In this week’s newsletter, discover the latest updates in the world of nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Bitcoin-based NFTs experienced a decline in sales during January, dropping from $868 million in December 2023 to $335 million. This represents a significant decrease of 61% in sales volume over a 30-day period. Anndy Lian, an NFT book author, suggests that the market is becoming more saturated due to the influx of new projects, offering buyers a wide range of options.
Despite the decline, Lian remains optimistic about the future of Bitcoin-based NFTs. He believes that the upcoming Bitcoin halving event will renew interest in these assets. The reduced supply of Bitcoin could increase the value and scarcity of each satoshi, making Ordinals more appealing as unique and collectible assets.
In other news, popular gaming platform Roblox has developed a new translation feature powered by artificial intelligence. This innovative technology allows players to communicate in real time through text, even if they speak different languages. Roblox’s chief technology officer, Dan Sturman, explains that the company has created its own large language model (LLM) in-house to enable instantaneous translations. Currently, the LLM supports translations in 16 languages.
Furthermore, GoDaddy, a domain registrar, has partnered with the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) to offer a seamless integration of Web3 and Web2 domains. This collaboration allows Web3 users to link their .eth domains to Web2 domains without incurring any additional costs. Previously, high gas fees discouraged users from bringing their domain names to ENS. ENS domains, which are popular among NFT holders, simplify complex wallet addresses into human-readable names. With this partnership, new smart contracts have been deployed to facilitate a cost-free transition.
In the world of NFTs, Japan Airlines has teamed up with marketing firm Hakuhodo to launch the Kokyo NFT project. This project aims to tokenize local experiences and real-world assets, with the goal of connecting holders with local communities. The NFT project promises various experiences, such as immersing in a samurai mansion or being part of a samurai family.
Additionally, data reveals that NFTs outperformed Ether (ETH) in terms of gains during January. NFT indexes showed an increase of almost 10% in the month, while ETH only saw a modest growth of 2.3%.
Thank you for reading this summary of the latest developments in the NFT space. Stay tuned for more reports and insights into this rapidly evolving industry on next week’s newsletter.