Morning Minute | Time to Upgrade
GM! It's Logan here filling in for Tyler as he strolls around NFT NYC. Need to plan your itinerary? Check out our NFT NYC Events Guide.
Take a minute to catch up on the latest in the Web3 space with today's NFT market analysis, top movers, and upcoming mints:
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A technical feat years in the making will come to fruition today. Are you ready?
ETH's Shapella Upgrade: The Final Move to Proof-of-Stake (PoS)
I might know a thing or two about what's happening in NFTs, but I'm normally a step behind when it comes to the broader crypto market. So prior to picking a top story today, I asked Lucky Lens if ETH's Shanghai or Shapella (a combination of Shanghai and Capella) upgrade was a big deal.
And..I guess it is.
What Is ETH's Shanghai/Shapella Upgrade? Is It Important?
Technically speaking, the Shapella upgrade is ETH's final move to complete the transition to Proof-of-Stake. While the "Merge" moved the PoS Beacon Chain onto mainnet, this final upgrade allows those who "staked" ETH two years ago (remember, Proof-of-Stake) to unstake and/or withdraw that previously locked ETH.
I asked Lucky Lens, our latest AI innovation about it too.
Here's what our web3 AI overlord told me.
It's a big deal, Lucky Lens told me so. The main event is slated to take place around 6:00 p.m. ET tonight.
Shapella's Impact on NFTs
Your Twitter timelines will undoubtedly be talking about short term price volatility of the Ether token, but there are few important details that everyone should be aware of as it pertains to NFTs. This is a newsletter mainly about NFTs you know.
ETH Unlock
As part of the final upgrade, millions of ETH that was previously locked for years can now be unstaked and withdrawn. That doesn't mean those willing to stake with no release date will be in a rush to unstake and sell or use ETH, but at least now it's an option.
- Bullish thought: When ETH was initially staked on the Beacon chain, the NFT market was largely non-existent and "spending ETH" wasn't really a thing. Now, users who likely have some ETH to spare can utilize it on NFTs.
- Bearish thought: When ETH was initially staked on the Beacon chain, the NFT market was largely non-existent. Those who had some ETH to spare were making a long-term bet on the potential of ETH not jpegs. Which one of these NFTs are worthy of a long-term hold again? 😬😬
Nevertheless, we've witnessed liquidity events (like BLUR, etc) play a role in moving the NFT market. This unlock may have the same potential.
Cheaper Transactions
When doing research for this article, I stumbled into this section from Jason Bales' great Ethereum Upgrades Guide on Lucky Trader...
And since I know Jason really well..and he wrote it for Lucky Trader, I'm just going to use it here.
"While Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade will not immediately reduce mainnet transaction costs, it does pave the way for sharding. Once sharding is successfully implemented, buying and selling NFTs on the secondary marketplace will be cheaper than ever.
Vitalik Buterin suggested a fee of $0.05 per transaction is necessary for scaling and mainstream adoption. This would certainly make swing trading NFTs more popular."
Not only would trading become more popular, but the reduced transaction fees is good for all users. ETH may never rival Solana or an L2's fees (at least not anytime soon), but drastically bringing down the cost of doing business might influence gaming ecosystems or NFT projects with unique burn mechanisms to stick it out on ETH, where the majority of liquidity lives.
The eventual price reduction as a result of the final transition to proof-of-stake may let ETH throw its hat in the ring.
A Narrative Victory
NFTs are bad for the environment, remember? While it is true that blockchain companies and users should be aware of broader impacts, the final transition to Proof-of-Stake may strengthen the narrative fight needed to gain more adoption from those not already in web3. We're all rooting for that, right?
Lucky Lens is still in closed beta, but we're offering access to readers of our newsletter. Want to get access to ask it more questions about important web3 topics? Just send an email to luckylens@luckytrader.com.
🚚 What else is happening in NFTs?
Here is the list of the headlines from Tuesday in NFTs:
- Trading volume came in at 19.9K ETH on Tuesday, a small decline from Monday's level. OS Pro held about six percent of that volume, which is still dominated by Blur.
- adidas' Bored Ape, Indigo Herz, announced Chapter 1 of a new dynamic and unfolding adidas project.
- Cool Cats is partnering with Futureverse. The move will pair Cool Cats IP with the infrastructure and tech stack from Futureverse, enabling new advanced experiences.
- Moonbirds announced the start date for its Mythic Egg claim.
- NBA Top Shot announced the launch of Playoff Redemptions, putting supply power in user's hands.
- NFT NYC starts today. Plan your NFT NYC itinerary with our NFT NYC Events Guide.
🌎 Around Crypto and Web3
A few other Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
- The crypto market is flat or slightly negative over the last 24 hours. BTC -0.4%, $30,018; ETH -2.4% at $1,874; APE +3.6% to $4.50
- As mentioned above, ETH will complete its Shapella upgrade today. Learn more about ETH's upgrades in our guide.
- Sound.xyz, a web3 music platform, will allow any artist to utilize its services in the coming months.
🚀 NFT Total Volume
- Wrapped CryptoPunks (5,343 ETH, 56.72 ETH Floor)
- Azuki (2,052 ETH; 13.53 ETH)
- BAYC (641 ETH, 58.17 ETH)
- Milady Maker (381 ETH, 1.92 ETH)
- Meebits (364 ETH, 2.57 ETH)
📈 NFT Floor Price Increase
- Weirdo Ghost Gang (46%, 0.43 ETH Floor)
- adidas Originals Meta Capsule (43%, 0.07 ETH)
- Captainz (33%, 8.39 ETH)
- Redacted Remilio Babies (29%, 0.36 ETH)
- Wumbo Pass (9%, 2.35 ETH)
🗓 Upcoming NFT Mints and Reveals
A few drops later today, with the most notable the Reddit Gen 3 Avatars (though a time is still TBD).
- Solar Transits (1:00 p.m. ET); Dutch auction, starting at 6 ETH
- Day Dreamerz (2:00 p.m. ET); 0.03 ETH
- ETH Shapella Upgrade (~6:00 p.m. ET)
- NFT NYC Events
Enjoy this write-up? Follow along with me on Twitter @lhitch09 or reach out via email logan@luckytrader.com.
For all volume and floor price data, see Lucky Trader's Project Rankings page.
For all upcoming mints, see Lucky Trader's Project Schedule page.
