand the market witnessed has placed outfits like OpenSea under immense staffing pressure as more projects and collectors troop into the market. However, the current interest decline is bound to regain rejuvenation in recent times, as the volatility of the crypto market, which served as its bane in the recent slump, can potentially stir an unprecedented revival.

Opensea NFT marketplace Accuses Senior Employee of Insider Trading

Opensea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, has announced that one of its senior employees is guilty of insider trading, using internal information to profit big on nonfungible tokens.

The popular marketplace stated that Nate Chastain, the head of product at Opensea, used internal information to purchase NFTs that was about to be featured on the company’s homepage and likely to spike in value.

On Wednesday, September 15, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer tweeted: “Yesterday we learned that one of our employees purchased items that they knew were set to display on our front page before they appeared there publicly. This is incredibly disappointing. We want to be clear that this behaviour does not represent our values as a team. We are taking this very seriously and are conducting an immediate and thorough review of this incident so that we have a full understanding of the facts and additional steps we need to take.”

Opensea is investigating Chastain’s secret dealing after the accusations were made against him last night when community members publicly accused the employee of buying NFTs set to be displayed on the company’s website front page before their public listing.

Yesterday, a Twitter user named ‘ZuwuTV’ highlighted a tweet stating that Chastain operated “secret wallets” that purchased the platform’s front page NFTs before they were “featured,” and later selling them for a profit once the price spike because of their exposure.

Other Twitter users also accused Chastain of using a secret Ethereum wallet to snap up the site’s front page NFTs before their public release.

Some users mentioned a tweet by Chastain in August in which he appeared to admit that he bought an NFT by the Artist Arya Mularama ahead of the public listing. “I just wanted to get one of these before they all disappeared tbh,” Chastain tweeted during that time.

Using tools like Twitter’s advanced search function and Wayback Machine, ZuwuTV and other users showed that Chastain likely purchased NFTs that are set to be featured NFTs on the OpenSea website.

Seven months ago, Chastain bought CryptoPunk #3501 for 26.98 Ether (worth $92,000 at today’s prices), according to Opensea data. Since this NFT identified his Ethereum address, users were able to follow the money trail flowing into Chastain’s publicly known account, as the Ethereum blockchain transparently and permanently records all transactions on a public ledger.

Opensea has therefore introduced new policies stating that team members are now disallowed from buying or selling from collections. At the same time, they are being promoted or featured on the company’s homepage and not allowed to use confidential information to buy or sell NFTs, whether available on the company’s platform or not.

Rising Demand for NFTs

Built in 2017, Opensea is the largest peer-to-peer marketplace for crypto assets (nonfungible tokens), collectables, gaming items, and other assets backed by a blockchain. The firm is operating in a brand-new market but growing rapidly. The company has had over $200 million in trading volume in its platform since launch and over 12 million assets listed on the marketplace.

In August, Opensea recorded a $3.4 billion transaction volume on Ethereum, more than ten times the figure in July.

Data indicate unprecedented interests in NFTs – digital assets that can represent items that range from virtual real estate, video files to artwork. The rising demand and media attention have pushed the prices of NFT collections, and buying frenzy of such digital assets has also increased the prices of Solana and Ether and other smart contracts blockchains where nonfungible tokens can be created.

NFT Sales Sales Volume Hits Record High of $10.7B in Q3

The Non-Fungible Token (NFT) ecosystem is booming, and sales volume is here to prove it. Rising over eight times from the second quarter record, sales volumes of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) grew to $10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021, effectively depicting the sustained embrace in a frenzy picked up from the beginning of the year.

While the total sales volume, according to Reuters, citing data from DappRadar, a crypto analytics platform, in the first quarter was pegged at $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion in the second quarter. The recent record effectively placed the Q3 sales volume as the best quarter in NFT history. Thus far this year, the NFT sales volume has topped $13.2, drawing on DappRadar’s numbers.

The bulk (about 50%) of the on-chain transactions involving NFTs in the third quarter is typically within the price range of $101-$1,000, while those in the $1,001-$10,000 bracket accounted for 20% of sales, and 17% fetched less than $100, according to NonFungible.com. This analytics platform tracks only Ethereum-based NFTs.

Crypto Revolution: First DeFi, Now NFTs

While the world is still striving to adjust to the revolutionary potentials of decentralized finance (DeFi), NFTs emerged, showcasing how blockchain technology could be used to secure the ownership of digital assets in a secure and verifiable manner. Thus far, the NFT revolution has helped brands see how they can interact with their fans worldwide. From Marvel Studios to TIME Magazine and even Dolce & Gabbana, the embrace of NFTs is cutting across both retail and institutional collectors alike.

The dominant role of Ethereum as the primary hub for NFTs is also gradually fading off as other protocols, including Solana, and Cardano to mention a few, are now also providing support for NFTs on their protocols. Despite the drawbacks in the skyrocketing pricing for NFTs, many believe the role of platforms like OpenSea will further help drive mainstream adoption.