Bet on the Black? Take a punt on the Red? Or maybe put it all down on an NFT?

Bet on the Black? Take a punt on the Red? Or maybe put it all down on an NFT?

The global non-fungible token (NFT) market capitalization has dropped by 37.7% from its record high reached last year, but the Forkast NFT 500 Index suggests there is more to this market than the standard supply and demand dynamics behind rising and falling prices.

According to data tracked by analytics firm NFTGO, the NFT market peaked at US$36 billion in April 2022, US$14 billion more than today’s US$22 billion.

Over the same period, the Forkast 500 NFT Index, a newly launched performance measure of the global NFT market based on 500 smart contracts, plunged 84.71%.

The Forkast 500’s nosedive implies that if traders diversified their NFT portfolio and invested in the top 500 projects in the industry, they would be “rekt” – a crypto industry euphemism to describe heavy losses. According to Yehudah Petscher, a strategist at Forkast.News data partner CryptoSlam, NFT investors have adopted a casino-like trading behavior where they need to constantly move their funds to the “next hot project” to be successful.

“Liquidity gets recycled by savvy traders who frequently sell their NFTs, and use the funds to buy into new projects. From there, that same trader is looking to exit quickly and continue the cycle over and over again,” Petscher told Forkast.

House rules

Colin Johnson, chief executive of blockchain-based fine art investment platform Freeport, says that not all NFT traders may have been “rekt” as much as the Forkast 500 indicates.

“A well-diversified NFT trader will generally have another bag to work from. If they went all in on, say Moonbirds last May, they’re likely reeling and wanting some time away from crypto,” said Johnson.

Moonbirds, an Ethereum-based NFT collection that rewards investors for holding the assets longer, had a record-high floor price, or the lowest sale price of an NFT in a collection, of 25.5 ETH (US$39,142) on April 25, 2022, or a little over a week after its launch. It has since lost more than three quarters of its all-time high floor price and is currently priced at 5.6 ETH. The floor price represents the lowest price of an NFT within a collection.

While the casino rewards those that understand the rules of play, CryptoSlam’s data suggests that new buyers may be entering the game.

In February, the number of unique monthly buyers jumped to some 1 million addresses from 593,000 in January. February’s monthly customers tally was almost double that of the 529,000 sellers. On Feb. 26, daily unique NFT buyers rose to an all-time high of 166,000, following U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s free NFT airdrop.

“There is still large-scale activity from the top 1% of traders — recently to collect airdrops from new platforms like Blur,” Johnson said. “Most NFT collectors who are outside of that top 1% are very likely deep in the red.”

Blue chip cash

Much like cryptocurrencies, the high volatility of NFT prices poses challenges to estimating investors’ losses over a certain period of time.

“Holding a blue-chip NFT generally assures the owner that the NFT holds some inherent value,”  Anndy Lian, author of the book “NFT: From Zero to Hero,” told Forkast.

Bored Ape Yacht Club, the second-largest NFT collection by historic sales volume after play-to-earn game Axie Infinity, had a floor price of 63 ETH (US$96,705) on Thursday, a 27% drop from 90 ETH on April 2 last year, when the NFT market cap was at its highest.

Mutant Ape Yacht Club, the fourth-largest, fell 14% to 14.4 ETH.

“The top collections are primarily controlled by a small number of large-scale collectors. Average collectors’ wallets are in much worse shape this year than last,” added Johnson.

Petscher elaborated in the March 3 issue of CryptoSlam’s newsletter.

So how much in losses did a general NFT trader make as the digital assets markets tumbled from all-time highs?

“As a trader myself, I can tell you it’s much closer to 84%,” said Petscher.

 

 

Source: https://forkast.news/nft-casino-forkast-500-black-red/

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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The domino effects from FTX’s issue. Bitcoin, Ether in a sea of red. What next for the cryptocurrency market?

The domino effects from FTX’s issue. Bitcoin, Ether in a sea of red. What next for the cryptocurrency market?

The FTX’s situation is not promising at the time of publishing. These are the additional comments I had.

Before the FTX incident, we analysed that there was a chance for the market to see one last pump before the end of the year.

After the incident and if there is no bailout for FTX, I would think this would be another black swan event. Based on what we see right now, there is only an $8 billion liquidity gap. Still, the numbers can go very high if you look at the ecosystem, Defi loan products and the various parties such as leading venture funds, sovereign wealth funds, and pension funds involved. The domino effects could be greater than the Terra/ UST event.

I know of a few venture capital companies who just did a restructure and are in the middle of another fundraising from the previous loss due to Terra. Now, they are being hit once again. I do not think their LPs are going to give them more money. They are gone. You will see them in the news very soon.

If you are not part of FTX ecosystem and have no exposure to them, you should continue to focus on your community, continue to build and ignore the noises. If you have exposure to FTX, my friendly advice is to protect your principal investment, exit while you can to stay afloat. The ride will be very bumpy.

Bitcoin, Ether in a sea of red. What next for the cryptocurrency market?

The scrapping of the Binance-FTX deal has shaken the confidence of investors already licking their wounds following the collapse of Terraform Labs, Three Arrows Capital and Celsius Network

The cryptocurrency market continued its death spiral for the second consecutive day after Binance scrapped a deal to acquire rival exchange FTX.

Prices of major digital assets tumbled to monthly lows, led by Bitcoin, which headed towards $15,000 before rebounding to about $16,800, still down about 10% over the past 24 hours.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, dropped to $1,087.08 before staging a mini-rally and settling at about $1,180, about 10 percent lower over the past day.

It’s been a turbulent week for cryptocurrencies as the market reacted to reports surrounding two of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Binance, the world’s largest digital asset exchange by volume, said on November 8 it agreed to buy FTX and rescue billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s startup from a liquidity crunch.

However, Binance made a U-turn barely 24 hours later. It said that after due diligence and reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations, it decided to not pursue the FTX acquisition.

According to a Coindesk report, the native FTT tokens of the FTX, which are also owned by the company, were found in large quantities on the balance sheet of Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency trading company run by Bankman-Fried, prompting widespread criticism of the token.

This meant that Alameda was primarily based on a coin that a sister company created rather than on a standalone asset like fiat money or another cryptocurrency.

 

Fretting investors

Scurrying for cover amid rumours that the FTX would go bankrupt, investors liquidated their FTX-linked coins to reduce possible losses. Binance, which had more than $500 million worth of FTT on its books, began to sell its holdings, exacerbating the woes of an already ailing market.

The blow-hot-blow-cold relationship between Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Bankman-Fried shook the market’s confidence as investors fretted over every development in a sector already licking its wounds following the collapse of Terraform Labs, Three Arrows Capital and Celsius Network.

Among other major cryptocurrencies, Binance (BNB) was down 10 percent, Ripple (XRP) was 5 percent lower, Cardano (ADA) dropped 6 percent, Dogecoin (DOGE) declined 7 percent, and Solana (SOL) had plunged 30 percent when this was written.

While some experts said this may be an opportune time for institutional investors, others emphasised the urgent need for greater regulation of the crypto market.

Raj Kapoor, founder of India Blockchain Alliance, said individual investors may become inactive for a while and institutional investors will probably take advantage of the current discounts and hedge their bets.

“This development will give other exchanges a boost and investors should transfer their altcoins into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other stablecoins and store them in a cold wallet until the market stabilises and wait for the upswing,” Kapoor said.

He added that the FTT fall may trigger a chain reaction of liquidations because FTX’s lenders may also collapse, taking investors down with them.

“I see a lot of other businesses and endeavours going out of business or filing for bankruptcy,” Kapoor said.

Sharat Chandra, cofounder of India Blockchain Forum, said the FTX fiasco exposes the lack of disclosure and transparency that afflict the current digital asset ecosystem.

 

Investor protection

“After the Terra Luna debacle, the FTX incident presents another opportunity to regulators to frame stringent regulations, which might end up stifling innovation. It’s time the G-20 members act swiftly and frame global regulations to avoid regulatory arbitrage and ensure investor protection,” he said.

Anndy Lian, author of NFT: From Zero to Hero, said if there is no bailout for FTX, this would be another Black Swan event. Looking at the ecosystem’s liquidity gap, Defi (decentralised finance) loan products and various parties such as leading venture funds, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds involved, the numbers can go very high.

“The domino effects could be greater than the Terra/UST event. If you are not part of the FTX ecosystem and have no exposure to them, you should continue to focus on your community, continue to build and ignore the noises. If you have exposure to FTX, my advice is to protect your principal investment, exit while you can to stay afloat. The ride will be very bumpy,” Lian said.

 

Source: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/cryptocurrency/bitcoin-ether-in-a-sea-of-red-what-next-for-the-cryptocurrency-market-9488591.html

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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Crypto On Feb 3: Market Turns Red Once Again; Experts Say It’s Time For Careful Investments

Crypto On Feb 3: Market Turns Red Once Again; Experts Say It’s Time For Careful Investments

KEY POINTS

  • Bitcoin, Ether plunged
  • Meme cryptos slid
  • Market cap goes down

The cryptocurrency market turned red Thursday after two consecutive days of gains. The global crypto market cap was down 5.18% at $1.68 trillion as of 4.15 a.m. ET.

Bitcoin was down 3.64% at $37,045, CoinMarketCap data showed. Ethereum too plunged 3.44%.

Barring a slight uptick in the USD Coin, all of the top 10 tokens on the crypto chart were trading lower. Solana, Terra LUNA, Polkadot shed up to 10%.

Meme cryptos Shiba Inu and Dogecoin plunged too.

“The reason for the red and dips become more serious after the Fed meeting. The uncertainty outcome from that meeting is lingering in many heads. Adding on to the uncertainties is the recent 30 percent tax in India. This again added more stress to the market,” Anndy Lian, Chairman, BigONE Exchange told International Business Times.

“This kind of dips would remain there for some time. Crypto retail investors will be more careful in their investments in the next few months. Watch out for moves from institutions, that can be an indication for changes,” Lian added.

Adding to the uncertainties, the financial results of Meta came out Wednesday which has shown a significant slump in its virtual business vertical. Facebook’s parent company valuation dipped by almost $200 billion on Wednesday, which, according to experts, may have spooked the crypto market as well.

“We will have to wait and watch if Meta’s NFT and digital asset strategy takes off as expected,” Charles Tan, Head of Marketing at Coinstore told International Business Times.

In other news, hackers have stolen more than $320 million from one of the most popular bridges linking the Ethereum and Solana blockchains Wormhole.

The crypto market is extremely volatile and experts recommend investors not make decisions based on the sudden shift in prices.

 

 

Original Source: https://www.ibtimes.com/crypto-feb-3-market-turns-red-once-again-experts-say-its-time-careful-investments-3389484

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

j j j