State of the Market ⚡

GM Scoop family. Before we take a wander into the metaverse let’s take a dive into Crypto land.

The CPI figures were released on Wednesday by the US Bureau of labor statistics and lead to a positive uptick for the Crypto market. What exactly is the CPI? CPI stands for Consumer Price Index, and measures the monthly change in how much the average US consumer is expected to pay for a basket of goods. In simple terms, it affects how much general life will cost. The figures released showed an 8.5% year-on-year increase in July, which was slower than June. This easing of inflation pressure lit the flame underneath the crypto market and printed an additional 50 billion dollars into the market. ETH now sits just below $2k dollars. With increased investor confidence plus the Merge narrative still ongoing, it is looking likely we will see further pushes in $ETH until around the $2300-$2800 range prior to the Merge event in mid-September. Specifically around the 15th / 16th as released today by the ETH Foundation.

With regards to the NFT market, not too much has changed, the overall sentiment of the market has seen a slight uptick but volume remains pretty low. The NFT Blue Chip index in ETH terms is trending down over the last 30 days but has remained relatively consistent when dominating in $ value.

On a lighter note, over the past few weeks, the NFT scoop team has been speaking with some super teams in the space, one thing is for sure, innovation is bubbling away and builders are working hard over this period to push our beloved market forward.

Scoops of the Week 🍦

🍦 Virtual Condoms.. What?!?

🍦 ETH dress rehearsal ahead of Merge

🍦 Out of this world Mutant Sale

🍦Magic Eden is bringing the HEAT

Durex enters the metaverse with virtual Condoms 💦

Yes, you read that correctly. Durex has filed a trademark application involving NFTs & Cryptocurrencies. The full details have yet to be released but the contraceptive giant’s patent application outlines… Crypto mining, VIRTUAL CONDOMS, Crypto & NFTS. Virtual Condoms…?!? Virtual Safe Sex?? Maybe they are looking to enter the security space in the Metaverse, to protect those Private Keys from STI’s? Or maybe soon we will be looking to stop Bored Apes & Punks mating. Personally speaking, that could make for a super blue chip.

ETH runs final preparations before the Merge

Ethereum is entering the final stages for the much-anticipated MERGE which will switch ETH from running on proof of work to proof of stake. The network’s third and final test net, successfully switched over to a POS consensus algorithm on Wednesday evening. So far so good. This is the final test run ahead of the much-anticipated Merge event said to take place mid-september.

The ETH merge should help ETH achieve a much better environmentally friendly environment, 99% more in fact which will be a major step in the pursuit of achieving global scalability. This should also make ETH ‘ESG’ Compliant - a criteria used to screen investments based on corporate policies and to encourage companies to act responsibly. We would expect this to open up a further appetite for large organisations & institutions to adopt the currency and network.

Trippy Mega Mutant sale 👾

The market may be choppy, but those with deep pockets are still max bidding on certain NFT Grails. The Trippy Mega Mutant #30005 from The Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem was recently sold for an eye-watering 2300 $ETH ($3.9M). If you are wondering who just dropped serious racks on this item? Well, the new owner is @Lior.ETH. The individual has been listed on the Forbes under 30 and is also the Founder of Eden block Ventures & Mutant Cartel. Mutant Cartel is a place where Mutants unite, build and belong. One thing is for sure Lior.ETH has earned their rightful spot on the throne as King of the Mutants.

Why has this Mutant just been bought for the price of a lavish yacht? For those who may be new to the space, holders of the Bored Ape Yacht club were ‘Airdropped’ The Bored Ape Chemistry Club Serum NFTs which could be used to mutate their Apes and create MAYC NFTs. This Mutant in particular was created using one of the last remaining M3 Serums airdropped to the community, of which there were only 8 M3’s airdropped.

Magic Eden proposes to build an $APE coin NFT Market place

The ruler of the Solana chain NFT market places ‘Magic Eden’ who was recently valued at $1.6 Billion after just existing for just 1 year announced last week that the next chain of NFTs to be added to its marketplace will be Ethereum. But they didn’t stop there, Magic Eden has just revealed its proposal to build an official Ape Coin NFT marketplace for Bored Ape Yacht Club holders. And one more thing… They have proposed to build it for FREE. Magic Eden is certainly coming out swinging for Opensea, which has long held a strong hold on the majority of the NFT market and its user base, despite complaints around the platform’s user experience. Entering the world of Ethereum and potentially getting the largest community to date on the side (BAYC) could prove a smart move from Magic Eden in an attempt to disrupt & compete with Opensea.

Details in the proposal include:

• The Marketplace will list on the Apecoin.com domain

• Fees as low as 0.75% for the BAYC, MAYC & Kennel club community

• $APE / $ETH Bidding on NFTs

• Merch store

• Launchpad for new community projects.

You can read the full proposal here.

Magic Eden is able to deliver products at lightning speed & have stated they have the resource to support and further enrich the $APE and BAYC community. One thing is for sure Magic Eden is coming in HOT. If they do indeed become the dominant marketplace does that spur further adoption of Solana-based NFTs? Where will the price of $SOL head? Something to ponder on for sure.

Scoop’s Weekly Winner 🏆

Rare Apepe YC

Having been minting across the last few months, the Rare Apepes have stolen the show this week. The collection has surged in Volume & Floor price, which is floating around the 0.7-1ETH mark. The PFP collection combines styles from Iconic culture NFT & Crypto culture, this being Bored Apes & Rare Pepes. Designed by @rare_labs. They claim to be the intersection of NFTs, Memes, and Culture.

Unless you have been living under a rock, it is likely you have heard of The Bored Ape Yacht club, but what about Rare Pepes? For some OG Degens, Rare Pepes were some of the first NFTs collected. Despite this being derivative work of 2 separate projects, many notable NFT collectors and influencers have jumped on the hype and started Scooping up the Rare Apepes, the community has been assembling fast across Twitter, notably just the other night, with 1200 members tuning in on a Rare Apepe Twitter spaces.

We have to say, regardless of the long-term scope of the project, the artwork is pretty dope.

REKT SECTION 😡

This week, it’s the Crypto Bears getting REKT. Bears in disbelief!

In anticipation of the CPI data release as discussed earlier, many Crypto traders were shorting the market in the hope of some downward price action delivering some juicy profit. Though Following the recent rally in Crypto, The bears will be licking their wounds.. Bears…Welcome to REKT.

Where would we blow 5-10ETH in this market? 💰

As mentioned for a few weeks now, they're a number of solid Bluechips to be Scooped up. In particular, Otherdeeds seems a bit of a steal right now.

Secondly, the Webaverse genesis pass is also very interesting to us. Webaverse aims to be an interoperable & open-source metaverse project. The Pass will grant you access to a parcel of land in The Upstreet within the near future. A number of whales & notable Twitter accounts have been scooping them up.. One to do some digging on.

However, It’s important to note that given the upcoming $ETH merge event, we expect to see $ETH price action continue for the next few weeks, so holding on to that precious $ETH could prove favorable.

Whats Dropped? 💧

8liens Minted out this week - Current Floor 0.5ETH

8liens were a free mint, they are taking 0% royalties, are completely CC0 and have a team comprised of OGs including @Debussy100 & @punk3178. Their 1/1s were also created by reputable artists including Gremplin from Cryptoadz.

The collection has memeability. We can hear the tweets already.. “8liens to the MOOON”

Be cautious in this market. Remember to take profits. Things can dump as hard as they moon.

Disclaimer

The NFT Scoop newsletter or podcast is not financial advice, it is provided for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only.

NFT’s can be highly illiquid markets, causing sharp drops in prices due to changes in narratives and trends.

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