NFT sales plunge 4.7% to $95.9m, CryptoPunks sales fall 80%

Despite the modest crypto market recovery, the NFT market sales volume has dropped by 4.7% to $95.9 million. Bitcoin (BTC) has recovered to the $85,000 level. At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) has shown a modest 2.4% recovery in the last seven days and is hovering at the $1,600 level. The global crypto market cap is now $2.69 trillion, up from last week’s $2.63 trillion. Surprisingly, while sales are down, market participation has surged with NFT buyers increasing by 96.6% to 252,354. NFT sellers have also grown by 79.2% to…

BNB Chain Dominates NFT Market, Daily Sales Reach $8.2M

Key Notes The NFT sales volume increased by 66% in 24 hours. BSC dominated the market with over $8 million in daily sales. NFT sales on the BSC network reached a new all-time high. Investors are showing strong interest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with BNB Smart Chain (BSC) stealing the spotlight from Ethereum and Polygon. According to data from CryptoSlam, the daily NFT sales volume increased by 66%, reaching $21.5 million. The rise comes with increased interest from buyers. CryptoSlam data shows that the number of buyers rose by 9%…

Bybit shuts down four more Web3 services after axing NFT marketplace

Bybit is shutting down more of its Web3 services after axing its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace earlier in April. According to an April 16 announcement, the exchange is shutting down its Cloud Wallet (a hosted custodial wallet​), Keyless Wallet (non‑custodial multiparty computation wallet with no seed phrase​), NFT marketplace, multi‑chain decentralized exchange (DEX)​ DEX Pro and the Swap & Bridge cross‑chain swap widget​ on May 31. Source: Bybit Web3 On April 28, Bybit will also discontinue Web3 Points, its internal loyalty program that rewarded onchain activity with redeemable points for fee discounts, airdrop boosts and early-bird perks.​…

NFT trader faces prison for $13M tax fraud on CryptoPunk profits

A non-fungible token (NFT) trader could face up to six years in prison after pleading guilty to underreporting nearly $13 million in profits from trading CryptoPunks, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Waylon Wilcox, 45, admitted to filing false income tax returns for the 2021 and 2022 tax years. The former CryptoPunk investor pleaded guilty on April 9 to two counts of filing false individual income tax returns, federal prosecutors said in an April 11 press release. Back in April 2022, Wilcox filed a…

NFT trader sells CryptoPunk after a year for nearly $10M loss

An investor has sold a CryptoPunk non-fungible token (NFT) at a nearly $10 million realized loss, reflecting the continued decline in the once-booming blue-chip NFT market. A whale, or large cryptocurrency investor, sold a CryptoPunk NFT for 4,000 Ether (ETH) worth more than $6 million at the time of writing. The investor originally purchased the NFT for 4,500 ETH, or roughly $15.7 million, a year ago, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain. “Did he only lose 500 $ETH($774K)? No—he actually lost $9.73M!” Lookonchain wrote in an X post. “When he…

NFT sales drop 4.7%, but Courtyard dethrones Cryptopunks

The NFT market is feeling the impact of the broader crypto slump, with sales volume decreasing by 4.7% to $94.7 million. According to data from CryptoSlam, this is a continued downward trend from the previous week’s $102.8 million. The drop extends beyond just sales volume, with NFT buyers plummeting by 77.9% to 128,244, and NFT sellers falling by 75.2% to 85,792. NFT transactions have also declined by 6.3% to 1,441,009. The downward momentum coincides with Bitcoin (BTC) dropping to the $83,000 level. At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) has lost…

Solana-Based NFT Marketplace Magic Eden Acquires Slingshot

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden has acquired Slingshot, a trading app that allows users to see their crypto balance across multiple protocols. Slingshot allows users to trade tokens from a single universal USDC balance, removing hurdles like wallet setup, bridging assets across chains, and juggling gas fees, thus expanding Magic Eden well past Solana to every chain, including bitcoin. We just acquired @SlingshotCrypto! 8M+ tokens. Every chain (Bitcoin soon). No bridges. No CEXs. This is another major step towards our vision of providing the best platform to trade all…

OpenSea urges SEC to exclude NFT marketplaces from regulator’s remit

Non-fungible token marketplace OpenSea has urged the US Securities and Exchange Commission to exclude NFT marketplaces from regulation under federal securities laws. The SEC needs to “clearly state that NFT marketplaces like OpenSea do not qualify as exchanges under federal securities laws,” OpenSea general counsel Adele Faure and deputy general counsel Laura Brookover said in an April 9 letter to Commissioner Hester Peirce, who leads the agency’s Crypto Task Force. Faure and Brookover argued that NFT marketplaces don’t meet the legal definition of an exchange under US securities laws as…

Shaquille O’Neal gets judge’s greenlight for $11M Astrals NFT settlement

Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has been granted final court approval to settle a class-action lawsuit for $11 million with Astrals non-fungible token (NFT) buyers. Florida federal court judge Federico Moreno granted approval of the settlement between O’Neal and the class group led by Daniel Harper in an April 1 order made available on April 8. The deal created a fund of up to $11 million for eligible class members and awarded $2.9 million in attorney fees and costs. All those who purchased Astrals NFTs from May 2022 to Jan.…

Gaming NFT maker Aavegotchi votes to ditch Polygon for Base

Aavegotchi, a non-fungible token (NFT) protocol focused on Web3 gaming, has opted to abandon blockchain network Polygon and “go all-in” on Base, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling chain, according to the results of an onchain vote.  On April 8, Aavegotchi’s community members voted 93.5% in favor of a proposal to “Make Aavegotchi Based Again” by deprecating the protocol’s smart contracts on Polygon and re-deploying on Base, according to Aavegochti’s governance page.  “Given our close relationship with the Base team, as well as recent developments in the Base ecosystem […] we believe…