Around the Blockchain | Solana Down, Dapper Adds Features

This column took a short hiatus for Memorial Day Weekend and the entire Solana blockchain decided to follow suit. Below we've gathered all the latest news and notes about the NFT ecosystems beyond Ethereum. 

The crypto markets finally seem to be finding some reprieve from the down only days of May. In fact, as of this writing, just about every token is up over the past seven days, as per CoinMarketCap. 

This past week also saw the launch of the new Terra network, Terra 2.0. The original LUNA coin is now LUNC, Luna Classic, whereas the new token now has the old one’s name and ticker symbol. The new LUNA saw some massive swings and quick arbitrage opportunities, as the coins traded at extremely different valuations on different sites.

Since then, though, LUNA has settled down and as of this writing sits at $5.18.

There were some hiccups to the launch, as many users were confused as to how to locate their airdropped coins or why they received the number they did. It remains to be seen whether Terra 2.0 will have staying power, but the network has attempted to incentivize its users to stick around and find out, given its lengthy vesting schedule for the new LUNA.

Let's head to the NFT news. 

What Happened With Solana NFTs? 

The first day of June ended up being an unfortunate time for the entire Solana blockchain. After months of issues and notices on websites about network congestion, a software glitch finally caused enough problems for Solana to take everything offline.

Thankfully, a few hours later the chain was back up and running. However, with this not being the first instance of network outages, some users are concerned. 

Back when things were still working, the newest competitor to STEPN took center stage. PxlSnkrs, a collection of 5,555 pixelated sneaker NFTs, launched and minted out in minutes.

The price quickly climbed to cross the 1 SOL, but then dove back down to 0.3.

As of this writing, the floor on Magic Eden floor is 0.01 SOL, perhaps indicating the end of a quick hype cycle. The project announced on Wednesday that the move-to-earn app, exclusively accessible to NFT holders, will launch its official beta within 72 hours of the announcement.

Also seeing some quick (and this one sustained) success was The Lost Apes. The project minted for 0.85 SOL on Friday, May 27, and within hours the floor had more than tripled from the mint price.

Despite fewer Twitter followers than the total NFT supply (4,000), and a roadmap lacking in originality, the project has held a 2.40 SOL floor at the time of writing.

This Week in FLOW NFTs

This was a big week for all things Dapper.

With the NBA Finals beginning, Friday marked the next round of regular, Common 2022 NBA Playoff packs on NBA Top Shot, as well as the return of the Rare set And Then There Were Four, marking the end of the Conference Finals.

Additionally, the first set of WNBA base packs was released on June 1 for the standard $9.

More important than the new packs, though, was the release of a long-awaited feature, creating offers on Moments, including those not actively listed in the marketplace.

As of Thursday, May 26, VIP and Nine Lives Lounge members were given access to the feature as a live testing mechanism. Early reports are that the feature is very cumbersome and difficult to use but given that it’s not even publicly live yet it would seem that Dapper is well aware and working on smoothing out the process before public launch.

Other Blockchain NFT News

Gods of Asgard (GOA), a previously mentioned P2E game on the Avalanche blockchain, announced a delay in game release. 

The project’s website has not been updated since setting the expectation of May 31, 2022, for the beta launch. However, in the Thor Financial (the parent company and associated Node project) Discord the announcement was made on Thursday that the devs were “going to push [launch] back a few days."

Meanwhile, the NFTs needed to play still have over 12,300 available to mint. The project is being minted on a bonding curve, with the current price to mint sitting at 10.5 AVAX.

Despite the recent nosedive in token price, it would seem that the market is not too keen on the price. It remains to be seen what, if anything, GOA’s plans are for moving the mint along. It could be a sign of confidence in the game, as an enjoyable game could naturally draw users in to mint, even at what at first glance is a hefty price tag. The demos, at least, look very impressive: